This book was completely mesmerizing and beautiful in its portrait of human nature and the history of two continents. Galeano unfolds the story of the Americas in the 20th century with his magnificent story telling which makes the book difficult to put down or to forget. Each snipet tells of the experiences of various Americans from poor Indigeneous folk to the heads of state. I would recommend this book to anyone, but especially to people in the U.S. who should develop a better understanding of their sister countries to the south. Galeano is neither pessimist, nor optimist but rather chooses to reveal the naked reality of human experience and conduct from the most avaricious calousness to the most magnanimous heroism.

The literary world is indebted to Galeano for his
poetical honesty in articulately conveying the voice of suffering in the masses, in the few. In Century of the Wind, he speaks with fascinating brevity as he dances and intertwines the triumphs and failures of a resilient, albeit it haunted, century. Galeano's words become newspaper articles that come Alive, his charachters become colorful fragments of peace and war and love and politics, refusing to be silenced. He urges the reader to pay attention to the paradox of romancing a people whom have had chaos and horror thrust upon them. Cetury of the Wind is a pathway in which we can collectively examine the troublesome past of America and ask the next great question with some degree of vigor -- And where are we heading?

As an operatic finale, "El Siglo del Viento" could stand alone as one of the greatest pieces of Latin American literature. However, it is just the last part of the "Memoria del Fuego" trilogy. This makes it a unique book, a treasure, and -personally- one that influenced the most on me. Many historians have had outstanding investigative History books on Latin America. The difference with Galeano is that he found the way to conjugate History, Poetry and Story-telling into what is a superb masterpiece. Yet, his language (and I refer now to the original, Spanish version) is plain, easy to read and so pleasing. The tragedy of Latin American History is exposed in this exquisite homage to the lost lives of many Latin Americans who believed in a better future for this region. Despite everything that has happened in Latin America since Galeano wrote this book, it is still quite fresh. The roots of disgrace and -yet- the magic greatness of Latin America are alive: misery and dignity come hand in hand, like two inseparable sibblings. However, as Galeano said, utopia is necessary... to keep us walking.

This second volume leaves off where Galeano's "Genesis" left off...it continues in the same style with history breathing just as fresh as today's headlines...the struggle and minglings of many worlds come together clashing for better or for worse in the Americas, producing something entirely new...countries are born, with bloodshed and lust... I recommend this book on Latino history because it tells history passionately driven by the authors own views which he does not even pretend to hide...the writing itself is beautiful...the prose becomes poetic...and he weaves from many sources...I will definitely read this work again!

THIS IS A WONDERFULLY WRITTEN BOOK, NO MORE THAN A BOOK. FOR THOSE OF US WHO FEEL IT MORESO IN OUR BLOOD, EVEN IN OUR DREAMS. THIS BOOK HELPS US UNDERSTAND THE PAST, AND THE TRUTH OF WHO WE REALLY ARE. IT SPEAKS OF AN AMERICA WE CAN ONLY DREAM OF AND AS ONE SIDED A CONQUEST AS THEIR EVER COULD BE. ITS SPEAKS OF THE CONQUERORS NOT AS WHITE MEN, BUT AS MEN AFFECTED AND AFFLICTED BY THE SICKNESS OF GREED AND HOW THEY SHAPED THE WORLD, WHETHER SPANISH, DUTCH, FRENCH, ENGLISH, OR EVEN PORTUGUESE. WHITE WAS NOT THE ISSUE BUT THE REALITY. THOSE THAT CAME AND CONQUERED DIDNT HAVE NAMES, DIDNT HAVE A CARE, AND THEIR ONLY COLOR WAS GREED. THIS BOOK HELPS SOME, AS IT HELPED ME, SEE THROUGH THE FOG OF TIME AND REMEMBER THAT WHICH ONCE WAS. THIS BOOK HELPED ME UNDERSTAND A VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION, WHY? , IT IS A BOOK I WONT SOON FORGET. AND TO ALL THE OTHER YOUTH MISGUIDED, AS A SUN WITHOUT A FATHER, READ THIS BOOK AND REMEMBER, READ THIS BOOK AND DREAM.

This is the poetic telling of the story of the colonization of the western hemisphere. In that it is focused on recreating that which was lost, it is a one sided retelling, but unlike another reviewer suggests, in this book, not all Europeans are demonized because of some politically correct guilt on the part of the author inspired by a trite view of the noble savage. Indeed, the actors in the vignettes related (men, women, Indians, Europeans, entire cultures, religions) are full of remarkable moral complexity and depth. Reading Genesis, one is left saddened at the tremendous loss, enriched by the sight of the magical colors Galeano pulls out of the air as he reconstructs lifestyles so thoroughly forgotten by modern culture, and finally embarassed by our darker human nature. In the end, it is the rapacious greed that destroyed so much that is indicted in this book. The writing is never heavy-handed despite the obvious ease with which one could attack the European practices; rather the author allows the stories of injustice to unfold and gives the reader the opportunity to understand how this has shaped the world we live in. This book is recommended reading for anyone who has forgotten what a great story history is.

An amazing combination of history, literature, and poetry.
I highly recommend this book to anyone.
Another good book by Galeano that conveys a lot of the
economic history of South American colonization in greater detail and can be read along with this trilogy is The Open Veins of Latin America.

This is a must for people who like to know the truth of what happened in Latin America over the centuries of European influence... and the truth isn't pretty. Eduardo Galeano doesn't blame the American people for all of Latin American problems and incredible corruption at government and management levels, he points out at the American governments and their foreign policy; the fact remains we, Latin Americans, have been invaded by American marines more than 200 times, and every single time it hasn't been to defend the people and democracy but to support right wing corrupted officials and capitalists. Take Chile for example, it was American dollars and American advisors which help orchestrating the criminal and totally anti-democratic coupe d'etat of 1973...

Eduardo Galeano is an excellent writer, and he has dedicated most of his life to put his writing at our service, so that we understand how we ended up in such mess and poverty having one of the richest continent on Earth.

I first read this book when I was 13, now I am 38 and came to your site because I would like to have an updated copy of this book for my children. I read the other comments made before mine and could not let the opportunity go to give people the other side of the coin...

In summary: THIS IS A MAGNIFICENT BOOK, WELL WRITTEN, WELL RESEARCHED AND WELL INTENTIONED!

PS: I live in Australia and this book is a text book for some of the courses run by Australian universities.

"Open Veins", spares noone and can be found insulting to anyone who lives in a society that is working perfectly for them. Someone who sees this world as a perfect place and has read all the history books circulating in the school system would have a hard time grasping Galeano's ideas. But someone searching for truth even if it hurts will benefit imensly from reading this book. All ideas are backed by statistical facts organized so neatly that what would usually be boring material, comes alive to the reader. Even if one doesn't agree on everything and there is a wealth of information in this book, one walks away with a whole new perspective on how things are and came to be not just in Latin America, but in the whole world. Someone famous once said fact is a set of ideas agreed upon. I think Galeano's ideas can be validated just as much as anyone elses who disagees with him. He uses his statistics very well to validate them. Read it even if only you want a different perspective on history. If you are one of the "losers" it leaves you with renewed hope and if you are one of the "winners" you may apreciate more how fortunate you are. Because as Galeano clearly points out power is constantly changing hands and will continue to do so throughout history.

This book is a masterpiece. I understand why some people (just like Juan Bimba and a couple of reviewers here) hate it: It touches the real cut, the heart of capitalism, and explore it in a way few men dare. His references are not just excellent: they are irrefutable. This is one of the best books I've ever read. One of Galeano's best; a must read for Latin Americans! More than a history book, it's a compilation of essays that shows how the "strong" always abuses and stand over the "weak" mass.