Central America Books

In this book Christian Smith shatters many of the stereotypes that the media and academics hold about American Evangelicals. In it he draws on a series of interviews that he and his colleagues conducted over a three-year period as part of a much larger research project of American evangelicals. It compliments his 1998 book on evangelicals that is far more quantitative in nature.

Specifically, Smith explores how evangelicals think about pluralism, politics, education and gender roles. He concludes his book with a chapter looking at the results of recent surveys on evangelicals. What Smith finds is that evangelicals embrace a wide variety of views that are higly complex and not reducible to a single stereotype. As an example, while evangelicals embrace language that hold husbands up as the leaders of their families, in practice they are just as egalitarian as everyone else.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the evangelical subculture. Smith offers a far more nuanced and complex view of evangelicals than many commentators and academics have led us to believe.

Bruce David Forbes' CHRISTMAS: A CANDID HISTORY is a must read for anyone who loves the holiday season, or at least anyone who loves the religious aspect of the holiday season and enjoys the secular aspects as well. In this slim volume, Forbes looks at Christmas from its earliest incarnations to our present day celebrations. This is not a hackneyed presentation of common beliefs about Christmas. Forbes offers fresh perspectives about many commonly held theories about Christmas, especially what may be the three most common assumptions about Christmas, namely that it's a Christmas answer to winter solstice celebrations, that most of the symbols are pagan symbols with a Christian flair, and that Charles Dickens is responsible for Christmas as we know it today. For Forbes, Christmas is both all of the things and none of these things.

Forbes begins by looking at the variety of winter solstice celebrations since Christmas is a winter holiday then ventures into the religious aspects, reminding readers that Easter, not Christmas was the central Christian holiday and, for that matter is still supposed to be the central Christian celebration. He then ventures into looking at Christmas symbols such as the Christmas tree, the poinsettia, St. Nicholas becoming Santa Claus, Christmas in Victorian England and the United States, and Christmas as we know it today. Throughout the book Forbes uses the analogy of a snowball as a way of explaining Christmas. If someone wishes to make a snowman, it starts as a small ball of snow, gets rolled around and picks up all sorts of things along the way: dirt, twigs, rocks, dead leaves, etc. as well as snow. The result is the large snowball that becomes the base, torso, or head of the snowman. Much of how we now celebrate Christmas started the same way. A tradition started, different cultures, peoples and time periods added something to it, and today much of what we celebrate is a combination of a variety of additions and adaptations.

It turns out to be a fascinating read. As we read we learn that Christmas was never the purely spiritual holiday we sometimes imagine it to be and that there's always been a struggle to mingle the two, keeping the fun in the holiday while not forgetting it's central message--the birth of Jesus Christ.. We also see how Christmas went from a religious holiday with an excuse for reveling to the family centered holiday many now celebrate. We even get a critique of modern culture and consumerism as well as glimpses into the more recent "Happy Holiday/Merry Christmas" debates. While it's not specifically a "put Christ back into Christmas" book, Forbes as a practicing Methodist and religious studies professor appreciates the primacy spiritual aspect of the holiday while also loving the more secular aspects of Christmas, gives us a greater appreciation of Christmas. He offers his readers insights as to what the holiday ought to be about, and in a very real way rescues Christmas.

Poisoned diving suits, syringes made to look like pens, exploding seashells and cigars--these are but a few of the 612 known plots against Castro between the years of 1959-1993. Apologists for the CIA and the terrorists among the Cuban exile community cannot dismiss this book as Cuban disinformation because the records provided here are CIA declassified files. This book is the smoking gun.

To read this book is to learn how hatred makes people not only violent but ridiculous as well. Murdering Castro wasn't always the aim of each plot, although, no doubt, that was the would-be assassins ultimate aim. At times they sought to embarrass and discredit Castro in ways that ranged from the childish and prankish to the sinister.

There were plots to slip him LSD before one of his speeches so that he would laugh hysterically and discredit himself. One harebrained analyst believed the secret of Castro's charisma lay entirely in his beard. He proposed that thallium salts be placed in Castro's shoes so that his beard would fall out. Imagine the insult to the Cuban people suggested by this plot: the Cuban people loved Castro not for his ideas and ideals but because they were captivated by his facial hair. The contempt of the slur is only exceeded by the idiocy of the plot.

I used to believe that Castro and the revolution in Cuba survived forty-plus years of USA overt and covert onslaught because of the intelligence of Castro and the guardians of the revolution. Not any longer, although that was part of it. Another part--a huge part as this book demonstrates--is that the enemies of the revolution are imbeciles, made dumb by their hatred and unwillingness to accept that history in Cuba has moved past them.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough, it has an incredible wealth of information for any student of Film or Multi-media studies, but it is written so well that an understanding of academic jargon is not necessary. After much research I found this book in the University Library, if I was allowed only one reference in formulating my essays I would unhesitatingly use this book and no other. Considering the breath it covers it still manages to give more than a surface analysis. Starting from the early beginnings of film it then moves on to an informative and succinct explanation of Classical Hollywood cinema; it then has a chapter on technology; followed by an analysis of the national cinemas & film movements of Germany, the Soviet Union, Italian Neo-realism etc etc; it then gives cinematic alternatives to classic Hollywood narration, such as the New Hollywood and avante guarde; there is a lengthy section on film genre which starts with "The History of Genre Criticism; the "auteur" film is another lengthy section full of interesting bits, for example "auteur theory and British cinema"; it then concludes with a chapter on Theoretical Frameworks. At the end there is an extensive Bibliography and an Index. What this book doesn't say about cinema, isn't worth saying! I desperately want this book! Borrowing it from the Library just isn't the same!

Cities of Hope brings together 10 essays written by several authors, including the editors that discuss the urbanization of Latin America at the turn of the century. This volume is wonderful because, not only are the essays interesting and full of great facts, but they tie together the ideas and problems that were prevalent in Latin America. The idea of housing, high rents, disease, middle-class politics, and reform are all combined so that they reader can see how they all interacted to an ends.
If you are interested in Urban Reform, particularly in Latin America, I recommend this book!

This is a book about a woman who made a difference. It is also the story of a woman's triumph over Victorian ideas about a woman's place and over personal uncrtainties. Jane Addams became a leading humanitarian and spokesperson for women but she also led struggles which enhanced the notion of democracy in this country and the world. Ms. Addams did not see democracy as neoconservatives see it today. She was not a fighter for capitalism or Republican values but rather for participation and inclusion. She was also a crusader for world peace.

Jane Addams and her colleagues were not like 21st century Americans. She was practically humorless and was moved by moral imperatives almost unknown to us. However, she, aside from being the "real thing", was famous for her kindness to immigrants and children.

This book deals with her early life and her humanitarian efforts in the United States. It discusses the founding of Hull House, one of the first settlement houses in this country, and relates the operation of Hull House to the awakening of Addams' interest in many important causes.

The book is a good read for those who are interested in women's history or in the history of reform and, indeed, radicalism in this country (for she was a radical). It is well researched and written and does not try to turn Addams into a midwestern Mother Teresa.

Compiled and edited by James Marten (Professor of History, Marquette University), Civil War America: Voices From The Home Front is a collection of personal testimonies of individuals drawn from both the North and the South, from blacks and whites, from the young and the old, from males and females, in order to give the reader an accurate, overall picture of what American life was like for those just off the battlefield during the terrible years of the American Civil War. A sober and involving text, Civil War America is strongly recommended for both academic Civil War Studies collections, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in Civil War History.

Found this book very useful for my first year Modern History course in the University of New England (Australia).

This book is full of great photos of Cleveland and tidbits of Cleveland history. Highly recommend for anyone interested in the history of Cleveland. The genealogist will find this a great addition to their collection. Great for putting that family history in context.

Plenty of titles present exposes of the climate change coming: David Victor's Climate Change provides a political approach, debating American policy options in climate change and surveying the economic and social costs of changing climate conditions. Three contrasting perspectives are offered: one emphasizes the ability of wealthy societies to adapt, a second urges new attention to the defunct Kyoto Protocol, a third urges unilateral action creating a market for low-carbon emission technologies around the world. All provide important discussions.