Central America Books

Extending the Frozen Moment is well-written, well-illustrated and an excellent overview of Betty Saar's work. Anyone interested in gender, Black history, racial politics, collective memory, collage, minority art, or autobiographical art work should find this book fascinating.

Joshua Brown looks closely at FRANK LESLIES ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY as the paradigm of mass-market magazines in 19th century America, and his choice is apt. There's a biographical plot with a Horatio Alger twist, there's a strong and controversial woman executive, a media empire that expands and shrinks as new markets are tested and old ones abandoned, and there's the vast panoply of American cultural experience during the period from the Civil War to the 20th century. Brown's thinking is nuanced and sometimes complex; this isn't a quick read, but it's a very rewarding one. The illustrations are reason enough for most readers interested in American history.

In Beyond the Missouri, Richard Etulain demonstrates how the American West is, and has long been, a complex region characterized by change. In his comprehensive and engaging study, Etulain examines the changing inhabitants, social patterns, and industries of the West. Creating more than a basic narrative, Etulain discusses how public perception of the West has evolved through the use of multiple mediums.

The earliest known inhabitants of the West included a variety of Native tribes. After centuries of establishing unique cultures and societies, the Native population began to decline with the first contact with Europeans in the 16th century. Spanish, Russian, British, and later Mexican and American interests attempted to exert control over all or parts of the West, in the process physically and socially displacing the previous inhabitants.

During the 19th century, predominantly Anglo Americans migrated to the West as trappers, prospectors, miners, and businessmen. In addition to changing the human aspect of the West, these settlers altered the West that surrounded them. Trappers reduced various animal populations, some to the brink of extinction. Prospectors and miners changed the landscape of the West by boring into the land and engaging in the destructive practice of hydraulic mining. Many businessmen prospered for brief periods in the many boomtowns that emerged throughout the region, while others enjoyed the growth of towns like Denver and San Francisco that would remain important regional centers.

The growing and urbanizing West remained a virtual colony dependent on the East until World War II. During the war, the federal government awarded a large number of defense and support contracts to multiple regions of the West. The resulting inflow of people and money transformed the West into an independent region with its own unique identity that continues to evolve today.

One of Etulain's strengths is his discussion of the perception of the West in popular culture, the individuals who created the images, and the various forms in which the images were transmitted. If there is a shortcoming of the study, it is that Etulain's discussion of the modern West is skewed so as to read as an urban and not a regional study.

Beyond the Missouri is a well-written book of the American West that builds upon previous studies to provide the reader with a broad overview of the region.

AP Maudslay here produces this truly classic, titanic work. He lived at and cleared much of the mayan sites where he did his extensive work. Volumes of beautiful photographs and incredible linedrawings accompany his observations. He was truly one of the great mayan pioneers. I am very happy to see that this century old major work is available and at a very reasonable price! This great work is a wonder to behold and, even at this rather hefty price any serious mayanist shoud procure this as soon as possible while its still available! ALAN J kANE

This book powerfully depicts the African American's struggle to become citizens in a country that had no original intention of allowing them to do so. The photograph's in the book are captivating and show the joy, sadness fears and pain of a race of people during the most visable times of the struggle. This a great book for reference, coffee tables as well as pleasure reading.

ONCE AGAIN, READING ABOUT THE SO CALLED LIBERTY AND JUSTICE OF ALL, IS ANOTHER FARCE. PERHAPS, THIS SHOULD ALSO BE IN american STUDIES. THAT'S IF THE MYTHS AND LEGENDS CAN BE WADED THROUGH.

Larry's photo's are pretty good, but Patricia's writing is very informative and she was nice enough to include a map so you can see exactly where each lighthouse is located. I learned much about maintanence, and I didn't even know there was such a thing as the Huron Lightship. This book is well worth the money.

What the heck is our Congress thinking of???? This book clearly lays out how easy it will be for terrorist to get us by easily crossing the border at will. Why is this still so??? If you like this book you should also read, "U.S. Customs, Badge of Dishonor" another narrative of our Government's border blunders.

this book is full of facts, yet easy to read.
The introduction is amazing. (You can see if you'll
like the book by reading the intro online.)
The book gracefully builds from the intro,
giving more information and examples.
The author is a historian, and uses footnotes
and includes a detailed bibliography.

If you want to learn a lot about social attitudes
towards business success/failure around 100 years ago,
and also understand the social and business forces
that helped the successful and hindered the 'failures',
you'll want to read this book.
I chose this book because i want to learn why
some people succeed and some people fail, even though
both try and are intelligent.
The self-help books state 'hard work = success'.
Yet you and I know that's not always true.
Success doesn't result solely from effort.
And Failure doesn't always occur because a person was lazy.
There are a lot of uncontrollable variables in any persons success or failure.
If effort and preparation were all that are necessary, then why is Bill Gates (a college dropout), Larry Ellison (Oracle Corp) (a college dropout), Russell Simmons (Hip-hop record producer, college dropout) all much wealthier than 99% of the Ivy league MBA's who graduated in the last 20 years?
The author is able to present many examples, and give explanations to support his theories.

It's common today to call Fetterman's mistake a 'fight' rather than a massacre, but since I am from the 'old school' of plains history it is a massacre to me.

This book has a couple excellent color maps and many, many colorful drawings that embellish the text to produce a very readable book. Though this is listed as juvenile literature, any reader can enjoy its content. The University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln must have had similiar feelings when they reprinted this book, which was originally printed in 1972.

The author has also issued several other volumes on the plains Indians and whether for your child, yourself, of both time spent with these small books is time well spent, indeed.

Semper Fi.