Professor Leslie Bethell is Emeritus Professor of Latin American History in the University of London and an Emeritus Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford. He was Director of the University of London Institute of Latin American Studies from 1987 to 1992 and the University of Oxford Centre for Brazilian Studies from 1997 to 2007. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centro de Pesquisa e Documentacao de Historia Contemporanea do Brasil at the Fundacao Getulio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

"Prospective readers who want a wide ranging collection of modern, high level essays on colonial Latin America will welcome this work warmly." - American Historical Review

"...the essential reference and review work in Latin American history." - American Historical Review

"The historical scholarship, judgement and writing displayed in these pages are of a superior kind and will ensure that the work stands supreme for many decades to come. The editor and his authors are to be applauded for producing a history which honours the profession, serves the subject and deserves a great number of readers. We are in the presence of a major historical enterprise" - Bulletin of Latin American Research

"... will inform and guide the study of colonial society for years to come." - Hispanic American Historical Review

"... [a] magisterial work ... the best in. Latin American scholarship on the colonial period ... a comprehensive history of Latin America that is most unlikely to be superseded ... a monumental work of learning." - British Book News

"... fresh outlook, painstaking scholarship, and fine writing style ... Superior and authoritative, this work will lead in the field ... for years to come." - Library Journal

"a major synthesis of current scholarship on colonial Latin America... the most detailed, comprehensive and authoritative work on the subject available." - Library Journal Best Reference Books of 1985

"a classic work for which generations will be grateful." - Financial Times

"Leslie Bethell has done a remarkable job ... nowhere else, will the reader find so comprehensive an account of nearly every aspect of the history of Central and South America from the remotest past to the eve of Independence, ... the most detailed, extensive and authoritative general account of Latin America to date." - Times Literary Supplement

"... impressed by the international nature of the research on the region, the range of the themes discussed, the sophistication. of the methods and interpretations developed ... the two volumes show the cosmopolitan nature of the methodological and theoretical influences on the colonial history of Latin America." - Times Higher Education Supplement

"It is remarkable how one individual ... is planner, coordinator and editor of the entire set ... Throughout his work we find the ultimate in scholarship, expressed simply, precisely and clearly. The editing as well as the physical presentation are first rate... the set promises to be a treasure trove." - Inter American Review of Bibliography

"An up-to-date synthesis of the best scholarship in the field." - Luso-Brazilian Review

"a truly impressive project ... Leslie Bethell is to be complemented on the overall high quality of the 34 contributions ... the organization and format of these volumes and the Herculean labor of general editorship." - Southeastem Latin Americanist

"a landmark event to be celebrated by all readers, interested in any aspect of the history, culture and society of Latin America ... the first time a single editor has been given responsibility for the planning, coordination and editing of an entire Cambridge History ... a massive undertaking ... some truly remarkable essays ... several of the chapters, in these two volumes may well stand for some time as classic essays on their topic. All the chapters exhibit a uniformly high level of both scholarship and clarity ... the two volumes now in, hand shew a remarkable consistency of editorial craftsmanship and cohesiveness, to say nothing of a very high level, of scholarly achievement ... marks a giant step forward ... a celebration of the maturation of the field and a stimulant to fresh discovery and thought." - Canadian Journal of History