Author Description

This popular text surveys the history of the Central American region, covering Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, from pre-Columbian times to the present. It emphasizes the common characteristics of the Central American states as well as their potential for political union. Now completely updated, the third edition of Central America: A Nation Divided encompasses the significant new research and tumultuous events that have taken place since the last edition was published. The text now includes coverage of the civil wars in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, as well as the restoration of peace to the region under the Central American peace accords. It also recounts and analyzes the substantial changes that have occurred in the economic and social arenas as Central American states have turned increasingly to neoliberal policies that emphasize the private sector and the development of exports while reducing government entitlement programs. Students will find this text enormously helpful for sorting through the vast amounts of significant research that has been written and compiled in the past decade.