Contemporary Latin America presents the epochal political, economic, social, and cultural changes in Latin America over the last 40 years and comprehensively examines their impact on life in the region, and beyond.

• Provides a fresh approach and a new interpretation of the seismic changes of the last 40 years in Latin America
• Introduces major themes from a humanistic and universal perspective, putting each subject in a context that readers can understand and relate to
• Focuses on 'Ibero-America'--Brazil and the eighteen countries that were formerly Spanish possessions- while offering valuable comparative views of the non-Iberian areas of the Caribbean
• Emphasizes the global, regional and national dimensions of the region's recent past

Contemporary Latin America presents the epochal changes in the cultures, governments, economies and societies of Latin America at a critical moment in the region's history. Beginning in 1970, a decade before the tumultuous changes of the 1980s, Holden and Villars analyze the decline of the old era in order to fully highlight the significance of later developments.

The authors identify the central tendency of these changes as liberalization or openness, and present them in the context of the Latin American nations' rich history both as overseas kingdoms of the Spanish and Portuguese monarchies, and as self-emancipated republics. They emphasize the global, national and local dimensions of the region's recent past, while highlighting the persistence of deep-seated historical legacies that have continued to shape contemporary Latin America.

Each chapter is divided into sections covering relevant pre-1970s trends, post-1970s trends and the particular experiences of individual countries. The book focuses on "Ibero-America" - Brazil and the eighteen countries that were formerly Spanish possessions - while offering valuable comparative views of the non-Iberian areas of the Caribbean.

Robert H. Holden teaches Latin American history at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. He is the author of, among others, Armies without Nations: Public Violence and State Formation in Central America, 1821-1960 (2004) and co-editor of Latin America and the United States: A Documentary History (with Eric Zolov, 2010), and has written numerous scholarly articles.

Rina Villars is the author of three books in Spanish on the history and political culture of Central America, and of scholarly articles on Spanish linguistics and women.