Written by two of the leading scholars in the field, Latin America and Its People, Volume 2 presents a fresh interpretative survey of Latin-American history from the end of the Colonial Era to the beginning of the 21st century. It takes a thematic approach to examining the many institutions that Latin-Americans have built and rebuilt - families, governments, churches, political parties, labor unions, schools and armies - through the everyday lives of the diverse people who forged these institutions and later altered them to meet changing circumstances.