Twenty-first century Latin America is rich in history, culture, and political and social experimentation. In this fascinating and insightful analysis, Gian Luca Gardini looks at contemporary developments at three interconnected levels. At the state level, leaders such as Morales and Chavez embody a renewed intellectual autonomy, while revealing significant gaps between their rhetoric and their action. Across the region, consensus has emerged over the need for Latin American unity, but the existence of competing schemes of integration more accurately reflects the area's diversity. At the global level, change, such as the rise of China, sits alongside continuity, such as the role of the United States. Overall, Gardini argues that despite the numerous challenges to be faced, Latin America is now more wealthy, autonomous and better placed in global geopolitics than at any time in its recent history.