(Survey- Read second) You will never begin to understand Latin America and Latin American history without reading this book and understanding the impact it has had on Latin Americans.

(Colonial) You cannot stray too far from primary source documents if you are a historian, and if they are as important as this one, there is no leaving it to the side. Remember to take into account these considerations: - Who was Bartolome de las Casas? Class, Occupation and Race. What are some of the possible interests las Casas had while writing this? For whom was this piece intended?

(Independence and Nation Building) Chasteen offers an introduction, much like in Born in Blood and Fire, to the Independence period and eloquently sets up the key tensions that are exposed and those that arise in this epoch.

(Independence and Nation Building/Neo-Colonial) We haven't read much on Brazil yet, but Azevedo's brillant work provides a vector through which we are better able to understand the nation building process guided by Positivism during the late 19th century.

(Modern) Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature due to this book, Gabriel Garcia Marquez magically professes the every day lives of Americanos, as well as the challenges with which they are afflicted both mentally, emotionally, and physically. Don't just read this book for its historical significance, read it for its aesthetic value as well.