The Cambridge History of Latin America (CHLA) is an authoritative survey of Latin America's unique historical experience during the five centuries from the first contacts between the native peoples of the Americas and Europeans in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries to the present day.

The Independence of Latin America brings together the five chapters of Part One of volume III of The Cambridge History of Latin America on the breakdown and overthrow of Spanish and Portuguese colonial rule during the first quarter of the nineteenth century in a separate volume which, it is hoped, will be useful for both teachers and students of Latin American history. The first three chapters examine the origins of Spanish American independence and the revolution and wars for independence from Spain in Mexico and Central America and in Spanish South America. Brazil's gradual and relatively peaceful separation from Portugal is the subject of the fourth chapter. The final chapter considers the relationship of the newly independent states with the rest of the world, especially Britain. And there is a note on the role of the Church in the independence of Latin America. Each chapter is accompanied by a bibliographical essay.