This volume is not designed to be a comprehensive overview of Río de la Plata during the transition from empire to independence. Rather, the collection of 14 essays exemplifies the vibrancy and variety of contemporary scholarship in terms of focus and method. Most of the contributions cluster around several themes of significance during the century from the 1750s to the 1850s.

The essays on the relationship between commerce, cooperation, and conflict look beyond seaports and international rivalries to the complexities of local and regional negotiations and accommodations. Those on the Afro-descendant population range from the early experiences of the enslaved en route from Africa to the Río de la Plata to the search for liberation through military service. A third group of essays addresses political alliances and movements during the independence wars and their aftermath.

Other essays do not fit snugly into this chronological and thematic scope, but nonetheless enhance our understanding of the region's long transition from the South Atlantic limits of Iberian empire to independent nation-states. An introductory essay by the editors provides a useful overview, describing the state of the field and situating the volume's essays therein.