Title: Dated and tired
Product review: This book starts off strong but wanders far into the woods of analysis, starting at the time of independence. Worse, the analysis is tinged with a very outdated Marxist perspective, common to the region itself at the time it was written. Much of the ill befallen Central America is attributed to the landed elite and gringo involvement with a blameless proletariate suffering endless petty power struggles. The role of the church is basically ignored, as are Panama and British Honduras/Belize. Fascinating anecdotes like the American who tried to set himself up as king are glossed over. By the end, the analysis supplants the history and becomes dull and repetitive. This book is a worthy example of the kind of thinking that has perpetuated itself for years to hold Central America back. There may be a meaty read of Central American history out there, one that is equally critical of American involvement, but this isn't it.
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