Behind the headlines of bloody struggles in Central America lies an enormous population of the desperately poor, rendered even more powerless by illiteracy. Literacy is one of the factors in these struggles, especially where minority languages are spoken. Archer and Costello describe some of the most innovative programmes tackling the problem, showing how varied and controversial they can be. El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Ecuador, Mexico, Chile, Bolivia and Guatemala are all included, and for each country the authors have provided an account of the lives of those who teach and those who learn, as well as describing the different forms literacy teaching and literacy can take. Not only about literacy, the book is also a guide to the societies of one of the world"s most troubled regions. David Archer works on the Latin American Desk of ActionAid and is a co-founder of the Community Education Direct Research Unit (CEDRU). Patrick Costello is a co-ordinator on the Guatemala Committee for Human Rights and a co-founder of CEDRU.