Forgotten Continent

The Battle for Latin America’s Soul

By: Michael Reid

Narrated by: Gary Dikeos

Latin America has often been condemned to failure. Neither poor enough to evoke Africa’s moral crusade nor as explosively booming as India and China, it has largely been overlooked by the West. Yet this vast continent, home to half a billion people, the world’s largest reserves of arable land, and 8.5 percent of global oil, is busily transforming its political and economic landscape.

This book argues that rather than failing the test, Latin America’s efforts to build fairer and more prosperous societies make it one of the world’s most vigorous laboratories for capitalist democracy. In many countries—including Brazil, Chile, and Mexico—democratic leaders are laying the foundations for faster economic growth and more inclusive politics, as well as tackling deep-rooted problems of poverty, inequality, and social injustice. They face a new challenge from Hugo Chávez’s oil-fuelled populism, and much is at stake. Failure will increase the flow of drugs and illegal immigrants to the United States and Europe, jeopardize stability in a region rich in oil and other strategic commodities, and threaten some of the world’s most majestic natural environments.

Drawing on Michael Reid’s many years of reporting from inside Latin America’s cities, presidential palaces, and shantytowns, this book provides a vivid, immediate, and informed account of a dynamic continent and its struggle to compete in a globalized world.

©2007 Michael Reid (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“[A] comprehensive and erudite assessment of the region…While the social and economic face of Latin America is becoming more attractive, political life remains ugly and, in some countries, is getting even uglier.” ( Washington Post)

In depth analysis

In depth look at South America throughout the 20th century. Pleasurable listen with comprehensive analysis.

Could be better

This is a jumbled book with good content within. However the organization is very hard to follow though it does improve after the first few chapters. Should be rewritten so every country is a chapter instead of mix them confusingly.

The author is a writer for the economist and had many economic insights. He is a neoliberal in ideology so provides rather plain and mainstream insights into the region. The book gives a good surface level understanding of the economy and history of most Latino countries.

I’d say this is worth a read if you are interested in the region but be prepared for disorganization that books the book feel more like a collection of articles than a full textbook.

Learn About Southern Neighbors

South America is both so close, and so far away from the United States. it is a remarkable place. rich and natural resources with amazingly diverse groups of people. they are, largely forgotten in world affairs. people may know of Brazil, and have a very negative idea of Venezuela, and they've heard that Argentina has a good soccer team. We might get bananas from Ecuador, and fruit from Chile. but we really know very little about this huge continent to the south.

What is South America? Is it more like Europe, or is it more like the United States? if it's more like you, why haven't they gone to war with each other many many times over the last 200 years? If it's more like the United States, why have they not unified into one country?

South America is a continent, not a country. The unifying language baby Spanish, unless you're in Brazil, or perhaps Haiti. Each of the countries has its own unique flavor, which is not surprising, considering that they all came from various routes of latin Europe, while North America, for the most part, was strongly influenced by Northern Europe, especially England. what we end up with, are two continents, a northern, and the southern, that are as different as night and day.

What of the future? Is it a place filled with opportunity, or is it a place doomed to failure?

My eyes were opened by this book and, it increased my desire to someday visit our neighbors to the south and decide for myself.

Good Reporting / Disorganized Content

As a reporter for the Economist - (I'm a subscriber) Michael Reid presents good info on Latin America with a slant on economics. I have no problem with his view point that Hugo Chavez is a corrupt populist in the tradition of preceding generations of flawed head's of state.

The problem with the book is disorganization. He skips around from country to country when discussing various topics, with the end result of the listener having a problem retaining the info. The topics are often blurred in a hodge podge of issues. Had the book been organized by country it would have been easier to follow.

Very in depth political, economic, and historical analysis of the region as a whole.

Very in depth political, economic, and historical analysis of the region as a whole. If anything the contents of this book are too heavy to digest just by listening to the audiobook. I had to listen some chapters twice in order to understand all the facts being discussed.
The book was written sometime in the mid 2000s. Many things have changed since then. Chavez was still alive when the book was finished.
I think the author is a little bit on the conservative side and more pro-business but always staying objective and provided the big picture on all sides of the story. This isn't a surprise since he worked as a writer for the Economist.
I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot about my own country and region.

Useless

When I picked this up, I was expecting a survey of recent Latin American history. But the fact is the author focuses mostly on ideologies and economic policy and reveals his person party leanings dozens of times. The topics meander from place to place and time to time and is full of generalizations about the entire region. It is noteworthy that in a book whose introduction informs the read there is a lot more going down than the reader (who is presumably American) reads in the news, then the author proceeds to give an account that exclusively follows stories that could be learned through newspaper archives.

And yes, the substantive history is more than just stilted, it never goes in depth, has many gaps, and in several cases is simply factually inaccurate.

I rarely advise to throw out a book completely, but a casual reader of history would find this slow, boring, and would be mislead. While a pro would find little substantive information to take away from it.