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by John Charles Chasteen (Author)
In After Eden, prominent Latin American historian John Chasteen presents a concise down-to-earth, fast-paced narrative of world history, from the Big Bang to the present, animated by stories of people from all walks of life and enriched by insightful analysis and the author's extensive world travel. To tackle today's major problems of global inequality and environmental degradation, Chasteen argues that we must first understand our shared past, both the violent and cruel dimensions--"humanity's inhumanity to itself"--and the aspirational ones--the creation of universal religions and ethical systems; the birth of the ideas of individual liberty and freedom; the resistance to the excesses of global capitalism; the civil rights and decolonization movements; and the environmental and social justice movements of today. For Chasteen, ultimate success hinges on our ability to recognize from our past experiences what is needed for us to live cooperatively and, most critically, the ways we educate our young people.
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Praise for Born in Blood and Fire by John Charles Chasteen, the #1 best-selling history of Latin America
"Concise yet satisfying, Chasteen...looks at critical Latin American events ranging from the original encounter of Europeans with the indigenous peoples of Latin America to the present day destruction of the Amazonian rain forest....Also refreshing is Chasteen's examination of the periods he covers from the perspective of women...who played a central role....From the glorious and bloody battles for independence, through the trying periods of post- and neocolonialism, the finding of 'national' identity and the more recent anti-Communist dictatorships from the 1960s to the 1980, to hope for a future of true democracy, this is a comprehensive and illuminating history."
--Publishers Weekly
"With Latin America an ever more important trading partner (and source of new U.S. citizens), many readers will appreciate historian Chasteen's brief but insightful historical analysis of this region. 'Conquest and its sequel, colonization...created the central conflict of Latin American history, ' Chasteen points out. The conquerors Europeanized their colonies; in the process, however, they introduced ideas--particularly liberalism and nationalism--that contributed to their subjects' long struggle for political and, later, economic independence. The complex racial diversity of the nations of Latin America offers yet another lens through which its history can be approached."
--Booklist
