Portugal Books

Lucy McCauley crafted a deft meta-tale of Spain with the stories she chose for this book--no reader or traveler to Spain will leave its pages without being enriched. How I wish this book had existed when I went to Spain as a student years ago. In fact this is one of the reasons I wanted to publish it in the first place (I'm the publisher at TT), and Lucy more than delivered the goods.

Madrid was founded by the Moors and only rose to prominence in the 16th century when King Philip II chose to make it Spain's first permanent court and the center from which he would manage his newly emancipated empire. But it was not until two centuries later that Madrid would become the grandly aristocratic city that it is today. Historian Hugh Thomas has researched five centuries of Madrid's history as recorded in diaries, letters, memoirs, and even novels. The result is an outstanding anthology which vividly evokes the drama and personalities of the past with eyewitness accounts and commentaries from both visitors and inhabitants of Spain's premier city. Enthusiastically recommended reading for anyone planning a vacation trip or a business visit to Madrid, A Traveller's Companion To Madrid is informed and informative -- and would well serve as a template for how other historians might create histories of their cities both in Europe and in the United States.

The only travel guide dedicated to Lisbon and Porto alone, this book is well written and informative showing that the author, Louise Pole-Baker, has done her research well.

As well as listing what to see in each of the cities of Porto and Lisbon, including suggestions for plenty of walks,drives and excursions, it provides the reader with succinct but useful background information on their history, culture and festivals. There is also a directory covering entertainment, accommodation, shopping, sport and leisure and even a section on occupying the children. The last two pages contain a few basic phrases but one would definitely need to invest in a larger dictionary rather than relying on this. The book is packed throughout with beautiful and often enticing photographs.

Having sung the wonders of the book, I'm sorry to say that the same cannot be said for the mini CD-ROM which accompanies the book, and which was not written by the author listed above, but by

Though there are many travel guides of many destinations, finding a good one about Madeira has been a challenge. Too often the island is relegated to, at most, a chapter or a page or two in a guide to Portugal. Having exchanged a week's time-share in Mexico for a week in Madeira, I was eager to find a more in-depth, up-to-date guide. This seems to fill the bill! I was delighted to find it.

This is a well put together book - perfect size and light for travel. Combines a good amount of history, photography and lists of things to do. It also combines some suggested itineraries and the information, etc is very easy to find. I was also surprised to find a CDROM enclosed that had a brief overview of the island -- my only wish on the CD would that it would have 'downloadable' items such as wallpapers or the music, etc -- otherwise, its a nice addition to get you excited for your trip.

Very well put together book. The best overall guide to Majorca I have --- two thumbs up!!!

An excellant starting point for anyone interested in learning about the "Spanish Black Legend." I first encountered this book during my studies at the University of Michigan. Having experienced first-hand many of the stereo-types discussed in the book, it was extremely helpful in healing many old wounds. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Spanish culture and/or anyone of Hispanic origin.

--Extremely enlightening

The book is about people,places and changes shifting from the past to the present.The book seeks some centre of meaning in life. It presents to everyone about what happened to people of the world centuries ago; the configuration of people,their understanding and the role of each individual person on Earth. The book tells about historical events of West Africa in the 15th century in such a way that it is easy to understand. It tells a little history about Portugal and what promted them to sail to West Africa.It tells about history of the Netherlands and their aim and what prompted them to visit West Africa in the first place. I was enlightened about the slave trade, and the booming exports of cocoa,gold,diamonds in Ghana and why West Africa has become what it is today. 1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List

no se cuantas lindezas mas, una historia apasionante, acerca de un similar episodio de la historia de España, un personaje sobre el que aun correran rios de tinta y sin embargo se desconoce cabalmente el palel que jugo en la historia de su patria, heroe o villano? digalo Usted....

This is one of those books that will probably appeal to only the serious historian for it covers an extremely narrow compass. However, if your interest is in the Portuguese spice trade of 17th century India, this is your book.

Rarely have I seen a book that uses and documents primary sources better than 'Twilight of the Pepper Empire'. The author makes use of 400 year old shipping manifests to compile a month by month account of the Portuguese spice exports from the Malabar coast. Every fortress and trading post the Portuguese built is documented in a level of detail I would not have thought possible given the obscurity of the primary source material. Even the secondary sources, usually more readily available to the general public, are such that I have spent two unsuccessful years trying to locate personal copies. Simply stated, this book is a testament to what a serious historian can produce.

This is not 'Nathaniel's Nutmeg'. If you want a book to read by the fireplace this is not it. But as an historical text 'Twilight of the Pepper Empire' is top notch.

Understanding Contemporary Chicana Literature uses the works of six notable Chicana authors to reveal common themes, images and concerns which make their writing part of a larger growing Latina community of work. Prose, novels, poetry and short works of Bernize Zamora, Ana Castillo, Sandra Cisneros, Denise Chavez, Alma Luz Villanueva and Lorna Dee Cervantes are considered in an assessment essential to any ethnic collection.