Book excerpt: In Nationality Law in the Western Hemisphere, Olivier Vonk provides the first comprehensive overview in English of the grounds for acquisition and loss of citizenship in the thirty-five independent countries in the Americas and the Caribbean. Employing a typology developed by the European Union Democracy Observatory on Citizenship, he convincingly shows that different nationality laws can be compared by using a systematic analytical grid. The individual country chapters additionally pay due regard to issues such as dual citizenship and statelessness, and include thorough historical observations as well as extensive bibliographical references for each state. Nationality Law in the Western Hemisphere allows academics, practitioners, governments and international organizations to assess nationality legislation beyond a purely national context.