Publication of final volume of UNESCO’s General History of Latin America

Paris, 22 January

• © UNESCO
• Cubierta del volumen

UNESCO Publishing has completed the ambitious General History of Latin America (La Historia General de América latina) with the publication of the last volume: Los proyectos nacionales latinoamericanos : sus instrumentos y articulación 1870-1930. The opus is a joint publication with the Spanish publishing company Trotta.

The History - a scientific undertaking divided into nine parts, one in two volumes - charts the development of Central and South American societies from the Pre-Columbian era to the 20th century. More than 240 historians from diverse schools of thought contributed to the work under the supervision of a scientific committee headed by Venezuelan historian Germán Carrera Damas.

Published in Spanish, the History presents the main cultural, social, economic and political currents that have influenced the region and contributed to its specific, albeit diverse and evolving, identity.

Nearly 700 pages long, the last volume of the series is devoted to the late 19th century when the region started finding its place in the international world order that was still, at the time, dominated by Western Europe.

The historians in charge of this volume, Enrique Ayala Mora from Ecuador and the Colombian Eduardo Posada Carbó, consider the difficult and complex decades of the turn of the 19th and early 20th centuries to be fundamental to our understanding of the countries of Latin America.

La Historia General de América latina is one of the six general and regional histories project begun by UNESCO more than 50 years ago. It coincides with the recent completion of the English-language edition of the “General History of Humanity,” which, since its inception in 1952, gave rise to all the other, regional, histories. One thousand six hundred specialists from all over the world have contributed to the six series: the General history of Humanity; General History of Africa; History of Civilizations of Central Asia; General History of the Caribbean; and The Different Aspects of Islamic Culture. The 51 volumes of the six series provide insight into the cultural and scientific heritage of each region and present multiple perspectives with pride of place to the peoples concerned, as a large proportion of contributors come from the concerned region.

• Author(s):Press Release N°2009-05
• Source:UNESCOPRESS
• 22-01-2009