This new history examines the experiences of people from the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking areas of Latin America and the Caribbean from the onset of independence in the late 18th century until the present. With compelling prose, the book illustrates and analyzes the large and small events that make up history, the triumphs and defeats, and the work and everyday lives of men and women from many classes, racial, and ethnic backgrounds. Some of the broad themes of Latin American history modernization, dependency, revolution, neo-liberalism are constantly challenged by attention to the area's diversity. By interspersing accounts of the lives of the prominent and well-known with the commonplace, this history enriches the master narrative with the stories of ordinary people. In particular, the book addresses gender and its influence on political and economic change, as well as genderrs"s role as the playing field of cultural identity.