Description: Edwin Williamson traces 500 years of history from the time of Columbus and the Spanish Conquest to the present day. By the 1750s the Spaniards and the Portuguese governed vast territories in the New World. It was not until the eighteenth century that reforms and political upheavals undermined the stability of the Iberian empires in America and led to bitter conflicts between liberals and conservatives in the independent nations that succeeded them. The author shows how this turbulent modernization continued into the twentieth century, as well as giving an overview of the last hundrerd years, looks in detail at developments within Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Cuba.

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