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Colombia is starting to get glaring academic attention. It is well-deserved and overdue. To this end, "Gaitanismo, Left Liberalism, and Popular Mobilization in Colombia," by W. John Green dares to study a controversial populist movement. His work is groundbreaking and his analysis in some cases exceeds that of highly regarded historians Richard Sharpless and Herbert Braun.

Jorge Eliecer Gaitan is arguably the most important politician in the history of Colombia. Green dedicates a decade to examine the life of Gaitan...the sire of the Gaitanista movement. However, in the words of the author, "this study...is more about Gaitanismo and the left-Liberal political culture from which it sprang than about Gaitan per se." Gaitan is the authentic defender of working and undervalued classes and a man who always diligently escaped the stain of official corruption and scandal.

In a nutshell, Gaitanismo was the first independent, mass-based, popularly oriented mobilization of its magnitude in Colombian history. Green tracks Gaitan's career from the Colombian Congress, to the Senate, to the Ministry of Labor, to the Mayor of Bogota, to Minister of Education and finally to the leading presidential candidate in the nation at the time of his mysterious assassination on April 9, 1948.

Green starts by digging into Colombia's past and exposing the wide historical divisions in the Liberal Party. He also pulls no punches and provides an excellent documentation of Colombia's elite-dominated political system. Unfortunately, according to Green, "for all its political vigor, the system was prone to domination by powerful groups and individuals...given to arbitrary decisions and less than democratic procedures."

The author also dedicates much time to the many clashes Gaitan had with his bitter political enemy Laureano Gomez, the dominant power in the Colombian Conservative Party. For the most part Conservative Party elites and even some members of the Liberal Party hated Gaitan and "exhibited a near universal mixture of fear, anger and loathing," Green writes. According to the author, to Gomez "the only route to salvation was the Roman Catholic Church, he was antagonistic to all breeds of Liberalism and insisted that those who disagreed were not only wrong but evil." Eventually many Colombians end up despising Gomez for his heavy sympathizing with Italian Fascism and German National Socialism before and during World War II.

Green admirably concludes that "the allure of Gaitanism sometimes seems unworldly." This book is comprehensive and well-balanced. And carefully explains why the Colombian oligarchy unleashed a brutal counter-revolution to eliminate the political
call for social and land reforms immediately after the assassination of Gaitan.

Bert Ruiz

The photographs in this book make identification of eggs, larvae, chrysalids and butterflies a snap. The text isn't academic mumbo jumbo, but a conversational discussion of how to encourage butterflies to visit your yard. And the plant section is great for selection purposes...

I hope the author does a book like this for dragonflies in Florida, because I've got this pond...

Just a great book about the University of Florida football team. Everything you could possibly want to know. The author does a fabulous recanting Gator Tales.

This is simply *the* definitive history of the University of Florida football program, from its inception through the 1973 season. No other work even approaches its depth and breadth as it chronicles every season, every big game, and every notable figure in the program. Check the acknowledgments for virtually any more recent book that involves Gator football, even at least one written by a Georgia grad, and you will find almost reverential reference to this work.

An absolutely essential addition to the library of any Gator.

Attorney (and Social Worker) Robin Bodiford of Fort Lauderdale has been crucially instrumental in making her home county of Broward the most progressive in the red (or dare we think purple state of Florida.) By way of her efforts, gay citizens in Broward County have greater legal protections than in any other county statewide. This particular article of hers, points out most excellently the atrociousness (more to the harm of needy children than to the gay community,) of the present state of Florida Law. May such efforts as hers, which point out the backwards and cruel effects of southern bigotry, which continue alive and all-too-well in Florida, soon change the tide!

Paul David Nelson does seem to make a solid living at chronicling the lives of secondary figures of the American Revolution. Yet one can not ignore his works. There are few biographers with his skill and ability.

Nelson's look at the life of James Grant proves useful and readable. Grant remains one of those obscure English figures who popped up all over North America in the 18th century. A proud son of Scotland, Grant worked his way up the military ladder after service in Europe. During the French and Indian war, Grant would lead one failed mission at Fort Duquesne (which would lead to his capture), a more succesful one in South Carolina against the Creeks, and spend time in the islands. From 1763 until 1771, Grant served as an able governor of East Florida. After his service in Saint Augustine, Grant headed to England where he served in Parliment before serving as a major general in the American Revolution. While retaining a low opinion of the militia, Grant did see some success as one of his friend William Howe's chief tactical officers, planning the battles of Brooklyn and White Plains though he never quite was able to land the knockout blow. Having said that, Grant's star rose after Henry Clinton's fell with Howe (for a detailed analysis of the odd relationship of Howe and Clinton, see Wilcox's classic "Portrait of a General"). After Howe was recalled, Grant did excellent work for his cause at St. Lucia.

The only real problem is the book seems a bit too short at points. The Florida years for example seem rather rushed. Otherwise, Nelson shows how a Scottish second son could rise to prominence in 18th century England. Nelson is able to catch Grant's personality to some extent. This obese soldier liked the high life and could be stubborn and somewhat cantakerous yet still something of a social creature. Nelson also did a great deal of work with the primary sources. While Grant may be more than a bit obscure, he does come to life in this excellent, though short, biography.

Searcy's book is a welcome and much needed addition to the early Revolutionary War period along the southern front. Her exhaustive research covers the turmoil along the Georgia-Florida border during 1776-1778 and its repercussions on the eventual outcome of the American Revolution. Her sweeping historical narrative ranges from the decisions made in the Continental Congress to the devastating effects on the settlers from the constant raids, skirmishes, and battles between the Georgia patriots and the Florida loyalists. The book can be read for historic detail or as an informative and interesting narrative or both. It certainly rates a place on any bookshelf to complememnt the considerable literature on the Revolutionary War in the northern colonies during this period.

This book has a lively and entertaining cast of characters that keep the pages turning from start to finish - it's a mix of entertainment and Florida Keys history. A perfect book for a few days on the beach or poolside.