Historian and Pulitzer Prize winner Grandin (End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America) brilliantly reexamines the development of the historical relationship between the United States and Latin America in this comprehensive volume. Until the 20th century, the U.S. version of internationalism was primarily focused on the Western Hemisphere, revolving around Latin America in particular. A mostly one-sided relationship dictated by militarism and commercial interest, the States’ charged interaction with Latin America became a petri dish of value development, ultimately birthing the progressive behaviors that rebuilt the world after the two world wars. Grandin carefully and calmly traces a 500-year arc from the genocidal Spanish conquest to the coup-ridden 20th century, using both historical figures (Simón Bolívar, Woodrow Wilson) and less well-known people to illustrate his argument that the democratic values and institutions of the United States developed as a result of longstanding conversations and conflicts with Latin America and its colonial overseers. VERDICT Weighty but not encyclopedic, argumentative but never overbearing, this monumental work of scholarship deserves pride of place in any historical collection that values reasonably argued discussion and deeply researched history.