Greg Grandin

"This completely revised edition includes new information on the US invasion of Panama, US interventions in Cuba, Guatemala, and Chile, Plan Colombia and the War on Drugs, the Obama administration’s involvement in the 2009 coup in Honduras, and the current crisis at the US-Mexico border, caused by decades of misguided Washington policies. Most provocatively, Grandin argues that the origins of many of the current threats to American democracy—disinformation, permanent surveillance, political extremism and out-of-control militarism—were foreshadowed in the United States’ Central American policy."--Back cover.

After decades of bloodshed and political terror, many lament the rise of the left in Latin America. Since the triumph of Castro, politicians and historians have accused the left there of rejecting democracy, embracing communist totalitarianism, and prompting both revolutionary violence and a right-wing backlash. Through unprecedented archival research and gripping personal testimonies, the author challenges these views. In doing so, he uncovers the hidden history of the Latin American Cold War: of hidebound reactionaries holding on to their power and privilege; of Mayan Marxists blending indigenous notions of justice with universal ideas of equality; and of a United States supporting new styles of state terror throughout the region.

"A new account of America's most controversial diplomat that moves beyond praise or condemnation to reveal Kissinger as the architect of America's current imperial stance."--Provided by publisher.

This Reader brings together more than 200 texts and images in a broad introduction to Guatemala's history, culture, and politics. In choosing the selections, the editors sought to avoid representing the country only in terms of its long experience of conflict, racism, and violence. And so, while offering many perspectives on that violence, this anthology portrays Guatemala as a real place where people experience joys and sorrows that can not be reduced to the contretemps of resistance and repression. It includes not only the opinions of politicians, activists, and scholars, but also poems, songs, plays, jokes, novels, short stories, recipes, art, and photographs that capture the diversity of everyday life in Guatemala. The editors introduce all of the selections, from the first piece, an excerpt from the Popol vuh, a mid-sixteenth-century text believed to be the single most important source documenting pre-Hispanic Maya culture, through the final selections, which explore contemporary Guatemala in relation to neoliberalism, multiculturalism, and the dynamics of migration to the United States and of immigrant life. Many pieces were originally published in Spanish, and most of those appear in English for the first time. -- BOOK COVER.

Examines the work of Guatemala's truth commission and how it determined that genocide had occurred and also investigates accusations made against Rigoberta Menchú's book about Guatemala's military dictatorship that reported these abuses.

Groundbreaking analysis and gripping storytelling from one of today's most original and highly acclaimed historians. 'The Empire of Necessity is scholarship at its best. Greg Grandin's deft penetration into the marrow of the slave industry is compelling, brilliant, and necessary.' -- Toni Morrison 'In this multifaceted masterpiece, Greg Grandin excavates the relentlessly fascinating history of a slave revolt to mine the enduring dilemmas of politics and identity in a New World where the Age of Freedom was also the Age of Slavery. This is that rare book in which the drama of the action and the drama of ideas are equally measured, a work of history and of literary reflection that is as urgent as it is timely.' -- Philip Gourevitch, co-author of the The Ballad of Abu Ghraib 'Greg Grandin has done it again. Starting with a single dramatic encounter in the South Pacific he has shown us an entire world: of multiple continents, terrible bondage and the dream of freedom. This is also a story of how one episode changed the lives of a sea captain and a great writer from the other end of the earth. An extraordinary tale, beautifully told.' -- Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold's Ghost 'Greg Grandin is one of the best of a new generation of historians who have rediscovered the art of writing for both serious scholars and general readers. This may be his best book yet ... a work of astonishing power, eloquence and suspense, a genuine tour de force.' -- Debby Applegate, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of H 'Rooted in an event known primarily through the genius of Herman Melville's transcendent Benito Cereno, [Wretched Tryal] is a stunning work of research done all over the rims of two oceans, as well as beautiful, withering storytelling. This is a harrowing story of Muslim Africans trekking across South America, and ultimately a unique window on to the nature of the slave trade, the maritime worlds of the early nineteenth century, the lives lived in-between slavery and freedom all over the Americas, and even the ocean-inspired imagination of Melville. Grandin is a master of grand history with new insights.' -- David W. Blight, author of A Slave No More 'Grandin has written a gripping, lavishly researched account of high seas drama, as well as the trials of the slaves before and after their revolt. Equally fascinating is the thesis Grandin advances: that in 1804 human political liberty and abject bondage were both rising apace - often advanced by the very same people ... Compulsively readable.' Christian Science Monitor '[Grandin] writes with the skills of a fine novelist. With herculean archival research, he traces the backstory of each of the main participants ... the owner of the slaves, the Spanish captain, the Yankee captain, and those slaves whose paths to the fateful revolt can be tracked or at least surmised. Then Grandin extends their stories beyond the revolt to the ends of their lives. Each life story leads through the explosive contradictions of the Age of Revolution ... Inventive, audacious, passionate.' Los Angeles Review of Books 'For nearly four centuries, as Greg Grandin writes in his powerful new book, slavery was the "flywheel" that drove the global development of everything from trade and insurance to technology, religion and medicine ... Through a remarkable feat of research he establishes a strong narrative line ... Harrrowing.' New York Times Book Review 'Grandin's pen is exquisite, the descriptions are lively and sensuous. But he is also deeply reflective. The book has import that extends beyond the interest of the story. He is, as scholars often say, making an intervention, challenging how we see the world and its history ... Exciting and illuminating.' San Francisco Chronicle 'Grandin tracks backwards ... like a sleuth, unearthing the motivations and machinations ... It's a testament to Grandin's power as a writer that [seal hunter] Delano's hardships and failings generate sympathy - even when compared with the stuff the Africans faced ... It's impossible to see all that happens as some isolated episode. It's more like the inevitable confrontation of many desperate people. Ocean currents, and the crush of market forces, have brought them all together. I can't say enough good things about The Empire of Necessity. It's one of the best books I've read in a decade.' -- Victor Lavalle Bookforum 'A splendid account ... deeply researched and well-written.' Dallas Morning News 'Fascinating and engaging.' Seattle Times 'As well as correcting the factual errors in Melville's book, Mr Grandin uses Captain Delano's account of this and other incidents to explore the complexities and ambiguities of the Atlantic slave trade.' The Economist 'A wonderfully engaging and original combination of action and reflection, vivid detail and deep insight. It is a shocking story of slavery and brutality, but with an ambition that every historian should have - to truly understand a world.' -- Matthew Parker, author of the Sugar Barons 'Richly informed ... [Grandin] describes his unsettling panorama in a restrained manner, avoiding exaggeration and allowing facts -- many of them horrific -- to tell the story. In doing so, he has produced a quietly powerful account.' Wall Street Journal 'Engrossing, well researched, and beautifully written ... A rigorously sourced work of scholarship with a suspenseful narrative structure that boomerangs back and forth through time. Grandin has deliv-ered a page-turner. You read it as if it were a thriller novel by Scott Turow or Lee Child.' Chicago Tribune 'A great and moving story.' Washington Post 'Remarkable ... superbly argued and richly detailed ... Grandin brings to vivid life the realities of the period' Guardian 'Superb ... An exemplary work of history - even-handed, meticulous, and adroit in balancing action and ideas.' Financial Times 'Accessible ... electrifying' Independant 'gripping' The Good Book Guide.

The stunning, never-before-told story of the quixotic attempt to recreate small-town America in the heart of the Amazon, "Fordlandia" depicts a desperate quest to salvage the bygone America that the Ford factory system did much to dispatch.