The Amazon in Times of War presents both direct and indirect evidence showcasing the deliberate state policies behind the violence and devastation inflicted upon the Brazilian Amazon and its inhabitants. The collection features firsthand accounts detailing not just physical assaults, but also economic and institutional harm.

In Fight for the Forest, Chico Mendes talks of his life's work in his last major interview. Tony Gross, environmentalist, expert on Amazonian affairs and a friend of Chico Mendes, follows the trial, conviction, and release of Chico's assassins and examines Brazil's environmental policy under President Fernando Collor de Mello.

K is the story of a father who searches for his daughter, disappeared during the millitary dictatorship in Brazil. The first Brazillian edition sold out in a few weeks, and was shortlisted for many literary awards.

Blending reportage, travel writing and analysis, 'Crossed off the map: Travels in Bolivia' uses a journey through Bolivia, from the Andes to the Amazon, to explore the country's turbulent history and contemporary challenges, painting a picture of a country that was the building block of the modern world, but is now lost in time.

The small nation of Belize has long been seperated from its Central American neighbors by history, language and culture. Formerly a British colony, this English-speaking country has traditionally looked towards the Caribbean islands rather than Central America for its economic and political links. Yet Belize's enclave status is increasingly a thing of the past, as trade, cross-border migration and a booming eco-tourism industry break down old barriers and put pressure on the country's social structures and natural resources. As Belize's agricultural mainstays face an uncertain future, the country has opted for green tourism and service industries as economic alternatives. Beaches, coral reefs and rainforests are now at the forefront of the Belizean economy, a development with serious implications for the country's environment and indigenous communities. Belize In Focus is an authoratative and up-to-date guide to this spectacular country. It explores: - The history: Maya culture; Spanish and British colonists; Garifuna and Mennonite settlements; independence and Guatemala's sovereignty claim; Central American or Caribbean? - The economy: The crisis in traditional farming; fishing and foreign investment; timber and textile exports; Coca Cola's plantation plan; the impact of liberalization; the drugs economy. - The environment: sea, reefs and rainforest; government policy and forest reserves; logging and land rights; tourism and sustainability; does eco-tourism work? - The culture: indigenous Hispanic and British influences; immigration and social change; Creole culture; art, literature and music; a nation in transition. - Where to go and what to see: Must-see landmarks and historical sites as well as the author's expert tips on how to get the most out of a brief visit. Belize In Focus is one in a series of guides covering the countries of South and Central America and the Caribbean.

This work looks at the world sugar business, identifying the key players and explaining how the industry works. It explores the economics and politics, the mysteries of the futures market and the technology of sugar production. Based on interviews with traders, buyers and producers, it follows the commodity's progress from canefield to sugar bowl.

During two centuries of independence from colonial rule, Haiti has developed into a society quite distinct from those found in the rest of the region. Hollywood-derived images of black magic, and Graham Green-inspired conceptions of a nightmare republic do scant justice to the reality of life for those who make up the third largest population in the Caribbean. This work addresses these questions, and provides an up-to-date guide to the people, politics and culture of this Caribbean nation.

One day, old man Antonio is walking in the mountainous jungles of Chipas with his old friend Subcomandante Marcos, when he sees a macaw. The bird reminds the old man of a folk tale - the story of how the gods found all the colours in the world.

General Pinochet came to power in Chile in a coup which cost the lives of over 10,000 people. The coup brought to an end the socialist government of President Allende and inaugurated an experiment in monetarist economics which Time Magazine described as 'a model of what can be achieved in restructuring an ageing prostrate economy into a streamlined machine.' A decade later, the experiment collapsed and Chile entered the worst economic crisis in its history and Pinochet faced widespread opposition. Chile: The Pinochet Decade tells the story of the rise and fall of the laissez-faire economic technocrats known as the Chicago Boys, who masterminded the experiment and analyses the nature of their alliance with General Pinochet. The book shows how the Chicago Boys promoteed a concept of 'economic liberty' based on the individual's right to compete in free markets. This could only be implemented through a state with vastly increased powers of repression and surveillance. In this way, manual and white collar workers and the rural and urban poor were forced to accept dramatic falls in their living standards which were a consequence of the model. For, the Chicago Boys presupposed a political and economic system, in which only the privileged few are actors and notions of social justice do not figure. Chile: The Pinochet Decade traces the failure of the model from the 'shock treatment' of 1975, in which the economy was massively contracted in order to reduce inflation, through the supposed miracle years of high growth funded by foreign loans, to the bankruptcy and final abandonment of the free market model.

Mexico is a land torn between Latin America and the US, between its Indian and revolutionary past and the modern trappings of skyscrapers, cell phones, and factories. It is also one of the biggest tourist destinations in Latin America for the UK market. Mexico is now the key country in Latin American debates about trade integration, neo-liberalism, and the fight of indigenous people for autonomy and self-governance, best characterised by the Zapatista movement. A new updated edition of Mexico in Focus gives the insider's view - the 'story the guidebooks don't tell you' - in accessible, lively and accurate prose. It offers a fresh and contemporary perspective on the Zapatista rebellion and indigenous issues, as well as the July 2000 election of Vicente Fox, the cowboy president whose controversial policy suggestions have included free movement of labour and unrestricted immigration within NAFTA and the legalisation of drugs. This completely rewritten and updated text also touches on the economy, the new relationship under George W Bush, literature and culture, as well as a completely new section on Mexican popular culture forms and music, including telenovelas, comic books, and lucha libre, or popular wrestling. Mexico in Focus is published complete with new illustrations, updated maps and facts and figures, and an extended Where to Go and What to See Section - expert tips on how to get the most out of your visit.

Promised Land vividly portrays these events with photographs and the words of people directly involved. It provides the background to understanding current events and where solutions may lie for the people of El Salvador.

This anthology looks at the AfroCuban experience through the eyes of the island's writers, scholars and artists. A rich portrait of AfroCuba--one of the most vibrant and least well-documented of the black Caribbean diasporas.--Stuart Hall

While the US wages the 'War on Terror' in the Middle East, it is conducting a terror campaign of its own closer to home. Chemical spraying is being used in Colombia as a deterrent and to destroy 'illicit' coca crops. But most people growing coca are poor campesinos with no alternatives to make a living. Whole towns, rivers, livestock and legitimate food crops have been sprayed and livelihoods destroyed by these US-administered fumigation programmes, backed by the Colombian state. Herbicides such as Glyphosate and Cosmo Flux are being used in high concentrations and sprayed from low-flying planes. The effects of heavy exposure to these chemicals on humans is still unknown. As O'Shaughnessy reveals, fumigation doesn't just harm people - farmers' livestock are being killed, and much of the area sprayed is rainforest - a fragile environment rich in diversity that is being poisoned by chemicals. This path-breaking book of investigative journalism lifts the veil on fumigation: why is it really happening, and who benefits? O'Shaughnessy travels to the Putumayo and Bolivar departments of Colombia, where most of the spraying takes place, talking to those affected. He draws a vivid and damning picture of a futile and indiscriminate chemical war, waged largely on the poor.

With the sudden flight of its decade-long dictator Alberto Fujimori in 2001 and the apprehension of his eminence grise Vladimiro Montesinos, Peru has in recent years experienced one of the most dramatic turnarounds of any Latin American country. Picking Up the Pieces: Corruption and Democracy in Peru looks at how Peruvians have reconstituted democracy in their country after a decade of the most mysterious and secretive political regimes ever to rule in the region. In the wake of the 2006 elections, which returned former president Alan Garcia to power, this work examines the role of multinationals, the judiciary, civil society and new political movements to show how Peru is reconstituting itself out of the vacuum left by flagrant corruption and authoritarianism. A concise examination and powerful indictment of corruption in Latin America as a whole, Picking Up the Pieces is also a definitive book on contemporary Peruvian politics.

The Dominican Republic is the land Columbus loved best runs the advertising slogan. In celebration of the 500th anniversary of the explorer's arrival on the island of Hispaniola, the government has spent a reported US$40 millions on building a bizarre commemorative lighthouse. In the process, it has bull-dozed the homes of thousands of slumdwellers to clear the memorial site. Beyond the Lighthouse looks at a country where extreme poverty exists alongside a booming tourist industry. Where workers from neighbouring Haiti are literally enslaved in an almost bankrupt sugar industry. Where political leaders date back to a dictatorship which ended more than 30 years ago. In its comprehensive analysis of the Dominican Republic's turbulent history and its current political crisis, Beyond the Lighthouse exposes the inequality and corruption which lubricate the country's economy. It explores the complex and tragic relations between Dominicans and Haitians and the ambiguous role played by the United States. The author also assesses the popular movement which is challenging a decaying political system and proposing a radical new form of democratic participation.

In 2003 Néstor Kirchner took power in a country still reeling from financial meltdown. He set out to reverse the extreme neo-liberal policies of the 1990s. The legacy of Kirchnerism offers key lessons for progressive politics everywhere - and points to the challenges of taking on resurgent conservative forces in Argentina and around the world.

A remarkable novel written by the Brazilian journalist Bernardo Kucinski. K is the story of a father who searches desperately for his daughter, 'disappeared' during the military dictatorship in Brazil. The father is himself a refugee from Poland in the 1930s. He is racked by feelings of guilt-that because he was immersed in his Yiddish writing and scholarship, he did not really know his daughter or the danger that threatened her. The novel is based on a true story - the disappearance of Kucinski's younger sister in 1973. As the author says, 'Everything in this book is invented but almost everything happened'.

The first Brazilian edition sold out in a few weeks, and the novel has been shortlisted for literary awards in Brazil and Portugal. Most recently it has been short-listed for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2015.

On 24 October 1985, the price of tin fell by half. The collapse of the international tin market sent shock waves around the world. Despite a gradual recovery, many mines have been forced to close forever. The Great Tin Crash traces the story of tin: from the rise of the tin can, through the collapse of the tin market, to the present. It looks at the crisis in the tin industry from the point of view of those who have lost the most: the miners and their families. From Siglo XX in Bolivia to Geevor in England, thousands of miners have seen their livelihoods disappear.