Series Editor’s Preface.

Preface to First Edition.

Preface to Second Edition.

Conventions Used.

Maps.

Part I: Bases:.

1. Lands and Climates.

2. American Peoples.

3. Iberia.

Part II: Approaches:.

4. Columbus and Others.

5. Experiments in the Caribbean.

6. Military Conquests.

Part III: Domination:.

7. Administration: the Power of Paper.

8. Church: Friars, Bishops and the State.

9. Society: Old Orders Changed.

10. Economy: Ships and Silver.

Part IV: Mature Colonies:.

11. The Seventeenth Century: a Slacker Grip.

12. Eighteenth-century Spanish America: Reformed or Deformed?.

Part V: Portugal in America:.

13. Colonial Brazil: Slaves, Sugar and Gold.

Part VI: Self-discovery: The Nineteenth Century and Beyond:.

14. Independence.

15. Adrift in Storms: Caudillos and Penury.

16. Calmer Waters and a New Course: Oligarchs and Exports.

17. People, Economics and Politics.

18. Epilogue.

Glossary.

Notes.

Bibliography.

Chronologies.

Index.