Product Description

This newly updated edition of Walter LaFeber's widely praised study of the evolution of U.S.-Panama relations contains two new chapters on the events that have occurred since the Panama Canal Treaty in 1978.
This new edition offers particularly detailed examinations of the 1988 attempt to oust Manuel Noriega and Noriega's role in aiding the Nicaraguan Contras, as well as invaluable background information for understanding the 1989 crises. LaFeber argues that the interdependent, but turbulent, relationship between Panama and the United States continued into the 1980s with the U.S. using General Manuel Antonio Noriega to overthrow the Sandinista government of Nicaragua. U.S. officials in the Reagan administration also subordinated widespread knowledge of Noriega's drug trafficking in order to keep Panama in line with the U.S. policy towards Nicaragua. But by 1986, the United States both knew and demanded too much of Noriega, and the relationship finally began to fragment. LaFeber's updated volume remains the essential source for anyone who wants a complete picture of U.S.-Panama relations from Balboa to the present.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #561759 in Books
• Published on: 1990-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From Library Journal
Noted historian LaFeber (history, Cornell), author of the acclaimed Inevitable Revolutions ( LJ 12/1/82), has updated his 1978 classic, bringing his discussion of U.S.-Panama relations up to the 1980s. This edition also marks the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Panama Canal. Even though this was written before the October 1989 failed coup attempt to oust Manuel Noriega, LaFeber notes that "Even if the General Noriega disappeared, the political relationship between Panama and the United States must be rebuilt and rethought." LaFeber also has provided an updated bibliographic essay.
- Judy Quinn, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"Noted historian LaFeber has updated his 1978 classic, bringing his discussion of U.S.-Panama relations up to the 1980s."--Library Journal

Praise for the first edition:

"The best overall synthesis of a vital theme in American diplomatic history."--History: Reviews of New Books

"Timely and enormously useful."--Ronald Steel, The New York Review of Books

"A balanced, unemotional indictment of the history of the United States in Panama."--The Nation

"A well-written, comprehensive analysis of U.S.-Panamanian relations regarding the canal and its surrounding zone."--American Political Science Review

"The best general study of U.S.-Panamanian relations I have read."--American Historical Review

"The best account in English of Panama's political and economic history."--Journal of American History

"A smooth and engaging narrative of relations between the United States and Panama from the middle of the nineteenth century to the present."--Michael Mandelbaum, The New York Times Book Review

"This work will remain one of the best on the subject."--Hispanic American Historical Review

About the Author

Walter LaFeber is Noll Professor of History at Cornell University. He is the author of many books, including Inevitable Revolutions, which won the Gustavus Myers Prize, and The New Empire, which won the Beveridge Prize of the American Historical Association, as well as America, Russia, and the Cold War, 1945-1989, and The American Age.

Customer Reviews

Panama's ultimate history
LaFeber book is the ultimate history for US-Panamanian relations. His telling of this history is replete with personal insights into the actors on both sides. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in a good overview of this often rocky relationship.