A Brief History of Central America, Second Edition explores the history of the Central American isthmus from the pre-Columbian cultures to the contemporary nations that make up the region today: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.

Table of Contents

• List of Illustrations
• List of Maps
• List of Tables
• Preface to the Second Edition
• Acknowledgments
• Note on Photos
• Introduction
• The Land and Its First Peoples
• The Mayans and Their Neighbors
• The Spanish Conquest (1492-1541)
• Founding of the Kingdom of Guatemala (1541-1570)
• Life in the Colony
• The Bourbons and Independence (1700-1823)
• The Federation of Central America (1823-1839)
• Conservatives and Foreign Profiteers (1840-1870)
• The Making of the Coffee Republics (1870-1900)
• Dollar “Diplomacy” and the Dictators (1898-1944)
• Challenge to the Old Order (1944-1975)
• Civil Wars (1975-1996)
• The Challenge of Peace and Democracy
• Appendixes
• Guatemala: Basic Facts
• El Salvador: Basic Facts
• Honduras: Basic Facts
• Nicaragua: Basic Facts
• Costa Rica: Basic Facts
• Panama: Basic Facts
• Belize: Basic Facts
• Chronology
• Bibliographic Sources
• Suggested Reading