Armies without nations : public violence and state formation in Central America 1821 1960 Part 1 : 1821 1939. Historical dimensions of public violence in Latin America Binding hatreds : public violence state and nation in Central American history Guatemala : organizing for war El Salvador : a democracy of violence Honduras : caudillos in search of an army Nicaragua : a new army finds its caudillo Costa Rica : caudillos in search of a state Part 2 : 1940 1960. Transformations Defining collaboration : the United States and Central America Guatemala : Showcase of Latin America El Salvador : distrustful collaborator Honduras : remaking an armed rabble Nicaragua : Ready to receive orders from Uncle Sam Costa Rica : an army renamed Conclusions Statistical appendix Notes Public violence scarcely analyzed and little understood is the subject of this pathbreaking research into the histories of Guatemala El Salvador Honduras Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Robert Holden shows how the national and international dimensions of public violence intersected there to produce armies without nations