Galeano is well known in other parts of the world as an acclaimed fiction and non-fiction writer, but it took ‘the Obama effect’ to get this book to our shores. Published in 1971, Open Veins of Latin America quickly became the definitive handbook to Latin American history. Since then Galeano’s ‘Yellow Book’ (as it is nicknamed) has been passed down the generations almost as a rite of passage – and reading it, you can see why. His passionate cry against the exploitation of Latin Americans, delivered in his accessible narrative style, strikes a moral chord and sweeps you up into the fervour of five centuries of oppression.

From the Conquistadors’ enslavement of the Indians through to the long line of foreign intervention and dictatorships that continued the subjugation of the people, Galeano exposes the forces behind Latin America’s demise in a personal account of the continent’s history. He manages a pace and flair equal to that of a novel, while still presenting an accurate scholarly interpretation. It is this accessibility and truth that will ensure the book’s status as a classic of Latin American writing for years to come.