Marco Palacios is Professor of Latin American History at El Colegio de México in Mexico City. He is the author of numerous books in Spanish as well as Coffee in Colombia, 1850–1970: An Economic, Social, and Political History. He is a coauthor of Colombia: Fragmented Land, Divided Society.
Richard Stoller is Coordinator of Selection and International Programs in Schreyer Honors College at Penn State University. He has a Ph.D. in Latin American studies.

Tables viii
Acknowledgments ix
Prologue to the Second Colombian Edition xi
1. From Liberal Decay to Regeneration 1
2. Liberal Economics, Conservative Politics 48
3. From the Expansion of Citizenship to the Plutocratic Elite 93
4. In the Shadow of the Violencia 135
5. An Elusive Legitimacy 170
6. Great Transformations within Continuity 214
Epilogue 246
Bibliographical Essay 269
Index 293

“[A] fact-filled and insightful meditation on one of the most important, albeit still-mysterious, countries of the region . . . . [T]his book merits reading for its comprehensive and perceptive grasp of a complex history, one that helps us understand Colombia today.”