'He has more first-hand knowledge of Latin America than anybody else I can think of, and uses it to tell the world of the dreams and disillusions, the hopes and failures of its people... Galeano denounces exploitation with uncompromising ferocity, yet this book is almost poetic in its description of solidarity and human capacity for survival in the midst of the worst kind of despoliation' -Isabel Allende
'This book is a monument in our Latin American history. It allows us to learn history, and we have to build on this history'
-Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela
'I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Galeano's vision is unswerving, surgical and yet immensely generous and humane... Eduardo Galeano ought to be a household name'
-Arundhati Roy
A superbly written, excellently translated, and powerfully persuasive exposé which all students of Latin American and U.S. history must read. - Choice
Well written and passionately stated, this is an intellectually honest and valuable study. - Library Journal
A dazzling barrage of words and ideas. - History

Beginning with the integration of Latin America into the world trading system centered on Europe and North America during the century before 1930, this 2003 book explores the successes and failures of export-led growth. Using new data on exports and a simple model to explore the relationship between exports and growth, the author pays particular attention to the question that has most concerned policy-makers in Latin America: how to transfer growth in the export sector to the rest of the economy, raising living standards and real income per head. The author examines the routes through which Latin American republics extricated themselves from the debt problem in pursuit of a new version of export-led growth. Taking its narrative from the end of the colonial epoch to the present, this book provides a comprehensive balanced portrait of the factors affecting economic development in Latin America.