Central America Books

The missions in Latin America are very different from those in the United States. Saeger takes a unique view by looking at a group that was able to resist the missions. The book is very well written and gives you a sense of what the mission system looked like. The book is very well written and is straight to the point. It is divided up so that if you are only interested in a small aspect of the system you could read a few chapters or the whole book to get a sense overall. For those who want to understand the early Indians and Spanish interactions this is the perfect book.

Probably nobody would doubt that the name Matthew C. Gutmann stands for high-quality research on gender issues with special emphasis on masculinities. In order to make clear what masculinity in Latin America is all about Gutmann chose in his edition a wide range of aspects (men and urban life, fatherhood, homosexuality etc.) These have been covered by different expers on gender issues and masculinities. One thesis which is expressed in different articles is that the changes in Latin American men have not only been brought about by the challenges from the feminist movement (which has been relatively weak in Latin America compared to Northern Europe and the US) but from the changes in the structures of Latin American societies as such. More women than ever before have joined the labour market and are now contributing to the family income, not to mention those who are the only breadwinners. Consequently, men have had to change and do domestic chores which just one generation ago would haven been unthinkable. This is clearly expressed in José Olavarria's essay on "Men at Home? Child Rearing and Housekeeping among Chilean Working-Class Fathers". It has led to a re-definition of masculinity in Latin America, and so far we can only see the beginning of a process of change which we have to watch carefully in the coming years.
All in all: the book is highly recommended to readers interested in gender issues in Latin America as well as in Europe and the U.S.A.

I found "Changing Works" to be a very informative text in the area of technological advances in the dairy industry. Harper uses SONJ pictures to highlight wonderful interviews with various dairy farmers that farmed in the generations before World War II. These interviews bring the past back to life as the reader goes through the mechanization introductions such as replacement of horses and the reconstruction of the milking process. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about the dairy industry and to future dairymen. As an agricultural student, I was enthralled throughout the entire book. Harper tends to be less descriptive when it comes to the actual workings of the machinery, but it does not take much away from the rich narrative he weaves with the farmers' interviews. The reader gets a feeling of loss for the traditional ways that Harper projects throughout the book and it only enhances the content.

Vivimos tiempos de confusion e incertidumbre. Tiempos que requieren una profunda reflexion y puesta dia de algunas ideas que permitan concebir el futuro de otra forma. Ernesto Guevara (1938-1967), el Che, se propuso pensar la realidad desde otro angulo y actuar con esas ideas hasta dar su vida por ellas. Su rostro es, pese al tiempo transcurrido desde su muerte a manos del ejercito boliviano, un simbolo universal de rebeldia e inconformismo.

Mario Pacho O'Donnell, biografo de renombre internacional, ha escrito un libro singular, profundo y definitivo con el fin de desvelar aspectos hasta ahora desconocidos de la mitica figura del Che. Tras su rastro, investigando con minuciosidad, el autor ha recorrido el mundo entrevistando a personas que trataron directamente con el en differentes etapas de su vida. Desde Rosario Lopez, su ninera, y los amigos de infancia y adolescencia, a Gary Prado, el capitan de los rangers que le capturo en Bolivia, o Urbano, uno de los escasos supervivientes cubanos que compartio con el comandante Guevara todas sus aventuras revolucionarias. Gracias a estos testimonios y al conocimiento psicologico del personaje, O'Donnell ha sabido reconstruir con amenidad y rigor el pasaje humano, politico y sentimental de uno de los grandes iconos del progresismo y la izquierda.

Hoy en dia, y gracias al amplio y variado movimiento antiglobalizacion y al vigoroso sentimiento antiimerialista por la invasion a Iraq, la figura del Che Guevara es recuperada por una juventud que quiza, por el tiempo transcurrido desde su muerte, no conoce con la suficiente profundidad el trabajo y la valentia, la contradicciones y errores de este legendario guerrillero argentino y cubano.
--- from book's back cover.

Child of the Sun is the second in the Legends of the World series for us and I quite like these...they are simple (most seem to come in right around 32 or so pages) with great colorful illustrations (ethnically inclined to match the originating culture the story is drawn from), engaging and even come with a little one or two page description at the back of the book about the country of origin (with map even), which I think is great because we can use our wall maps to point out the location and talk about it's climate, how far away it is and such.

In this particular legend, you get the reason why we sometimes have lunar eclipses (according to Cuban legend) in the form of a story of how the brother (Sun) and sister (Moon) are asked by Mother Eath to take turns ruling the sky and watching over the earth...we discover how the first people came about and see what the jealous and somewhat selfish Sun does when he feels he's not getting the attention he deserves. Children will delight in seeing how the animals, the Wind and the Moon work to help the first people and how ultimately the Moon comes to eclipse the Sun for a short time! I'd never heard this particular tale and thought it was easy to understand but also complex enough to engage a range of ages and appeal to both boys and girls!

I think this series is a great basic introduction to a wide array of stories from many cultures the world over...a jumping off point also for kids to research more into the culture and mythology of any given place. I'd recommend this for introducing young children to mythology and folklore. The age range cited is 9-12 which is probably the range of kids who would most appreciate and benefit from the story and additional information provided...but even younger kids (say 5-8) will love the stories and vivid, colorful illustrations...the stores aren't so complex or long that they will lose interest in them. I would definitely buy this for my permanent collection and hope to read more from this series soon!

China endured a series of dramatic, and often tumultuous transformations in the last century. The 1930's and 1940's, in particular, were decades of major political, social, economic and technological change, and consequently, of major shifts in perception and awareness of the Asian nation and its people by the United States.

Karen J. Leong's THE CHINA MYSTIQUE: Pearl S. Buck, Anna May Wong, Mayling Soong, and the Transformation of American Orientalism, a work of solid scholarship and uncommon acuity, focuses on America's evolving images of China during these decades, specifically as reflected in the public lives of three diverse and singular women widely identified with the emerging nation: Pearl S. Buck, Anna May Wong and Mayling Soong. Scrupulously researched, the book is academic in tone, and written with precision, perception and clarity.

Leong argues that the ability to travel, and the nascent global mass-culture of the day granted these women a broader field of recognition and enhanced form of celebrity than hitherto attainable, thus facilitating a greater sphere of influence contributing to the gendering (or feminization) of a distant country traditionally held to be completely patriarchal, alien and inscrutable to Western eyes.

Adapting the late Edward Said's notion of orientalism--a highly politicized analysis of European colonial perspectives of "the Orient," and the resulting and enduring power relations between Asia and the West--Leong defines "American orientalism" as a distorted image of the Chinese as "primitive, slavish, exotic, manipulative, and amoral." She writes that these images were diametrically opposed to the positive traits of modernity, freedom and fidelity celebrated in American nationalism.

These negative images began to erode with increased immigration and diplomacy between China and the United States, and also through the efforts of American protestant mission boards. As China evolved into a strategically significant ally in the struggle against Japanese aggression, the old images were replaced by a romanticized and progressive view of China. Leong defines this Americanized and "highly gendered" reimaging as the "China mystique."

The author posits these evolving perceptions of Nationalist China concurrent with the United States' own immergence as a world power, and identifies the transformation of "American orientalism" to the "China mystique" as adjunct to America's rise to globalism. This shift of perception is an underlying theme of the book, and Leong masterfully studies the nuances, inconsistencies, contradictions and real power of this change.

Ultimately, this is as much a book about America and Americans, as it is about China.

In the book, Leong examines these women whose "transnational" association with China rendered each a personification of a specific aspect of the Sino-American cultural and political axis: Pearl S. Buck, a European American novelist who spent much of her life in China and was recognized worldwide as an uniquely qualified authority on China and the Chinese, Anna May Wong, a Los Angeles-born Chinese American actress who endeavored to cultivate a hybrid identity embracing both cultures, and Mayling Soong, (more commonly known as Madame Chaing Kai-shek), an American-educated daughter of a westernized Chinese capitalist who garnered sympathy and support for the often repressive Nationalist government as the eloquent and charismatic "First Lady" of China.

If these women helped to put an accessible and very feminine face on China, it was hardly one of traditional timidity and subordination. Instead, it was a countenance that expressed the newfound independence and the fluidity of identity befitting a "New China" and its stature as an emerging democracy. In fact, their unique positions and development of multifarious identities granted each of the women elements of power not typically afforded persons of their gender and/or race at that time.

Buck, Wong and Soong each tested the limits of their transnational status, and Leong expresses their particular experiences within broader political, cultural and historical contexts. It seems that the distinct negotiations of the cultural and political landscape, and the fluid assumption of identity through self-definition evidenced by these women is their lasting legacy.

In the end, Leong exposes America's thorough reassessment and seemingly enlightened appreciation of China and the Chinese in the outward embrace of progressivism, modernity and democratization for an expedient and opportune stance assumed in its own transformation from an isolationist nation to a global power. She also demonstrates how Buck, Wong and Soong each encountered reversals and barriers in their individual careers despite this period of enlightened perspectives on China.

Still, Leong is adept at separating propaganda and hypocrisy from the actual experience and expressions of power manifested in the lives and words of Buck, Wong and Soong. She acknowledges the real long-term and far-reaching effects that these women had on the development of cultural pluralism and the myriad ways in which American citizens choose to define themselves as a national community.

Leong's book is narrow in focus and specific in scope, but expansive in themes and relevance. As an account of personae in a specific historical milieu, a cultural study of perceptions of Americans and Chinese (and Chinese Americans) in the 1930's and 1940's, and as a thought provoking treatment of themes of identity, race, gender and nationality Leong's book succeeds on all levels.

This book gave me valuable information for research of my Master's Choral Recital. My theme was Latin American and Spanish music, and I found beautiful music in here. It's an exciting book.

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.

CIRCLES OF HOPE is a delightful read about a little boy who wants to plant a tree for his sister. The story introduces children to Haiti and the colors in the illustrations give off a warmth of their own. This story is for children under eight and it would make a nice read-a-loud.
A. D. Tarbox, author of ALREADY ASLEEP (fall 2006)