This twentieth-century history of Guatemala begins with an analysis of the Grand Tikal Futura, a postmodern shopping mall with a faux-Mayan facade that is surrounded by a landscape of gated subdivisions, evangelical churches, motels, Kaqchikel-speaking villages, and some of the most poverty-stricken ghettos in the hemisphere.

Examines the historical development of modern Guatemala and argues that it is far from being an underdeveloped nation. This title shows that the changes that have occurred since the end of the civil war have also widened the gap between rich and poor.