Bayly, C. A. The Birth of the Modern World. 2003. Useful for viewing the countries of the Americas in the context of global developments.

Beezley, William. Judas at the Jockey Club and Other Episodes of Porfirian Mexico, 2d ed. 2004. A provocative study of Mexico under the Porfiriato.

Bender, Thomas. A Nation Among Nations: America’s Place in World History. 2006. Shows that key events in American history are best seen in global context.

Berlin, Ira. Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America. 1998. An excellent study that shows how varied slavery was in different times and places.

Da Costa, Emilia Viotti. The Brazilian Empire: Myths and Histories. 2000. Examines nation building, liberalism, and abolition in the largest slave society of the Americas.

Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe. The Americas: A Hemispheric History. 2003. Provocative and engagingly written.

Foner, Eric. Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877. 1988. A lucidly written social history that gives attention to the role of former slaves in remaking their world.

Helg, Aline. Our Rightful Share: The Afro-Cuban Struggle for Equality, 1886–1912. 1995. An insightful reading of race relations amid Cuban independence and the abolition of slavery.

Howe, Irving. World of Our Fathers. 1976. A brilliant account of the lives of Jews and other immigrants in American cities.

Lesser, Jeffrey. Immigration, Ethnicity, and National Identity in Brazil, 1808 to the Present. 2013. A broad-ranging social history.

Morton, Desmond. A Short History of Canada, 6th ed. 2006. A well-written popular history.

Rodriguez O., Jaime E. The Independence of Spanish America. 1998. An up-to-date treatment focusing on nation building.

Stampp, K. M. America in 1857: A Nation on the Brink. 1990. The best comprehensive treatment of the pre–Civil War years.

Tutino, John. Making a New World: Founding Capitalism in the Bajío and Spanish North America. 2011. A rich reading of capitalism and farming in rural Mexico.

White, Richard. “It’s Your Misfortune and None of My Own”: A History of the American West. 1991. Includes environmental, urban, ethnic, and women’s history, as well as the more familiar story.