An essential reference for comprehensive and detailed coverage of Latin American history, this book is divided into three parts: Part I, a descriptive chronology of key event from pre-Columbian times to the present, Part II, a thematic survey of topics, tracing population expansion, legal/political development, economic change, social evolution, science and technology, and cultural development across time, Part III, a biographical section containing over 300 biographies of individuals introduced in earlier sections of the book. Meticulously indexed and cross-referenced, this accessible resource also includes more than thirty historical maps.