The Good Neighbor: How the United States Wrote the History of Central America and the Caribbean (New Look at History)
YA-- This fascinating survey of United States/Central American history chronologically examines how the United States' ethnocentric view of Central America as its "backyard" has influenced U.S. politics and foreign policy as well as the internal politics and foreign policies of the Central American countries. Beginning with the Spanish American War and the Monroe Doctrine, Black leads readers through the United Fruit Company's influence and Kennedy's Organization of American States and the Bay of Pigs to the Nicaraguan Contras and Oliver North. Telling photographs and reproductions of political cartoons and promotional posters complement the well-written and readable text. With Central American refugees taking so much space on the daily front page, students may be interested in understanding the problem in a larger, more historical context.- Dorcas Hand, Episcopal High School, Bellaire, Tex.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.