Synopses & Reviews
A groundbreaking history of the entire Western Hemisphere, from prehistory to the present, by one of the world's most exciting historians. In The Americas, the incomparable Felipe Fernandez-Armesto demonstrates that of all the inherited frames through which we view the world, few are more limiting than the tidy separation between the enlightened, first world United States and Canada, and behind a high wall, the more problematic Latin America. With his trademark range and independence of thought, Fernandez-Armesto sweeps aside these shopworn constructions and reveals the greater whole. The Americas connects all the dots, showing us why it's impossible to understand the history of North, Central, and South America in isolation. From the emergence of the first human civilizations through the arrival of Europeans and up until today, the land mass has been bound together in a complex web of interrelationships--from migration and trade to religion, culture, food, and the spread of political ideas. Further, for most of human history, it was the south that dominated the north--and, as Fernandez-Armesto argues in his provocative conclusion, it might well again. Embodying important new conceptions of cross-cultural exchange and conflict, The Americas is a book that will genuinely reshape the debate.
Synopsis
From food to the spread of political ideas, the landmass from northern Canada to the southern tip of Argentina is complexly bound together, yet these connections are generally ignored. In this groundbreaking and vividly rendered work, leading historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto tells, for the first time, the story of our hemisphere as a whole, showing why it is impossible to understand North, Central, and South America in isolation, and looking instead to the intricate and common forces that continue to shape the region.
With his trademark erudition, imagination, and thematic breadth, Fernandez-Armesto ranges over commerce, religion, agriculture, the environment, the slave trade, culture, and politics. He takes us from man's arrival in North America to the Colonial and Independence periods, to the "American Century" and beyond. For most of human history, the south dominated the north: as Fernandez-Armesto argues in his provocative conclusion, it might well again.
A panoramic yet richly textured story that embodies fresh ways of looking at cross-cultural exchange, conflict, and interaction, The Americas demolishes our traditional ways of looking at the hemisphere, putting in place a compelling and fruitful new vision.
"From the Hardcover edition.
About the Author
Felipe Fernández-Armesto, the Prince of Asturias Professor of History at Tufts University, is the author of several books, including Millennium, Columbus, and Near a Thousand Tables: A History of Food.