Includes chapters on Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Cubans, Dominicans, Central Americans in general, Colombians, and Panamanians.

pt. 1. Roots (Las raíces). Conquerors and victims : the image of America forms (1500-1800) -- The Spanish borderlands and the making of an empire (1810-1898) -- Banana republics and bonds : taming the empire's backyard (1898-1950) -- pt. 2. Branches (Las ramas). Puerto Ricans : citizens yet foreigners -- Mexicans : pioneers of a different type -- Cubans : special refugees -- Dominicans : from the Duarte to the George Washington Bridge -- Central Americans : intervention comes home to roost -- Colombians and Panamanians : overcoming division and disdain -- pt. 3. Harvest (La cosecha). The return of Juan Seguín : Latinos and the remaking of American politics -- Immigrants old and new : closing borders of the mind -- Speak Spanish, you're in America! : El Huracán over language and culture -- Free trade : the final conquest of Latin America -- Puerto Rico, U.S.A. : possessed and unwanted.