Includes bibliographical references and index.

I: Original sins -- The First Hispanic Colonization of What Is Now US Territory, c. 1505/1846 -- The fountain of youth -- The first colonies in what was to be the United States, c. 1505-1763 -- The cities of Cibola -- The colonial Midwest from the Mississippi to the Rockies, c. 1598-1798 -- The pursuit of King Arthur -- The shadow of Anglo-America, c. 1607-1784 -- The realm of Queen Calafia -- The foundation of California and the showdown with Anglo-America, c. 1766-1846 -- II. The empire of Eden -- The expansion of Anglo-America and the Hispanic retreat, c. 1846-1898 -- The curse of Zorro -- The great expropriation, c. 1846-1887 -- The revenge of Moroni -- The triumph of Anglo-America, c. 1830-1898 -- Paradise regained? -- The second Hispanic colonization, c. 1898-2012 -- The return to Aztlan -- Americanization and resistance in the Age of Mexican countercolonization, c. 1898-1986 -- The republic of Hesperus -- The remaking of the Hispanic United States, c. 1914-2012 -- Retrospect and prospect -- Why the United States is--and has to be--a Latin American country.