Showing titles in South America

The land of Peru is one that, for many, seems far away and distant. Even for those living relatively nearby geographically, Peru can seem just out of reach. After all, Peru is situated high in the Andes on the western coast of South America. Those who dare to live at this high of an elevation have learned to live on their own terms.

Returning to his days as a reporter for El Espectador, Gabriel García Márquez chronicles, with consummate skill, the period in late 1990 when Colombian security forces mounted a nationwide manhunt for Pablo Escobar, the ruthless and elusive head of the Medellin cartel. Ten men and women were abducted by Escobar’s henchmen and used as bargaining chips against extradition to the United States. From the testimonies and diaries of the survivors, García Márquez reconstructs their bizarre ordeal with cinematic intensity, breathtaking language, and rigor.

Ever wondered how Brazil became the country it is today? This audiobook is your chance to dive into its past, from the early indigenous civilizations to modern times. You’ll follow the stories of brave explorers, witness the fight for independence, and see how different cultures shaped Brazil along the way.

By the time Christopher Columbus started setting east from the New World, he had explored San Salvador in the Bahamas (which he thought was Japan), Cuba (which he thought was China), and Hispaniola, the source of gold. As the common story goes, Columbus, en route back to Spain from his first journey, called in at Lisbon as a courtesy to brief the Portuguese King John II of his discovery of the New World.

Explains how Kimbanda’s presiding deity Eshu embodies both masculine and feminine principles, both god and devil, and thus represents human nature itself with all its vices and virtues Discusses Kimbanda’s magical practices, initiation rites, sacred knives, and sacrificial offerings...

Dos bastidores do descobrimento à crise de 2015 em 200 páginas! Ilustrado e didático, um livro essencial para todos que procuram um ponto de partida para se aprofundar na história do Brasil. Diz o poeta alemão Bertold Brecht: "De nada vale partir das coisas boas de sempre, mas sim das coisas novas e ruins.

No segundo volume de Escravidão—Da corrida do ouro em Minas Gerais até a chegada da corte de dom João ao Brasil, Laurentino Gomes concentra-se no século XVIII. O período representou o auge do tráfico negreiro no Atlântico, motivado pela descoberta das minas de ouro e diamantes no país e pela disseminação, em outras regiões da América, do cultivo de cana-de-açúcar, arroz, tabaco, algodão e outras lavouras marcadas pelo uso intensivo de mão de obra cativa.

In this compelling new book, relying on original reporting from the most dangerous corners of Rio to the halls of power in Washington, DC, Dave Zirin examines how sports and politics are colliding in remarkable fashion in Brazil, opening up an international conversation on the culture, economics, and politics of sports.

"Este libro de historia, aunque vaya ilustrado con caricaturas, no va en chiste: va en serio", así empieza este fascinante audio libro, un agudo recorrido por la historia del país, desde los días del Descubrimiento y la Conquista, pasando por los años de la Independencia, la Regeneración, la Hegemonía Conservadora, la República Liberal, el Frente Nacional, la época de la Violencia, hasta llegar a nuestros días.

Colombia is an amazing country with a rich history, vibrant geography, and diverse people - now, in this audiobook, you’ll uncover a profound and insightful exploration of this fascinating country, packed with detailed insights and interesting facts. Covering everything from the early history and development to colonization and Colombia's long journey to its place as a republic in the 21st century, this comprehensive guide is perfect for anyone looking to study this extraordinary country.

In 1560, General Pedro de Ursua led an expedition through the Amazon in search of El Dorado. Three months later, Ursua was murdered. His replacement, Fernando de Guzman, was also murdered. Emerging from the chaos was the Biscayan Lope de Aguirre, who turned away from El Dorado and led his men to Peru to overthrow the royal forces and declare independence from the Spanish Crown. When Aguirre was finally killed, the aftermath was astonishing: hundreds dead, entire towns depopulated, and a nascent revolution quashed.

Pensada como una obra destinada a "suscitar la reflexión sobre el presente y el futuro del país", se ha convertido en un libro clásico. Obra de síntesis, pero a la vez de ideas, en sus páginas no sólo se encuentran hechos sino también interpretaciones que generan polémicas y opiniones encontradas. Fue actualizada por el autor poco antes de su muerte en 1977.

Colombian Killers explores the stories of three men who have forever tainted the lush fields of Latin America. This book narrates the sadistic acts of serial killers Luis Alfredo Garavito, Pedro Alonzo Lopez, and Daniel Camargo Barbosa.

Desconocidas e insólitas historias sobre el origen de la comida en la Argentina.

One of the big lords of the drug cartels in Colombia is Pablo Escobar, a criminal who became a leader and expanded his influence on organized crime throughout the North and South American continents. With billions in his bank account, in cash, and in other assents, it’s not easy to ignore his name and the power he gained.

Trained by his uncle, an assassin, and initiated in murder at 17 years of age, Julio Santana proved to be a natural. Without moralizing about mass murder, The Name of Death attempts to show how such a career can be not so very different from other ordinary working lives. The portrait that emerges in this riveting narrative based on seven years of phone conversations. Describing in detail only a handful of the almost 500 murders Santana carried out, Cavalcanti reveals just how lawless much of the interior of Brazil has been for the past 50 years.

Em 1822, Laurentino Gomes compara diferentes relatos sobre o dia 7 de Setembro e a proclamação da independência. A verdade é que esse fatídico dia foi bem menos épico do que a pintura “Independência ou Morte”, de Pedro Américo, nos mostra. Mais do que desmistificar o grito às margens do Ipiranga, o escritor analisa como Dom Pedro conseguiu, apesar de todas as dificuldades, fazer do Brasil uma nação na sequência das mudanças provocadas pela fuga da família real portuguesa em 1808.

Transformations in Portugal and Brazil followed the discovery of gold in Brazil's hinterland and the hinterland's subsequent settlement. Although earlier conquests and evangelizations had incorporated new lands and peoples into the monarchy, royal officials now argued that the extraction of gold and the imperatives of rivalry and commerce demanded new approaches to governance. Using archival records of royal and local administrations, Kirsten Schultz shows how the eighteenth-century Portuguese crown came to define and defend Brazil as a "colony" that would reinvigorate Portuguese power.

In the hot, steamy world of Brazil's history, secrets lurk around every corner, and the ghosts of the past still haunt the present. Our latest book is an exploration of Brazil's rich and complex history, a story of love and loss, triumph, and tragedy.

How did Latin America's exceptional democracy become a nearly failed state? Why would a leader firmly in control lead one of the planet's richest countries into a humanitarian crisis? Conventional wisdom blames the madness of a populist leader who squandered an oil fortune. In Venezuela's Collapse, Carlos Lizarralde offers an alternative account that places race, ethnicity, and the struggle over resources at the center of the Hugo Chavez story. The book chronicles 500 years of demographic and economic strands that came together in 1998 with the election of a dashing new President.