Nick Caistor

Nick Caistor has lived for several years in Buenos Aires as well as visiting it often over the past three decades. He has reported on Argentina for the BBC and is a translator as well as the author of several books on Latin America. The architect Le Corbusier once called Buenos Aires the capital of an imaginary empire . From its foundation in the sixteenth century, Argentina's main city has been a place of the imagination as well as the scene of many striking historical events. From foreign invasions to more modern-day coups d etat and dictatorships, the city's turbulent history has been paralleled by a vibrant popular culture born out of the hardships of immigration and longing for a lost homeland. This cultural guide looks at the impact of history and the efforts of men and women to build a city that would fulfil their dreams, as well as bringing today s Buenos Aires vividly to life for the visitor. From the new skyscrapers along the front of the huge river of silver to the picturesque portside Las Boca where hundreds of thousands of immigrants first faced a new continent, Buenos Aires has created its own legend, lived out today in tango bars, on football pitches, in cafes where intense debates take place, or people simply watch the ever-changing parade of passing inhabitants. Nick Caistor takes the reader to the insider s Buenos Aires. He shows how the past has shaped its streets, how Argentine politics has left its mark on almost every corner, how each wave of new inhabitants has added to the city s cultural mix. He explores the complex legacy of Spanish colonialism and Peronism as well as considering the city's representation by writers from Darwin and Humboldt to Borges and Cortazar. Analysing the foundations of Porteno culture, he reveals a city obsessed by nostalgia yet rich in music, dance and spectacle.

Argentine by birth, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara came to embody the spirit of the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro. Guevara spent two years fighting in the sierras of Cuba, and after the revolutionaries' victory became one of the most important members of the government as well as one of Castro's closest and most controversial associates. Also an important writer, Guevara constantly put forward ideas about how to spread anti-imperialist revolution throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. He made a huge contribution to theories about how a socialist society should lead to the emergence of a 'new man' who represented what for him were the humanist values of the Cuban revolution. His later years took him to Africa, in search of another guerrilla war, and finally to a tragic end in the mountains of Bolivia.Che Guevara was someone who showed few contradictions between his life and his writing, and his example continues to win admirers among new generations anxious to explore ways of changing their world. In this short, accessible biography Nick Caistor explores the life and ideas of an iconic revolutionary.

An introduction to political issues in Peru, published on the eve of the election in April 2006, this book looks at the legacy of the Fujimori years, corruption, and resource extraction and mining.

The oldest city in the Americas, Mexico City is now the world's largest urban area. Formerly the centre of the Aztec and Spanish empires, it is home to over 15 million people. This text explores this city of extremes, revealing its turbulent past and chaotic present through it urban landscape.

Once a byword for military repression and human rights abuses, Chile's image is now that of a dynamic success story. The "Chilean Miracle", based on radical free-market reform and export-led growth, has been presented as a model for all developing countries. Yet this transition has also created its own social problems, challenging the traditional values with the advent of extreme materialism. Famed for its landscapes which range from glaciers to deserts, Chile is also home to a cultural life, exemplified by writers such as Pablo Neruda and Ariel Dorfman. Music, cinema and handicrafts reflect the country's artistic diversity as well as its mixed ethnic traditions. This book is part of a series aimed at students and independent travellers.

The architect Le Corbusier once called Buenos Aires "the capital of an imaginary empire." From its foundation in the sixteenth century, Argentina's main city has been a place of the imagination as well as the scene of many striking historical events. From foreign invasions to more modern-day coups d' tat and dictatorships, the city's turbulent history has been paralleled by a vibrant popular culture born out of the hardships of immigration and longing for a lost homeland. This cultural guide looks at the impact of history and the efforts of men and women to build a city that would fulfill their dreams, as well as bringing today's Buenos Aires vividly to life for the visitor. From the new skyscrapers along the front of the huge "river of silver" to the picturesque portside La Boca where hundreds of thousands of immigrants first faced a new continent, Buenos Aires has created its own legend, lived out today in tango bars, on football pitches, in caf s where intense debates take place, or where people simply watch the ever-changing parade of passers-by. Nick Caistor takes the reader to the insider's Buenos Aires. He shows how the past has shaped its streets, how Argentine politics has left its mark on almost every corner, how each wave of new inhabitants has added to the city's cultural mix. He explores the complex legacy of Spanish colonialism and Peronism as well as considering the city's representation by writers from Darwin and Humboldt to Borges and Cort zar. Analyzing the foundations of Porte o culture, he reveals a city obsessed by nostalgia yet rich in music, dance and spectacle. - Compact cultural guide to Buenos Aires with color illustrations - Author is a long-term resident of Buenos Aires and has reported for the BBC/WGBH from there - Looks at the city's rich literary and musical heritage