The second edition of this book differs only slightly from the first. Seven of its eight parts contain the same selection of readings. In Part Eight, “Latin America in the Twentieth Century,” the editor has added a chapter on the Cuban Revolution and ten other new items. The book continues to have value as supplementary reading for survey courses in Latin American history, but several examples will demonstrate that the new material does not always represent impartial or authoritative opinion. Jesús Silva Herzog, as a socialist critic of the Mexican Revolution, can hardly give a balanced evaluation of the Revolution’s achievements. Samuel Shapiro is not an expert on the Bolivian Revolution. James Reston’s short newspaper article contributes but little to our understanding of American reaction to Jacobo Arbenz’ regime in Guatemala. None of the selections in the chapter on Cuba was written by a genuine authority on Cuban history.
Another disappointing feature of the work is the absence of any reference to Chile’s experiment with Christian Democracy. Given the emphasis on social and economic reform in Part Eight, this omission is rather surprising. (Originally reviewed in HAHR, November 1955).
