"Presents collection of previously published essays by distinguished specialist. Contributions on early colonial period include studies and documents on: themes of religiosity and death in Pedrarias' will; early encomienda in Panama (2 studies); Pedrarias and Laws of Burgos (HLAS 52:1396); abandonment of Nombre de Dios and founding of Portobelo (HLAS 52:1397); royal treasury in 16th-century Panama (2 studies; for one, see HLAS 50:1348); 1550 revolt launched in Nicaragua by Pedrarias' grandsons, Pedro and Hernando de Contreras (2 studies); and bureaucracy and power in 16th century. Other items are synthetic treatments of Central America in the 19th-20th centuries, bibliography of urban history (unrelated to Panama), and polemic on 1989 US invasion to oust dictator Manuel Noriega"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.