Favorite Books on Latin America

Over the years of living or learning about Latin America, there have been some books or written pieces about Latin America that I liked quite a bit.

Here I will put any written pieces or books that come to mind in this article – now and in the future when I update this article in the coming months and years.

Most of them will be books and almost all of them will be non-fiction.

If you happen to want to learn a bit more about Latin America, then definitely go through this article and perhaps check out anything I recommend here.

Like always, any links here are non-affiliate links – I have no conflict of interest in trying to drive you to buy certain things that I haven’t enjoyed personally.

Not that I would make much anyway recommending books on Amazon but either way…

I hope you enjoy any of the recommended reading material below…

And if you happen to enjoy any particular written piece about life in Latin America, drop it in the comment section below so that I can enjoy it also.

I’d greatly appreciate that. Thank you.

So let’s get started (in no particular order).

The Massacre at El Mozote by Mark Danner

Probably one of my favorite books on Latin America in general.

It is about the civil war in El Salvador during the early 1980s when a massacre occurred at a Salvadorian village called El Mozote.

It is arguably one of the best books on this subject and very well written.

It is very chilling as well and it really makes you think about the conflict discussed.

Very well documented and worth a read without question.

A History of the Cuban Revolution by Aviva Chomsky

As the name suggests, this book is about the Cuban Revolution and looks at it from different perspectives of the time.

It’s been a while since I read it but it definitely stood out to me as an interesting read.

Worth checking out.

The Readers

There are books out there that go by titles such as…

“The Mexico Reader”

Or “The Brazil Reader” or “The Argentina Reader.”

They often contain a ton of different documents or other historical pieces relevant to the history of the Latin country that the book is about.

Definitely worth buying if you want to be more knowledgeable and get into specific historical pieces that reveal a lot about the history of different Latin American countries.

Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman

This book goes into the life of Richard Feynman.

He was a famous theoretical physicist from the US.

And while most of this book is not about his time in Latin America…

He does have a few chapters on his time in Brazil that you can read about.

Which I found to be entertaining more than anything else.

Funny enough, I seemed to have found the whole book for free online here from UNAM (not a download).

Zapatista Spring by Ramor Ryan

As you can read here, I used to have an interest in the Zapatista movement in Mexico and still do to a degree.

During the years that I was learning more about the movement, I came across this book some time ago that focused on the work of activists with the movement.

Definitely worth a read for those interested.

Undocumented Lives: The Untold Stories of Mexican Migrants by Ana Raquel Minian

This book looks into the lives of different Mexican migrants who relocate to the US looking for better employment.

It has different testimonies and other resources that paint a decent picture of the lives of the folks who lived through this experience.

There was another book similar to this one that I liked that I would recommend but I can’t find a copy of it at my place.

Anyway, this book here is also a good option available for those interested in this subject.

Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado

This book goes into the life in small town Brazil that is doing well economically with a boom in trading cacao.

There’s a lot of political tension in the book as well and romantic affairs from what I remember.

It’s been a while since I read it but was definitely worth a read.

A Lexicon of Terror by Marguerite Feitlowitz

This book looks into the Dirty War that Argentina experienced with all of the horrors under the dictatorship.

Right next to The Massacre at El Mozote, this is one of my other favorite books on life in Latin America.

It is very well written and definitely hard to put down after you start reading.

Los de Abajo by Mariano Azuela

This book is in Spanish and looks into the bloody conflicto that was the Mexican Revolution.

Though you can find it in English under the title of “The Underdogs.”

Anyway, the book looks into the perspective of normal folks who are dragged into the Mexican Revolution and at the Mexican Revolution from their perspective.

A great read!

A Nation of Enemies: Chile Under Pinochet by Pamela Constable

This is one of my favorite books that looks into Chilean history during the Pinochet history and the social turmoil that happened during the time.

If you are interested in this period of Chilean history, I’d recommend you pick up this book.

Killing Pablo by Mark Bowden

As the name of the title suggests, this book is about the hunt and efforts to track and kill Pablo Escobar.

It’s arguably one of the best books on this subject – at least from what I have seen.

As it is well written and goes into great detail on the effort.

Anyway, if you don’t want to buy the book just yet, I recommend you check out this Youtube documentary here that goes into detail on the effort as well.

It’s pretty good also.

Collected Stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

There are a few Latin authors that I like a bit more than others.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of them.

Here you can find 26 stories written by him in this book.

Worth checking out!

Any Book Suggestions Yourself?

These are just a few of the books that I could recommend.

There’s others that I like also.

If you happen to like any particular books or writings yourself, let me know!

I would appreciate it since I’m always looking for something new to read.

And if I like it, I will include it here for sure in this article.

Follow my Twitter here by the way.

Thanks!

Best regards,

Matt