The seventeenth century has gained enormously from the resurgence of historical studies in Spain and from the contributions of historians outside the penninsula. In this book, John Lynch has taken account of this research to substantially revise and expand his Spain Under the Hapsburgs, Volume II . It retains its previous framework, and provides a penetrating account of Spanish society, economy, government and politics during this period.

The term "crosscurrents" seems especially fitting for a volume of essays that explores the cultural exchanges that resulted from the encounter between Spain and the New World. The nautical metaphor alludes to the actual crossing of ships that occurred during the discovery, conquest, and colonization of the Americas by the Spanish as it emphasizes the changes that occurred at these cultural intersections.

Addressing the threatened future of chocolate in our modern world, Dale Walters discusses the problems posed by plant diseases, pests, and climate change, looking at what these mean for the survival of the cacao tree.

This book focuses on a key period in Latin American history, the transition from colonial status, via the revolutions for independence, to national organization. The essays provide in-depth studies of eighteenth-century society, the colonial state, and the roots of independence in Spanish America. The relation of Spanish America to the age of democratic revolution and the reaction of the Church to revolutionary change are newly defined, and leadership of Simon Bolivar is subject to particular scrutiny. National organization saw the emergence of new political leaders, the caudillos , and the marginalization of many people who sought relief in popular religion and millenarian movements.

In this book, now availaible in paperback, John Lynch has revised and expanded his now classic account of sixteenth century Spain Spain under the Hapsburgs Volume 1. d The book remains a comprehensive account of the economy, politics and society of Spain, from the national foudations laid by Ferdinand and ISabella, to the Imperial policy of Charles V, and the world power of Philip II. He concludes with a new bibliography of recent works in the field.

In 1690, a dramatic account of piracy was published in Mexico City. The Misfortunes of Alonso Ramírez described the incredible adventures of a poor Spanish American carpenter who was taken captive by British pirates near the Philippines and forced to work for them for two years. After circumnavigating the world, he was freed and managed to return to Mexico, where the Spanish viceroy commissioned the well-known Mexican scholar Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora to write down Ramírez's account as part of an imperial propaganda campaign against pirates. The Misfortunes of Alonso Ramírez has long been regarded as a work of fiction—in fact, as Latin America's first novel—but Fabio López Lázaro makes a convincing case that the book is a historical account of real events, albeit full of distortions and lies. Using contemporary published accounts, as well as newly discovered documents from Spanish, English, French, Portuguese, and Dutch archives, he proves that Ramírez voyaged with one of the most famous pirates of all time, William Dampier. López Lázaro's critical translation of The Misfortunes provides the only extensive Spanish eyewitness account of pirates during the period in world history (1650–1750) when they became key agents of the European powers jockeying for international political and economic dominance. An extensive introduction places The Misfortunes within the worldwide struggle that Spain, England, and Holland waged against the ambitious Louis XIV of France, which some historians consider to be the first world war.