'An original and outstanding new history of the New World... Magisterial' Spectator

'An extraordinarily ambitious book . . . America, América reads at times as the historical equivalent of the great epic novels of Gabriel García Márquez' Irish Times

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, SHORTLISTED FOR THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE

The first definitive history of the Western hemisphere, a sweeping five-century narrative of North and South America that redefines our understanding of both continents - perfect for readers of How the World Made the West.

The story of the United States’ unique sense of itself was forged facing south – no less than Latin America’s was indelibly stamped by the looming colossus to the north.

In this stunningly original reinterpretation of the New World, Professor Greg Grandin reveals how the Americas emerged from constant, turbulent engagement with each other, shedding new light on well-known historical figures like Bartolomé de las Casas, Simón Bolívar and Woodrow Wilson, as well as lesser-known actors such as the Venezuelan Francisco de Miranda, who almost lost his head in the French Revolution and conspired with Alexander Hamilton to free America from Spain.

America, América traverses half a millennium, from the Spanish Conquest – the greatest mortality event in human history – through the eighteenth-century wars for independence and the Monroe Doctrine, to the coups and revolutions of the twentieth century. This monumental work of scholarship fundamentally changes our understanding of Spanish and English colonialism, slavery and racism, the rise of universal humanism, and the role of social democracy in staving off authoritarian impulses.

At once comprehensive and accessible, America, América shows how the United States and Latin America together shaped the laws, institutions, and ideals that govern the modern world. Drawing on a vast array of sources, and told with authority and flair, this is a genuinely new history of the New World.

‘Compelling and written with zest…Don’t be surprised if he wins another Pulitzer’ Financial Times

'Dazzling. Mind-altering. World-changing. A once-in-a-generation contribution' NAOMI KLEIN

'Sweeping and provocative... groundbreaking' AMITAV GHOSH

'Will transform your understanding of the modern world' JONATHAN KENNEDY

'Masterful and erudite yet absolutely riveting' ADA FERRER

'A major and desperately needed synthesis of the Americas' NED BLACKHAWK

'An awe-inspiring masterpiece' SAMUEL MOYN





* Professor Greg Grandin won the Pulitzer Prize for Non-fiction in 2020 with his book The End of the Myth. America, América has been shortlisted for the Cundill History Prize and is a finalist for the Kirkus Prize.

"Compelling and written with zest…Don’t be surprised if he wins another Pulitzer" - Financial Times

"An original and outstanding new history of the New World... What emerges is a vital portrait of a New World in which, despite numerous differences, the relationship between North and South has always been symbiotic... Magisterial." - Spectator

"One of the best historians today at writing for both scholars and the general public. This is an extraordinarily ambitious book... America, América reads at times as the historical equivalent of the great epic novels of Gabriel García Márquez." - Irish Times

"As a history of the rise and fall of US support for a rules-based international order, America, América is a must read for our challenging times" - History Today

"Scintillating . . . It’s a monumental new view of the New World." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A passionate plea for a re-evaluation of the place of Spanish America... written with great flair and imagination, scattered with scintillating turns of phrase…as Grandin brilliantly shows, the USA still has much to learn from its neighbours in the south." - Literary Review

"This long-overdue volume by prizewinning scholar and Yale professor Grandin shows that Latin America's formation and founders are not only important but crucial to the understanding of America overall. Covering 500 years and events from conquests to wars to racism, America, América should be required reading in those history classes. " - New York Times

"Grandin makes a compelling case for the intricate connections tying the United States to its southern neighbors... in bright, fluid prose." - Foreign Affairs

"A groundbreaking 500 year history that shows how the United States’ identity and historical self-understanding are inseparable from those of Latin America." - The Nation

"Brilliant and urgently needed... America, América pursues its course across the centuries with verve, superb pacing, and impressive delicacy of touch." - LA Review of Books

"A sweeping, magisterial analysis of 300 years of conflicting geopolitical understandings of sovereignty that have defined Anglo-American and Spanish American relations . . . The relevance of this history cannot be overemphasized." - Science

"It is... truly a daunting task to write a substantive history of half a millennium, but Grandin has undeniably risen to the challenge... Grandin is a master of the condensed narrative, able to convey an often complex picture in a few pithy sentences... The book is both as stimulating as it is provocative." - International Affairs

"Grandin makes a persuasive case . . . If The End of the Myth helped make sense of the first Trump Administration, America, América sheds light on the expansionist ambitions Trump has voiced during his second term . . . Grandin suggests that historical struggles for social democracy across Latin America might serve as a model for a social-democratic movement of the future." - New Yorker

"Provocative... What makes this truly new and conceptually exciting is its commitment to transcending old narratives... His skills as a writer enable him to conjure up bygone eras with such verve... A new benchmark history." - BBC History magazine