I Saw a City Invincible

Urban Portraits of Latin America

Gilbert M. Joseph, Mark D. Szuchman

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Year: 1995
• eBook ISBN: 9781461637578
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Latin American & Caribbean History
• Index: History

When the Spaniards settled in Latin America, they immediately surrounded themselves with cities. Equating civilization with urban existence, the early conquerors of the New World rapidly established themselves as urban lords. Latin American cities then became synonymous with Spanish power and all of its privileged attributes: political authority, ecclesiastical activity, commerce, finance, and conspicuous consumption. This volume represents some of the most enduring reflections on the Latin American city. All of the essays were written by public officials, journalists, and social commentators, among others, who participated actively in the affairs of the cities they so perceptively describe. The collection offers critical analyses spanning hundreds of years, beginning with the era of the conquistadores in Tenochtitl_n and continuing to the deafening bustle of today's urban crowds in Mexico City. Professors Gilbert Joseph and Mark Szuchman offer translations of classic pieces by writers previously little known to Western audiences: Cobo, Garc_a, Santos Vilhena, and Leite de Barros.

Table of contents

• Jaguar Books on Latin America
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Acknowledgments
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• 1 - The City as Vision—The Development of Urban Culture in Latin America
• 2 - Tenochtitlán and Mexico City under Aztec and Spanish Rule
• 3 - Viceregal Lima in the Seventeenth Century
• 4 - Colonial Buenos Airs
• 5 - Bahia in the Late Colonial Period
• 6 - Bogotá in the Nineteenth Century
• 7 - Lima in the Nineteenth Century
• 8 - Buenos Aires in the Early Twentieth Century
• 9 - The Transformation of São Paulo
• 10 - Another São Paulo
• 11 - Mexico’s Megalopolis
• Suggested Readings
• About the Editors