Geography Books

Great book for use during Black History Month and at other times when the appreciation of African culture is taught. Suitable for higher grades. This book offers a variety of interdisciplinary activities.

Why is Africa so endemically poor? Why still ongoing civil wars amidst weak states? While the 20th century saw the independence of Africa, it was and still largely remains trapped in the context of the European empires that ruled it in the 19th century.

This book traces this afterglow of imperialism and how it still affects events today. A European man of the late 19th century transported to today would scarcely recognise the names of the countries. But chances are good that he would recognise many of the countries' shapes, for these largely correspond to those of the various colonies of his time. The author describes how newly independent countries had little to hold themselves together. Ethnic affiliation in so many ways trumped national identity. So that one group often gained power and refused to relinquish it, proceeding to oppress others. Sometimes, and not too rarely at that, this would trigger civil wars.

It is through this prism that certain recent events make more sense. Like the use of famine by the Sudanese central government against its southern rebels. Not just religious differences, but ethnic. Or the parlous poverty of the people in the Nigerian delta, from where much oil is extracted, most of whose revenues accrue to Lagos. Not just venality by the ruling class.

Well written, easily accessible to the educated reader. You don't need previous knowledge of African history. Plus, the author does not use much of the jargon of economics or sociology. the emphasis is on political history. Quite welcome are the numerous maps. Africa is so fragmented and most of the countries are so little known to outsiders that these maps are very helpful.

Although the African and World political situtation has changed since this book was published in 1986, Africa still faces many of the same problems. Preston King's analysis is still brilliant and worth a look. An African Winter provides a detailed analysis of the geography, people, and politics of Ethiopia, Somalia, and Djibouti. I have read many books about these nations, but this one has proved most enlightening.

Farley Mowat has written a number of books which may be described as war memoirs. Since they were written at decent intervals and to some extent, for different purposes, there is a degree of repetition. Nevertheless, as there is hardly ever a dull moment in a text by Mowat, we can forgive him for telling the same story twice. To be honest, I'm no longer certain where the overlap occurs, although in "Aftermath," a book written comparatively recently, he certainly revisits some parts of the Italian theatre in which he served, and refers to the same events he has recounted in detail elsewhere ("And No Birds Sang"). But "Aftermath" doesn't dwell particularly on war, and there are a number of stories in this ongoing narrative which are worth reading by themselves. Scenes such as that where the author and his wife visit the Black Eagle somewhere in Kent and procure some of the Queen's Brew are classic Mowat. Their visit to Amalfi and tour of its ancient potteries, and their final return to England where they visit with Peter Scott, son of the Antarctic explorer, and learn all about the Severn Wild Fowl Trust, are just a couple of the highlights of this rather unusual journey.

This is not your ordinary Mowat, but then I'm wondering if there really is such a thing. An overlooked book, "Aftermath" won't disappoint, and fortunately for readers everywhere, thar's plenty more Mowat where that come from!

An excellent edition to literature on the period of Stalin. Factual information broken down into time periods that show which populations Stalin and the NKVD targeted and why. It shouldn't be thought that Stalin was the only one involved in these tragedies that befell the various nationalities of the USSR, he had his reasons for his actions and they are listed and presented to the reader. Not to take away from the type of man he was, simply to understand that his actions had a cause. A great source to see all the nationalities that were touched by Stalin's forced 'migrations' from lesser known nationalities such as Iranians, Turks, Koreans, and Germans to more well known Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Chechens, and so on and so forth. An invaluable source for numbers of those deported, reasons for their deportations, and what happened to them after they were deported.

I found this book because of the favorable review it got in the American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature. It is definitely a serious academic work (published by University of California Press) but accessible to the general reader. It makes no attempt to offer interesting anecdotes or historical tidbits but gives an insightful look at early European voyages of "discovery, exploration, and settlement" through 1650.

Part I details the technological, social, political, and economic factors that led to the explosion of Europe onto the world scene with lots of space being dedicated to technologies of sailing, mapping, navigation and (not least of all) fighting. The second part is straight narrative outlining the history of the voyages themselves with a chapter for each destination region: Africa and the Indian Ocean, Atlantic and South Sea, America, etc... The final part discusses the empires of each of the European powers in turn: Spain, Portugal and Holland. There are also comparative chapters outlining differences in administration and economies between the empires.

What has life meant and how long is it worth living for? These and other questions are answered in the multidisciplinary survey AGING AND THE MEANING OF TIME, a college-level text perfect for courses on philosophy and health alike. Chapters juxtapose the personal experience of aging with insights on philosophy, health, and metaphysics to provide an excellent survey. A top pick.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Well, everything you think you know about organic agriculture gets brilliantly demolished and reformulated in this innovative and ground breaking book. Think you know about small family farmers in California? Well, get ready to learn about the real corporate farming tradition, especially in the Central Valley. Think a new generation of organic farms makes for some sort of new utopia? Well, you're living in an "agrarian dream" if you think conditions for agricultural workers get transformed automatically in a more "organic" world.

I eat organic food all the time and myth after myth that I have accepted gets exposed in this book. Think the regulators are always on the side of the little guy? Think eating organic food automatically creates a more sustainable food system? Think you're "going back to nature" if you eat organic? Well, Guthman lays out how all of us have to think critically and take concerted action if we really want to change the power relations of today's industrial agriculture.

And yet I finished this book more exhilirated and inspired to
think about and work toward a new world of sustainable agriculture. And with my eyes now wide open that when I'm eating an organic apple that doesn't transform the world or ease the exploitation of those working the land. I see this as a seminal work in showing us clearly how to tear off our blinders and move from our agrarian "dreams' to a new agrarian reality.

They came up with a great photograph to indicate how big Alaska is on the cover of this From Sea to Shining Sea volume. Beyond the antlers in the front of the photograph there is a wide expanse of tundra, a forest, a river, more tundra, and off in the distance mountains (and that is cold desert tundra and not frozen tundra like at Lambeau Field). As Barbara A. Somervill explains in her opening chapter, Alaska is called the "last frontier," not to be confused with space, which is the "final frontier." If you put Alaska over the lower forty-eight states, it would reach from San Francisco to Cleveland (but I think that is talking just about the mainland and leaving the Aleutians and the southeast part of the state out of the equation). But while it is the biggest state, Alaska has the third smallest population (Vermont and Wyoming have less people). She also covers the fascinating story of Benny Benson, the 13-year-old who designed the state flag, before moving on to the people, places and events of the Last Frontier.

The geography of Alaska is the topic for the book's second chapter, which divides the state into six regions: the North Slope, Western Alaska, the Aleutian region, the Interior, South central Alaska, and Southeast Alaska. What is interesting this time around is that Somervill sets up how the unique geographical characteristics result in different Alaska Native cultures in each region. Alaska has 44,856 square miles of lakes and rivers, but the section of the chapter covering those is called water and ice, reflecting the fact that state is 350 miles south of the North Pole. There are also sections on climate as well as one on plants and animals. The third chapter is about the history of Alaska, the first part of North America to be settled. This time it is the Russians who are the first Europeans to arrive in Alaska, followed by the English and Spanish. In 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William Seward buys Alaska for $7.2 million (about two cents an acre), and "Seward's Folly" seems like a great idea when gold is discovered in the Yukon in 1896. Alaska did not become a territory until 1912, and it was not until World War II that the Alaska-Canada Highway was built connecting it to Washington state. Statehood comes in 1950 (the vote was 64-20 in the Senate, which I find interesting), and the chapter's final section on The Mighty Land of Alaska covers everything from the 1964 earthquake to the "Exxon Valdez" and today's environmental concerns.

The next chapter looks at the three branches of state government, and then Somervill takes her young readers on a tour of Juneau, the State Capital. A map of the downtown area show the location of the made government buildings and a few museums (notice in the photograph on the facing page that you can see the Federal Building and figure out some of the others from the map as well). The people and places of Alaska are detailed in the fifth chapter, which begins with the Alaska Natives, but also talks about education and what people find for work up there. This book has one of the few recipes for a main course with Mexican-Style Alaskan Pollock (no, really, that is what the recipe is for). You were probably hoping for something involving Alaskan king crab. Finally, we get to go on a tour of Alaska, beginning with the panhandle and ending up in the northern part of the state, with Somervill covering what there is to see and do in each region.

The back of the book begins with a two-page Alaska Almanac that includes some useful statistics and a long list of wildlife to go with the various state symbols and products. Then there is a Timeline that contrasts Alaska state history on top with U.S. history on the bottom, followed by a Gallery of Famous Alaskans that highlights Susan Butcher and Jewel Kilcher by giving them photographs. A Glossary defines some key terms such as "aurora borealis" and "tundra," while Somervill provides a list of web sites, books, and addresses that her readers can turn to For More Information.

That might be necessary, because a hallmark of this series are those dozens of sidebars scattered throughout. Who's Who in Alaska? tells about famous people from Vitus Bering to Sheldon Jackson, while Exrra! Extra! blocks tell about some of the things Alaska has the most or the largest of, and Find Out More asks young students to figure out thing like what oil from Prudhoe Bay is so hot. You also learn What's in a Name? (e.g., the state's name comes from the Aleut word "al-ay-es-ka," meaning "great land"). So there is plenty of information in these 80-pages to work into a school report on Alaska in general or specific topics. Of course, from Alaska the only direction to go is south and from the 49th state there is only one place left to visit out there in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. So expect a big change in climate. Aloha!

Goo