Latino History

Decoding "Despacito" tracks the stories behind the biggest Latin hits of the past 50 years. From the salsa born and bred in the streets of New York City, to Puerto Rican reggaetón and bilingual chart-toppers, this rich oral history is a veritable treasure trove of never-before heard anecdotes and insight from a who's who of Latin music artists, executives, observers, and players. Their stories, told in their own words, take you inside the hits, to the inner sanctum of the creative minds behind the tracks that have defined eras and become hallmarks of history.

From the royal wedding to boring airplane companions, Samuel Beckett to Margaret Thatcher, "senior moments" to life as a waitress, Maeve's Times gives us wonderful insight into a changing Ireland as it celebrates the work of one of our best-loved writers in all its diversity - revealing her characteristic directness, laugh-out-loud humor, and unswerving gaze into the true heart of a matter.

In response to the American administration's attempt to isolate Cuba, Fidel Castro delivered a series of speeches designed to radicalize Latin American society. As Latin America experiences more revolutions in Venezuela and Bolivia, and continues to upset America's plan for neoliberal imperialism, renowned radical writer and activist Tariq Ali provides a searing analysis of the relevance of Castro's message today. Includes an exclusive additional introduction by Tariq Ali.

Las batallas de una generación que formaron el presente "Esto es y no es una novela, porque la ficción a veces se desliza en sus páginas. Es también una crónica autobiográfica que arranca con un niño de cuatro años vestido con una chamarra amarilla, que pasa por un joven al que le disparan un 10 de junio y que termina en un hombre de setenta años que conversa con López Obrador sobre los posibles futuros de los libros en México. Pero es mucho más que eso, porque además es la crónica de una generación de militantes de izquierda mexicanos"

In this “timely and excellent volume” (NPR) Marie Arana seamlessly weaves these stories with the history of the past millennium to explain three enduring themes that have defined Latin America since pre-Columbian times: the foreign greed for its mineral riches, an ingrained propensity to violence, and the abiding power of religion. Silver, Sword, and Stone combines “learned historical analysis with in-depth reporting and political commentary...[and] an informed and authoritative voice, one that deserves a wide audience” (The New York Times Book Review).

Stripped of her rights for refusing to assimilate, sixteen-year-old Philadelphia Smyrna escapes Earth’s religious containment camps when her father is summoned to work on Mars. The remote research base seems like a haven of tolerance—until she discovers it’s the same base where her brother mysteriously died two years before. Searching for answers, she stumbles into a hidden lab and uncovers terrifying experiments for an apocalyptic weapon. The scientist in charge has cruel plans for Earth, and he will kill to keep his secret hidden.

Este audiolibro nació en el aire: en las ondas hertzianas que transmitían los micros sobre el pasado de Venezuela que escribió Inés Quintero. Ahora, esta edición permite volver a disfrutar de todos esos divertidos y asombrosos asomos a la historia nacional con toda la frescura, inteligencia y sentido del humor de esta académica tan prestigiosa y tan hábil para comunicarse con el gran público.

In this compelling new book, relying on original reporting from the most dangerous corners of Rio to the halls of power in Washington, DC, Dave Zirin examines how sports and politics are colliding in remarkable fashion in Brazil, opening up an international conversation on the culture, economics, and politics of sports.

Have you ever thought about visiting South America but just don’t know which country to choose first? Would you like to know more about the heart of South America, the country called Paraguay? The country of Paraguay, though small and often overlooked when considering South America, is a country that boasts of beautiful sights and indigenous people. With its location placing it at almost the centermost position within South America, Paraguay is often referred to by the locals as the “Heart of South America”.

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by the English poet William Blake consists of a series of texts written in the style of biblical prophecy but expressing Blake's own beliefs. Composed between 1790 and 1793, the book makes reference to Milton and Swedenborg, and adopts a device from Dante's Divine Comedy and Milton's Paradise Lost: a visit to hell. Blake expresses a deliberately depolarized and unified vision of the cosmos in which the material world and physical desire are both part of the divine order.

Nemesis is the story of an ordinary man who became the king of the largest slum in Rio, the head of a drug cartel, and perhaps Brazil's most wanted criminal. It's a gripping tale of gold hunters and evangelical pastors, bent police and rich-kid addicts, quixotic politicians and drug lords with math degrees. Traversing through rain forests and high-security prisons, filthy slums and glittering shopping malls, this is also the story of how change came to Brazil.

Breve Historia de los Incas comienza presentándonos el origen incierto de los incas y su inicial jerarquía social para llevarnos a continuación a conocer la historia de los gobernantes del Curacazgo de Cusco, incluyendo algunos tan relevantes como Pachacútec, conocido como el Alejandro Magno de América del Sur. El audio libro no nos presenta un desarrollo lineal de la historia de los Incas, sino que la autora elige tratar el tema desde una perspectiva trasversal.

As late as the 1960s, tacos were virtually unknown outside Mexico and the American Southwest. Within fifty years the United States had shipped taco shells everywhere from Alaska to Australia, Morocco to Mongolia. But how did this tasty hand-held food - and Mexican food more broadly - become so ubiquitous? In Planet Taco, Jeffrey Pilcher traces the historical origins and evolution of Mexico's national cuisine, explores its incarnation as a Mexican American fast-food, shows how surfers became global pioneers of Mexican food, and how Corona beer conquered the world.

On January 12, 2010, a major earthquake struck near Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Hundreds of thousands of people died, and the greater part of the capital was demolished. Dr. Paul Farmer, U.N. deputy special envoy to Haiti, who had worked in the country for nearly thirty years treating infectious diseases like tuberculosis and AIDS, and former President Bill Clinton, the U.N. special envoy to Haiti, had just begun to work on an extensive development plan to improve living conditions in Haiti.

¡México es el mejor país del mundo…! O eso dijo en marzo de 2024 la entonces candidata presidencial Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo. Pero ahora, como presidenta, le tocará reducir la cantidad récord de homicidios con que cerró el sexenio de Andrés Manuel López Obrador; dar solidez a las finanzas públicas y manejar la deuda, así como contener la aún presente corrupción. También deberá revertir el derrumbe en la expectativa de vida de los mexicanos y la caída de los niveles educativos y de salud del país, así como crear condiciones para acabar con décadas de un comportamiento mediocre.

"La idea de salir a recorrer -y a contar- las grandes ciudades sudacas se me ocurrió cuando pensé que quería tratar de entender qué es hoy América Latina. Hace mucho que no lo intentamos y, en general, solemos conservar esa imagen rural, ecololó de una región que es, ahora mismo, la más urbana del mundo. Cuatro de cada cinco latinoamericanos viven en ciudades, pero no son ciudades como las que uno imagina cuando piensa en Barcelona o en París. Para saber cómo son -cómo es Latinoamérica- decidí volver a hacer eso que siempre me ha gustado hacer: ir, mirar, escuchar, pensar, contarlo."—Martín Caparrós.

In the early 19th century, the United States turned its idealistic gaze southward, imagining a legacy of revolution and republicanism it hoped would dominate the American hemisphere. From pulsing port cities to Midwestern farms and Southern plantations, an adolescent nation hailed Latin America's independence movements as glorious tropical reprises of 1776.

Drug Lords, Cowboys, and Desperadoes examines the relationship between affect, narrative, and violence surrounding three historical archetypes—social bandits (often associated with the drug trade), cowboys, and desperadoes—and how these narratives create affective loops that recreate violent structures in the Mexican American frontier.

América Central y del Sur estuvieron llenas de grandes civilizaciones. Este libro analiza cinco de las más famosas: los olmecas, los toltecas, los aztecas, los incas y los mayas. Estas civilizaciones aparecieron por primera vez en América Central y del Sur hace más de mil años, y algunos descendientes de estas tribus siguen viviendo en estas regiones en la actualidad.

El intenso relato del regreso clandestino del director de cine Miguel Littín a Chile, su patria.