Best Selling Latin American History Books

Chart of the top 50 most popular and best selling Latin America history books on Apple Books.

Chart list of the top Latin America history eBooks was last updated:

History Ebook Best Sellers

Most Popular Latin American History Books Chart 2026

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The Lost City of the Monkey God - Douglas Preston Cover Art

The Lost City of the Monkey God

The Lost City of the Monkey God A True Story by Douglas Preston

The #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller. Named one of the best books of the year by The Boston Globe and National Geographic . An acclaimed journalist takes readers on a true adventure deep into the Honduran rainforest in this riveting narrative about the discovery of a lost civilization—culminating in a stunning medical mystery. "Nuanced and sublime." — New York Times Book Review Since the days of conquistador Hernán Cortés, rumors have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden somewhere in the Honduran interior, called the White City or the Lost City of the Monkey God. Indigenous tribes speak of ancestors who fled there to escape the Spanish invaders, and they warn that anyone who enters this sacred city will fall ill and die. In 1940, swashbuckling journalist Theodore Morde returned from the rainforest with hundreds of artifacts and an electrifying story of having found the Lost City of the Monkey God-but then committed suicide without revealing its location. Three quarters of a century later, Doug Preston joined a team of scientists on a groundbreaking new quest. In 2012 he climbed aboard a rickety, single-engine plane carrying the machine that would change everything: lidar, a highly advanced, classified technology that could map the terrain under the densest rainforest canopy. In an unexplored valley ringed by steep mountains, that flight revealed the unmistakable image of a sprawling metropolis, tantalizing evidence of not just an undiscovered city but an enigmatic, lost civilization. Venturing into this raw, treacherous, but breathtakingly beautiful wilderness to confirm the discovery, Preston and the team battled torrential rains, quickmud, disease-carrying insects, jaguars, and deadly snakes. But it wasn't until they returned that tragedy struck: Preston and others found they had contracted in the ruins a horrifying, sometimes lethal-and incurable-disease. Suspenseful and shocking, filled with colorful history, hair-raising adventure, and dramatic twists of fortune, The Lost City of the Monkey God is the absolutely true, eyewitness account of one of the great discoveries of the twenty-first century.

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The Lost City of Z - David Grann Cover Art

The Lost City of Z

The Lost City of Z A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Killers of the Flower Moon and The Wager comes a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction “with all the pace and excitement of a movie thriller”( The New York Times ) that unravels the greatest exploration mystery of the twentieth century—the story of the legendary British explorer who ventured into the Amazon jungle in search of a fabled civilization and never returned. "[Grann is] one of the preeminent adventure and true-crime writers working today."— New York Magazine After stumbling upon a hidden trove of diaries, acclaimed writer David Grann set out to determine what happened to the British explorer Percy Fawcett and his quest for the Lost City of Z. For centuries Europeans believed the Amazon, the world’s largest rain forest, concealed the glittering kingdom of El Dorado. Thousands had died looking for it, leaving many scientists convinced that the Amazon was truly inimical to humankind. In 1925 Fawcett ventured into the Amazon to find an ancient civilization, hoping to make one of the most important discoveries in history. Then he vanished. Over the years countless perished trying to find evidence of his party and the place he called “The Lost City of Z.”   In this masterpiece, journalist David Grann interweaves the spellbinding stories of Fawcett’s quest for “Z” and his own journey into the deadly jungle. Look for David Grann’s latest bestselling book, The Wager !

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Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize) - Ada Ferrer Cover Art

Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize)

Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize) An American History by Ada Ferrer

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE IN HISTORY WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE IN HISTORY “Full of…lively insights and lucid prose” ( The Wall Street Journal ) an epic, sweeping history of Cuba and its complex ties to the United States—from before the arrival of Columbus to the present day—written by one of the world’s leading historians of Cuba. In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, the United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba, where a momentous revolution had taken power three years earlier. For more than half a century, the stand-off continued—through the tenure of ten American presidents and the fifty-year rule of Fidel Castro. His death in 2016, and the retirement of his brother and successor Raúl Castro in 2021, have spurred questions about the country’s future. Meanwhile, politics in Washington—Barack Obama’s opening to the island, Donald Trump’s reversal of that policy, and the election of Joe Biden—have made the relationship between the two nations a subject of debate once more. Now, award-winning historian Ada Ferrer delivers an “important” ( The Guardian ) and moving chronicle that demands a new reckoning with both the island’s past and its relationship with the United States. Spanning more than five centuries, Cuba: An American History provides us with a front-row seat as we witness the evolution of the modern nation, with its dramatic record of conquest and colonization, of slavery and freedom, of independence and revolutions made and unmade. Along the way, Ferrer explores the sometimes surprising, often troubled intimacy between the two countries, documenting not only the influence of the United States on Cuba but also the many ways the island has been a recurring presence in US affairs. This is a story that will give Americans unexpected insights into the history of their own nation and, in so doing, help them imagine a new relationship with Cuba; “readers will close [this] fascinating book with a sense of hope” ( The Economist ). Filled with rousing stories and characters, and drawing on more than thirty years of research in Cuba, Spain, and the United States—as well as the author’s own extensive travel to the island over the same period—this is a stunning and monumental account like no other.

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Las venas abiertas de América Latina - Eduardo Galeano Cover Art

Las venas abiertas de América Latina

Las venas abiertas de América Latina by Eduardo Galeano

Historia del saqueo de América Latina que muestra cómo funcionan los mecanismos actuales del despojo: los tecnócratas en jet, herederos de los conquistadores en carabela; Hernán Cortés y los infantes de marina; los corregidores del reino y las misiones del Fondo Monetario Internacional; los dividendos del tráfico de esclavos y las ganancias de la General Motors. El tiempo presente ha sido presentido y engendrado por las contradicciones del pasado.

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Uttermost Part of the Earth - E. Lucas Bridges Cover Art

Uttermost Part of the Earth

Uttermost Part of the Earth The First History of Tierra del Fuego and the Fuegian Natives by E. Lucas Bridges

The Compelling True Story of Life at the Far Reaches of Civilization "E. Lucas Bridges provides in his brilliantly written book our most valuable resource on the lost heritage of the Yamana." The Daily Beagle Famous for being the southernmost city in the world, the wild and windswept port of Ushuaia sits at the inhospitable southern tip of Tierra del Fuego in South America. That rugged, rocky landscape of sharp mountains, beech forests, and barren outcrops was originally home to hunter-gatherer Yaghan Indians, the southernmost indigenous people on the planet. The western world's colonization of the area (sometimes called "Fireland") began in the 1800s when explorers and missionaries established settlements. The Bridges family was part of this movement as the founders of Ushuaia, and author E. Lucas Bridges was born there in 1874. This classic memoir chronicles the captivating Bridges' early life among the coastal Yaghan people and his later initiation into the more remote and fierce Ona tribe. Confronted with unfamiliar cultures and traditions, Bridges engages fully, committing himself to learning and participating in the ways of his neighbors, people he would proudly come to call his friends. As a respected equal, he learns to hunt, fish, farm, canoe, and live amongst them. Bridges' revealing personal account captures the geography and natural history of the isolated region flawlessly, painting the stunning scenery and amazing encounters in vivid detail. It also documents the tragedy of European colonization. The Yaghans were decimated by disease and violent inter-cultural conflicts; Bridges' unmistakable compassion and admiration for the people and their traditional heritage mark Uttermost Part of the Earth as a seminal work in the literature of historical anthropology. A lucid, informative, funny, and singular first-hand account, this epic autobiography, accompanied by maps and photographs, is a captivating read for anyone interested in exploring the indigenous peoples, culture, and ecology of this exotic homeland at the end of the world.

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Las Nonnas La Santa y La C*****a - Doris Gasperin Bulbarela Cover Art

Las Nonnas La Santa y La C*****a

Las Nonnas La Santa y La C*****a by Doris Gasperin Bulbarela

Esta apasionante novela nace entre las montañas del Véneto y florece en los campos de Veracruz. Es una historia que, contada con valentía, recrea el viaje de las familias italianas que enfrentando la pobreza, el desarraigo, el amor imposible y la esperanza, emigraron al México del siglo XIX. A través de las voces de mujeres memoriosas y hombres valientes, entre las peripecias de Las Nonnas, La Santa y La C*****a, se entreteje un relato íntimo de amor, exilio, venganza, reconciliación y legado. Inspirada en hechos reales y escrita con libertad y sensibilidad narrativa, en esta su primera novela, Doris Gasperín Bulbarela nos ofrece un tributo a su familia y a todas las familias que tuvieron el valor de dejarlo todo para emprender un viaje y sembrar futuro lejos de su patria. Es un homenaje a la migración, a México y al espíritu que convirtió el exilio en arraigo.

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The Last Days of the Incas - Kim MacQuarrie Cover Art

The Last Days of the Incas

The Last Days of the Incas by Kim MacQuarrie

The epic story of the fall of the Inca Empire to Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro in the aftermath of a bloody civil war, and the recent discovery of the lost guerrilla capital of the Incas, Vilcabamba, by three American explorers. In 1532, the fifty-four-year-old Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro led a force of 167 men, including his four brothers, to the shores of Peru. Unbeknownst to the Spaniards, the Inca rulers of Peru had just fought a bloody civil war in which the emperor Atahualpa had defeated his brother Huascar. Pizarro and his men soon clashed with Atahualpa and a huge force of Inca warriors at the Battle of Cajamarca. Despite being outnumbered by more than two hundred to one, the Spaniards prevailed—due largely to their horses, their steel armor and swords, and their tactic of surprise. They captured and imprisoned Atahualpa. Although the Inca emperor paid an enormous ransom in gold, the Spaniards executed him anyway. The following year, the Spaniards seized the Inca capital of Cuzco, completing their conquest of the largest native empire the New World has ever known. Peru was now a Spanish colony, and the conquistadors were wealthy beyond their wildest dreams. But the Incas did not submit willingly. A young Inca emperor, the brother of Atahualpa, soon led a massive rebellion against the Spaniards, inflicting heavy casualties and nearly wiping out the conquerors. Eventually, however, Pizarro and his men forced the emperor to abandon the Andes and flee to the Amazon. There, he established a hidden capital, called Vilcabamba—only recently rediscovered by a trio of colorful American explorers. Although the Incas fought a deadly, thirty-six-year-long guerrilla war, the Spanish ultimately captured the last Inca emperor and vanquished the native resistance.

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The Path Between the Seas - David McCullough Cover Art

The Path Between the Seas

The Path Between the Seas The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 by David McCullough

The National Book Award–winning epic chronicle of the creation of the Panama Canal, a first-rate drama of the bold and brilliant engineering feat that transformed global trade routes and shaped modern American history, as told by Pulitzer Prize–winning author and master historian David McCullough. A national bestseller and testament to human determination, The Path Between the Seas tells the stories of the men and women who fought against all odds to fulfill the 400-year-old dream of constructing a maritime passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. McCullough masterfully recounts astonishing engineering and medical accomplishments, political power plays, heroic successes, and tragic failures. Applying his remarkable gift for writing lucid, lively exposition, McCullough weaves the many strands of the momentous event into a comprehensive and captivating tale. Winner of the National Book Award for history, the Francis Parkman Prize, the Samuel Eliot Morison Award, and the Cornelius Ryan Award (for the best book of the year on international affairs), The Path Between the Seas is a must-read for anyone interested in American history, technological innovation, international intrigue, and human drama.

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Treasured Island - Michael Gross Cover Art

Treasured Island

Treasured Island The Story of St. Barth . . . and Its Barbarians, Billionaires, and Beauties by Michael Gross

"A smart page turner that reminds us paradise isn’t always what it appears to be." ⎯ Town & Country A hugely entertaining social history of the elite and exclusive Caribbean island of St. Barthélemy from the New York Times bestselling author of Model and 740 Park. St. Barthelemy is revered for its luxury, its stunning beaches and its VIP fans. Those who’ve either been there or hope to go, know St. Bart’s—or St. Barth, depending on your level of Francophilia—as the place for the beautiful people, the ultimate see-and-be-seen scene. Over three decades, acclaimed social chronicler Michael Gross has taken dozens of extended trips to this gorgeous, sultry paradise and knows it almost as a local. In his captivating and detailed history, this “premier chronicler of the rich” (Gay Talese) reveals how the island grew from a barren volcanic island with sometimes in-bred, impoverished residents and no creature comforts to an elite port of call where entertainment, tech, and fashion celebrities, old money, nouveau riche, and international oligarchs vie for tables in chic, expensive restaurants; where pristine beaches, superyachts, and spectacular hotels and lavish private villas are playgrounds for the American, European, and Asian upper class. And some locals have gotten rich off them all. This is an enticing and entertaining work that combines impeccable reporting and delicious commentary. It is essential reading for everybody who is anybody—or wants to be.

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Fire & Blood - T. R. Fehrenbach Cover Art

Fire & Blood

Fire & Blood A History of Mexico by T. R. Fehrenbach

Mexican history comes to life in this "fascinating" work by the author of Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans ( The Christian Science Monitor ). Fire & Blood brilliantly depicts the succession of tribes and societies that have variously called Mexico their home, their battleground, and their legacy. This is the tale of the indigenous people who forged from this rugged terrain a wide-ranging civilization; of the Olmec, Maya, Toltec, and Aztec dynasties, which exercised their sophisticated powers through bureaucracy and religion; of the Spanish conquistadors, whose arrival heralded death, disease, and a new vision of continental domination. Author T. R. Fehrenbach connects these threads with the story of modern-day, independent Mexico, a proud nation struggling to balance its traditions against opportunities that often seem tantalizingly out of reach.   From the Mesoamerican empires to the Spanish Conquest and the Mexican Revolution, peopled by the legendary personalities of Mexican history—Montezuma, Cortés, Santa Anna, Juárez, Maximilian, Díaz, Pancho Villa, and Zapata— Fire & Blood is a "deftly organized and well-researched" work of popular history ( Library Journal ) .

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The Pinochet File - Peter Kornbluh Cover Art

The Pinochet File

The Pinochet File A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability by Peter Kornbluh

Revised and updated: the definitive primary-source history of US involvement in General Pinochet's Chilean coup—"the evidence is overwhelming" ( The New Yorker ).   Published to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of General Augusto Pinochet's infamous September 11, 1973, military coup in Chile, this updated edition of The Pinochet File reveals the shocking, formerly secret record of the US government's complicity with atrocity in a foreign country. The book now completes the file on Pinochet's story, detailing his multiple indictments between 2004 and his death on December 10, 2006, including the Riggs Bank scandal that revealed how the dictator had illegally squirreled away over $26 million in ill-begotten wealth in secret American bank accounts.   When it was first released in hardcover, The Pinochet File contributed to the international campaign to hold Pinochet accountable for murder, torture, and terrorism. A new afterword tells the extraordinary story of Henry Kissinger's attempt to undercut the book's reception—efforts that generated a major scandal that led to a high-level resignation at the Council on Foreign Relations, illustrating the continued ability of the book to speak truth to power.   " The Pinochet File  should be considered the long awaited book of record on U.S. intervention in Chile . . . A crisp compelling narrative, almost a political thriller." — Los Angeles Times

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La Familia Drug Cartel: Implications for U.S.-Mexican Security [Global Challenges] - George W. Grayson Cover Art

La Familia Drug Cartel: Implications for U.S.-Mexican Security [Global Challenges]

La Familia Drug Cartel: Implications for U.S.-Mexican Security [Global Challenges] by George W. Grayson

La Familia Michoacana, also known as La Familia, is one of the most bizarre and deadly cartels in the world. Its Bible-pounding leaders recruit young people from rehabilitation centers, insist that they throw off their dependence on alcohol, drugs, and other addictive substances, and, once clean, apply to join their organization. The novitiates must submit themselves to 2 months of brainwashing that includes scripture readings, exposure to motivational speakers, and long periods of silence and meditation. Upon completing their “instruction,” they may become couriers, lookouts, or drivers. Those who show an aptitude for violence are taken in groups of 40 to a wilderness area known as the Jesús del Monte. There, they are directed to shoot, butcher, and cook 15 victims to demonstrate that they are neither squeamish about killing innocents nor repulsed by handling bloody body parts.  The leaders of La Familia—known as ”El Chango” (José de Jesús Méndez Vargas) and “El Chayo” (Nazario Moreno González) assure those who successfully complete this exercise that they are prepared to do the Lord’s work—that is, safeguarding women, combatting competing cartels, and preventing the local sale of drugs.  This syndicate burst onto the national stage on September 6, 2006, when ruffians crashed into the seedy Sol y Sombra nightclub in Uruapan, Michoacán, and fired shots into the air. They screamed at the revelers to lie down, ripped open a plastic bag, and lobbed five human heads onto the beer-stained black and white dance floor. The day before these macabre pyrotechnics, the killers seized their prey from a mechanic’s shop and hacked off their heads with bowie knives while the men writhed in pain. “You don’t do something like that unless you want to send a big message,” said a U.S. law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity about an act of human depravity that would “cast a pall over the darkest nooks of hell.”

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The Making of Modern Colombia - David Bushnell Cover Art

The Making of Modern Colombia

The Making of Modern Colombia A Nation in Spite of Itself by David Bushnell

Colombia's status as the fourth largest nation in Latin America and third most populous—as well as its largest exporter of such disparate commodities as emeralds, books, processed cocaine, and cut flowers—makes this, the first history of Colombia written in English, a much-needed book. It tells the remarkable story of a country that has consistently defied modern Latin American stereotypes—a country where military dictators are virtually unknown, where the political left is congenitally weak, and where urbanization and industrialization have spawned no lasting populist movement. There is more to Colombia than the drug trafficking and violence that have recently gripped the world's attention. In the face of both cocaine wars and guerrilla conflict, the country has maintained steady economic growth as well as a relatively open and democratic government based on a two-party system. It has also produced an impressive body of art and literature. David Bushnell traces the process of state-building in Colombia from the struggle for independence, territorial consolidation, and reform in the nineteenth century to economic development and social and political democratization in the twentieth. He also sheds light on the modern history of Latin America as a whole.

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The Condor Years - John Dinges Cover Art

The Condor Years

The Condor Years How Pinochet and His Allies Brought Terrorism to Three Continents by John Dinges

A "compelling and shocking account" of a brutal campaign of repression in Latin America, based on interviews and previously secret documents ( The Miami Herald ).   Throughout the 1970s, six Latin American governments, led by Chile, formed a military alliance called Operation Condor to carry out kidnappings, torture, and political assassinations across three continents. It was an early "war on terror" initially encouraged by the CIA—which later backfired on the United States.   Hailed by  Foreign Affairs  as "remarkable" and "a major contribution to the historical record,"  The Condor Years  uncovers the unsettling facts about the secret US relationship with the dictators who created this terrorist organization. Written by award-winning journalist John Dinges and updated to include later developments in the prosecution of Pinochet, the book is a chilling yet dispassionately told history of one of Latin America's darkest eras. Dinges, himself interrogated in a Chilean torture camp, interviewed participants on both sides and examined thousands of previously secret documents to take the reader inside this underground world of military operatives and diplomats, right-wing spies and left-wing revolutionaries.   "Scrupulous, well-documented." — The Washington Post   "Nobody knows what went wrong inside Chile like John Dinges." —Seymour Hersh

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The Mexico Reader - Gilbert M. Joseph & Timothy J. Henderson Cover Art

The Mexico Reader

The Mexico Reader History, Culture, Politics by Gilbert M. Joseph & Timothy J. Henderson

The Mexico Reader is a vivid and comprehensive guide to muchos Méxicos —the many varied histories and cultures of Mexico. Unparalleled in scope, it covers pre-Columbian times to the present, from the extraordinary power and influence of the Roman Catholic Church to Mexico’s uneven postrevolutionary modernization, from chronic economic and political instability to its rich cultural heritage. Bringing together over eighty selections that include poetry, folklore, photo essays, songs, political cartoons, memoirs, journalism, and scholarly writing, this volume highlights the voices of everyday Mexicans—indigenous peoples, artists, soldiers, priests, peasants, and workers. It also includes pieces by politicians and foreign diplomats; by literary giants Octavio Paz, Gloria Anzaldúa, and Carlos Fuentes; and by and about revolutionary leaders Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata. This revised and updated edition features new selections that address twenty-first-century developments, including the rise of narcopolitics, the economic and personal costs of the United States’ mass deportation programs, the political activism of indigenous healers and manufacturing workers, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Mexico Reader is an essential resource for travelers, students, and experts alike.

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As veias abertas da América Latina - Eduardo Galeano Cover Art

As veias abertas da América Latina

As veias abertas da América Latina Edição Comemorativa de 50 anos by Eduardo Galeano

Cinquenta anos após seu lançamento, em meio à globalização da poluição e dos desastres ambientais (mas não dos lucros das grandes multinacionais), à desigualdade social crescente, à persistência da epidemia de fome nessa que é uma das regiões mais férteis do mundo, "As veias abertas da América Latina", lançado em 1971, é mais necessário do que nunca. Com seu texto lírico e amargo e sua consagrada maestria, Galeano transmite uma mensagem que transborda humanismo, solidariedade e amor pela liberdade e pelos desvalidos.

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Chame o ladrão - Miguel De Almeida Cover Art

Chame o ladrão

Chame o ladrão Como os artistas driblaram a censura do governo militar by Miguel De Almeida

Histórias reais de criatividade, coragem e subversão cultural durante a ditadura militar, Chame o ladrão faz um retrato vibrante de como a música e a arte venceram o silêncio imposto.   Mesmo sob vigilância, proibições e censura, a arte brasileira não se silenciou. A criação nunca parou. Em Chame o ladrão, Miguel de Almeida revela como músicos, escritores e cineastas encontraram formas inesperadas, e algumas brilhantes, de driblar a censura e fazer sua arte sobreviver. A partir de episódios reais, o autor apresenta os bastidores de uma batalha silenciosa entre o aparato repressivo do Estado e a inventividade dos artistas. Pseudônimos, metáforas, códigos secretos e estratégias ousadas transformaram a cultura em um espaço de resistência: "jogadas individuais" de artistas que, com seus próprios truques, driblaram a censura; a criação de redes de movimentação para enfrentar a repressão; a gradual perda da narrativa por parte dos militares, quando a censura já não conseguia conter a literatura. Por fim, as histórias expõem também o lado dos censores, ridículo, mesquinho e medíocre. Baseado em entrevistas exclusivas com ícones como Luiz Carlos Barreto, Roberto Menescal e Ignácio de Loyola Brandão, Miguel de Almeida explora a criatividade brasileira para além da dor, focando na inteligência, no humor e nas artimanhas para fazer a arte chegar ao público. Com ritmo ágil e pesquisa cuidadosa, Chame o ladrão resgata um capítulo fascinante da história brasileira e mostra que, mesmo nos períodos mais sombrios, a arte sempre encontra um jeito de ser ouvida.

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Operation Condor: The Pact That Terrorized a Continent - Francesca Lessa & Sebastián Santana Cover Art

Operation Condor: The Pact That Terrorized a Continent

Operation Condor: The Pact That Terrorized a Continent by Francesca Lessa & Sebastián Santana

In Operation Condor: The Pact That Terrorized a Continent , Francesca Lessa uncovers the shadowy machinery behind one of the most chilling transnational terror campaigns of the twentieth century. What began as a secret pact among South America's military dictatorships quickly grew into a coordinated system of surveillance, kidnappings, torture, and disappearances that reached across borders and oceans. Through meticulous research and newly unearthed documents, Lessa reveals how those in power built a network designed to eliminate dissent wherever it dared to surface, turning exile into a false refuge and entire nations into hunting grounds. This book is not simply a reconstruction of clandestine meetings and sealed orders, though it excels at that. It is a deeply human story that follows the lives interrupted and the families who refused to surrender to silence. Lessa brings to light parents who never stopped searching, survivors who fought to be heard, and investigators who chipped away at decades of denial. Their voices and struggles give this history its pulse, reminding us that truth is often preserved not by institutions but by ordinary people who refuse to forget. Translated with clarity and grace by Alejandro Reyes, and enriched by Sebastián Santana Camargo's haunting illustrations, this authorized English edition of the acclaimed Plan Cóndor: Viejos secretos y nuevos hallazgos is both a work of history and an act of witness. It confronts a past many hoped would remain in the shadows and insists on remembering, not out of vengeance, but as a defense of democracy and dignity. The result is a gripping, sobering, and ultimately hopeful testament to the enduring power of memory and justice.

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Santa Anna's Army in the Texas Revolution, 1835 - Gregg J. Dimmick, John R Wheat & Manuel Hinojosa Cover Art

Santa Anna's Army in the Texas Revolution, 1835

Santa Anna's Army in the Texas Revolution, 1835 by Gregg J. Dimmick, John R Wheat & Manuel Hinojosa

The history of the Mexican Army’s activity in the Texas Revolution is well documented but often hidden away. Many important primary sources have been lost or destroyed, but an impressive amount of period documentation has survived. And yet many of these handwritten, Spanish documents have been shelved in the back rooms of museums and libraries long enough to have been forgotten. Various archives are scattered in locations across Spain, Mexico, and the United States, with very few documents having been translated into English until now. Little can be found in Texan sources that addresses the actions, motivations, and opinions of the Mexican participants in the Texas Revolution. What does exist in Texan accounts was either added in passing or, worse, grossly fabricated. In short, the Texan side of the story has been told, and often at the expense of the perspective of Mexican participants. Author Gregg J. Dimmick makes available this new perspective, including a consideration of the many external forces affecting the Mexican government and its military leaders. At the same time Texans were fighting for independence, Mexican officials faced revolts across several states, battled each other for political control, responded to Spain’s attempts to reacquire Mexico, and contended with numerous foreign powers, including the United States and Britain. In Santa Anna’s Army in the Texas Revolution, 1835, Dimmick sheds new light on the complex motivations of the Mexican Army facing the Texas Revolution.

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Conquistador - Buddy Levy Cover Art

Conquistador

Conquistador Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs by Buddy Levy

A thrilling narrative of the larger-than-life clash between a relentless conqueror and a formidable king that led to the destruction of the Aztec empire, from the award-winning historian and author of River of Darkness “Fascinating . . . [an] almost unbelievable story of missionary zeal, greed, cruelty, and courage.”— The Wall Street Journal “A sweeping and majestic history of a clash of civilizations that reshaped the New World.”—Neal Bascomb, author of Red Mutiny “I and my companions suffer from a disease of the heart which can be cured only with gold.”—Hernán Cortés It was a moment unique in human history, the face-to-face meeting between two men from civilizations a world apart. Only one would survive the encounter. In 1519, Hernán Cortés arrived on the shores of Mexico with a roughshod crew of adventurers and the intent to expand the Spanish empire. Along the way, this brash and roguish conquistador schemed to convert the native inhabitants to Catholicism and carry off a fortune in gold. That he saw nothing paradoxical in carrying out his intentions by virtually annihilating a proud and accomplished people is one of the most remarkable—and tragic—aspects of this unforgettable story of conquest. In Tenochtitlán, the famed City of Dreams, Cortés met his Aztec counterpart, Montezuma: king, divinity, ruler of fifteen million people, and commander of the most powerful military machine in the Americas. Yet in less than two years, Cortés defeated the entire Aztec nation in one of the most astonishing military campaigns ever waged. Sometimes outnumbered in battle thousands-to-one, Cortés repeatedly beat seemingly impossible odds. Buddy Levy meticulously researches the mix of cunning, courage, brutality, superstition, and finally disease that enabled Cortés and his men to survive. Epic in scope, as entertaining as it is enlightening, Conquistador is history at its most riveting.

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México profundo - Guillermo Bonfil Batalla Cover Art

México profundo

México profundo Una civilización negada by Guillermo Bonfil Batalla

México profundo. Una civilización negada es un recorrido histórico-etnológico del pensamiento mexicano que, mediante la revalorización de la cultura indígena nacional, pretende unificar un país que el autor considera como dividido.

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La captura del Che y Fidel - José Reveles Morado Cover Art

La captura del Che y Fidel

La captura del Che y Fidel El operativo de la policía secreta mexicana que definió el futuro de Latinoamérica by José Reveles Morado

La Revolución cubana estuvo a punto de morir antes de nacer. Ocurrió en México. El 20 de junio de 1956 , en una esquina del Distrito Federal , el destino de América Latina pendía de un hilo, mientras el capitán Fausto Morales Juárez apuntaba con una escuadra .45 a la nuca de Fidel Castro . Pero no disparó. Junto con otros jóvenes cubanos —tiempo después serían los tripulantes del Granma—, Castro fue detenido por la Dirección Federal de Seguridad …, lo que irónicamente le salvó la vida. En esta obra y con el rigor periodístico que lo caracteriza, José Reveles no solo desentraña ese pasaje –que durante décadas permaneció bajo un estricto secreto de Estado –, sino que reconstruye una trama de espionaje y traición de alto calibre, que lleva a la detención del Che Guevara en Chalco ; documenta la disciplina de las casas de seguridad en Polanco y la Narvarte y el extenuante entrenamiento en los cerros de la ciudad. Basándose en el testimonio del protagonista que capturó a los líderes revolucionarios y en documentos desclasificados, el autor revela cómo esas acciones del sistema de inteligencia mexicano definieron el futuro de Latinoamérica .

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Alive - Piers Paul Read Cover Art

Alive

Alive The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read

#1 New York Times Bestseller: The true story behind Netflix's Society of the Snow —A rugby team resorts to the unthinkable after a plane crash in the Andes. Spirits were high when the Fairchild F-227 took off from Mendoza, Argentina, and headed for Santiago, Chile. On board were forty-five people, including an amateur rugby team from Uruguay and their friends and family. The skies were clear that Friday, October 13, 1972, and at 3:30 p.m., the Fairchild's pilot reported their altitude at 15,000 feet. But one minute later, the Santiago control tower lost all contact with the aircraft. For eight days, Chileans, Uruguayans, and Argentinians searched for it, but snowfall in the Andes had been heavy, and the odds of locating any wreckage were slim. Ten weeks later, a Chilean peasant in a remote valley noticed two haggard men desperately gesticulating to him from across a river. He threw them a pen and paper, and the note they tossed back read: "I come from a plane that fell in the mountains . . ." Sixteen passengers survived its horrific crash. In the remote glacial wilderness, they camped in the plane's fuselage, where they faced freezing temperatures, life-threatening injuries, an avalanche, and imminent starvation. As their meager food supplies ran out, and after they heard on a patched-together radio that the search parties had been called off, it seemed like all hope was lost. To save their own lives, these men and women not only had to keep their faith, they had to make an impossible decision: Should they eat the flesh of their dead friends? A remarkable story of endurance and determination, friendship and the human spirit, Alive is "a classic in the literature of survival" ( Newsweek ).

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Empire of Blue Water - Stephan Talty Cover Art

Empire of Blue Water

Empire of Blue Water Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe That Ended the Outlaws' Bloody Reign by Stephan Talty

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Talty’s vigorous history of seventeenth-century pirates of the Caribbean [is] a pleasure to read from bow to stern.”— Entertainment Weekly   “In Stephan Talty’s hands, the brilliant Captain Morgan, wicked and cutthroat though he was, proves an irresistible hero. . . . A thrilling and fascinating adventure.”—Caroline Alexander, author of The Endurance and The Bounty   The passion and violence of the age of exploration and empire come to vivid life in this story of the legendary pirate who took on the greatest military power on earth with a ragtag bunch of renegades. Awash with bloody battles, political intrigues, natural disaster, and a cast of characters more compelling, bizarre, and memorable than any found in a Hollywood swashbuckler, Empire of Blue Water brilliantly re-creates the life and times of Henry Morgan and the real pirates of the Caribbean.

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El País Creado Por Wall Street - Ovidio Diaz Espino Cover Art

El País Creado Por Wall Street

El País Creado Por Wall Street La historia prohibida de Panamá y su Canal by Ovidio Diaz Espino

El País Creado por Wall Street: La Historia Prohibida de Panamá y su Canal ofrece un relato apasionante sobre la creación de la República de Panamá y su canal en 1903 por un grupo de banqueros y abogados de Wall Street con la ayuda del Presidente norteamericano Teddy Roosevelt. El resultado de cuatro años de investigación, este libro revela la verdadera historia oculta de como los EE.UU. logró los derechos para la construcción del Canal a través de una especulación financiera y conspiración internacional que provocó la caída de una república francesa, un gobierno colombiano, creó la Republica de Panamá, hizo tambalear al invencible Teddy Roosevelt, y dio a luz al imperialismo estadounidense en Latinoamérica.     “…Una nueva visión de la historia de Panamá basada en una minuciosa investigación…” Miami Nuevo Herald “… un relato fascinante de una historia real escandalosa.” Goodreads. “… un trabajo bien documentado ... en un estilo informativo, interesante e incluso emocionante.”Choice “El libro de Díaz Espino atrapa como si fuera un thriller. ” America Economía “Cautivadora y bien narrada. [Diaz] Espino desempeña una gran labor en unir diversas fuentes para contar una historia que debe provocar un debate popular y, posiblemente, un estudio más intensivo de la época y los acontecimientos." Perspectives on Political Sciences. “Los roles de Theodore Roosevelt, la compañía del canal Francés, y Wall Street se destacan, con una clara atención a sus motivos inmediatos – dinero y poder.” Book News “Un estudio de cómo los intereses económicos y políticos se combinan para determinar y sacar provecho de la política exterior de EE.UU.." World Wide Works “Un pantallaso intrigante sobre la traiciones, maquinaciones financieras ocultas y la diplomacia del dólar…” Longitud “…una historia no contada en los libros de historia norteamericanos.” Book Ideas

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Idle Days in Patagonia Illustrated by A. Hartley and J. Smit - W H. Hudson Cover Art

Idle Days in Patagonia Illustrated by A. Hartley and J. Smit

Idle Days in Patagonia Illustrated by A. Hartley and J. Smit by W H. Hudson

The HISTORY OF CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICA collection includes books from the British Library digitised by Microsoft. Titles in this collection provide cultural, statistical, commercial, chronological and geo-economic histories of Central and South America. This series also includes texts, reports, letters, and illustrated and interpretive histories of indigenous peoples, and the natural and built environments that have fascinated historians for centuries. Along with written records, the collection features transcribed oral histories and traditions spanning the range of cultures and civilisations in the southern hemisphere.

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The Big Truck That Went By - Jonathan M. Katz Cover Art

The Big Truck That Went By

The Big Truck That Went By How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster by Jonathan M. Katz

On January 12, 2010, the deadliest earthquake in the history of the Western Hemisphere struck the nation least prepared to handle it. Jonathan M. Katz, the only full-time American news correspondent in Haiti, was inside his house when it buckled along with hundreds of thousands of others. In this visceral, authoritative first-hand account, Katz chronicles the terror of that day, the devastation visited on ordinary Haitians, and how the world reacted to a nation in need. More than half of American adults gave money for Haiti, part of a monumental response totaling $16.3 billion in pledges. But three years later the relief effort has foundered. It's most basic promises—to build safer housing for the homeless, alleviate severe poverty, and strengthen Haiti to face future disasters—remain unfulfilled. The Big Truck That Went By presents a sharp critique of international aid that defies today's conventional wisdom; that the way wealthy countries give aid makes poor countries seem irredeemably hopeless, while trapping millions in cycles of privation and catastrophe. Katz follows the money to uncover startling truths about how good intentions go wrong, and what can be done to make aid "smarter." With coverage of Bill Clinton, who came to help lead the reconstruction; movie-star aid worker Sean Penn; Wyclef Jean; Haiti's leaders and people alike, Katz weaves a complex, darkly funny, and unexpected portrait of one of the world's most fascinating countries. The Big Truck That Went By is not only a definitive account of Haiti's earthquake, but of the world we live in today.

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The Cord Keepers - Frank L. Salomon Cover Art

The Cord Keepers

The Cord Keepers Khipus and Cultural Life in a Peruvian Village by Frank L. Salomon

None of the world’s “lost writings” have proven more perplexing than the mysterious script in which the Inka Empire kept its records. Ancient Andean peoples encoded knowledge in knotted cords of cotton or wool called khipus . In The Cord Keepers , the distinguished anthropologist Frank Salomon breaks new ground with a close ethnography of one Andean village where villagers, surprisingly, have conserved a set of these enigmatic cords to the present day. The “quipocamayos,” as the villagers call them, form a sacred patrimony. Keying his reading to the internal life of the ancient kin groups that own the khipus, Salomon suggests that the multicolored cords, with their knots and lavishly woven ornaments, did not mimic speech as most systems of writing do, but instead were anchored in nonverbal codes. The Cord Keepers makes a compelling argument for a close intrinsic link between rituals and visual-sign systems. It indicates that, while Andean graphic representation may differ radically from familiar ideas of writing, it may not lie beyond the reach of scholarly interpretation.In 1994, Salomon witnessed the use of khipus as civic regalia on the heights of Tupicocha, in Peru’s central Huarochirí region. By observing the rich ritual surrounding them, studying the village’s written records from past centuries, and analyzing the khipus themselves, Salomon opens a fresh chapter in the quest for khipu decipherment. He draws on a decade’s field research, early colonial records, and radiocarbon and fiber analysis. Challenging the prevailing idea that the use of khipus ended under early Spanish colonial rule, Salomon reveals that these beautiful objects served, apparently as late as the early twentieth century, to document households’ contribution to their kin groups and these kin groups’ contribution to their village. The Cord Keepers is a major contribution to Andean history and, more broadly, to understandings of writing and literacy.

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River of Darkness - Buddy Levy Cover Art

River of Darkness

River of Darkness Francisco Orellana and the Deadly First Voyage through the Amazon by Buddy Levy

The acclaimed author of Labyrinth of Ice charts the legendary sixteenth-century adventurer's death-defying navigation of the Amazon River. In 1541, Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro and his lieutenant Francisco Orellana searched for La Canela, South America's rumored Land of Cinnamon, and the fabled El Dorado, "the golden man." Quickly, the enormous expedition of mercenaries, enslaved natives, horses, and hunting dogs were decimated through disease, starvation, and attacks in the jungle. Hopelessly lost in the swampy labyrinth, Pizarro and Orellana made the fateful decision to separate. While Pizarro eventually returned home in rags, Orellana and fifty-seven men continued into the unknown reaches of the mighty Amazon jungle and river. Theirs would be the greater glory. Interweaving historical accounts with newly uncovered details, Levy reconstructs Orellana's journey as the first European to navigate the world's largest river. Every twist and turn of the powerful Amazon holds new wonders and the risk of death. Levy gives a long-overdue account of the Amazon's people—some offering sustenance and guidance, others hostile, subjecting the invaders to gauntlets of unremitting attacks and signs of terrifying rituals. Violent and beautiful, noble and tragic, River of Darkness is riveting history and breathtaking adventure that will sweep readers on a voyage unlike any other. Praise for Buddy Levy and River of Darkness "In River of Darkness , Buddy Levy recounts Orellana's headlong dash down the Amazon. Like Mr. Levy's last book, Conquistador , about the conquest of Mexico, River of Darkness presents a fast-moving tale of triumph over seemingly insurmountable odds.  . . . Though impromptu, the expedition was one of the most amazing adventures of all time." — Wall Street Journal "An exciting, well-plotted excursion down the Amazon River with the early Spanish conquistador.  . . . [A] richly textured account of the rogue, rebel and visionary whose discovery still resonates today." — Kirkus Reviews "A rollicking adventure  . . . Levy successfully conveys the Amazon's power and majesty, while shedding light on the futility of humanity's attempt to tame it." — The A.V. Club

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Mexico - Paul Gillingham Cover Art

Mexico

Mexico A 500-Year History by Paul Gillingham

Longlisted for the 2026 Cundill History Prize A Washington Post Best Nonfiction Book of 2025 From acclaimed and prize-winning historian Paul Gillingham, a rich and vibrant history of one of the world’s most diverse, politically ground-breaking, and influential of countries At the beginning of his masterful work of scholarship and narration, Paul Gillingham writes, from its outset “Mexico was more profoundly, globally hybrid than anywhere else in the prior history of the world.” Over the ensuing five centuries, Mexicans have prefigured and shaped the course of human lives across the globe. Gillingham begins in 1511 with the dramatic shipwreck of two Spanish sailors in the far south of Mexico. Ten years later Hernán Cortés led an army of European adventurers and indigenous rebels to seize the legendary island city of Tenochtitlán, the center of Montezuma’s empire, the largest in the Americas. The capture of the future Mexico City was, more than an extraordinary military event, the collision of two long-separated worlds, radically different in everything from biota to urban planning. Spaniards discovered tomatoes, chocolate, and a city larger and more sophisticated than anything they had ever seen. Mexicans discovered horses, wheels, and lethal germs, sparking a cataclysmic century of disease that wiped out a majority of the pre-existing population and led to a unique recombination of European and indigenous cultures. The industrial mining of Mexico’s silver transformed the wealth and trade of the world. Mexico’s independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821 led to a calamitous mid-century war with the United States and one of the first great social revolutions that brought peace for Mexicans throughout many of the global horrors of the 20th century, before the country itself collapsed into the violence of the cartels and a refugee crisis in the 2000s. The history of Mexico has been, Gillingham shows, one of suffering empire but also of overcoming. Through it all the country set new standards for inclusivity, for progressive social policies, for artistic expression, for adroitly balancing dictatorship and democracy. While racial divides endured, so too did indigenous peoples, who enjoyed rights unthinkable in the United States. Mexico was among the first countries to abolish slavery in 1829, and Mexicans elected North America’s first Black president, Vicente Guerrero, its only indigenous president, Benito Juárez, and its only woman president, Claudia Sheinbaum. As elegantly written as it is powerful in scope, rich in character and anecdote, Mexico uses the latest research to dazzling effect, showing how often Mexico has been a dynamic and vital shaper of world affairs.

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A Small Place - Jamaica Kincaid Cover Art

A Small Place

A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid

A brilliant look at colonialism and its effects in Antigua--by the author of Annie John "If you go to Antigua as a tourist, this is what you will see. If you come by aeroplane, you will land at the V. C. Bird International Airport. Vere Cornwall (V. C.) Bird is the Prime Minister of Antigua. You may be the sort of tourist who would wonder why a Prime Minister would want an airport named after him--why not a school, why not a hospital, why not some great public monument. You are a tourist and you have not yet seen . . ." So begins Jamaica Kincaid's expansive essay, which shows us what we have not yet seen of the ten-by-twelve-mile island in the British West Indies where she grew up. Lyrical, sardonic, and forthright by turns, in a Swiftian mode, A Small Place cannot help but amplify our vision of one small place and all that it signifies.

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MACHU PICCHU:The History of Peru's Lost Inca City - History Titans Cover Art

MACHU PICCHU:The History of Peru's Lost Inca City

MACHU PICCHU:The History of Peru's Lost Inca City by History Titans

Considered to be one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2019, Machu Picchu is a man-made structure situated in the Andes Mountains in Peru. One of the things that makes it so special is that even though it was built in the 1400s, it was not discovered until the early 1900s, giving it a long-lasting opportunity to keep its form and magnificence when it comes to architecture and engineering. This ancient citadel was built by the incredible Inca civilization many centuries ago.  

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¿Qué pasó en febrero de 1973? - Julio María Sanguinetti Cover Art

¿Qué pasó en febrero de 1973?

¿Qué pasó en febrero de 1973? A cincuenta años del comienzo del golpe de Estado by Julio María Sanguinetti

Medio siglo después de los incidentes que anunciaron con claridad la inminencia del golpe de Estado, el Dr. Sanguinetti propone un texto clave para iluminar aquel período histórico cuyas resonancias aún nos afectan. Han pasado cincuenta años desde el "febrero amargo" de 1973. Los hechos que entonces se sucedieron mostraron el peor rostro de nuestra democracia, con fuerzas militares en la calle como no ocurría desde 1904. Este medio siglo de perspectiva nos dibuja nítidamente el comienzo del golpe de Estado que se consumaría cuatro meses después. La inédita tensión que se vivió entre el gobierno, la oposición, el Parlamento, los mandos militares y hasta la propia Justicia, configuraron una dura prueba para las instituciones y los actores políticos. Este libro propone una mirada alejada de las teorías interpretativas, que se atenga a "la majestad de los hechos", al decir de Hanna Arendt, para iluminar un período histórico que aún influye en los debates contemporáneos. Al decir de su autor, el impulso creativo de este texto surge "ante la desconsoladora conclusión de cuántos jóvenes no tenían ni idea del comienzo del golpe de Estado de 1973". El habitual estilo periodístico del Dr. Sanguinetti, ameno sin perder rigor histórico, se complementa con documentación escrita y gráfica, consolidando un libro fundamental para la comprensión de un hecho clave de nuestra historia reciente.

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The Sugar King of Havana - John Paul Rathbone Cover Art

The Sugar King of Havana

The Sugar King of Havana The Rise and Fall of Julio Lobo, Cuba's Last Tycoon by John Paul Rathbone

"Fascinating...A richly detailed portrait." -Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times Known in his day as the King of Sugar, Julio Lobo was the wealthiest man in prerevolutionary Cuba. He had a life fit for Hollywood: he barely survived both a gangland shooting and a firing squad, and courted movie stars such as Joan Fontaine and Bette Davis. Only when he declined Che Guevara's personal offer to become Minister of Sugar in the Communist regime did Lobo's decades-long reign in Cuba come to a dramatic end. Drawing on stories from the author's own family history and other tales of the island's lost haute bourgeoisie, The Sugar King of Havana is a rare portrait of Cuba's glittering past—and a hopeful window into its future.

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House of Rain - Craig Childs Cover Art

House of Rain

House of Rain Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest by Craig Childs

An eye-opening historic guidebook that draws on the latest scholarly research as well as a lifetime of exploration to put a light on the extraordinary Anasazi culture of the American Southwest. The greatest "unsolved mystery" of the American Southwest is the fate of the Anasazi, the native peoples who in the eleventh century converged on Chaco Canyon (in today's southwestern New Mexico) and built what has been called the Las Vegas of its day, a flourishing cultural center that attracted pilgrims from far and wide, a vital crossroads of the prehistoric world. The Anasazis' accomplishments—in agriculture, in art, in commerce, in architecture, and in engineering—were astounding, rivaling those of the Mayans in distant Central America. By the thirteenth century, however, the Anasazi were gone from Chaco. Vanished. What was it that brought about the rapid collapse of their civilization? Was it drought? Pestilence? War? Forced migration? Mass murder or suicide? For many years conflicting theories have abounded. Craig Childs draws on the latest scholarly research, as well as on a lifetime of adventure and exploration in the most forbidding landscapes of the American Southwest, to shed new light on this compelling mystery.

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Open Veins of Latin America - Eduardo Galeano Cover Art

Open Veins of Latin America

Open Veins of Latin America Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent by Eduardo Galeano

The classic survey of Latin America's social and cultural history, with a new introduction by Isabel Allende Since its U.S. debut a quarter-century ago, this brilliant text has set a new standard for historical scholarship of Latin America. It is also an outstanding political economy, a social and cultural narrative of the highest quality, and perhaps the finest description of primitive capital accumulation since Marx. Rather than chronology, geography, or political successions, Eduardo Galeano has organized the various facets of Latin American history according to the patterns of five centuries of exploitation. Thus he is concerned with gold and silver, cacao and cotton, rubber and coffee, fruit, hides and wool, petroleum, iron, nickel, manganese, copper, aluminum ore, nitrates, and tin. These are the veins which he traces through the body of the entire continent, up to the Rio Grande and throughout the Caribbean, and all the way to their open ends where they empty into the coffers of wealth in the United States and Europe. Weaving fact and imagery into a rich tapestry, Galeano fuses scientific analysis with the passions of a plundered and suffering people. An immense gathering of materials is framed with a vigorous style that never falters in its command of themes. All readers interested in great historical, economic, political, and social writing will find a singular analytical achievement, and an overwhelming narrative that makes history speak, unforgettably. This classic is now further honored by Isabel Allende’s inspiring introduction. Universally recognized as one of the most important writers of our time, Allende once again contributes her talents to literature, to political principles, and to enlightenment.

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The Broken Spears - Miguel Leon-Portilla Cover Art

The Broken Spears

The Broken Spears The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico by Miguel Leon-Portilla

For hundreds of years, the history of the conquest of Mexico and the defeat of the Aztecs has been told in the words of the Spanish victors. Miguel León-Portilla has long been at the forefront of expanding that history to include the voices of indigenous peoples. In this new and updated edition of his classic  The Broken Spears , León-Portilla has included accounts from native Aztec descendants across the centuries. These texts bear witness to the extraordinary vitality of an oral tradition that preserves the viewpoints of the vanquished instead of the victors. León-Portilla's new Postscript reflects upon the critical importance of these unexpected historical accounts.

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Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba - Tom Gjelten Cover Art

Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba

Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba The Biography of a Cause by Tom Gjelten

In this widely hailed book, NPR correspondent Tom Gjelten fuses the story of the Bacardi family and their famous rum business with Cuba's tumultuous experience over the last 150 years to produce a deeply entertaining historical narrative. The company Facundo Bacardi launched in Cuba in 1862 brought worldwide fame to the island, and in the decades that followed his Bacardi descendants participated in every aspect of Cuban life. With his intimate account of their struggles and adventures across five generations, Gjelten brings to life the larger story of Cuba's fight for freedom, its tortured relationship with America, the rise of Fidel Castro, and the violent division of the Cuban nation.

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Haiti: The Aftershocks of History - Laurent Dubois Cover Art

Haiti: The Aftershocks of History

Haiti: The Aftershocks of History by Laurent Dubois

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year A passionate and insightful account by a leading historian of Haiti that traces the sources of the country's devastating present back to its turbulent and traumatic history. Even before the devastating 2010 earthquake, Haiti was known as a benighted place of poverty and corruption, blamed by many for its own wretchedness. But as acclaimed historian Laurent Dubois demonstrates, Haiti's troubled present can only be understood by examining its complex past. The country's difficulties are inextricably rooted in its founding revolution—the only successful slave revolt in the history of the world; the hostility that this rebellion generated among the surrounding colonial powers; and the intense struggle within Haiti itself to define its newfound freedom and realize its promise. Revealing what lies behind the familiar moniker "the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere," this indispensable book illuminates the foundations on which a new Haiti might yet emerge.

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A Nation Rising - Kenneth C. Davis Cover Art

A Nation Rising

A Nation Rising Untold Tales of Flawed Founders, Fallen Heroes, and Forgotten Fighters from America’s Hidden History by Kenneth C. Davis

“History in Davis’s hands is loud, coarse, painful, funny, irreverent—and memorable.” — San Francisco Chronicle Following on his New York Times bestsellers America’s Hidden History and Don’t Know Much About History, Ken Davis explores the next chapter in the country’s hidden history: the gritty first half of the 19th century, among the most tumultuous in the nation’s short life.

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Sugar in the Blood - Andrea Stuart Cover Art

Sugar in the Blood

Sugar in the Blood A Family's Story of Slavery and Empire by Andrea Stuart

In the late 1630s, lured by the promise of the New World, Andrea Stuart’s earliest known maternal ancestor, George Ashby, set sail from England to settle in Barbados. He fell into the life of a sugar plantation owner by mere chance, but by the time he harvested his first crop, a revolution was fully under way: the farming of sugar cane, and the swiftly increasing demands for sugar worldwide, would not only lift George Ashby from abject poverty and shape the lives of his descendants, but it would also bind together ambitious white entrepreneurs and enslaved black workers in a strangling embrace. Stuart uses her own family story—from the seventeenth century through the present—as the pivot for this epic tale of migration, settlement, survival, slavery and the making of the Americas. As it grew, the sugar trade enriched Europe as never before, financing the Industrial Revolution and fuelling the Enlightenment. And, as well, it became the basis of many economies in South America, played an important part in the evolution of the United States as a world power and transformed the Caribbean into an archipelago of riches. But this sweet and hugely profitable trade—“white gold,” as it was known—had profoundly less palatable consequences in its precipitation of the enslavement of Africans to work the fields on the islands and, ultimately, throughout the American continents. Interspersing the tectonic shifts of colonial history with her family’s experience, Stuart explores the interconnected themes of settlement, sugar and slavery with extraordinary subtlety and sensitivity. In examining how these forces shaped her own family—its genealogy, intimate relationships, circumstances of birth, varying hues of skin—she illuminates how her family, among millions of others like it, in turn transformed the society in which they lived, and how that interchange continues to this day. Shifting between personal and global history, Stuart gives us a deepened understanding of the connections between continents, between black and white, between men and women, between the free and the enslaved. It is a story brought to life with riveting and unparalleled immediacy, a story of fundamental importance to the making of our world.

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Fifth Sun - Camilla Townsend Cover Art

Fifth Sun

Fifth Sun A New History of the Aztecs by Camilla Townsend

In November 1519, Hernando Cortés walked along a causeway leading to the capital of the Aztec kingdom and came face to face with Moctezuma. That story--and the story of what happened afterwards--has been told many times, but always following the narrative offered by the Spaniards. After all, we have been taught, it was the Europeans who held the pens. But the Native Americans were intrigued by the Roman alphabet and, unbeknownst to the newcomers, they used it to write detailed histories in their own language of Nahuatl. Until recently, these sources remained obscure, only partially translated, and rarely consulted by scholars. For the first time, in Fifth Sun, the history of the Aztecs is offered in all its complexity based solely on the texts written by the indigenous people themselves. Camilla Townsend presents an accessible and humanized depiction of these native Mexicans, rather than seeing them as the exotic, bloody figures of European stereotypes. The conquest, in this work, is neither an apocalyptic moment, nor an origin story launching Mexicans into existence. The Mexica people had a history of their own long before the Europeans arrived and did not simply capitulate to Spanish culture and colonization. Instead, they realigned their political allegiances, accommodated new obligations, adopted new technologies, and endured. This engaging revisionist history of the Aztecs, told through their own words, explores the experience of a once-powerful people facing the trauma of conquest and finding ways to survive, offering an empathetic interpretation for experts and non-specialists alike.

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El Narco - Ioan Grillo Cover Art

El Narco

El Narco Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency by Ioan Grillo

"Essential reading."-Steve Coll, NewYorker.com A gripping, sobering account of how Mexican drug gangs have transformed into a criminal insurgency that threatens the nation's democracy and reaches across to the United States. The world has watched, stunned, the bloodshed in Mexico. Forty thousand murdered since 2006; police chiefs shot within hours of taking office; mass graves comparable to those of civil wars; car bombs shattering storefronts; headless corpses heaped in town squares. And it is all because a few Americans are getting high. Or is it part of a worldwide shadow economy that threatens Mexico's democracy? The United States throws Black Hawk helicopters, DEA assistance, and lots of money at the problem. But in secret, Washington is at a loss. Who are these mysterious figures who threaten Mexico's democracy? What is El Narco? El Narco is not a gang; it is a movement and an industry drawing in hundreds of thousands, from bullet-riddled barrios to marijuana-covered mountains. The conflict spawned by El Narco has given rise to paramilitary death squads battling from Guatemala to the Texas border (and sometimes beyond). In this "propulsive ... high-octane" book (Publishers Weekly), Ioan Grillo draws the first definitive portrait of Mexico's cartels and how they have radically transformed.

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Guerra Contra Todos los Puertorriqueños - Nelson A Denis Cover Art

Guerra Contra Todos los Puertorriqueños

Guerra Contra Todos los Puertorriqueños Revolución y Terror en la Colonia Americana by Nelson A Denis

"La poderosa e inédita historia de la revolución de 1950 en Puerto Rico y la larga historia de la intervención estadounidense en la isla, que el New York Times dice "no podría ser más oportuna." En 1950, después de cincuenta años de ocupación militar y gobierno colonial, el Partido Nacionalista de Puerto Rico montó una fallida revolución armada contra Estados Unidos. La violencia arraso con la isla: comandos nacionalistas fueron enviados a Washington a ajusticiar al presidente Harry Truman, se desataron tiroteos en ocho municipios, se incendiaron cuarteles policiacos y oficinas de correo. Para sofocar esta insurrección, el Ejército de Estados Unidos desplegó miles de tropas y ametralló dos pueblos desde el aire, marcando la primera vez en su historia que el gobierno estadounidense atacó de esta forma a sus propios ciudadanos. Por medio de narraciones orales, entrevistas personales, relatos de testigos oculares, testimonios del Congreso de Estados Unidos y archivos recientemente liberados al público por el FBI, Guerra Contra Todos los Puertorriqueños nos relata la historia de una revolución olvidada y su contexto en la historia grande de Puerto Rico, desde la invasión estadounidense de 1898 hasta la lucha actual por la plena autodeterminación de los puertorriqueños.

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Mexico: A History - Víctor Alba Cover Art

Mexico: A History

Mexico: A History by Víctor Alba

The early European explorers were astonished at the immensity of Mexico. They were equally baffled by the customs, language, and society of the people they encountered. A surprise awaited the visitors beyond every mountain pass, for in a land in which travel was so difficult, the native inhabitants had developed vastly different lifestyles. Historians and archeologists remain uncertain as to the origins of the earliest settlers or exactly when they arrived, but they had been living there for thousands of years before being "discovered" by the Spaniards. Fortunately for historians, some Spanish explorers recorded what they saw, even while Spanish armies were annihilating the native population and destroying the indigenous culture - tearing down temples, burning religious objects, melting down precious metal artifacts. And amidst the slaughter, Spanish friars continued their mission to convert the natives to Christianity, by whatever means. Here from noted journalist Victor Alba is the dramatic story of Mexico - from the Aztecs and Mayas to the age of viceroys and the Mexican Revolution. The country evolved through decades of civil wars and revolution, one government toppled then another until finally, a modern nation-state emerged. It's a history as vast and varied as the country itself.

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Pirate Hunter of the Caribbean - David Cordingly Cover Art

Pirate Hunter of the Caribbean

Pirate Hunter of the Caribbean The Adventurous Life of Captain Woodes Rogers by David Cordingly

From renowned pirate historian David Cordingly, author of Under the Black Flag and film consultant for the original Pirates of the Caribbean, comes the thrilling story of Captain Woodes Rogers, the avenging nemesis of the worst cutthroats ever to terrorize the high seas. Once a marauding privateer himself, Woodes Rogers went from laying siege to laying down the law. During Britain’s war with Spain, Rogers sailed for the crown in sorties against Spanish targets in the Pacific; battled scurvy, hurricanes, and mutinies; captured a treasure galleon; and even rescued the castaway who inspired Robinson Crusoe . Appointed governor of the Bahamas in 1717, the fearless Rogers defended the island colony of King George I against plundering pirates and an attempted Spanish invasion. His resolute example led to the downfall of such notorious pirates as Blackbeard, Calico Jack, and the female pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read. A vividly detailed and action-packed portrait of one of the early eighteenth century’s most colorful characters, Pirate Hunter of the Caribbean serves up history that’s as fascinating and gripping as any seafaring legend.

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Bad Mexicans - Kelly Lytle Hernandez Cover Art

Bad Mexicans

Bad Mexicans Race, Empire, and Revolution in the Borderlands by Kelly Lytle Hernandez

Winner of the Bancroft Prize • Shortlisted for the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction • Shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction • Shortlisted for the Mark Lynton History Prize • Longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction • Longlisted for the Cundill History Prize One of The New Yorker's Best Books of 2022 • A Kirkus Reviews Best World History Book of 2022 • One of the Smithsonian's 10 Best History Books of 2022 "Rebel historian" Kelly Lytle Hernández reframes our understanding of U.S. history in this groundbreaking narrative of revolution in the borderlands. Bad Mexicans tells the dramatic story of the magonistas, the migrant rebels who sparked the 1910 Mexican Revolution from the United States. Led by a brilliant but ill-tempered radical named Ricardo Flores Magón, the magonistas were a motley band of journalists, miners, migrant workers, and more, who organized thousands of Mexican workers—and American dissidents—to their cause. Determined to oust Mexico’s dictator, Porfirio Díaz, who encouraged the plunder of his country by U.S. imperialists such as Guggenheim and Rockefeller, the rebels had to outrun and outsmart the swarm of U. S. authorities vested in protecting the Diaz regime. The U.S. Departments of War, State, Treasury, and Justice as well as police, sheriffs, and spies, hunted the magonistas across the country. Capturing Ricardo Flores Magón was one of the FBI’s first cases. But the magonistas persevered. They lived in hiding, wrote in secret code, and launched armed raids into Mexico until they ignited the world’s first social revolution of the twentieth century. Taking readers to the frontlines of the magonista uprising and the counterinsurgency campaign that failed to stop them, Kelly Lytle Hernández puts the magonista revolt at the heart of U.S. history. Long ignored by textbooks, the magonistas threatened to undo the rise of Anglo-American power, on both sides of the border, and inspired a revolution that gave birth to the Mexican-American population, making the magonistas’ story integral to modern American life.

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A Flower Traveled in My Blood - Haley Cohen Gilliland Cover Art

A Flower Traveled in My Blood

A Flower Traveled in My Blood The Incredible True Story of the Grandmothers Who Fought to Find a Stolen Generation of Children by Haley Cohen Gilliland

Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2025 • THE WASHINGTON POST ’S 5 BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF 2025 • THE ATLANTIC ’S 10 BEST BOOKS OF 2025 • THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY'S BEST BOOKS OF 2025 • TIME MAGAZINE’S BEST BOOKS OF 2025 • NPR’S BEST BOOKS OF 2025 “[An] astonishing story…Powerful…Harrowing…Absorbing and lucid…You would have to harden your heart to be unmoved by the Abuelas’ quest.” —Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times Book Review (front-cover review) “Inspiring…A triumphant saga of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the face of pure malevolence.” —Hampton Sides • “Enthralling…Written with the nail-biting verve of a thriller.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) • “Extraordinary...A harrowing and timely reminder of what happens when democracy succumbs to despotism.” —Adam Higginbotham • “[A] cinematically detailed, deeply researched narrative.” — The Washington Post • “Piercing, emotional...Will resonate for generations.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A remarkable new talent in narrative nonfiction delivers the epic true story of a group of courageous grandmothers who fought to find their grandchildren who were stolen. In the early hours of March 24, 1976, the streets of Buenos Aires rumble with tanks as soldiers seize the presidential palace and topple Argentina’s leader. The country is now under the control of a military junta, with army chief Jorge Rafael Videla at the helm. With quiet support from the United States and tacit approval from much of Argentina’s people, who are tired of constant bombings and gunfights, the junta swiftly launches the National Reorganization Process or El Proceso —a bland name masking their ruthless campaign to crush the political left and instill the country with “Western, Christian” values. The junta holds power until 1983 and decimates a generation. One of the military’s most diabolical acts is kidnapping hundreds of pregnant women. After giving birth in captivity, the women are “disappeared,” and their babies secretly given to other families—many of them headed by police or military officers. For mothers of pregnant daughters and daughters-in-law, the source of their grief is twofold—the disappearances of their children, and the theft of their grandchildren. A group of fierce grandmothers forms the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, dedicated to finding the stolen infants and seeking justice from a nation that betrayed them. At a time when speaking out could mean death, the Abuelas confront military officers and launch protests to reach international diplomats and journalists. They become detectives, adopting disguises to observe suspected grandchildren, and even work alongside a renowned American scientist to pioneer groundbreaking genetic tests. A Flower Traveled in My Blood is the rarest of nonfiction that reads like a novel and puts your heart in your throat. It is the product of years of extensive archival research and meticulous, original reporting. It marks the arrival of a blazing new talent in narrative journalism. In these pages, a regime tries to terrorize a country, but love prevails. The grandmothers’ stunning stories reveal new truths about memory, identity, and family.

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The Memory of Fire Trilogy - Eduardo Galeano Cover Art

The Memory of Fire Trilogy

The Memory of Fire Trilogy Genesis, Faces and Masks, and Century of the Wind by Eduardo Galeano

All three books in the American Book Award–winning Memory of Fire Trilogy available in a single volume for the first time. Eduardo Galeano's  Memory of Fire Trilogy  defies categorization—or perhaps creates its own. It is a passionate, razor-sharp, lyrical history of North and South America, from the birth of the continent's indigenous peoples through the end of the twentieth century. The three volumes form a haunting and dizzying whole that resurrects the lives of Indians, conquistadors, slaves, revolutionaries, poets, and more. The first book,  Genesis , pays homage to the many origin stories of the tribes of the Americas, and paints a verdant portrait of life in the New World through the age of the conquistadors. The second book,  Faces and Masks , spans the two centuries between the years 1700 and 1900, in which colonial powers plundered their newfound territories, ultimately giving way to a rising tide of dictators. And in the final installment,  Century of the Wind , Galeano brings his story into the twentieth century, in which a fractured continent enters the modern age as popular revolts blaze from North to South. This celebrated series is a landmark of contemporary Latin American writing, and a brilliant document of culture.

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Sweetness and Power - Sidney W. Mintz Cover Art

Sweetness and Power

Sweetness and Power The Place of Sugar in Modern History by Sidney W. Mintz

A fascinating persuasive history of how sugar has shaped the world, from European colonies to our modern diets In this eye-opening study, Sidney Mintz shows how Europeans and Americans transformed sugar from a rare foreign luxury to a commonplace necessity of modern life, and how it changed the history of capitalism and industry. He discusses the production and consumption of sugar, and reveals how closely interwoven are sugar's origins as a "slave" crop grown in Europe's tropical colonies with is use first as an extravagant luxury for the aristocracy, then as a staple of the diet of the new industrial proletariat. Finally, he considers how sugar has altered work patterns, eating habits, and our diet in modern times. "Like sugar, Mintz is persuasive, and his detailed history is a real treat." — San Francisco Chronicle

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