In this wide-ranging book, historian Lester Langley offers a fresh interpretation of the history of the modern Western hemisphere since the mid-nineteenth century. He evaluates the dynamics of hemispheric history, commencing with the articulation of the "two Americas" (Theodore Roosevelt's America and the contrasting America described by Cuban revolutionary, essayist, and poet Jose Marti) and culminating with recent controversial efforts to forge a united hemisphere. Comprehensive and balanced, this history of the nations of the Americas offers new insights into both the past and the future of inter-American relations. "This masterful book presents a broad perspective on the history of the Americas since 1850 and, in the final analysis, a basis for understanding the present state of the Americas." Roger Trask, Office for the Secretary of Defense "A hemispheric history and a comparative history, this stimulating book encompasses a very large geographic area and time period." Ralph Lee Woodward, Jr., Texas Christian University