From the arrival of Hispanicized Africans during the Age of Discovery to today's renewal of racial identities, the history of Africans in Latin America has been complex, their contributions numerous. It is precisely this complexity that the essays in Slavery and Beyond analyze, exploring geographical, regional, and other factors.

The editor has selected ten topics through which to study the African dimension of Latin America, including the colonial era, religion, music, and intermarriage. Each topic is explained by the editor and then discussed in articles drawn from academic journals, monographs, and papers.