Product Description

Central America: A Nation Divided surveys the history of the region that includes Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama from pre-Columbian times to the present. The book emphasizes the common characteristics of the Central American states as well as their potential for political union. Now completely updated, this third edition includes coverage of the civil wars in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, as well as the restoration of peace to the region under the Central American peace accords. The text also recounts and analyzes the substantial changes that have occurred in the economic and social arenas as Central American states have turned increasingly to neo-liberal policies to emphasize the private sector and development of exports while reducing government entitlement programs. Comprehensive and incisively written, Central America is the best general introduction to the region available today.

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Product Details

Publisher	Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN	0195083768
Format	Paperback
Author	Ralph Lee Woodward Jr.
EAN	9780195083767
Label	Oxford University Press, USA
Edition	3
Dewey Decimal Number	972.8
Studio	Oxford University Press, USA
Number Of Pages	448
Title	Central America: A Nation Divided (Latin American Histories)
Publication Date	1999-01-21
Manufacturer	Oxford University Press, USA

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Customer Reviews

An interesting thesis and a wonderful overview

Review by Lehigh History Student, 2007-03-27

Woodward does an excellent job of showing how Central America developed from the Kingdom of Guatemala into the nations it is today. His view of Central America includes Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador and Belize. Panama is considered a part of South America and left out of most discussions for that reason. South America went through a tumultuous time during its years under Spanish rule and despite the bourbon reforms it did not advance as Mexico or South America did. The terrain is unforgiving with malaria filled swamps along the coast and steep mountains at the top. This did not allow for the development of railroads in the post independence period or for much economic development beyond coffee production. This coffee production was difficult to ship as they lacked the infrastructure to send the product across the world.
The dictatorships that would come about after the wars for independence found another source of revenue. The so called Banana republics would suffer many intrusions from filibusters but became stronger in the process. The dictatorships of the Somoza's and others would outlast many different groups causing all sorts of problems across Central America. This book seeks to capture this turbulent time period and put forth a question that has no easy answer. Why did Central America fragment into so many disparate pieces instead of remaining whole? This country would remain a nation divided of people who had common background under Spain but did not have unity in independence. One of the reasons for this is the tremendous competition between right and left. These two forces would hold sway over various aspects of these countries development through the end of the cold war. This is a great read for those who want to gain a sense of what Central America looks like and why it developed the way it did.

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Horrid apology of Rios Montt

Review by MKS, 2005-04-11

In 1982, Guatemalan President Rios Montt, a general who had assumed power via a coup, began a military campaign that the UN Truth Commission has called genocidal. Tens of thousands of innocent Guatemalan civilians, almost all of them Mayan Indians, were killed, tortured and burned out of their villages.

Woodward in his book, re-published with a new Forward in 1998, had this to say of Rios Montt:

"Rios Montt's ascension to power changed the pattern of military rule....More impressive was the decline of death squad activities and the restoration of security and peace in the central highlands...Political assassinations virtually ceased..." (page 250.)

Unbelievable. The "central highlands" was where the Ixil Maya were almost completely exterminated by Rios Montt's infamous "beans or bullets" campaign. Woodward's glowing report on Rios Montt is inexcusable and left me speechless. He himself refers to the Catholic Church's human rights report issued in 1998 and announced by Archbishop Juan Gerardi who was murdered two days later. (See page 332.)

Woodward's book is either propaganda of the most wretched sort or a lazy refusal to acknowledge accepted facts. In either case, this book is absolutely the least credible source of Latin America history around.

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Excellent background

Review by R. Debrigard, 2003-12-15

Mr. Lockard's review is correct: for particular periods, there are better books. However, for an overall, remarkably balanced review of the History of Central America from the time of the first European contact to the near present, I don't think you will find a better book. I found the 280 pages an easy read, but maybe that's because, in giving us a basic chronological account of political events, the author shows us how one leads to the next, and supplies the local economic, social context in which these events take place, and the international forces acting upon them. Anyone who has read this book is much better prepared to understand what is now happening in that country, and to judge what works and what doesn't work in the way of US foreign policy towards that part of the world. And besides, just the extensive bibliography is worth the price of the book.

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lack of passion

Review by Roland Schwald, 2000-05-14

I know: A history book is not meant to be a page turner. But this book is written in such a dry and unemotional way that the reader wonders why he was originally interested in that region at all. It mainly consist of a compressed recounting of historical events the author has read about somewhere else. The book may be helpful for the fist year history student, but for the 'layman' who has a general interest in the region and its history, this book isn't worth buying. Sorry!

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A review of Central America: A Nation Divided

Review by Paul Lockard, 2000-05-02

Ralph Woodward's Central America: A Nation Divided, has been the best introductory book to the region. This third edition is a clear improvement over the previous editions. Both the chronology and the bibliography have been updated and expanded. (The Bibliography is now 77 pages long!) The book is strong on the era of independence and the early national period (1780's to 1840's). It is excellent for the 1970's to the present. All of the countries are evenly covered, including Belize. However, it is not as comprehensive for the rest of the 19th century when coffee and bananas permanently shaped the economies and societies of the region. It is also weak on the Indian cultures prior to the Spanish conquest.

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