Silver, Sword, and Stone: Three Crucibles in the Latin American Story

The story of Latin America is often told as a sad, and tragic, story. One of violent colonialism, murderous priests, and plagues that wiped out entire civilizations; and the effects are still being felt today. In this book, Marie Arana explores the three main areas that have affected Latin America history over the past five hundred years: silver, sword, and stone. Each section explores the particular topic and how the past informs the future, and often times at the end thinking about if there is a way out of the mess that many of the countries find themselves in, and whether or not things can change.

This is an interesting book, as it looks at how things have changed, and more often than not, not changed at all. When most historians talk about Latin America they often stop right around the early 20th Century and things just seem to sink into a quagmire. While the average reader will probably enjoy this more than a student of history. Mrs. Arana makes some big assumptions, and leaps, that are a bit dubious in the historical record. All in all a highly readable work, about a largely forgotten region.