Historical Atlas of Central America

Abstract

All scholars of Central America and the Western Hemisphere will welcome this reference work, the first comprehensive atlas of the region, containing carefully researched maps that provide insights into the history of the Central American isthmus. The volume contains over five hundred full-color maps detailing the region’s locational and physical characteristics, its demography, cultures, and history. Carefully prepared by two geographers and a historian, the oversized volume is organized into two-page sections; each includes several maps and a brief text narrating the events portrayed in the maps, in many cases accompanied by graphs, charts, and photos. The maps were prepared first, with the text designed to complement the maps. The preface states that the work seeks to encompass “a detailed cartographic survey of Central America’s development” and “a text offering a new interpretation” (p. xi). The text’s balanced narration of the historical events reflects prevailing historical interpretations, as is appropriate for a reference work. The authors stress that “the complexity and diversity of Central America exceeds those of many areas that are far larger” (p. xi) and that the isthmus played a central role in global and regional transportation.Reflecting this isthmian outlook, both the maps and accompanying narratives focus on the common elements, regionwide trends, and events of broad significance, rather than events in particular sections or the individual countries. Adopting and laying out clearly a broad definition of the region, the work extends outside the confines of the colonial Captaincy General of Central America to include Belize and Panama. Other areas that at times were governed through and considered part of this colonial jurisdiction (such as portions of southern Mexico and the Yucatán) are also included. Residents of the isthmus do not always include areas beyond the five core countries when discussing Central America.The initial pages use maps, charts, and graphs to provide comparative data on the physical, geological, climatic, and environmental dimensions of the region and place the region in its global setting. Coverage of the colonial era deals not just with the Spanish Empire but also with struggles between competing colonial powers to gain control of the region. Detailed maps cover such aspects as the movements of the conquistadores, set-tlement and population patterns, towns, encomiendas, land use, haciendas, commercial networks, and trade. Due consideration is also given to the situation of the Indians, the church, and such aspects as pirates, fortifications, transport, and transisthmian routes. The maps of colonial jurisdictions clearly demonstrate the origins of postindependence boundary disputes. The two chapters covering the postcolonial era include maps tracing conflicts and uprisings, as well as economic aspects such as crops, industrialization, shipping lines, transportation routes, and urbanization. Scholars will undoubtedly find the detailed maps tracing the expansion of key crops, the changing balance of the economic importance of the key urban centers, and such aspects as health and education, poverty, migrants and refugees, agrarian reform, and environmental characteristics, most useful, since they provide unique regional perspectives.Inevitably, a work of this type involves editorial decisions that will surprise some users. Seeing an oversized volume labeled as an atlas, the typical reader is likely to be surprised to find that there are few full-page maps. Rather, there are typically several smaller maps on each two-page spread and relatively few full-page ones. This partly reflects the shape and size of Central America in relation to the page size. There are several regional maps spread over two facing pages, but they overlap rather than fitting together into a single overview. This organization reflects the decision to include narration as well as the maps, charts, and graphs, while limiting each topical section to a single spread. Reflecting the authors’ determination to focus on regionwide perspectives, the volume lacks detailed full-page maps of individual nations. Although some maps show the distribution of items by provinces within different nations, there are no maps labeling provinces by name. While the authors can assume that scholars using the atlas will already be familiar with the provinces, since this is intended as a reference work, some users would undoubtedly have appreciated full-page political maps of each country.This volume constitutes a valuable contribution to the study of Central America and will be useful to both scholars of the region and to general users wishing to learn about Central America. It will become an essential item for all university and research libraries and for scholars in all disciplines who study Central America.