A Latin American history professor at Marshall University has turned his interest in that part of the world into a book.

Dr. Christopher M. White, an assistant professor at Marshall, has had his book, “The History of El Salvador,” published as part of the Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations series.

The series, begun in 1998, currently has more than 40 volumes and is geared to providing an up-to-date history of countries of the contemporary world.

Each author is chosen because he or she has been recognized by the publishing house as an expert in that field. White teaches classes in Latin American, the developing world and U.S. foreign relations.

“I jumped at the chance to write the book because I have had a special place in my heart for the Salvadoran people ever since I made friends with Salvadoran refugees 17 years ago,” White said. “This is primarily a book for American students because, among other reasons, the U.S. government supplied more military aid to the Salvadoran military than to any other Latin American military until the (1980s) and the result was at least 70,000 murdered civilians.”

White is also the author of a book about the United States and the 50-year-old Fidel Castro regime that severed relations between the U.S. and Cuba. That was published last year and is called “Creating a Third World: Mexico, Cuba, and the United States during the Castro Era.”

The dean of Marshall’s College of Liberal Arts, Dr. David Pittenger calls White’s book “ a timely account of El Salvador’s history and the United States’ involvement in that country’s evolution.

“Although the history is stark, it provides us the opportunity to reflect upon our nation’s role in international affairs and the autonomy of sovereign states,” Pittenger said.