Las venas abiertas de América Latina

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 & cultural narrative of the highest quality, & 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's concerned with gold & silver, cacao & cotton, rubber & coffee, fruit, hides & wool, petroleum, iron, nickel, manganese, copper, aluminum ore, nitrates & tin. These are the veins which he traces thru the body of the entire continent, up to the Rio Grande & throughout the Caribbean, & all the way to their open ends where they empty into the coffers of wealth in the USA & Europe. Weaving fact & imagery into a rich tapestry, he fuses scientific analysis with the passions of a plundered & 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 & social writing will find a singular analytical achievement, & an overwhelming narrative that makes history speak, unforgettably.