Central America Books

This book pretty much just made me mad. The terrorist group M-19 attempted to take government workers hostage in order to get political consideration. The first time(s) is worked. The "macho" new President decided not to negotiate and a large number (unknown) of the hostages were killed. From the few witnesses left, the terrorists killed some soldiers, but no hostages. The un-identified bodies were buried and had acid poured on their graves to prevent later identification. Fortunately for the Government, an earthquake provided hundreds more bodies to dump over the killed hostages further hindering later identification.

Bottom line, I ain't ever going to Columbia and thank GOD they don't run our police forces. The President allowed the military to kill all of the terrorists and all of the hostages that couldn't get away from the army.

The author is a good investigator and writer. She's also VERY lucky to be here.

"The Palace of Justice" is a brutal story of life in Colombia. Carrigan is a tier-one journalist who lived in Colombia and used many first hand accounts to expose the flaws in the government's coverup.

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This is an utterly brilliant book.
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Ana Carrigan provides a meticulously researched and detailed
account of a climactic event in the ongoing Colombian violence.
The significance of this saga is not in its direct effects but
the insight into the workings and priorities of the Colombian
government and military revealed to us by this moment of crisis.
The author gives the critical background to the saga and covers
in detail the political maneuvering and subsequent
Orwellian "official explanation" of what really happened.
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Read this book. If it's out-of-print, harangue the publisher.

This book is truly the most complete investigation on those two intense and definitive days in recent Colombian history. Told with gripping narrative, it is hard to put down: it took me only three days to read. As a Colombian, for me it is also a source of profound sadness, because the book, through its tale, illustrates all the workings of colombian politics, with all its lies, manipulations, self-interests, and lack of any decent statemanship and generosity. Except for a few personalities, all the actors in this drama show an inmense human mediocrity, from the president of the nation on down. Also, it shows the brutality of an armed force that has always been distinguished by its corruption and incompetence in the field of battle. This book should be mandatory reading for anybody interested in Colombian politics, history and society.

A very enjoyable book about a very bloody and unfortunate event in Colombia`s recent history. As a Colombian I can vouch for the accuracy of the events the author describes. I want to congratulate the author and at the same time recommend this book to everyone.

As a recent traveler to Colombia I found this book to be a truly great reminder of my trip. The wide angle photography gives you a pespective that can only be beaten by being there. It feels like you are truly in the picture. I also like the book because it doesn't focus on one area or on one type of geography. Countyside and City are equally represented. As are the mountains, the coastal regions and the jungle.

This is honestly one of the best ever depictions of such a rich country, not only in culture, art, architecture, history and geographical variety, but in the people, the spirit, the colors and the sharp contrasts that this beautiful country has.
The photographer exposes an intimate and personal view that allows us to be inside the picture, as if living it ourselves. He has entered areas and dangerous zones to show us those existing contrasts, and has exposed us to the magnificense of this varied country. It is a perfect example of being able to see through someone else's eyes, and how beautiful it is.

perfect and beautiful. Any time you want to visit a world of difference, beauty -go to this book. I would reccomend this book to any serious cofee table book enthusiast. Weather you have been to Colombia or not, you will like it!

Probably no country in South America has a greater geographical variety than Colombia. In 2002 I spent a month exploring Colombia (although the terrorists-FARC problem seriously restricted my movement). "Panoramic Colombia" helped me to remember, vividly, what I had seen and get a glimpse the many parts of Colombia I needed to return to see.

Using a roundshot, 360 degree camera, Villegas has done a great job of showcasing the cities and natural wonders of Colombia. Each color photograph captures mountains, jungles, coastal areas, rainforests, moorlands, towns and vibrant cities. Each geographical region is delineated by a map (a nice touch). The reproduction of color is a notch below excellent. Most of the two page panoramic photos are 30 inches long, however, there are twenty photos that fold out into three pages, over 45 inches long!

"Panoramic Colombia" is an excellent introduction to Colombia. A great book for anyone who is going to visit, or who has visited, this diverse country. "Panoramic Colombia" would make a fantastic gift for anyone from Colombia or interested in this Latin American gem. Highly Recommended

We purchased the Spanish version of this book while in Colombia. It had been recommended to us by other Colombians who felt it was the best photographic representation thus far of their country. The content is spectacular in that it captures pristine landscapes, beautiful seascapes and candid events. The photo quality itself is slightly imperfect in sharpness and lighting (sometimes the faces are in shadows), but this is understandable with the use of the panoramic lens. I have mostly enjoyed the corresponding eloquent citations from authors describing their impressions of, feelings about or experiences in Colombia.

...this book is definitely for the obsessive. These are pioneers who, for the most part, predate the concepts of stardom. Early recording companies, like early movie studios, were not interested in sharing any revenue with any "stars" that required promotion -- yes, Sarah Bernhardt made a movie or two, and Caruso sold a lot of records, but they were exceptions -- people who had reputations built outside the new mediums. For this reason, you'll find a lack of big-name stars. What you will find is a wealth of information on the practically unknown legions of men and women who were among the first to actually record the sounds and songs from the last two centuries. I found it fascinating, and of value in the obsessive cataloging that often goes hand-in-hand with the hobby of record collecting. It also helped to make a great many names a lot more human to me, and I'm thankful to the author for that. Not for the average reader, but if you have an interest in the acoustic recordings of popular music from the earliest days... well, you'll be as happy as Jones & Hare.

This is a well written biographical dictionary of the key popular (vs. classical) performers featured on early recordings. For example, you can look up "Edison Quartette" and find out that it was also known as the Hayden Quartet and exchanged performers with the American Quartet. Then you can look up the individual singers. I just consulted it this morning to find out about an early recording of John Philip Sousa's band.

While it is not a discography, it has information about selected early records, along with a song index. If you want to get a peek at the style, check out Tim Gracyk's site online.

I don't see how any collector of early popular records could live without this book.

POPULAR AMERICAN RECORDING PIONEERS: 1895-1925, by Tim Gracyk, has detailed biographies of singers/musicians on old records! 444 pages. This is the ONLY book ever published to give biographies of early recording pioneers. Learn facts about the singers who made records of "popular" music before 1925! The book's opening essay gives a summary of the history of the early recording industry, the "acoustic" era. Rare sources were used--trade journals like TALKING MACHINE WORLD, memos from the Edison, Victor, Zon-O-Phone, U-S Everlasting, and Columbia record companies, etc. Following the long intro are detailed encyclopedic articles (organized alphabetically): 100 artists with separate entries in the book include the American Quartet, Billy Murray, Ada Jones, Cal Stewart (Uncle Josh), Nat Wills, Steve Porter, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (other "jass" bands of 1917 covered, too), Paul Whiteman, George J. Gaskin, Carl Fenton, Sam Ash, Aileen Stanley, Henry Burr, the Peerless Quartet, Arthur Collins, Byron G. Harlan, the duo Collins and Harlan (separate entry--new info!), S. H. Dudley, Al Bernard, Edward M. Favor, Rudy Wiedoeft, Sousa, Walter B. Rogers, Vess L. Ossman, Sam Lanin, Bert Williams, Frisco Jazz Band, Olive Kline, J. W. Myers, Ben Selvin, the Green Brothers, Haydn Quartet (the quartet that sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" for Victor), Marion Harris, Arthur Fields, Irving Kaufman, Will F. Denny, Frank C. Stanley, Nat Shilkret, Frank Ferera (did his wife and fellow recording artist Helen Louise die of foul play? she vanished during a ship voyage in 1919!), James Reese Europe (Jim Europe), Victor Military Band, Victor Light Opera Company, Werrenrath, Shannon Four (Revelers), Richard Jose...many more! Rare info here from descendants of the artists, from old letters sent to historian Jim Walsh (some never published by Walsh), from rare primary sources like birth & death certificates, from archives! This is the ONLY book that covers artists who, from the 1890s to the mid-1920s, made records of music that was "popular" in nature, as opposed to records of operatic arias, symphonic works, or concert pieces. A pre-electric method for recording was used, with musicians performing into a horn, not a microphone. This encyclopedia covers American artists who recorded Tin Pan Alley numbers, Broadway show tunes, ragtime, "coon" songs, novelty numbers, quartet arrangements, parlor ballads, early jazz (sometimes called "jass"), blues, dance music, hymns, and early country. This book makes a distinction between stage personalities who happened to make some recordings--when they found time in their busy schedules--and artists who made their living largely by recording regularly, perhaps finding a little time on the side for theatrical performances, vaudeville, or concert recitals. Few stars of the stage made records regularly, exceptions being Bert Williams, Nora Bayes, and Al Jolson--even their output is minuscule compared with that of Henry Burr, Harry Macdonough, Lewis James, Vernon Dalhart, Irving Kaufman, and others who, for a long time, earned a living by recording. Over 100 of these kinds of artists covered in detail, with info available nowhere else! This book has a GREAT INDEX if you want to look up specific records/songs.

Anyone who collects old 78s knows how frustratingly difficult it can sometimes be to learn about the musicians responsible for making the recordings. This book spotlights dozens of acoustic-era (1890s-1920s) recording stars, in most cases providing the most complete and detailed biographies I've found anywhere. The introduction is particularly helpful, providing an overview of the recording industry in its early years, examining how recording limitations dictated what and who was recorded, offering glimpses into the studios where these records were made, and a valuable note about estimations of record sales. This introduction nicely balances the individual accounts that come after and helps us see how these musicians fit in the "overall picture." If you've got moldy stacks of old 78s by Arthur Fields, Irving Kaufman, Ada Jones, The Sannon Quartet, Joseph C. Smith, or others like that, you might just find yourself cleaning them off and playing them again after reading this book. I find these old acoustics are much easier to enjoy once I know something about the people who made them.

This isn't a sit-down-and-read-like-a-novel book, it's more like an encyclopedia, with 1-10 page articles about individual musicians and groups. At times, the articles feel a bit "choppy," but on the whole they are quite readable and there's plenty of information. Unfortunately, the binding of this paperback version is rather poor (the sheets are just glued directly to the flimsy spine, not sewn together), maybe the hardcover version is better bound? So far, my paperback is still intact, but for how much longer, I can only guess. This is a book I pull off the shelf often to answer many of the questions that come up when I listen to my 78s. Gracyk and Hoffman will give you a whole new appreciation for these old records! Highly recommended!

POPULAR AMERICAN RECORDING PIONEERS: 1895-1925, by Tim Gracyk, has detailed biographies of singers/musicians on old records! 444 pages. This is the ONLY book ever published to give biographies of early recording pioneers. Learn facts about the singers who made records of "popular" music before 1925! The book's opening essay gives a summary of the history of the early recording industry, the "acoustic" era. Rare sources were used--trade journals like TALKING MACHINE WORLD, memos from the Edison, Victor, Zon-O-Phone, U-S Everlasting, and Columbia record companies, etc. Following the long intro are detailed encyclopedic articles (organized alphabetically): 100 artists with separate entries in the book include the American Quartet, Billy Murray, Ada Jones, Cal Stewart (Uncle Josh), Nat Wills, Steve Porter, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (other "jass" bands of 1917 covered, too), Paul Whiteman, George J. Gaskin, Carl Fenton, Sam Ash, Aileen Stanley, Henry Burr, the Peerless Quartet, Arthur Collins, Byron G. Harlan, the duo Collins and Harlan (separate entry--new info!), S. H. Dudley, Al Bernard, Edward M. Favor, Rudy Wiedoeft, Sousa, Walter B. Rogers, Vess L. Ossman, Sam Lanin, Bert Williams, Frisco Jazz Band, Olive Kline, J. W. Myers, Ben Selvin, the Green Brothers, Haydn Quartet (the quartet that sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" for Victor), Marion Harris, Arthur Fields, Irving Kaufman, Will F. Denny, Frank C. Stanley, Nat Shilkret, Frank Ferera (did his wife and fellow recording artist Helen Louise die of foul play? she vanished during a ship voyage in 1919!), James Reese Europe (Jim Europe), Victor Military Band, Victor Light Opera Company, Werrenrath, Shannon Four (Revelers), Richard Jose...many more! Rare info here from descendants of the artists, from old letters sent to historian Jim Walsh (some never published by Walsh), from rare primary sources like birth & death certificates, from archives! This is the ONLY book that covers artists who, from the 1890s to the mid-1920s, made records of music that was "popular" in nature, as opposed to records of operatic arias, symphonic works, or concert pieces. A pre-electric method for recording was used, with musicians performing into a horn, not a microphone. This encyclopedia covers American artists who recorded Tin Pan Alley numbers, Broadway show tunes, ragtime, "coon" songs, novelty numbers, quartet arrangements, parlor ballads, early jazz (sometimes called "jass"), blues, dance music, hymns, and early country. This book makes a distinction between stage personalities who happened to make some recordings--when they found time in their busy schedules--and artists who made their living largely by recording regularly, perhaps finding a little time on the side for theatrical performances, vaudeville, or concert recitals. Few stars of the stage made records regularly, exceptions being Bert Williams, Nora Bayes, and Al Jolson--even their output is minuscule compared with that of Henry Burr, Harry Macdonough, Lewis James, Vernon Dalhart, Irving Kaufman, and others who, for a long time, earned a living by recording. Over 100 of these kinds of artists covered in detail, with info available nowhere else! This book has a GREAT INDEX if you want to look up specific records/songs.

Flores-Galbis has a background in art and this is evident in his writing style. Raining Sardines is replete with figurative language and imagery. He illustrates the adventures of two young Cubans, Enriquito and Ernestina, very picturesquely. This is certainly a book that will appeal to young readers. I am currently using this novel with my advanced/gifted middle school students and, needless to say, they have developed and expressed a significant level of interest in this work.

"Raining Sardines" is just a wonderful, fantastical story. While the title references a unique phenomenon in some Latin American countries in which the skies occasionally open up and rain down sardines, hamsters, frogs, and the like, the title is a tad misleading. The story is actually about the adventures of the two principal characters (children) in their quest to save their small town from a brutish land-baron who's family has been bullying the townsfolk for decades. Flores-Galbis writes with a confident and easy prose that is both colorful and poetic. "Raining Sardines" is a fast-paced and engrossing story that is perfect for pre-teens and early teens alike... and for their parents who also love a good, whimsical adventure.

I was one of Enrique's first friends when he came to America with his three brothers. There are parts of this book that i remember him talking about when we were playing. After reading the book, I have ordered books for the elementary school back home for their library. I treasure the autographed copy I have at home, we recently saw each other again after almost 40 years, it was like we had stayed in touch all these years.

Enrique Flores-Galbis takes you on a colorful adventure that keeps you at the edge of your seat! DO NOT start this book without leaving time to read it all the way through! Too hard to put it down! My new favorite book!

Enrique Flores paints a vivid world with his words in "Raining Sardines". This book is a fun, great read for "young" readers of all ages. I highly recommend it - que chévere.

This book that is great to give to new families starting out their library. The rythm of this story makes it so fun to read and for the kids to listen to- over and over and over again. Its simple enough for the youngest child to have fun with and fill in the fun sounds, or a life lesson in getting, or not getting, your work done for older kids.

My 7 month old loves this book. His face lights up when he hears the rain "plinka, plinka" and the wind "Wooya, Wooya". He also loves the pictures. I know this will always be one of his favorites.

The talents of the prolific Nancy Van Laan ("In a Circle Long Ago," and many others) and illustrator Yumi Heo ("Sometimes I'm Bombaloo") combine in this cheery retelling of a Brazilian folktale about blackmouth monkeys. The monkeys frolic through the Brazilian rainforest, swinging from vine to vine, and, most importantly, climbing the thorny tall trees:

Still they climb, UP-UP!
And they slide, Down-Down!
They sing, "Jibba-jibba-jabba."
swinging round and round

JUMP, JABBA JABBA,
RUN, JABBA JABBA,
SLIDE, JABBA JABBA,
Tiny monkeys having fun!

But these same trees keep them from having a comfortable home, unlike their neighbors the armadillo and the toucan. The monkeys SAY they're going to build a house, but fun and delicious things (e.g., bananas!) keep them from doing it!

The short rhymes and wonderful animal and nature sounds make this a very fun book to read out loud. The rhythms are musical, and the capitalized sounds (e.g., PLINKA PLINKA, WOOYA WOOYA, GURR-YUH GURR-YUH) are your cue to turn up the narrative volume for your little one. They'll eat it up. Slightly older toddlers may also enjoy the monkeys' priorities of fun and food over practicality. Yumi Heo has an unusual palette: I love the blues in her bubbling river and stormy sky. Her repetition of the playing monkeys nicely complements the repeated sounds of the text, and her flat, "folkish" drawings, filled with repeated designs and iconic imagery, evoke the teeming rainforest. The book was included in "The 3rd Edition of The New York Times Parent's Guide to the Best Books for Children." A simple but superb performance by van Laan and Heo.

Both my three year old daughter and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's rhyming verse is fun to read and the pictures are captivating. The actual story of how the carefree monkeys avoid making their night-time nests is light-hearted and amusing. My daughter and I borrowed this entertaining book from our local library. We liked it so well that I intend to buy it for her collection of favorites.

Never mind the review that says this for age 3+. My 14 month old won't go to bed until we've read this at least three times. He's barely talking but he picks up the books and says "Whee!" And his older brother (age 4) chimes in with the "Jibba Jibba Jabba" every time!

Martin Prechtel is perhaps the most capable of sacred story telling of today's authors. His respect for the power of language is immense and this book where he is retelling an ancient Mayan myth as it parallels his own experience is stunning in its capacity to illuminate todays world in all its contrasts. It is the third in an autobiographical trilogy. However, if you have not yet read the first two, don't worry, it stands completely on its own. This book was previously released under the title "The Toe Bone and the Tooth".

You wouldn't think it possible to say "this is Martin Prechtel's best book yet" because they are all so exceptional. If you are interested in current Mayan culture, indigenous peoples, love, life, Central American politics... this book is a tour de force. Martin Prechtel is one of the most truly amazing, talented, gifted, wise, insightful people you might ever hope to meet. On top of this, he is an extraordinarily gifted writer. Buy the book. Buy them all.

It might help readers to know that this book and "The Disobedience of the Daughter of the Sun" are written to be read aloud. When you do this the prose has a rhythm that is part of the meaning of the book.

"In much wisdom is much grief" says the Preacher in Ecclesiastes, "and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow." There is much wisdom, grief, knowledge, sorrow, and finally joy in Martin Prechtel's new book. You don't have to read his previous three, *Secrets of the Talking Jaguar,* *Long Life, Honey in the Heart,* and *The Disobedience of the Daughter of the Sun* to understand and appreciate the message of *The Toe Bone and the Tooth* - but it helps.

This is a story about keeping the Great Story alive - "An Ancient Mayan Story Relived in Modern Times: Leaving Home to Come Home."

It starts out with Martin's return to Guatamala in 1992 after many years in exile from his adopted country, where his village of Santiago Atitlan had been destroyed and 1800 of his friends and villagers slaughtered by American-backed death squads in the 1980s. He was picked up at the airport by three teenage boys (who had been small children when the devastation took place) and smuggled back to the village under a truckload of Mayan squashes. Along the way, the boys were eager to hear the story of the Toe Bone and Tooth that had been outlawed (as well as their language) by the various and many invaders of their country. Landmarks of the Story were everywhere (much as Australian Dreamtime stories are dependent on the land for the telling).

Martin was welcomed in Santiago Atitlan as the Shaman and healer that he was for many years. He had had a Mayan wife and three sons there (one son died) and his little family had barely escaped with their lives.

The ancient story of the Toe Bone and Tooth is inserted here - the Story of a mortal, Raggedy Boy, who fell in love with the Water Goddess, the story of her death after bearing him two corn children and being forgotten when her husband returned to the mortal world. When he did remember her through dreams, he had to re-member her, gathering her bones with the help of Coyote (who had the toe bone and tooth) and descending into the underworld to retrieve her heart. He was helped by an old magical couple. Re-membered, she became an ordinary woman and he became an ordinary man, and from them, all humans are descended.

The next few chapters chronicle the story of Martin's first arrival in Santiago Atitlan - how he'd been lost in a blizzard in his American homeland of Northern New Mexico in his youth, and how he was saved by a mare named Morningstar and an old Spanish lady who cured him of an almost fatal fever with bear grease and herbs. During his convalescence, he had 11 dreams of Santiago Atitlan and Nicolas Chiviliu Tacaxoy, who was to become his teacher, friend and mentor and who had called him through dreams for three years before he finally arrived in the village. Says Prechtel, "Though I was blond and born far away, we were the old and young generation of throwbacks from other times and layers of existence in which a humble dynasty of people in service to the remembrance of the Dismembered Goddess was continued from century to century."

Another chapter tells of Martin's defense of a young Mayan seminary student, Gaspar Culan, who was accused of worshipping idols because he had participated in an ancient Mayan sacred ceremony involving Holy Boy, whom the Catholic Church had branded as a devil but is actually a Christ figure. Martin (who speaks English, Spanish, and Mayan fluently) was to be Gaspar's advocate. Holy Boy had been called a Jew by the Church. Martin pointed out that they had dubbed the deity a Jew (and a devil) because Jews were at least considered to be human and therefore were subject to the 16th Century Inquisition. Mayans hadn't been considered people before that, so if their God was a Jew, the Inquisition could persecute and prosecute them. Martin won his case, and Culan was ordained as the first Mayan Catholic priest.

Several chapters are devoted to the Prechtel family's nothing-short-of-miraculous escape from Guatamala. Martin's teacher had ordered Martin to stay alive at all costs so that he might carry the seed of the story to the U.S. and preserve it for the Mayans whose history and culture had been outlawed.

When Martin got back to the U.S. and his old homeland in New Mexico, he and his family lived in poverty and difficulties for several years, but in Santa Fe he met a homeless couple who were like the old couple in the Story. Here, the narrative goes into the third person as the old couple tell Martin's story and do for him what he had done for countless people in his life - re-membered him for the holy amnesiacs (all of us). Martin's story mirrors the Great Story - "the story of ordinary people, extraordinarily in love and the story of the struggle of what it takes to be graced with such love is the story from which all humans are descended."

The author dedicates this book to the "deer-eyed daughter of the mountain, the mother of the great diversity" and to "all those peoples, plants and animals who have been and continue to be forcibly uprooted, rerouted, relocated, corralled, cut, branded, burnt out, burned down, burnt up, crushed, eradicated or driven from their homes in infinite diasporas of all types, to live where they may be unwelcome, while still trying to keep alive their seed capsules of cultural memory in hopes to regrow a home again. May their descendants be carved by the inherited grief of their ancestral loss to become feeders of what is holy in the ground, dedicated to something bigger than their need for justice and the pursuit of revenge."

This is a fantastic, exciting but true story, and in my opinion, this is a life-changing book. Read it!

TV, more than any other medium, has become America's storyteller. Sometimes that's not so bad; other times it presents shallow and false values to impressionable minds. When I'm hungry for ultimate truths, I've often found it best to go to other cultures and borrow their stories. One of the very, very best is "Stealing Benefacio's Roses." Within this story you will find your heart and be surprised at how strong and lovely it is. You will find your soul and come to know your true self. It's a story that works on the surface level of "Once upon a time . . ." yet also touches the deeper realms of mythology, spirituality, psychology, history and the many varieties of love. The writing is superb. Here's a quote: "Onto the floor I dropped to sleep, drifting on the tossing sea of my aching heart in a little canoe of Gustavo's friendship, into dreams filled with the unkillable perfume of Benefacio's roses." To understand and savor the last five words, buy the book and enjoy the revelations. This is the one you will keep to reread over time.

I have heard that Assata is the aunt of famous rapper, Tupac Shakur. Is this true? Is their any mention of Tupac in her books???

A collection of mostly interviews conducted over a number of years, the voices of Dhoruba Bin Wahad, Mumia Abu-Jamal and Assata Shakur speak loud & proud while revealing the roles of a variety of government agencies in destroying the Black Power movement.

Originally published in 1993, the topics covered include the Black Panther Party, (Philadelphia) MOVE, the Black Liberation Army and the racism in the American judicial system. Particularly interesting is the BPP chronology and a collection of FBI documents that explain in government-speak the targeting of individuals/organizations.

These are important accounts that challenge and ultimately debunks mainstream media coverage of individuals & events that will continue to have significance when one researches the real history of the Black Power movement.

This book gives a insight of the most famous victim of The F.B.I's cointelpro next to Geronimo Pratt. This book shows that 19 years of Prison has not dulled Dhoruba's committment to Revolutionary Struggle. The excerpts by Mumia abu Jamal and Assata Shakur are very helpful.

After spending about two decades in America's penal system for a crime he did not commit Dhoruba bin Wahad gives us his too brief insights into America and it's relationship with Blacks. Interms of clearity perhaps only matched by Chomsky.

The other two writers [Jamal and Shakur] one on death row, the other exiled in Cuba also peel back the illusions of justice for all citzens in America. A vivid account of what it is to have the most powerful country in the world trying to destroy you for standing up for justice.Also a great general history lesson.

Book should be part of a mandatory reading list in public schools for all students black and white.

This book gives a insight of the most famous victim of The F.B.I's cointelpro next to Geronimo Pratt. This book shows that 19 years of Prison has not dulled Dhoruba's committment to Revolutionary Struggle. The excerpts by Mumia abu Jamal and Assata Shakur are very helpful.

Perfect is so many ways. The grid is particularly helpful: Economic Buyer (you never or rarely see him/her)--the budget setter; technical buyer (they can only say no); real buyer; coach (can be anyone from Economic buyer, to tech buyer, to real buyer).

Perhaps their best info is they way they got sales people to sell: they worked on the good ones to get better. They found mgt always had excuses for why the good were so good (shouldn't have been) and the bad were so bad (excuses).

Marvelous.

This is the BIBLE for customer focused consultative selling!

If you are a sales professional or manager interested in revving things up and taking your sales team to the next level this is the program to do it! Step by step instructions for detailed account management , opportunity assessment , identification and how to build trust, get the customer to help you understand their needs and then to help you close the deal!

The system is like all Miller- Heiman programs- very detailed and filled with examples. This is perfect for helping salespeople who tend to go to one person at a client and not expand into the account- learn about other people and how they can influence decisions. Underlying message is the more your know- the less you hear "NO!"

I first did this program as a salesperson over 10 years ago- since then I have taught the program 4 times- I personally learn each time I do so. Other programs by Miller-Heiman are all built upon this program and its sister program Customer Focused Selling. Their advanced LAMP ( Large Account Management ) program requires this as a pre-requisite.

Clients of Miller-Heiman include big pharmaceutical companies, top automotive manufacturers and suppliers, I took a class in Chicago with the sales team responsible for selling the big 3 transmissions! Telecon companies use Miller-Heiman. Electronics mega-sellers use the system. Can your business benefit from the system designed to maximize the output of every sales call?

Then buy with confidence! Great book to read before your sales team meeting. --.

Strategic Selling is a long time favorite of mine because of the simplicity and structure to the method. Especially for the new salesperson, this book provides the tools to effectively handle complex sales situations.

It would be great if you could develop some new technique for walking into a large corporation and closing a major sale on the first visit, but it rarely, if ever, happens. Chances are, you're in for drawn-out process with lots of players. Most corporate sales professionals meander through this process hoping to "do what it takes" to close the sale. Miller, Heiman finally offer up a way of keeping score -- of knowing where you stand in the process and what you have to do to keep it moving in the right direction. By developing a standard nomenclature to discuss buy types and their relevant position in the sales process, Miller, Heiman allow you to keep track for yourself, but discuss it with your sales management. This is likely the most important book about the strategic side of selling. I can guarantee you this: read this book -- practice the technicques within, and you will never find out you lost a sale after the fact.

_Strategic Selling_ is a valuable book, especially for those of us who are not "salesmen" in the classic sense, but have to operate in the Complex Sales environment. Consultants and Client Relationship Managers will find it especially valuable.

_Strategic Selling_ provides valuable insight into how to set up "Win/Win" situations: it begins by identifying the different kinds of "Buyers" in every sales situation, the roles they play, and what constitutes "Value" to them.

It then provides a mechanism for identifying what you do not "know" about the various Buyers, with the objective of finding out. It is an approach which helps you paint a complete picture of the dynamics at work in a selling situation, so that you can operate effectively within it.

Finally, it provides a mechanism for "keeping the sales funnel full" -- a challenge which most people operating in cyclical industries can identify with.

Following this methodology can help you ensure that you do not blunder around in ignorance in a Complex Sales environment -- you will know at least as much as the next guy, and probably much more. And you will be actively doing something about it.

Rackham's _SPIN Selling_ is a good complementary book to _Strategic Selling_, as it provides a tactical approach -- the "How To" as opposed to the "Why".

_Strategic Selling_ is an interesting -- though not uncomplementary -- contrast to Holden's _Power Base Selling_. Both approaches can provide insight into the inner workings of the Complex Sale; however, _Strategic Selling_ focuses less on manipulating the political forces at work, and may thus be more palatable for some

A well written, poignant journey into the rich, yet non-existent today, past of the vibrant Jewish community of Europe prior to World War Two.

I have read all the previous complimentary reviews, and agree with them all -- this is a masterpiece and should definitely be owned by all interested in this subject particularly because of its fine text, the wonderful and priceless photos (how did the old ones become in color??), and the pertinent appendices.
But I would like to also mention its limitations, which no one mentioned; but still these should not discourage its purchase:
(1) The most glaring (near-) omission is its abysmal index The text mentions hundreds of synagogues in tens of pages, yet the index consists of only two pages of quite large type.
(2) This grossly incomplete index also has the wrong reference page for many synagogues [I checked two towns and found each discussed on a different page].
(3) One should realize that only certain countries are listed; this is not a criticism; more a hope for a second volume. Those countries listed are: Italy, Croatia and Serbia, Greece, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary.

Again, the grossly limited index makes search truly impossible; forcing one to just read each page in each subject country. Perhaps this is a 'plus'!

Still, a masterpiece.

This is a beautiful book! The pictures are gorgeous, and the accompanying text is clear, concise, and extremely informative. Each chapter contains a beautiful and poignant story of a lost community. I shared this book with my parents, who come from and are familiar with some of the communities mentioned in the book. It brought back bittersweet memories for them, as they are survivors of the Shoah. I showed this book to my children and their friends, and the pictures generated some very good discussions. This is a book that belongs on every coffee table - and it won't stay there for too long. It's a book to be picked up and looked over slowly and lovingly. Each chapter is to be savoured. I highly recommend it!

Winner of the National Jewish Book Award 2000, this jewel of a book should be in every Jewish home and in as many high-school, university and public libraries as possible, Jewish and otherwise.

Like many of life's blessings that seem "accidental," a holiday in Italy developed into this fascinating history of synagogues and their communities in Italy [6 communities], Croatia and Serbia [3], Greece [3], Austria [3], the Czech Republic: Bohemia and Moravia [7], Slovakia [7] and Hungary [5].

That "vacation" expanded into five seasons of research on 350 synagogues. Thirty-four chapters of text are devoted to the history of specific Jewish communities. The excellent photographs of synagogoue interiors and exteriors were taken by the authors, unless otherwise noted. Fieldwork was followed by seven years of research and writing.

Writing the Foreword in 1999, the late Dr. Joseph Burg mentioned the authors' "infinite work, tireless devotion and careful investigation." Their energy has created a rich mixture of information on the synagogues and the Jews who worshipped in them. This combines with a competent description of the architectural and decorative aesthetics.

The earliest mentioned synagogue (1408) is in the former Dubrovnik ghetto, where today a congregation of 47 members, up from 23 some years ago, worships at No. 3 Jewish Street. The most recent (1925), the Neolog synagogue in Lucenec, Slovakia, was designed by architect Lipot Baumhorn. The small community remaining after the Holocaust sold it to the state for repair and use for cultural purposes. However, the authorities leased it out as an agricultural warehouse. In the late 1970s, when the tenant moved out, the building was left open to vandals. Today the interior is a picture of "wanton devastation" in contrast to the exterior photographs which imply the past grandeur of Baumhorn's romantic style.

The text provides marvelous nuggets of congregational and artistic history. In Italy, the only European country in which Jews have lived continually since the second century B. C. E., the synagogue design ranges from the luxuriant Baroque-Rococo interior of the synagogue in Casale Monferrato to the white-walled purity at Gorizia. Built in the ghetto in 1699, the latter experienced in 1761 a fire which "licked up to the synagogue and suddenly stopped on the threshold." The congregation celebrated the date and miracle for many years as a "minor Purim." Restored in 1984, the building is now a small Jewish museum. The large Pilsen synagogue in Bohemia, built in 1892, has been restored and is open to the public. The Nazis did not destroy it because of adjacent valuable commercial property. The neo-Moresque styled synagogue and school built in 1903 in Osijek, Croatia, was sold to Pentacostals and is now a church and seminary.

The supplementary chapter "A Gallery of Women" points out that the last resident Jews in remote towns more often than not are women. Today many are the mainstays of the local Jewish presence. Included here is Bernadette Booten's study "Women Leaders in the Ancient Synagogue," and information from Lee I. Levine's "The Ancient Synagogue: the first thousand years.

"The Italian Synagogue through the Ages" by Noemi Cassuto features photos of seven synagogues. Two in-scale floor plans detail the 13th century synagogue in Trani, converted 300 years later into a church.

"Synagogue Interior Decoration and the Halakhah" by Shalom Sabar questions which graphic content has been considered permissible over the years in view of the Second Commandment which forbids making images. The possibility of idolatry has always threatened, as did the simple fact of being distracted from prayer. Rabbi Judah ben Temah stated: Be strong as a tiger, light as an eagle, fast as a deer and mighty as a lion to fulfill the will of your Father in Heaven." Some Jews wanted images of the four "holy" animals used decoratively. In fact, in the 12th century in Regensburg, Germany, images of animals and birds were painted on the walls. Images of plants, fruit and flowers were always allowed, as were geometric designs, often inlaid in metal or mosaic.

"Spirituality and Space" by Rudolf Klein points out that in Judaism architecture lacks a direct link to the spiritual, the Torah, and the spatial. A minyan of ten Jews can pray together in any room, even out of doors. The synagogue is sacred because of the scriptures it contains.

The Appendix on synagogue restoration is a useful reference list to the current status of close to 150 synagogues, i.e., "in Jewish use; museum; new building; institute; community center; concert hall and gallery." In Venice three synagogues are in use, a fourth in restoration; in Zemun, in 1998 the Serbian radical party restored one as "a restaurant and gambling house."

A long list of Acknowledgments; a Bibliography; a Glossary and an Index witness that the entire project was created by many hearts and minds working together to achieve a shared vision. The book is such a rich mine of Jewish community history and religious art that one will return to it time and again.

The authors' parental roots in Moldavia and the Ukraine were transplanted to the United States, where Rivka and Ben-Zion grew up. Rivka has a BJE degree from Hebrew College in Boston and an MA in Ancient Semitic Languages and Art of the Ancient Near East from Columbia University. She studied art history and Jewish art at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and she lectures in Israel and abroad. Ben-Zion earned a Ph.D. in Genetics at Yale University. They live in Jerusalem.

The authors share with the reader the many meetings they had with total strangers during their travels, Jews and non-Jews: the friendships that developed, kindnesses shown, hospitality generously given. They were often asked, "Did your family come from this town?" Feeling themselves "an intrinsic part of the endless list of anonymous Jews who populated these villages and towns, the Dorfmans symbolically replied, "Yes, our family came from this town."

Winner of the National Jewish Book Award 2000, this jewel of a book should be in every Jewish home and in as many high-school, university and public libraries as possible, Jewish and otherwise.

Like many of life's blessings that seem "accidental," a holiday in Italy developed into this fascinating history of synagogues and their communities in Italy [6 communities], Croatia and Serbia [3], Greece [3], Austria [3], the Czech Republic [7], Slovakia [7] and Hungary [5].

That "vacation" expanded into five seasons of research on 350 synagogues. Thirty-four chapters of text are devoted to the history of specific Jewish communities. The excellent photographs of synagogue interiors and exteriors were taken by the authors unless otherwise noted. Fieldwork was followed by seven years of research and writing.

Writing in the Foreword in 1999, Dr. Joseph Burg mentioned the authors' "infinite work, tireless devotion and careful investigation." Their energy has created a rich texture of information on the synagogues and the Jews who worshipped in them. This combines with a competent description of the architectural and decorative aesthetics.

The earliest synagogue discussed [1408] is in the former ghetto of Dubrovnik, where today a congregation of 47 members, up from 23 some six years ago, worships at number 3 Jewish Street. The most recent one [1925] the Neolog synagogue in Lucenec, Slovakia, was designed by architect Lipot Baumhorn. The small community remaining after the Holocaust sold it to the State for repair and use for cultural purposes. However, the authorities leased it out as an agricultural warehouse. In the late 1970s, when the tenants moved out, the building was left open to vandals. Today the interior is a picture of "wanton destruction," a contrast with the exterior that still evokes the grandeur of Baumhorn's Romantic style.

The text provides marvelous nuggets of congregational and artistic history. In Italy, the only European country in which Jews have lived continually since the Second Century BCE, synagogue design ranges from the luxuriant Baroque-Rococo interior of the synagogue in Casale Monferrato to the white-walled purity in Gorizia. Built in the ghetto in 1699, the latter experienced a fire in 1761 which "licked up to the synagogue and suddenly stopped on the threshold." The congregation celebrated the date and miracle for many years as a minor Purim. Restored in 1984, the building is now a small Jewish Museum. The large Pilsen synagogue in Bohemia built in 1892 has been restored and is open to the public. The Nazis did not destroy it because of adjacent valuable commercial property. The neo-Moresque styled synagogue and school built in 1903 in Osijek, Croatia, was sold to Pentacostals and is now a church and seminary.

The supplementary chapter "A Gallery of Women" points out that the last resident Jews in remote towns more often than not are women. Today many are the mainstays of the local Jewish presence.

The "Italian Synagogue through the Ages" by Noemi Cassuto features photos of seven synagogues. Two in-scale floor plans detail the 13th century synagogue in Trani, converted 300 years later into a church.

"Synagogue Interior Decoration and the Halakhah" by Shalom Sabar questions which graphic content has been considered permissible over the years in view of the Second Commandment which forbids figurative representation. The possibility of idolatry has always threatened, as did the simple fact of being distracted from prayer. Rabbi Judah ben Temah stated "Be strong as a tiger, light as an eagle, fast as a deer and mighty as a lion to fulfill the will of your Father in Heaven." Some Jews wanted images of the four "holy" animals used decoratively. In the 12th century in Regensburg, Germany, images of animals and birds were painted on the walls. Images of plants, fruit and flowers were always allowed, as were geometric designs often inlaid in metal or mosaic.

"Spirituality and Space" by Rudolf Klein points out that in Judaism architecture lacks a direct link to the spiritual, the Torah and the spatial. A minyan of ten Jews can pray together in any room, even out of doors. The synagogue is sacred because of the scriptures it contains.

The Appendix on synagogue restoration is a useful current status reference list of close to 150 synagogues, i.e. "in Jewish use; museum; new building; institute; community center; concert hall and gallery." In Venice three synagogues are in use, a fourth in restoration; in Zemun, in 1998 the Serbian radical party restored one as "a restaurant and gambling house."

A long list of Acknowledgments: a Bibliography; a Glossary and an Index witness that the entire project was created by many hearts and minds working together to achieve a shared vision. The book is such a rich mine of Jewish community history and religious art that one will return to it time and again.

The authors' parental roots in Moldavia and the Ukraine were transplanted to the United States, where Rivka and Ben-Zion grew up. Rivka has a first degree from Hebrew College in Boston and an M.A. in Ancient Semitic Languages and Art of the Ancient Near East from Columbia University. She also studied art history and Jewish art at Hebrew University, Jerusalem. She lectures in Israel and abroad. Ben-Zion earned a Ph.D. in Genetics at Yale University. They live in Jerusalem.

The authors share with the reader the many meetings they had with total strangers during their travels, Jews and non-Jews; the friendships that developed, kindnesses shown, hospitality generously given. They were often asked "Did your family come from this town?" Feeling themselves "an intrinsic part of the endless list of anonymous Jews who populated these villages and towns," the Dorfmans found themselves answering "Yes. Our family came from this town."

I purchased a copy of the fifth edition sometime last year and keep it on the dash of my vehicle - to have handy while traveling. I found it contains details of local "hidden treasures" that are usually only discovered by the locals of the given community. I loaned it to a friend and now he is ordering his copy.

regards,
mikey kk5sc

June Naylor Rodriguez's 2nd Edition of Texas: Off the beaten Path is not only a book of travel excursions, but also includes Texas trivia and tidbits of Texas history. My favorite part of the book is a chapter called Wildest West Texas. Using the recommendations in the book, my husband and I enjoyed a part of Texas we had always wanted to see and probably would not have known of all the local places to visit had it not been for Rodriguez's suggestions. Without the book we would not have known where to go or what to see. If we had done the Big Bend without this book, I doubt that we would have seen all that we did. Hats off to June Naylor Rodriguez.

If you're planning to travel at all throughout the Lone Star State, this book will be an indispensable guide for your travels.

Sure, we can all find Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, but what about the 11 foot roadrunner in Fort Stockton? Or the statue of Popeye in Crystal City? During the winter you can see migrating bald eagles on Lake Buchanan (where?), and the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge is the only place in the United States where you can see a Chachalaca.

If you have a destination in mind, this book will tell you about the attractions and oddities nearby (and Texas has oddities!). If you're undecided about where to go, the book can provide a fun and informative itinerary.

Being Texans by choice, my wife and I frequently take trips around the state. Texas is full of natural beauty and interesting sights. This book helps you fully use and enjoy your time with Texas.

June Naylor Rodriguez's 2nd Edition of Texas: Off the Beaten Path is not only a book of travel excursions, but also includes Texas trivia and tidbits of Texas history. My favorite part of the book is a chapter called Wildest West Texas. Using the recommendations in the book, my husband and I enjoyed a part of Texas we had always wanted to see and probably would not have known of all the local places to visit had it not been for Rodriguez's suggestions. We boarded a plane at Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport and flew to Midland-Odessa. From there we went to Ft. Stockton. We took the books advice and visited the Annie Riggs Memorial Museum on South Main Street. Paisano Pete was there on Main Street to welcome us. We almost didn't eat at Sarah's, the oldest restaurant in town because it didn't lookvery inviting. But since it was in the book we decided to give it a try. It was great! Mexican food at its finest. The owners were so nice and let us take a picture with them. Then we went on down to Marathon and stayed at the recommended Gage Hotel. After the shock of no T.V. wore off we were able to enjoy the atmosphere. Marathon has a population of 800. In the morning we were on our way to Big Bend National Park. Without the book we would not have known to go to Hot Springs, Boquillas, Dagger Flat, Dugout Wells, and the Chisos Basin where we stayed the night at the Chisos Mountain Lodge. Our winding, up and down road, took us to Study Butte and the Roadrunner Deli. My favorite was our stop in Terlingua. I didn't know this was a ghost town. I always thought it was jumping because of the chili cook-off held there every year. An old movie house called the Starlight Theatre Restaurant offered dinner and entertainment. We drove on and looked for the lights of Marfa. In Marfa we visited the El Paisano Hotel which boasted guests such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and John F. Kennedy. It was also the home of Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, and Dennis Hopper while they were making the film Giant. Texas trivia from the book stated that in 1996 Martha Stewart was in Marfa for five days working out a barbecue layout for her magazine. Next we traveled on to Ft. Worth and the McDonald Observatory. Everything was more fun because we stayed at the 100-year old Limpia Hotel. We drove from Ft. Davis to the airport and home. If we had done the Big Bend without the guidance of Texas: Off the Beaten Path, we would not have seen all that we did. Hats off to June Naylor Rodriguez.

This book is very handy when searching the back roads for interesting information, buildings, history, etc. of Texas.
I ordered the book as "used" at a substantial savings over the "new" price. The book is actually a new copy of the 3rd Edition. There is now a 4th edition out, and that is probably the reason for the price. The book is full of places I intend to visit that I had no idea existed before.

Shipping from the vendor (Ed Marks) was extremely timely, and I was happy with the condition of the book when it arrived.