South America Audiobooks | Travel

The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our W

The hidden story of the wanton slaughter -- in Indonesia, Latin America, and around the world -- backed by the United States. In 1965, the U.S. government helped the Indonesian military kill approximately one million innocent civilians. This was one of the most important turning points of the twentieth century, eliminating the largest communist party outside China and the Soviet Union and inspiring copycat terror programs in faraway countries like Brazil and Chile. But these events remain widely overlooked, precisely because the CIA's secret interventions were so successful. In this bold and comprehensive new history, Vincent Bevins builds on his incisive reporting for the Washington Post, using recently declassified documents, archival research and eye-witness testimony collected across twelve countries to reveal a shocking legacy that spans the globe. For decades, it's been believed that parts of the developing world passed peacefully into the U.S.-led capitalist system. The Jakarta Method demonstrates that the brutal extermination of unarmed leftists was a fundamental part of Washington's final triumph in the Cold War.

Vincent Bevins (Author), Tim Paige (Narrator)

Audiobook

Coffeeland: A History

Brought to you by Penguin. Coffee is one of the most valuable commodities in the history of the global economy and the world's most popular drug. The very word 'coffee' is one of the most widespread on the planet. Augustine Sedgewick's brilliant new history tells the hidden and surprising story of how this came to be, tracing coffee's 400-year transformation into an everyday necessity. The story is one that few coffee drinkers know. Coffeeland centres on the volcanic highlands of El Salvador, where James Hill, born in the slums of nineteenth-century Manchester, founded one of the world's great coffee dynasties. Adapting the innovations of the industrial revolution to plantation agriculture, Hill helped to turn El Salvador into perhaps the most intensive monoculture in modern history, a place of extraordinary productivity, inequality and violence. The book follows coffee from the Hill family plantations into the United States, through the San Francisco roasting plants into supermarkets, kitchens and work places, and finally into today's omnipresent cafés. Sedgewick reveals the unexpected consequences of the rise of coffee, which reshaped large areas of the tropics, transformed understandings of energy, and ultimately made us dependent on a drug served in a cup. © Augustine Sedgewick 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Augustine Sedgewick (Author), Jason Culp (Narrator)

Audiobook

Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs

In November 1519, Hernando Cortes walked along a causeway leading to the capital of the Aztec kingdom and came face to face with Moctezuma. That story-and the story of what happened afterwards-has been told many times, but always following the narrative offered by the Spaniards. After all, we have been taught, it was the Europeans who held the pens. But the Native Americans were intrigued by the Roman alphabet and, unbeknownst to the newcomers, they used it to write detailed histories in their own language of Nahuatl. Until recently, these sources remained obscure, only partially translated, and rarely consulted by scholars. For the first time, in Fifth Sun, the history of the Aztecs is offered in all its complexity based solely on the texts written by the indigenous people themselves. Camilla Townsend presents an accessible and humanized depiction of these native Mexicans, rather than seeing them as the exotic, bloody figures of European stereotypes. The conquest, in this work, is neither an apocalyptic moment, nor an origin story launching Mexicans into existence. The Mexica people had a history of their own long before the Europeans arrived and did not simply capitulate to Spanish culture and colonization. Instead, they realigned their political allegiances, accommodated new obligations, adopted new technologies, and endured.

Camilla Townsend (Author), Christina Delaine (Narrator)

Audiobook

Colombia: What Everyone Needs to Know

Colombia's recent past has been characterized by what its Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez once called 'a biblical holocaust' of human savagery. Along with the scourge of drug-related massacres facing the country, politically-motivated assassinations (averaging thirty per day in the 1990s), widespread disappearances, rapes, and kidnappings have run rampant through the country for decades. For many Colombians, the violence oft-invoked in today's immigration debate is a bleak and inescapable reality. And yet, with only eleven years of military rule during its 200 some years of independence, Colombia's democratic tradition is among the richest and longest-standing in the hemisphere. The country's economic growth rate over the last seventy-five years is among the highest in South America, the overall living satisfaction of its citizens is on par with citizens of France, and it is home to some of the continent's best universities and most dazzling fine and industrial arts. With such contradictions, even to experts, Colombia is one of the most confusing countries in the Americas. In this new addition to the popular What Everyone Needs to Know® series, Richard D. Mahoney links historical legacies, cultural features, and the relentless dynamics of the illegal drug industry to unravel the enigma.

Richard D. Mahoney (Author), Gary Tiedemann (Narrator)

Audiobook

Sandinistas, The: The Controversial History and Legacy of the Socialist Party’s Revolution, Civil Wa

For much of the 20th century, Latin American governments in large part lived under a system of military junta governments. The mixture of indigenous peoples, foreign settlers and European colonial superpowers produced cultural and social imbalances into which military forces intervened as a stabilizing influence. The proactive personalities of military heads and the rigid structures of such a hierarchy guaranteed the “strong man” commanding officer an abiding presence in the form of executive dictator. Such leaders often bore the more collaborative title of “President,” but the reality was, in most cases, identical. Likewise, the gap between rich and poor was often vast, and a disappearance of the middle class fed a frequent urge for revolution, reenergizing the military’s intent to stop it. With no stabilizing center, the ideologies most prevalent in such conflicts alternated between a federal model of industrial and social nationalization and an equally conservative structure under privatized ownership and autocratic rule drawn from the head of a junta government. Few examples remain as memorable as the conflict in Nicaragua, where the Frente Sandinista de Liberation Nacional (FSLN), a left-wing revolutionary party, seized power in the small Central American nation of Nicaragua in July 1979, toppling four decades of dictatorial rule perpetrated by the Somoza dynasty. A decade later, on February 25, 1990, in an election organized by the FSLN, one that the party was fully confident it would win, the FSLN suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of a coalition generally thought to be associated with the American-funded Contra movement. This was a sobering moment for the Latin American leftist revolution, and, as many were apt to see it, a triumph for American policy in the region.

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

Audiobook

Shining Path, The: The History of Peru’s Revolutionary Communist Party and the Ongoing Civil War

On the evening of May 17, 1980, a day before the Peruvian electorate, the most representative in the nation’s history, was due to go to the polls for the first authentic presidential election since 1963, a curious thing happened. In the tiny mountain town of Chuschi, little more than a hamlet nestled in a valley on the western slopes of the Andes, a group of armed youth broke the lock on the town hall and removed all of the ballot boxes, papers and voting lists prepared for the following day. These were carried out into the town square and burned. The group identified itself as Sendero Luminoso, the “Shining Path,” declaring this action to be the commencement of the armed phase of the “People’s War.” In the avalanche of press coverage for the election, the incident was scantly reported and generally overlooked. It was an exciting and energetic time in Peruvian politics, as the country sought to shake off nearly two decades of military rule and dictatorship, and a minor disturbance such as this in the rural countryside was of little interest. Nor, for that matter, was the theft of dynamite from a handful of local mines, although the handful of isolated bomb blasts that followed did stir a certain amount of curious reporting. Soon, however, the citizens of Lima began to notice the frequency of stray dogs found hanging from traffic lights and lamp posts. Images that have since become iconic in the chronicles of the Shining Path began appearing in local newspapers. This flush of macabre and ritualistic statements, apart from being confusing and a little unnerving, were also inescapably folkloric and sinister. This in time would become the hallmark of Sendero Luminoso as it emerged thereafter as one of the largest and most violent of Latin American guerrilla movements.

Charles River Editors (Author), Stephen Platt (Narrator)

Audiobook

Olmecas, zapotecos y mixtecos. Los indígenas de Mesoamérica IV

Estas civilizaciones, aportaron su arte y sus ideas para conformar, junto con otros pueblos, un área de alta cultura en Mesoamérica. Sin embargo, se tiene conocimiento de la existencia de culturas 'preolmecas', de las que se han encontrado señales intactas de su desarrollo, hace más de cuatro mil años, en los restos de vasijas de cerámica grabada con imágenes del maíz, el Sol, el cielo, el rayo y la tierra. En todos estos vestigios aparecen representaciones de niños-jaguares; patas con garras; manos muy estilizadas, y enormes cabezas de piedra con rasgos negroides y ojos rasgados. Estas antiguas civilizaciones estaban ubicadas en los actuales estados de Tabasco, Veracruz y Oaxaca.

José Mariano Leyva (Author), Kyria Montoya (Narrator)

Audiobook

México a tres bandas: Un recorrido crítico de la historia de México

Tres grandes autores reúnen sus plumas en un solo volumen para hacer un recorrido histórico, pero crítico, de la historia de México. Toman como punto de partida la época prehispánica hasta el siglo XX. Prólogo escrito por Francisco Martín Moreno. «Ahora puedo ver, con más claridad que antes, cómo todas las tramas tienen una conexión, cómo los personajes obedecieron a las leyes de su tiempo, cómo también están conectados a nosotros y cómo es nuestro turno de seguir construyendo la patria que nos heredaron para que otros puedan hacer lo mismo.» Pedro J. Fernández «México es un país que tiene todo para ser rico, seguro y pacífico, y liderar entre las potencias del mundo. Las razones por las cuales no lo es tienen su explicación en la historia, y si conocemos la historia -las causas de las cosas- podemos cambiarlo todo.» Leopoldo Mendívil «México es una fuerza vital, voluntad de poder, un impulso. México es también una tragedia, un miedo al futuro, una locura. Es resultado de la historia que se cuenta de sí mismo y de la inconsciencia con que lo hemos construido entre todos. La única forma de transformar un país tan contradictorio, tan lleno de oportunidades, pero con patrones de conducta tan destructivos, es mirar al pasado con nuevos ojos y darle un nuevo significado a toda nuestra historia.» Juan Miguel Zunzunegui La crítica ha dicho: «Cuando Leopoldo, Juan Miguel y Pedro me hicieron el honor de invitarme a redactar el presente prólogo, acepté entusiasmado porque en México requerimos de cientos de Leopoldos, Juan Migueles y Pedros que lleven a cabo trabajos monumentales de divulgación como el que actualmente tienen en sus manos. Estoy convencido de que para redactar la inmensa obra escrita por ellos son indispensables los siguientes ingredientes para alcanzar el éxito quehan conquistado: uno, contar con un sólido amor por México; dos, tener algo que decir, material con el que ellos cuentan en abundancia; tres, saber narrar sus descubrimientos, habilidad innegable que ocurre a manos llenas en todos los casos; y cuatro, describir con pasión y certeza los acontecimientos con los que deleitan a sus cientos de miles de lectores.» Francisco Martín Moreno

Juan Miguel Zunzunegui, Leopoldo Mendivil, Leopoldo Mendívil, Leopoldo Mendívil López, Pedro J. Fernández (Author), Jaime Alberto Carrilllo, Jaime Alberto Carrillo, Juan Miguel Zunzunegui, Leopoldo Mendivil, Leopoldo Mendívil, Leopoldo Mendívil López, Noé Velázquez, Pedro J. Fernández, Rubén Hernández, Victor Manuel Espinoza (Narrator)

Audiobook

Cuba libre ¡Cuba libre! (Spanish edition): El Che, Fidel y la improbable revolución que cambió la h

Este libro describe cómo un grupo de revolucionarios se transformaron en guerrilleros y derrotaron a 50.000 soldados profesionalmente entrenados con el propósito de derrocar al dictador Fulgencio Batista. Cómo una banda de guerrilleros autoentrenados derrocó a un dictador y cambió la historia del mundo. Este libro describe cómo un grupo de revolucionarios, muchos de ellos jóvenes privilegiados recién egresados de la universidad, especializados en literatura y jóvenes abogados, se transformaron en guerrilleros de la selva y derrotaron a 50.000 soldados profesionalmente entrenados y equipados para derrocar al dictador Fulgencio Batista, apoyado por Estados Unidos.

Tony Perrottet (Author), Bernardo Garcia (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Caste War of Yucatán: The History and Legacy of the Last Major Indigenous Revolt in the Americas

When the Spaniards 'discovered' Yucatán, they thought it was an island. Although they later realized that it was part of the vast country that Cortés had conquered, they were not very wrong to think of it as an isle, considering the zealous and independent spirit that has characterized its inhabitants then and now. Although it has been part of Mexico for 170 years, it was encouraged by the example of Texas, compelling the peninsula to twice proclaim its independence and create the short-lived Republic of Yucatán. Many presidents in Mexico had to repress the great peninsula that, despite its longing for independence, had a vibrant foreign trade with the world capitals and a privileged geographical location, even as it lacked the abundance of resources that Texas and California possessed. As that suggests, Yucatán was not a wasteland when the first shipwrecked, battered Spaniards arrived on its shores. In fact, they found the descendants of an ancient civilization who refused to be conquered and who, when they finally succumbed to the steel and germs of the Europeans, refused to assimilate and instead disappeared into the jungle. By the mid-19th century, virtually all the native peoples of America had been defeated or were fleeing in small bands from canyon to canyon, only for the Maya to lead the last great, indigenous rebellion in the Yucatán, attempting to shake off the white domain initiated through the conquest of Spain. The so-called 'Caste War' was a total war, much larger than the skirmishes with the Native Americans in the United States around the same time. While the Apaches and Comanches were barely bands of men attacking towns and ranches, wandering homeless, the Mayan rebellion was nothing less than a war of annihilation in an attempt to take back their former nation.

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Woman on the Windowsill: A Tale of Mystery in Several Parts

On the morning of July 1, 1800, a surveyor and mapmaker named Cayetano Diaz opened the window of his study in Guatemala City to find a horrific sight: a pair of severed breasts. Offering a meticulously researched and evocative account of the quest to find the perpetrator and understand the motives behind such a brutal act, this volume pinpoints the sensational crime as a watershed moment in Guatemalan history that radically changed the nature of justice and the established social order. Sylvia Sellers-Garcia reveals how this bizarre and macabre event spurred an increased attention to crime that resulted in more forceful policing and reflected important policy decisions not only in Guatemala but across Latin America. This fascinating book is both an engaging criminal case study and a broader consideration of the forces shaping Guatemala City at the brink of the modern era.

Sylvia Sellers-Garcia (Author), Kyla García (Narrator)

Audiobook

Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America: Fourth Edition

The most readable, highly regarded, and affordable history of Latin America for our times. Born in Blood and Fire, Fourth Edition has been extensively revised to heighten emphasis on current cultural analyses of Latin American society and facilitate meaningful connections between the Encounter and the present.

John Charles Chasteen (Author), Gary Tiedemann (Narrator)

Audiobook

South America Audiobooks in Travel