Oklahoma Books

I was suprised at the quick delivery of the book with it's peasurable anchient writings.

Anyone wishing to aquire a higher understanding of the Quiche` Maya and a most accurate interpretation of their Creation stories will Love this Book. While there are several interpretations of "Popol Vuh" in print, this is by far the definitive. Written as accurate to the original manuscripts as intended by the Mayan People. Highly recommend for any student of Antrhopology and/or Old-World Religion's.

A common misconception is that the Native Americans did not have a written language. While it is true most Nations didn't, the fact is that the Zapotecs, Mayans and others in Mesoamerica did in fact have a great many books, though most of their sacred texts were lost to the fires of the Spanish conquistadors and missionaries. The Popol Vuh is a creation story and mythical history of the Quiche Maya, and one of their few books to survive. This first English translation of the book is still one of the best and certainly a great source for gaining an understanding of Mayan religion and belief.

The book opens with a wonderful introduction that gives a background both of Mayan literature and of this book in particular, mentioning different authors, translators and copies through time. Its a wonderful introduction for a history of the Popol Vuh. It then goes to the translation itself, which includes the Mayan Creation story (which includes the Creators, and several creations and subsequent destructions of the world and mankind, a theme repeated amongst many other Native American Nations of Mexico and Central America) as well as the hero twins Hunahpu and Xblanque and their exploits against the Lords of Xibala (again, the theme of hero twins being repeated amongst many Nations in North and South America) and the kings of the Quiche Maya. Here we see divine right used as a justification for monarchy, a theme common the world over.

This is a wonderful book, detailing Native American religions and one of the few such books that is not taken from the notes of outsiders. It gives terrific insights into Mayan culture both today and in pre-contact and colonial times. Its also pretty nice to learn about the early literary traditions of the Americas. I strongly recommend anyone with an interest in Native American cultures and history check out both this and other books in the Civilization of the American Indians series from the University of Oklahoma.

This "translation" of the K'iche' Mayan sacred book was not made from the original K'iche' Mayan text but rather it is a weak translation from an early Spanish version based on an even weaker French version. There are many many mistakes. Reader beware!

Wow...what a book and story by Josh Heupel. He is truly an outstanding young man with his head on straight. A must read for all, even if you are not from Oklahoma. I don't live in Oklahoma and just heard about the book.

This book will be treasured by Sooner Fans forever. We are very lucky to have had such a great guy lead our team to the NC. Josh is such a wonderful guy and a great leader. Seeing the pictures in the book brought back great memories. This book is a MUST HAVE for any Sooner fan.

Josh Heupel shares his most inner thoughts as he retraces the long road from South Dakota to the hallowed ground of Owen Field at OU. You'll discover a very humble man who wasn't always close to God, but in time turned his life around and achieved the pinnacle of college football. No Sooner fan should miss this book filled with great trivia as well. Thanks for the excitement you gave us Josh and may the road continue to be straight and narrow for you...

Josh Heupel is a cut above your average athlete, not in terms of physical ability, but in hard work, dedication, and faith. He was the biggest key (along with Coach Bob Stoops and his staff) to the resurrection of the Oklahoma Sooner football program to national glory. As a diehard Sooner fan, I found this a very enjoyable read. As a Christian, I found it inspirational. Although Josh is listed as the author, it's clear that most of this book was written by his collaborator, who interviewed friends and family to get the full picture of this remarkable young man. There are a few chapters penned by Heupel, including a message he gave at church the Sunday morning following the Big 12 Championship game. The last section details each game of the Sooners championship run, which admittedly will probably only be of interest to Sooner fans (me!) I would like to have seen Josh talk more about the day-to-day experiences, the interaction with teammates and coaches, that type of thing. Maybe it will be up to someone else to write that book. I recommend this book for young people, Oklahoma Sooner fans, and Miami Dolphin fans (the Dolphins drafted him in the sixth round, and if they read this, they'll have no doubt that Heupel will be a great player for them in the NFL). Josh Heupel will be a success in whatever he does, and this book shows you why.

Wonderful read, got for a gift and he has loved reading all about the history, says it is very neat to learn where it all began!

Don't get misled by that nasty orange dustcover, this is a fun and rowdy read for both Sooner and Horn fans as well as for anyone who wants to get a taste of the most colorful sports rivalry in America. Shropshire's witty essays give insight into the culture of both locker rooms and include some stories that even diehard fans will not have heard. Don't read this book in bed--my wife finally got tired of being awakened by my laughter and took refuge in the guestroom. Two corrections for the author: 1)it was OU President George Lynn Cross, not President Bill Banowsky, who first told the regents that "he wanted to build a university that the football team could be proud of" and 2)it is the Oklahoma-Texas rivalry, not the Texas-Oklahoma rivalry.

As an OU Alumni, who "was there" at more Sooner Red River victories in the "Switzer and Stoops Eras" than covered in the book, my recommendation is that "Runnin with the Big Dogs" should be renamed "Fightin with the Gladiators"! Shropshire numerous attempts at home spun humor often fall incomplete(not up to par with Dan Rather and certainly not Will Rogers). The book has the same familar style of Texan "truthiness" to it that we're use to hearing from another Longhorn Fan who lives in the White House. The author is clearly biased toward the Longhorn side of the barbed wire fence (otherwise he would have mentioned Oklahoma's victory in a real "Red River War" in a long standing border dispute between Oklahoma and Texas in 1931 with Oklahoma National Guardsmen standing down the Texas Rangers). The one subject covered extensively that I enjoyed was on former OU Player Joe Don Looney. It brought back memories attending football games with my Dad in the early 60s when Looney was star halfback at the UCLA of the Southwest (University of Cameron Lawton Area).

Dallas, TEXAS, denizen Mike Shropshire, former drinkin' buddy of Joe Don Looney, claims to have written a balanced look at "the True, Unvarnished story of the Texas-Oklahoma Football wars." Bevo poop! Although the cover resembles a myopic blimpbasket view of the Cotton Bowl 50 yard line on gameday (1/2 crimson, ½ burnt orange,) the book starts with a long, lugubrious re-celebration of the 2005 Longhorn National Championship in Pasedena. Their first in 35 years. [Hoopla. Hoopla. yawn. yawn.] Shropshire forgets to mention that during this long Longhorn dry spell, the Sooners cruised the Sooner schooner to 4 more (1974, 1975, 1985, 2000.)
At times wallowing in egregious generalizations - like the hallucination that all Sooners were cheering FOR the Longhorns in the Rose Bowl (Dude! My favorite football teams are the Sooners, Da Bears, whoever is playing UT at the time and whoever is playing Oregon (Duckin' corrupt cheatin' - karma gotta get `em!) once the book settles into its purpose, it does live up to its titular hype. Shropshire's premise, supported with aplomb and humour, is that both program's goal is to beat the other in the annual contest - that they frequently happen to have to amass enough talent to beat everybody else in the country in the process is just gravy on the grits.
There are some photos in the middle - more would be better, and color (to see the beautiful crimson and cream) would be best. And it has an index - how else to locate the shy, quiet, blushing Boz?
/TundraVision, Amazon Reviewer, former annual Adolphus resident, Commerce & Cotton Bowl Survivor, urging everyone to watch TV's bright "Friday Night Lights" before the dullards at NBC prematurely end its season.

The Shaman was a very helpful and personal description on what it means to be a shaman, historically and in later Ojibway culture. The first hand accounts are concise and direct. I found the pictures of the midewiwin and petroglyphs particularly helpful when I was wrting my own novel, Neitherworld Book One Akiiwan. If the casual reader has trouble understanding the ancient Ojibway (or Ojibwe) culture after reading the shaman it is not the author's fault - it is instead because paleo-American culture is really so foreign to later Euro-American culture. Remember while reading the Shaman, that the Shaman's power derived in large part from the belief of his audience in him/her. Without that, the stories are detached and even unsatisfying. It is thus in every culture, of course, including ours.

I compliment the author for the amount of work put into this book and the attempt to represent shamanism. However, it is rather patronizing in its presentation.

The author wisely places the practices of shamanism within the cultural context. At no point does the author make the mistake of reducing the shamanic practices to deities and such but correctly emphasizes the "forces" and movements of nature of which the shaman is an "expression." Excellent read for anyone generally interested in shamanism or specifically in the Ojibwe practices of the Mide society.

Thourough account of shamanism in the Ojibwe society, but applicable to the phenomenon as a whole. A great researcher, Mr. Grim provides perspectives from other areas of the world such as Siberia to exhibit similarities of human experience both in the shamanic realm and in the human psyche.

Written in 1937, Thieves Like Us--while not the first hardboiled novel (that honor goes to the work of Dashiell Hammett, hands down)--is nevertheless one of the great hardboiled classics. Basis for two films--Nicholas Ray's 1948 They Live By Night and Robert Altman's 1974 film of the same name--it tells of working class joes during the Depression who make a living by robbing banks, talking about it as white-collar slobs would a day at the office. Only with a lot more slang, spice, and color.

The writing is brisk, fresh, and succinct. Anderson is great at capturing the feel of the time, through the terrific dialogue and his clean punchy prose. Thieves Like Us is a real joy to read because it's a no BS book; you can really feel the characters when you're reading it like they were right next to you.

That violence is a natural part of that life goes without saying. The violence portrayed is done so without gore or sensationalism--it's beautifully integrated into the story, adding that much more to the power and resonance of this work.

Who should read this? Those who want to know where hardboiled came from. Those who want a strong sense of American literature--i.e., what America contributed to world literature. Those who are students of the Depression, adding to their understanding of that period. And those who love a great story.

A true classic. Don't miss!

Thieves Like Us is a thoroughly downbeat, noirish tale about a trio of career criminals who escape from an Oklahoma prison and proceed to commit a series of bank robberies. The one nicknamed Bowie finds love with a poor country girl. As the two lovers set up housekeeping despite the ever present threat of discovery hanging over their heads, the reader is acutely aware that the phrase "happily ever after" is not likely to play much of a role here.

The plot of this dark Depression era work takes a relentlessly downward spiral as the characters inevitably become trapped in a spider web of their own making. Author Edward Anderson did a great job in bringing to life the rural small town settings against which the majority of the narrative takes place. Especially noteworthy is the plentiful dialogue featuring a distinctive vernacular that lends authenticity to the proceedings.

Written in the 1930s, Thieves Like Us is very much a product of its time. Its palpable sense of desperation and disillusionment fits right in with the mood of a nation struggling against hard economic conditions.

You've got to feel sorry for the guy who originates a genre. When he creates his work it's so original and exciting that it spawns a legion of imitators, but decades down the road, when folks pick up that seminal work, it feels dated and derivative. This seems to be the case with Thieves Like Us. When it was published, Anderson was compared to Faulkner and Hemingway. Then it looks like the book experienced lengthy periods when it was out of print, experienced revivals when it was twice adapted for the movies and currently enjoys a fairly strong reputation as a representative noir crime story from the Depression, along the lines of Hammett or Chandler. Now those are some pretty weighty comparisons to be throwing around, and I don't know that they are fair, but the book will stand quite nicely on it's own.

Anderson tells the story of three convicts: Elmo "Chicamaw" Mobley, T.W. "T-Dub" Masefield and Bowie Bowers, who escape from an Alcatona, OK prison in 1935 and return to the only jobs they are any good at--robbing banks. The three quickly pile up a tidy sum of cash and start living high on the hog, at which point the story focusses on Bowers and his courtship of a young girl named Keechie. The plot elements are familiar: folks don't mind the boys robbing banks because so many lost their bank deposits in the Crash that they figure bankers are thieves, alcohol and gambling eat away at the money pretty quickly, everyone dreams of going straight and just needs a little sum of ready cash to do so but that cash always seems to disappear, young lovers go on the lam, there's sensationalistic press coverage and when the boys set out to commit one last robbery, we're fairly sure there's trouble ahead. But it's all deftly handled, in spare, punchy prose and, except for some brief sermonizing about evil capitalists, it's reasonably free of working class cant; a seminal work of crime fiction.

GRADE: B+

Noir fans sniffing around for something good enough to follow Cain, Chandler & Hammett shouldn't skim past this one if they like their noir fast, tough, and rocketing towards an unavoidable finale. Plenty of gunplay, dames with real sizzle, and a crisp delivery that has nothing fake or forced. You can tell the writer ran with 'thieves like us', and is giving us an ringside seat at an imaginary slugfest across Texas. First released in 1937, the plot delivers the goods, but it's the period details that help make this one a keeper. Let me recommend a bargain hunters tip. Rather than buy this novel 'alone', look here on Amazon for "American Crime Novels of the 1930's and 1940s' edited by Horace McCoy. It includes unabridged versions of 'Thieves Like Us' as well as 'The Postman Always Rings Twice' and 'They Shoot Horses, Don't They?' and 3 other classics. A great buy when you consider the number of novels in one hardbound volume. Don't be a chump, Ixnay on the olitairesay, go for the whole enchilada.

While somewhat dated (the book was published in 1991), Huntington lays out a clear analysis of what led to the "third wave" of democratic development around the world.

He considers the third wave as the countries that became democratic between 1973 and 1990 but it could be argued that, with changes in the Balkans and the "color revolutions" in Georgia, Ukraine and elsewhere, the third wave continued into the beginning of the 21st century. He looks at the authoritarian regimes that gave way to democracy and breaks the process down into transformations (authoritarian governments taking the lead in changing to democracy), replacements (opposition leaders moving a country to democracy) and transplacements (government and opposition negotiating the transition to democracy). In many cases this meant that reformers in the government and moderates in the opposition compromised to bring about the change. Huntington avoids predictions about the future, thereby avoiding mistakes where subsequent years could have proved him wrong.

My standard for a "real democracy" has been whether or not there could be a peaceful transfer of power. Huntington sets the bar much higher - to consider democracy as taking hold there has to have been two peaceful transfers of power.

"The Third Wave" by Samuel Huntington is a good introduction into democratization studies. Huntington, same as in his other books, uses a light style without too much specialist vocabulary and gives numerous fascinating examples from the history of the countries that underwent systemic transformation after 1974. Since his book is a comparative study, though, it leaves out many details crucial for understanding the specific path of democratization adopted in a given country. It also does not pay enough attention to the process of consolidation which has just began when the book was published. "The Third Wave, however, is just the right book for a beginning democratization student. I think even the critics of "The Clash of Civilizations" will be satisfied with "The Third Wave", which is less ideological and more fact-focused than Huntongton's most famous work.

Kamil Marcinkiewicz
University of Passau, Germany

While not as heavily theoretical as some of Huntington's other works, this book is laden with apercus about why and how countries develop democracies, especially in the most recent wave (just to clarify, the first wave started in the early 1800's, the second occurred after World War II, and the third began in 1974 and included the countries liberated by the end of communism in the late 1980's.) The success of democratization is tied to various factors - the type and strength of the authoritarian regime that is facing this choice, its willingness to permit democratization, the strength of the movement that seeks to democratize, and that country's conditions (i.e. has it attempted to democratize before? How does religion affect the culture of that country?) Huntington's genius is to look at scores of seemingly disparate cases and discern patterns where democratization succeeds and fails.

An interesting side note is Huntington's analysis of why countries democratize. Each wave had its own conditions, but several variables merit mentioning. As a country industrializes, it becomes increasingly difficult for an authoritarian regime to maintain its monopoly on power, which becomes more diffused. Industrialization also fosters the growth of a questioning middle class that becomes more vocal as its wealth increases (not to mention a vibrant working class that is also a vital force for democracy, as Rueschemeyer, Stephens, and Stephens note in Capitalist Development and Democracy.) In addition, authoritarian regimes inevitably weaken over time as they fail to meet expectations and public dissatisfaction increases; they also become stale and are usually incapable of renewing themselves. They eventually lose legitimacy as the coalition of interests that supports them begins to splinter. Just a few more headaches for Jiang Jemin and his crew.

I had to read this book for a class and I really got a great background in democracy in developing countries. Well written and informative.

This book has become my introduction to the Mother Road legacy and it was unforgettable experience! Perhaps, its most thrilling feature is in a "stereoscopic" layout of the pages where vintage and contemporary photos neighbor "native" food receipes and period vehicles. Now that I have sensed ambience of the past and have get my kicks I can readily recommend reading this book before, during and after a real trip.

It's small but its got it all. Rather than turn out another normal size book on Route 66 the publishers had the great idea of making it pocket size, four by six inches, landscape and with FOUR-HUNDRED all-color pages. I predict that this will be the standard book for those who want to make the trip. Each of the eight states that 66 goes through has a chapter, they start with a simple map, comments about landscape and climate, then the text details what to look for along the way, with the help of historical and contemporary photos, a linear map with places and mileage goes across the top of all of these pages.

Between all the route pages are some lovely spreads of Route 66 Americana which repeat themselves throughout the book, Route Food (pages 174-175 has Red-Hot BBQ Beef Ribs) Transport (168-169 has a 1936 Harley-Davidson) Music of the Road (Woody Guthrie on 156-157) and Famous Sites (Wigwam Village, Holbrook, AZ, on 294-295). The books production is excellent, good choice of photos, well laid out pages (a tip of the hat to designer Phillip Clucas) with colourful graphics behind the text on most of them. The back has a book list, useful resources guide (including websites) and index.

I recently reviewed 'The Final Cut Route 66' by German photographer Gerd Kittel. Eighty-three wonderful photographs of what he saw along 66 and I think it is the perfect book to complement Nick Freeth's travelogue. Kittel has the knack of producing really good color in his photos. Both books do justice to a unique and fascinating bit of America.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

Compared to other Route 66 books, this one rates far below them. I can appreciate the love for the mother road in it, but there's too much fluff. I don't care about what songs the author recommends, or the cars. There's also some glaring mistakes, which could throw you off. If you want to travel '66, this is NOT the book you want to use.

For a "look see" book, OK, but your money would be better spent on something like "Route 66: The Mother Road" by Michael Wallis.

If you want to travel the route, spend you money on "Route 66 Adventure Handbook: Updated and Expanded Third Edition" by Drew Knowles or "Route 66: EZ66 Guide for Travelers" (best choice) by Jerry McClanahan.

If I had it to do over again, I would not have purchased this book.

Don't let the size of this book fool you. Approximately the height & width of a post card, it is packed with vibrant full color pictures and information. Archive photos, current conditions of Route 66 icons and roads, and text that is very well written. Even regional culinary receipes from the Mother Road! What more could you ask? An excellent book for both actual and arm chair Route 66 travelers.

A readable and concise reading of Field Marshal Zhukov's life with emphasis on his war time efforts and political involvement.

Some may find the indepth description of battle manoeuvre a tad tedious.

Excellent biography of Marshal of the Soviet Union Giorgi k. Zhukov. Very well written, a great amount of sources used, very valuable to any student of the Eastern Front. The only downside might be the fact that Zhukov's memoirs keep coming out anew with much information that was censored. I'm afraid that Cheney's book most likely leaves a lot of that information out in the end because it isn't constantly being updated. Even so a great source for understanding what happened on the Eastern Front of the Second World War. I very much disagree with the reviewer who gave this book '1 star', there is no propaganda here nor was Zhukov responsible for what befell the Red Army in 1941. Although intelligence was abundant about Hitler's Intentions that in and of itself cast doubt as to what Hitler really wanted to do in 1941. Please, keep in mind that if such an invasion was actually being prepared who in their right minds would think that in fact there would be so much information confirming it? The reasons for Stalin's reactions and that of the Red Army throughout the first hours, days, and weeks are understandable when seeing the situation both found themselves in. Stalin wanted the pact to last while at the same time being fed information that showed Hitler would not attack by his Chief of Military Intelligence (GRU) Golikov who was giving him what he thought Stalin wanted to see and leaving out that information that showed Hitler would attack. There was also reason to think that Hitler might first make demands, which is why an outright invasion was such a shock to Stalin. (Some of these answers can be found in "What Stalin Knew : The Enigma of Barbarossa" by David E. Murphy.) In either case, if you are interested in the Eastern Front this will prove an excellent source for understanding how Soviet higher headquarters functioned and what it was like to deal with Stalin. Highly recommended.

This newest edition of "Zhukov" is a must for anyone that has an interest in the Marshal's career and/or an interest in the former USSR military machine and how it operated. After years of false and censored information on Zhukov and the Soviet military, "Zhukov" brings to light the the personalities (and incompetence) of such Soviet individuals as Stalin, Khruschev, and Breznev. The book helps show how these 'leaders' (through their low level of intelligence and maturity) helped stunt the growth of the USSR as a nation. Most importantly, the book brings to light the actual accomplishments of Marshal Zhukov (ie. Moscow, Stalingrad, Berlin, etc.) and how much of a role he had in the planning of these operations. From these accomplishments of the Marshal, one can see how 'cults of personalities' were able to appear in such magnitude in the former USSR. The book is a fast reader and highly enjoyable. Read it if interested in WWII from the Soviet perspective.

The biography starts a bit shaky, with first 20-25 pages sounding quite amaturish. I had to read the authors credentials to ensure I wasnt wasting my time. As it turned out, I wasnt. The book takes on a good flow and does justice to Zhukov's life. I read Yuriy Bubnov's comments and let me say that this book 'does' throw light on Zhukov's darker side, there is no attempt to hide it, he was a ruthless, egomaniac but you still cant dispute his military genius.
As for the mistakes Zhukov made, most of them were thanks to Stalin and his cronies, who just could not stop meddling and overruling military strategy for political reasons though Stalin had no military experiance. War is best left to the generals.
However if you really want to read the best book on Russia's role in WWII, Russia at War by Alexander Werth is THE book. The best book on WWII I ever read.

Sharon O'brian replaced the juicy radical language of most books written on American Indian-US government relations such as Custer Died For Your Sins with the text of acts of congress, Supreme Court decisions, and presidential administration policies. Included also is a chapter on European land claims and conflicts that arose between them and the Indians and amongst themselves. It is none of it controversial, all of it educational. It's an excellent guide for anyone claiming to be a U.S. historian.

This book focuses on six tribes, the Mississippi Choctaw, Iroquois League (Haudenosaunee), Muscogee (Creek), Lakota (Teton Sioux), Pueblo, and the Yakima. This is a nice mix of tribes from all regions of the country except Alaska. These are all relatively large tribes, so the experiences of smaller tribes aren't really reflected here.

O'Brien emphasizes the history of all American Indians as well as the history of her six featured tribes. These histories are fine for a textbook, but many of these stories are better told elsewhere. It would be sad to rely on this book for a history of Wounded Knee, for example.

She emphasizes formal government structures of these tribes and not how politics really works on each reseravation. This would be like presenting the powers of the US presidency without giving examples of how Reagan, Clinton or Bush used these powers in recent years, and how these presidents struggled with Congress and other players to increase their powers. There are merits to O'Brien's purely structural approach but I would prefer more discussion of intratribal debates and politics. For a much more political book that also includes a discussion of formal government structures, I'd recommend Lopach et al, Tribal Government Today.

As you'd expect from a textbook, O'Brien emphasizes factual material. She writes well, so that this material is not dry. She is politically sympathetic to the tribes but does not have any ideological axe to grind. She wrote her study with the cooperation of the tribes she studied, and I would think that they would be happy with how they are treated in the book.

There are also extensive photographs, which help maintain reader interest. The margins include many quotations from other authors or from relevant statutes or treaties. While the pictures were a welcome feature, I found the textual marginalia distracting.

All in all, a perfectly fine textbook.

There is much to say in favor of this book. Its main focus is the operation of tribal governments. Because there is so much variety, the author looks at five representative governments in some detail--the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois League), the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, the Teton Sioux, the Pueblos, and the Yakimas (who since the publication of this book have revised the official spelling, using the name that appears in the treaty of 1855, Yakama). O'Brien wrote this book with the cooperation and assistance of those she was writing about.

In addition to this focus, the book has the best brief overview of Federal Indian policy I've seen anywhere (about 70 pages). Unlike most books on the subject, the book is amply illustrated with photographs and other images, as well as maps, graphs, and abundant sidebars.

I always use one or more texts on Federal Indian law and policy in my American Indian history courses. Students often call these books dry. When I have used O'Brien's book, students have praised the book and said they enjoy reading it.

This book, while somewhat outdated, provides accurate and detailed information about the ruins in Guatemala in particular. The guides I traveled with all wanted to purchase it to enhance their information. The descriptions help you make decisions about where to go and having it with you enhances viewing. Places are generally easier to get to now.

This book, while somewhat outdated, provides accurate and detailed information about the ruins in Guatemala in particular. The guides I traveled with all wanted to purchase it to enhance their information. The descriptions help you make decisions about where to go and having it with you enhances viewing. Places are generally easier to get to now.

Like her other book on the Yucatan, this one focuses on many smaller sites. I was surprised that it didn't mention El Puente as a site, however, and it was written before the Copan Museum opened, which is too bad. Unfortunately it is already sadly outdated. I hope she does another book soon.