Latin America fought for its independence from the European colonial powers Spain, Portugal, and France around 200 years ago. From the slave revolution in Haiti to the protracted wars of independence in Spanish America and the bloodless emancipation of Brazil, this volume tells the story of Latin America at a central turning point in its Atlantic entanglement. Organized chronologically, it describes the political upheavals and decisive military battles of the continent, as well as the key leaders such as Toussaint, Miranda, and Bolivar, along with their adventurous and unusual life stories. The nation-building processes, which stretched into the mid-19th century, were united by anti-colonial resistance but were also marked by the exclusion of broad social and ethnic groups, the rise of caudillismo, and the formation of new political structures.