Popular South American Historical Books
Find historical books written by authors from South America for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (29)
1.
A Long Petal of the Sea : A Novel by Isabel Allende EN
Country: South America / 
Peru
Peru
Description:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of The House of the Spirits, this epic novel spanning decades and crossing continents follows two young people as they flee the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War in search of a place to call home. “One of the most richly imagined portrayals of the Spanish Civil War to date, and one of the strongest and most affecting works in [Isabel Allende’s] long career.”—The New York Times Book Review NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Esquire • Good Housekeeping • Parade In the late 1930s, civil war grips Spain. When General Franco and his Fascists succ... continue
2.
Cantoras : A novel by Carolina De Robertis EN
Country: South America / 
Uruguay
Uruguay
Description:
In defiance of the brutal military government that took power in Uruguay in the 1970s, and under which homosexuality is a dangerous transgression, five women miraculously find one another—and, together, an isolated cape that they claim as their own. Over the next thirty-five years, they travel back and forth from this secret sanctuary, sometimes together, sometimes in pairs, with lovers in tow or alone. Throughout it all, they will be tested repeatedly—by their families, lovers, society, and one another—as they fight to live authentic lives. A groundbreaking, genre-defining work, Cantoras is a... continue
3.
Cross-Cultural Exchange in the Atlantic World : Angola and Brazil during the Era of the Slave Trade by Roquinaldo Ferreira EN
Country: South America / 
Brazil
Brazil
Description:
This book argues that Angola and Brazil were connected, not separated, by the Atlantic Ocean. Roquinaldo Ferreira focuses on the cultural, religious, and social impacts of the slave trade on Angola. Reconstructing biographies of Africans and merchants, he demonstrates how cross-cultural trade, identity formation, religious ties, and resistance to slaving were central to the formation of the Atlantic world. By adding to our knowledge of the slaving process, the book powerfully illustrates how Atlantic slaving transformed key African institutions, such as local regimes of forced labor that preda... continue
4.
Dancing with the Devil in the City of God : Rio de Janeiro on the Brink by Juliana Barbassa EN
Country: South America / Brazil
Brazil
Description:
Rio de Janeiro is a city of extremes: from Carnaval's hedonistic delights, to the poverty of the favelas, to the softly seductive samba beat. But there's a dark side to this beautiful city: for years, Rio was ravaged by inflation, drug wars, and crooked leaders, and the legacy of decades of corruption can be seen in the very real struggles the city faces today. Now, Rio is ready to remake itself, this time into a global, modern capital ready for its turn on the world stage with the Olympics in 2016. But at what price? Armed with sharp prose and a reporter's instinct, Rio-born journalist Julian... continue
5.
Death in the Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa EN
Country: South America / Peru
Peru
Description:
Set in an isolated, rundown community in the Peruvian Andes, Vargas Llosa's novel tells the story of a series of mysterious disappearances involving the Shining Path guerrillas and a local couple performing cannibalistic sacrifices with strange similiarities to the Dionysian rituals of ancient Greece. Part detective novel and part political allegory, it offers a panoramic view of Peruvian society; not only of the current political violence and social upheaval, but also of the country's past and its connection to Indian culture and pre-Hispanic mysticism.
6.
Deep Down Dark : The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free by Héctor Tobar EN
Country: South America / 
Chile
Chile
Description:
Deep Down Dark is the novel that inspired the film The 33 starring Lou Diamond Phillips, Cote de Pablo and Antonio Banderas. When the San José mine collapsed outside of Copiapó, Chile, in August 2010, it trapped thirty-three miners beneath thousands of feet of rock for a record-breaking sixty-nine days. After the disaster, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Héctor Tobar received exclusive access to the miners and their tales, and in Deep Down Dark, he brings them to haunting, visceral life. We learn what it was like to be imprisoned inside a mountain, understand the horror of being slowly consu... continue
7.
El coronel no tiene quien le escriba by Gabriel García Márquez ES
Country: South America / 
Colombia
Colombia
Description:
"No One Writes to the Colonel" is a portrait of old age, that period when physical decay conflicts with still-alert mental pride. Gabriel Garca Mrquez was born in 1928 in the town of Aracatca, Columbia. Latin America's preeminent man of letters, he is considered by many to be one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.
8.
El fabricante de peinetas by Ines Quintero ES
Country: South America / 
Venezuela
Venezuela
Description:
"Una señora de 57 años tiene un romance con un joven de 22. Cuando el amorío se complica, ella lo acusa de haberle robado un montón de dinero. La denuncia prospera, se entabla un juicio, comienzan las averiguaciones y salen al descubierto las cartas privadas que ella le escribió a él. Lo relatado ocurre en Caracas en 1836 y se convierte en chisme y comidilla de la ciudad por una razón muy sencilla: la señora en cuestión es María Antonia Bolívar, la hermana del Libertador, mientras que el presunto ladrón y depositario de su afecto es un joven humilde llamado José Ignacio Padrón, quien se gana l... continue
9.
Fabulosas : histórias de um Brasil LGBTQIAP+ by Patrick Cassimiro PT
Country: South America / Brazil
Brazil
Description:
Fabulosas conta as histórias de mais de trinta pessoas LGBTQIAP+ que deixaram e deixam uma marca no Brasil, por meio de sua arte, sua vida e sua luta. Os leitores vão conhecer personagens fascinantes e descobrir peculiaridades como o percurso enfrentado até o primeiro beijo gay na TV brasileira e o significado dos principais termos do pajubá.
Você certamente já ouviu falar de Laerte. E de Caio Fernando Abreu, de Marielle Franco, de Linn da Quebrada. Mas e Felipa de Souza? E Luiz Delgado? Muito antes de os movimentos LGBTQIAP+ se articularem e consegu... continue
10.
Facundo : Civilization and Barbarism by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento EN
Country: South America / 
Argentina
Argentina
Description:
An educator and writer, Sarmiento was President of Argentina from 1868 to 1874. His Facundo is a study of the Argentine character, a prescription for the modernization of Latin America, and a protest against the tyranny of the government of Juan Manuel de Rosas (1835-1852). The book brings nineteenth-century Latin American history to life even as it raises questions still being debated today--questions regarding the "civilized" city versus the "barbaric" countryside, the treatment of indigenous and African populations, and the classically liberal plan of modernization.