A New York Times bestseller 'An extraordinarily ambitious book . . . America, Am rica reads at times as the historical equivalent of the great epic novels of Gabriel Garc a M rquez.' --Irish Times From the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, the first comprehensive history of the Western Hemisphere, a sweeping five-century narrative of North and South America that redefines our understanding of both The story of how the United States' identity was formed is almost invariably told by looking east to Europe. But as Greg Grandin vividly demonstrates, the nation's unique sense of itself was in fact forged facing south toward Latin America. In turn, Latin America developed its own identity in struggle with the looming colossus to the north. In this stunningly original reinterpretation of the New World, Grandin reveals how North and South emerged from a constant, turbulent engagement with each other. America, Am rica traverses half a millennium, from the Spanish Conquest--the greatest