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Ever since this nation's founding, the idea of an open and ever-expanding frontier has been central to American identity. Symbolizing a future of endless promise, the frontier made possible the United States' belief in itself as an exceptional nation -- democratic, individualistic, forward-looking. Today, though, the country has a new symbol: the border wall. In this book, historian Greg Grandin explores the effect that constant, relentless expansion had on America's domestic politics, examining the full sweep of U.S. history -- from the American Revolution to the Spanish-American War, the New Deal to the election of 2016. For centuries, he shows, the ability to move outward -- fighting wars and opening markets -- provided America with a "gate of escape," helping to deflect domestic political and economic conflicts. But this deflection meant that the country's problems, from racism to inequality, were never confronted directly. And now, the combined catastrophes of the 2008 financial meltdown, our unwinnable wars in the Middle East, and a deepening ecological crisis have slammed this gate shut, bringing political passions that had long been directed elsewhere back home. It is this new reality, Grandin says, that explains the rise of reactionary populism and racist nationalism, the extreme anger and polarization that catapulted Trump to the presidency. The border wall may or may not be built, but it will survive as a rallying point, an allegorical tombstone marking the end of American exceptionalism

Frontier thesis --- Borderlands --- National characteristics, American --- Exceptionalism --- Nationalism

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In 1927, Henry Ford, the founder of the famous motor company and the richest man in the world, bought a 5,000 square mile-tract of land in the Brazilian Amazon. There he was going to build a rubber plantation.To the unkempt rainforest he would bring the principles of mass production - order, efficiency and productivity. He would harness the river itself in order to transplant capitalist civilisation to the dark heart of the jungle. But Ford wanted more than just rubber. Across the United States, small-town America was giving way to growing cities, consumerism and crass, brash new society. Ford wanted to create in the Amazon an America in his own image - Fordlandia, full of neat houses, straight roads and restrained Puritanism. By 1945 it was abandoned in ruins.Fordlandia is the powerful, never-before-told fable of the pride and arrogance of the man who thought he alone could tame the Amazon. Filled with clash and contradiction, it is the battle between industrialised capitalism and the raw power of nature; it is the struggle too within Ford himself, the man who despised the new America that he himself had set in motion, who spent twenty years and several fortunes on his Amazonian dream, yet never set foot inside it. Superbly researched and grippingly told, Greg Grandin gives us a portrait of a man suffering under the grand delusion that the forces of capitalism, once released, might then be contained.

Planned communities --- Rubber plantations --- Collectivités nouvelles --- Plantations d'arbres à caoutchouc --- History --- History --- Histoire --- Histoire --- Ford, Henry, --- Political and social views. --- Ford Motor Company --- Influence --- History --- Fordlândia (Brazil) --- Brazil --- Fordlândia (Brésil) --- Brésil --- History --- Civilization --- American influences --- History --- Histoire --- Civilisation --- Influence américaine --- Histoire

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After decades of bloodshed and political terror, many lament the rise of the left in Latin America. Since the triumph of Castro, politicians and historians have accused the left there of rejecting democracy, embracing communist totalitarianism, and prompting both revolutionary violence and a right-wing backlash. Through unprecedented archival research and gripping personal testimonies, the author challenges these views. In doing so, he uncovers the hidden history of the Latin American Cold War: of hidebound reactionaries holding on to their power and privilege; of Mayan Marxists blending indigenous notions of justice with universal ideas of equality; and of a United States supporting new styles of state terror throughout the region.

Panzós Massacre, Panzós, Guatemala, 1978. --- Indians of Central America --- Communism --- Insurgency --- Social conflict --- Indiens d'Amérique --- Communisme --- Révoltes --- Conflits sociaux --- Government relations. --- History --- Relations avec l'Etat --- Histoire --- Guatemala --- United States --- Latin America --- Etats-Unis --- Amérique latine --- Relations --- Panzós Massacre, Panzós, Guatemala, 1978 --- Class conflict --- Class struggle --- Conflict, Social --- Social tensions --- Interpersonal conflict --- Social psychology --- Sociology --- Insurgent attacks --- Rebellions --- Civil war --- Political crimes and offenses --- Revolutions --- Government, Resistance to --- Internal security --- Bolshevism --- Communist movements --- Leninism --- Maoism --- Marxism --- Trotskyism --- Collectivism --- Totalitarianism --- Post-communism --- Socialism --- Village communities --- Massacres --- Government relations

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An interdisciplinary anthology on the largest, most populous nation in Central America, covering Guatemalan history, culture, literature and politics and containing many primary sources not previously published in English.

Guatemala --- Guatemala --- Guatemala --- History. --- Civilization. --- Politics and government.