1. Birth of an exception? --
Warriors and sacred struggle : pre-Columbian distinctions --
A conqueror looks on the bright side / Town Council of Castillo de Garci-Muñoz --
Hunting Indians / Claudia Quirós --
The execution of Pablo Presbere / José María Figueroa --
The trial of Pablo Presbere, Cacique o f Suinse / Lorenzo Antonio de Granda y Balbín --
A slave's story / José Cubero --
Free blacks, mulattoes, and mestizos seek legitimacy / Cabildo of Cartago --
Brotherhood of the Virgin / Ricardo Fernández Guardia --
Life and labor in the Central Valley, circa 1821 / Iván Molina --
The fall of Morazán / Unknown --
Libelous pornography from 1841 / José María Figueroa --
Civilizing domestic life in the Central Valley, 1750-1850 / Eugenia Rodríguez --
Privatization of the land and agrarian conflict / Silvia Castro --
Tico sweepstakes / Pío Joaquín Fernández --
Witness to heroism / Gerónimo Segura --
Holidays in Costa Rica, 1858 / Thomas Francis Meagher (illustrated by Ramó Páez) --
Denunciation of the Lazarene Brothers / Diego Quesada --
Building civilization / Fernando Zamora --
Getting to know the unknown soldier / Steven Palmer --
The burning of the Mesón / Enrique Echandi.
3. Popular culture and social policy --
Alleyway of open wounds / Claudia María Jiménez --
Women of the barrio / Luisa González --
A district laboratory in Costa Rica / John Elmendorf Jr. --
Autobiography of a shoemaker / Juan Rafael Morales --
Maternity / Francisco Zúñiga --
Prospectus / National Association of Coffee Producers --
The red door / Teodorico Quirós --
Banana strike confidential / Diplomatic Service of the United States of America --
Notice to West Indian farmers! / West Indian Strike Committee --
Woman in window / Max Jiménez --
A governor and a man faces the social problem / Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia --
Petition for recognition of voting rights from a humble citizen, 1859 / Santiago Córdova --
The night of San Florencio / La Prensa Libre --
An outsider's view of political society in 1914 / Dana G. Munro --
Democrats and feminists / Steven Palmer and Gladys Rojas Chaves --
the day that they get it /
Hail to the Jefe / Alejandro Alvares Duartes Mora --
Unlikely threesome / Reformist Summit, 1943 --
The polarization of politics, 1932-1948 / Iván Molina --
Memories of girlhood in '48 / María E. Robles Solano --
Democracy on the brink : the first Figueres presidency / Kirk Bowman.
5. The Costa Rican dream --
Means and ends for a better Costa Rica / Rodrigo Facio --
In defense of the corner store / Constantino Láscaris --
A Costa Rican godfather / J.L. Vargas --
Growing up in the dream / Manrique Mata-Montero --
Alcoa no! / Student Protests, 1970 --
The crisis : 1980-1982 / Jorge Rovira Mas --
The family / Anonymous --
Imperial eagle versus peace dove / Hugo Díaz --
A dictionary of Costa Rican patriotism / Álvaro Quesada --
6. Other cultures and outer reaches --
Indigenous figure / Juan Manuel Sánchez --
Dispossessed / The indigenous community of Orosi --
West Indian Limón / Paula Palmer --
Our blood is blackening / Clodomiro Picado --
Everyday racism, 1932 / Anonymous --
My mother and the seawall / Eulalia Bernard --
The devil and Don Chico / Marc Edelman --
Passing : Nicaraguans in Costa Rica / Patricia Alvarenga --
Taking care of Sibö's gifts / Gloria Mayorga, Juanita Sánchez, and Paula Palmer --
A community takes care of its environs / Owners of Montaña de la Candelaria --
Caffeinated miasmas / Residents of Santo Domingo de Heredia --
Migration and the Costa Rican environment since 1900 / Uli Locher --
From rain forest to banana plantation : a workers' eye view / Ana Luisa Cerdas --
Pesticides and parakeets in the banana industry / Steve Marquardt --
The river of milk / Environmental and Administrative Tribunal, Ministry of Energy and the Environment --
La loca de Gandoca / Ana Cristina Rossi.
Social development with limited resources / Carmelo Mesa-lago --
Visit beautiful Costa Rica! / Tourism Propaganda of Another Era --
Corruption / Alfonso González and Manuel Solís --
The contemporary protest movement --
The narcotizing of Costa Rican politics / Mercedes Muñoz Guillén --
Citizens 2000 / March against the Combo --
On the recent protests against the privatization of the Costa Rican Hydroelectric Company (ICE) / Rodolfo Cerdas --
Building your own home / Antonio --
Men in crisis? / Sylvia Chant --
Are the kids alright? / Osvaldo Orias and Kenneth --
Costa Rica : a millennial profile / Steven Palmer and Iván Molina --
Demoperfectocracy / Yolanda Oreamuno --
Suggestions for further reading --
Acknowledgment of copyrights --
