Steven Palmer is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Windsor in Ontario. He is the author of From Popular Medicine to Medical Populism: Doctors, Healers, and Public Power in Costa Rica, 1800–1940 (published by Duke University Press).

Iván Molina is Professor of History at the University of Costa Rica in San José. He is a coauthor of Stuffing the Ballot Box: Fraud, Electoral Reform, and Democratization in Costa Rica.

Introduction 1

I Birth of an Exception? 9

II Coffee Nation 55

III Popular Culture and Social Policy 99

IV Democratic Enigma 139

V The Costa Rican Dream 183

VI Other Cultures and Outer Reaches 229

VIIWorking Paradise 275

VIII Tropical Soundings 319

Suggestions for Further Reading 367

Acknowledgment of Copyrights 373

Index 379

a poignant resource for anyone with an eye on the country, whether traveler, grizzled Costa Rica oldtimer, flash-in-the-pan tourist, historian, or Costa Rican national." The Tico Times