This book provides the first full-scale comparative historical analysis of the evolution of soybean farming in five South American countries; these nations now dominate the world market for soybeans, the most valuable agricultural product in the world. However, these countries only began producing soybeans on a large scale in the second half of the 20th century, replacing the United States as the leading exporters by the first decade of the new century. This book also examines soybean farming’s association with the introduction of modern commercial agricultural production in several of these countries, many of which had previously exported few agricultural products competitively.

Herbert S. Klein is the Gouverneur Morris Emeritus Professor of History, Columbia University, USA, and a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institute, Stanford University. He was formerly a Professor of History and Director of the Center for Latin American Studies at Stanford University.

Francisco Vidal Luna holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil. He was a Professor in the Faculdade de Economia e Administração (FEA) of USP from 1973 to 1997.