Central America Books

Bought one of these for $12 at the Monteverde Park. Waterproof. 2004 edition was not completely up-to-date but was best I've seen. Was $24 at airport.
Why are sellers asking around $100? Is that in colons?

Maps are a new concept to the culture of Costa Rica, and road maps of the country simply have not existed for that long. Ticos who travel go as far as they know, and then start to ask people for directions. Without a long history of cartography (revisions and updates), it is hard to get a truly good, accurate, map of Costa Rica.

Even this map, which is the best we saw, was not really accurate in terms of its representation of how winding a road is, so be careful choosing a "straight" route over a winding route. But, this map also has topographic information, which was useful to us (the rivers, for example, helped us figure out where we were), and its tear-resistant, waterproof plastic material made sure it survived the trip in one piece.

Driving through Costa Rica, we were glad we had this map, and it was well worth the money, saving us many headaches and lots of time. If you plan to drive off the beaten path (ie, beyond Arenal and Manuel Antonio), get this map.

I used this map when I visited Costa Rica and it was useful for finding certain natural protected areas, and for choosing which roads to use. Certainly it was water resistant when visiting the rainy Monteverde zone. If you go to Costa Rica, buy it.

This is the best detailed map that I have seen of Costa Rica. I highly recommemd it.

This book is helpful for the person who would like to construct their own sweat lodge and wants to learn about the history and background of the sweat lodge in Native American culture. The author explains the information through the use of stories from a variety of tribes. If a person is looking for construction plans they should look elsewhere. This book would be good to get a broad range of ideas to formulate a purpose for a person's sweats.
I recommend this for those who are just beginning and want an introduction to the subject.

As a traditional Native, I rarely read anything like this. I wouldn't have even ordered it, except the author is a modern Native striving towards his own roots. I thought that I would be offended, but was pleasently suprised.

The sweat lodge is a very sacred place and this book does a great job of illustrating that. From the history to the legends it is fascinating and well rounded. Many traditions are represented in the stories and I really enjoyed reading them as seeing both the differences as well as the commonality. Highly recommended reading especially for anyone interested in participating in a sweat lodge. Respect and Reverence.

If you don't even know what a sweat-lodge is you might not get what you are looking for reading this book. However, for those who would like to learn more about Native American spiritual practices, it's a rich supply of knowledge. The book sets forth the history of the Sweat-lodge in many cultures, and also tells some great ancient tales of the lodge--great for telling in the lodge, or around the fire.

The written word with photos gives us some historic background of jews who came from Spain, because of being persecuted. While they gave up their jewish religion, we find out that many rituals were kept and practiced. Fasinating book.

This is a well written and very informative book about the survival of a tenacious people and about a part of the hidden history of the state of New Mexico. I would recommend it to any one interested in Jewish history, Sephardic Judaism, Crypto-Jews, Spanish culture and New Mexico history.

The culmination of years of heartfelt, dedicated work by a fine artist, the photographs reveal the depth and complexity of this story with beauty and true humanity.

I'll admit I am biased but this book finally puts a real human face on this southwest phenomena. Haunting images of a living glimmer of an almost forgotten people. Cary Herz performs a mitzvah by remembering us and in a small way provides help along the road to redemption of this small remnant.

I read this book while in Panama and found it very good. I see now where the names for so many of the streets in Panama come from. For a 900 page history book it is a surprisingly fast read. It is very comprehensive on the subject, dating back to the founding of Panama in the early 1900s. And living here I recognized the places and names described in the book right away. The author gives very detailed descriptions of his sources and I recommend the reader read these because good information is included. There is also some very good extra information included in the back that help put subjects in the book in context (ie, list of all previous Panamanian presidents, US ambassadors to Panama, what the Gini coefficient is, etc).

However, the books tone is a bit to sarcastic at times, reading like a mob novel. I would prefer a more nuetral approach. The way its written the author`s bias is strong. However, this does not mean his views are not warranted.

Also there are some editing errors along with the design of the book that make it seem less legitimate.

Overall, its probably one of the better books on the subject. I would read also Path Between the Seas by David McCullough to complete the story of Panamanian recent history.

Noriega -- what a scourage on a hapless little country about to
become truly independent. How did it happen? Why did he reign so long? What went wrong and why? Panama has long been ruled by its "fifty families" but it never had a harsh dictator. How then did the complex, cruel and vindictive Noriega seize and retain such absolute power?

Professor Murillo's careful documented slice of reality provides useful answers. His vivid and accurate rendering presents a very bizarre and tragic story. As usual "the little people" paid with blood and suffering for events beyound their control. We should all ponder how drugs, mis-guided politics and lack of decisive leadership inevitably leads to corruption and suffering.

Have we learned our lesson? Probably not. We could were we to study and heed the lessons in this carefully written and accurate book.

This book touches on the history of the United States Government's influence and control of the drug trade in the Americas. Truly honest people must read this book! This is a literary work that touches on critical issues of drugs in the United States and how the US government uses the media to manipulate it's citizens and the world.

I had the opportunity to read this book while I was in Panama last year and it's worth reading each of the 900+ pages. This book gives a very detailed and unbiased account of what has transpired in Panama for the last 90+ years since gaining their independce from Colombia, with special emphasis on the 21-year military government and the U.S. reaction (or lack there of) to Panama's situation.

It gives a very detailed account on the lives and roles of key players in the military government and sheds some light on a lot of things that were happening that were previously unknown by the general public. I would recommend this book to anyone that is eager to learn the truth about what really happened down there.

I have read the book, On The Banks of the Amazon, to my grandchildren, who are more than facinated with the pictures. The story holds the interest of even the smallest child, all the way to the end. And what a nice surprise at the end!

The text and pictures compliment each other well. This book would be an asset to classrooms and libraries, especially since it is bilingual. It can be enjoyed by children of many ages.

Mrs. Allen has done a wonderful job showing the amazing sites of the Amazon along with keeping the reader on their toes as the hunter looks for exotic things. I recommend this book to all children, as well as educators. It would be a wonderful resource in a rainforest unit.

"On the Banks of the Amazon" takes the reader out for a day with two photographers as they travel along the edge of the Amazon River. They encounter howler monkeys, poison dart frogs, an anaconda, parrots, caiman and other animals. Detailed full-page illustrations keep a child's interest well and support the reading material. It is a well-done bilingual book written in English and Spanish for children about seven to ten years old. "On the Banks of the Amazon" is a recommended children's book.

Written in alternating English & Spanish, ON THE BANKS OF THE AMAZON/EN LAS ORILLAS DEL AMAZONAS will take you & your children into the rainforest of South America where glorious animals of all different shapes & sizes will entrance you.

Great illustrations by Elizabeth Driessen -- energetic, colorful & mesmerizing.

Rebeccasreads highly recommends this & any book published by Raven Tree Press for lively bilingual stories about life on Mother Earth.

What a beautiful book! I want to use the book as a coffee table book, matter of fact, its on my coffee table now because the illustrations are striking and the book is informative, well researched and entertaining. Although classified for the 9 to 12 year old reader, a younger reader will enjoy looking at the pictures and, with instruction, can play the enclosed game. The author defines and provides pronunciation hints for unfamiliar words. An adult is guaranteed to expand their knowledge of an ancient culture and time period. This is truly a book to be enjoyed by the entire family.

On a Beautiful Island captures a day in the life of Taino, a Puerto Rican boy who lived some 500 years ago. His adventures bring to life a culture strong in family, faith and society. Each person in the tribe has a role and a responsibility to each other and to nature. The writing is lyrical, the illustrations are colorful while the overall tone is light and joyful.

A true work of the storyteller's art, On This Beautiful Island is written and beautifully illustrated by Edwin Fontanez. Adapted from his original video "Taino: Guanin's Story" which was in turn inspired by the ancient culture of the Tainos who were the first inhabitants of Puerto Rico. On This Beautiful Island shows young readers what it was like to live in a vibrant natural land five hundred years ago, and experience the wonders of nature from the soft lullaby of the ocean humming inside a shell to the fresh breeze whisking through the treetops to the song of a tiny frog no bigger than a thumb. On This Beautiful Language is filled with bright and ruddy colored illustrations of native Taino individuals going about day-to-day life, and a final page offers some additional information about the Taino culture, and influences that remain with us today through words like "barbecue", "tobacco", "canoe", and "hammock", all of which are derived from the Arawak language.

Guanín, our narrator, uses poetic verse to describe his family traditions and life in Puerto Rico. This is a pastoral book that celebrates and educates children about the Taíno history and culture. The illustrations are incredibly beautiful. It is difficult to tell, at times, whether this is to be a rhyming verse or descriptive poem. When reading aloud, sometimes the rhyming and/or alliterations works, at other times, though it is difficult reading. The intricate, colorful illustrations will brighten any day, even if you don't read the text. The story introduces readers to Puerto Rico in a way that they are not likely to find elsewhere. The parallels with Native American culture (i.e., Nature's role in our survival) also lend great opportunities to talk about conservation and caring for our world.

On this Beautiful Island is a beautifully written and illustrated picture book. This book takes the child through a colourful exotic journey led by Guanín and his close-to-the-heart friend Tahite, a parrot. Guanín shows his new friends a little about his daily life and about his traditional Taíno culture. These traditions date back more than 2,000 years from the area known today as Puerto Rico. A video called Taíno: Guanín's Story and a companion activity book are also available for those interested in learning more about Guanín and his cultural traditions.

On this Beautiful Island is a story that entertains and teaches at the same time. The book illustrates a lifestyle that is likely very different from the young reader while also showing that some things about being a kid are universal. The story is charming and completely entertaining. However, it pales in comparison to the illustrations in this book which are completely breathtaking. Young readers will spend hours studying these colourful pictures looking for hidden coquíes.

At the same time that many African-Americans were suffering in slavery in the United States, countless Cubans were enduring a similar fate in their own country. Juan Francisco Manzano was born into a family of Cuban slaves in 1797. He served two mistresses (the second of whom was self-centered, cruel, and vindictive) until he escaped as a teenager. Even as a young boy, Juan possessed an amazing gift for remembering and reciting poetry, which propelled him into the performing spotlight under his first mistress Doña Beatriz. When his first mistress died and he became subject to the mentally unstable La Marquesa de Prado Ameno, his incredible talent for verse as well as his passion for life, learning, and self-expression became both a curse and an escape for Juan. He clung to the poems he had internalized as well as his own creations as he endured confinement and torturous abuse as a slave.

Margarita Engle, winner of the Pura Belpré Award and the Junior Library Guild Selection Editor's Choice for The Poet Slave of Cuba, recounts the heartrending biography of Juan's childhood and teenage years as a slave. Respectfully echoing Juan Manzano's poetic voice by writing in verse herself, Engle chronicles Juan's story through multiple voices. Even with the conciseness that poetry demands, Margarita Engle captures the individual personalities of the various characters of this story--Juan, Maria del Pilar (Juan's mother), Toribio (Juan's father), Doña Beatriz (his first mistress), La Marquesa de Prado Ameno (his second mistress), Don Nicolas (La Marquesa's son), and the Overseer. Engle illuminates Juan's passion for knowledge, his quiet patience, as well as his ferocious tenacity. She underscores the icy, cruel selfishness of La Marquesa De Prado Ameno. Maria del Pilar's steadfast compassion spills out of the voice Engle pens for her. Even the Overseer's internal torment over being the instrument of torture for La Marquesa seeps through his limited lines.

As a Cuban-American author with a background in botany and agronomy, Margarita Engle not only tells an inspirational story of suffering and survival, but she also grafts in glimpses of the island setting, the agriculture backdrop, and the cultural hierarchy of nineteenth century Cuba. Sean Qualls' intermittent illustrations in shades of black, grey, and white create an effective spotlight for scenes in Engle's verse.

Although Engle describes Juan's cruel punishment, this book would be completely suitable for middle- or high school age students. In fact, Engle's book contains very little blood, gore, or overly-explicit material. It is the brutality, mercilessness, and inhumanity of the slaves' punishments that disturb the readers' unaccustomed minds. Engle's book does not gloss over the inhumane treatment of Cuban slaves in the 19th century, yet it provides a story of hope and transcending harsh realities.

You learn about the life of this child and experience his triumph over adversity. The book makes you want to read the child's original words even though they are in Spanish.

How would you feel if your former master, who had loved you and cared for you like you were her own child, had said that once she died, you and your family would be free. Happy, right? Well what if no one paid any attention and you were sold to another master who punishes you for crimes you didn't commit?
That is the dilemma Juan Fransisco Manzano faces when his former owner, who took him to parties and had him wow her guest with his uncanny ability to recite poems and verses from the bible. At his baptism, Dona Beatriz, his former owner, declares that once she dies, he and his family will be free, for the price of 300 pesos, and any new-born babies will be born free. But once Dona Beatriz dies, Juan's family discovers they don't have enough money to buy Juan's freedom. So he is sold to La Marquesa De Prado Amendo, whose son, Don Nicolas, takes a liking to Juan, and befriends him. But La Marquesa frequently and brutally punishes Juan for sneaking peaks at her books. But she is grateful enough to let Juan watch her sons take art classes, and Don Nicholas gives Juan some parchment and a stub of crayon to draw with. Eventually, Don Nicholas helps give Juan the courage to run away, and Juan flees in search of his mother.
In really enjoyed this book for three reasons: the poetry, the character development, and the Spanish vocabulary sprinkled into the text.
The first reason I liked this book was in was written in free verse poetry form. This made the book very quick and easy to read, which made me like it more. It was also very unique, and was very well done.
The second reason I liked this book was the character development, mainly Juan. He grows up a lot in the book, from age eleven to age sixteen. But he also develops, by not abiding to La Marquesa's rules or caring about the consequences. He also learns that he doesn't need to keep sneakily buying pen and paper using the money he receives at parties. He can just store all the knowledge in his head.
And finally, I enjoyed the Spanish vocabulary sprinkled in. I take Spanish class on B days and found that the Spanish words were very useful. I also like how the author used in text definitions to explain to you what the word was.
In conclusion, I thought this was a fabulous book and would recommend it to someone looking for either a book written in poetry of a book with Spanish sprinkled into the text.

C. Davidson

The verse novel is a tricky fickle thing. Though no one to the best of my knowledge has ever put down the rules that govern the creation of a verse novel, there are always a couple unwritten understandings. No verse novel should tell its tale through poetry when it would make more sense to tell it through prose. Also, just breaking up a bunch of sentences into lines doesn't mean you're writing poetry or anything. The ideal verse novel is one where it makes sense to write a story through poetry AND just happens to have an ear for beautiful language. Such is the case with Margaraita's, "The Poet Slave of Cuba". In the book it says that, "The life of Juan Francisco Manzano haunted her for years before she finally realized that to do justice to the Poet Slave's story, she needed to write it in verse". The result is an achingly beautiful and horrific story that deserves to be read by teens everywhere.

Born a slave in Cuba in 1797, Juan Francisco Manzano grew up the toast of his owner Dona Beatriz. His ability to memorize speeches, plays, and words of all sorts made him a kind of sought over pet to the Spanish aristocracy. Though she promised to grant him his freedom when she died and she allowed both his parents to buy their freedom, Juan Francisco remained a slave after Dona Beatriz's death and was handed over to the dangerously psychotic Marquesa de Prado Ameno. The Marquesa resents Juan from the moment he is put into her possession and every attempt he makes at reading or writing is put down with shocking violence. A biography told in poems, this book shows the worst of slavery's cruelties and the sheer will it takes to not only survive under such conditions but escape.

The text in the book alternates between different points of view on almost every page. In a sense, the villains have just as much of a say as the heroes. Juan, for his part, sometimes will have three pages in a row of thoughts, each with its own separate poem. Alongside this format are illustrations by Sean Qualls. Qualls has a style that usually doesn't do much for me. In this case, however, he's the perfect complement to Engle's tale. The white aristocracy with their blank eyes and sharp pointed teeth are positively horrific. These images magnify the storyline. Here, for example, are two ladders that lead suggestively against a wall. Now a shiny coin. Now a butterfly. They are rough unfinished drawings that show far better Juan's situation than any polished colored print could ever convey.

At first I was a little perturbed that for all the book's poetry and loveliness, I couldn't find any actual poetry by the real Juan Francisco Manzano. Then I reached the end of the title and in the back found that author Margarita Engle not only offers us a biography of the true Juan Francisco, but reprints his bibliographic details as well.

Now, there is a debate surrounding this book. It is not a debate that questions whether the story is told well or whether or not Engle gets her point across to the reader. It's more a question of audience. Though published by Henry Holt, Inc's young reader division, and not a specific teen imprint, there is little doubt in my mind that this is not exactly kiddie fare. It's repeatedly violent, often to extremes. There is more bloodshed, torture, screams, and pain in this book than you'll find in most children's literature. To put it plainly, this is the "Beloved", of kiddie lit. Which, when you think about it, doesn't make it very kid-friendly at all. Teens, on the other hand, will find much to appreciate here. Juan Francisco spends much of this book as a teen, after all. His thoughts and actions are not those of a young boy, but rather a man trapped in an untenable situation. As such, I'd steer this book clear of the shorter set and aim towards kids with some maturity.

You read about the main character's pain, and to some extent a kind of apathy has to take place or the story's too difficult to bear. As a reader, you actually find yourself wondering how a person could live under such grueling conditions without a hope of a reprieve and still want to live. And there is a moment in the book when someone says that good always triumphs over evil. That it is amazing that the devil even tries. Words like these and phrases of this sort have been turning about in my brain ever since I put, "The Poet Slave of Cuba" down. Engle's text has a kind of staying power that wordsmiths everywhere should envy. Envy and admire.

I guess I should point out that while, "The Poet Slave of Cuba" is well-written, smart, and beautiful, it is not a pleasant book to read. Teens who pick up this book should be informed right off the bat as to what the book consists of. Just the same, it's definitely one of the more honest treatises on slavery I've ever had the chance to read. Engle does a magnificent job with her subject. She does the man's memory proud.

Award-winning essay writer and editor emeritus of "Harper's Magazine" Lewis Lapham presents Pretensions to Empire: Notes on the Criminal Folly of the Bush Administration, a stinging indictment of the Bush-Cheney administration from its first days in Washington up to the present. Chronicling the presidency's abuses of power, and drawing upon the lessons of history to provide an ominous background to current events, Pretensions to Empire dissects the government's shameful incompetence in the wake of Hurricane Katrina; the copious, unwarranted domestic spying authorized by the president; and above all, the jingoism and pretensions to empire that prompted the administration's war in Iraq on shoddy intelligence. The resounding, passionate message is that the nation can no longer afford to tolerate George W. Bush or his cronies. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the author, his reasoning is compelling, measured, and completely accessible to readers of all backgrounds.

Lewis Lapham's notes reveal the perspective of a deeply informed man on the current republican mess, written with elegance and brillance.
"How does one reconcile the demand for small government with the desire for an imperial army,[...] match the warmhearted currencies of "conservatism compassion" with the cold cruelty of "the unfettered free market", know that human life must be saved from abortionists in Boston but not from cruise missiles in Baghdad?"
The essays cover the whole affair, from the rise of conservative propaganda to the last proofs of incompetence(or crimes) of the Bush administration.
An instructive, captivating, refreshing critic worth to be read.

Lapham's monthly essays for Harper's were always some of the best writing of the magazine. This collection from the last four years touches on "Empire" only as a basic theme for the unending expansion of American militarism and loss of demestic freedoms. Lapham is an acute observer, bringing his usual brilliant insights into the American political, social and international scenes. The book will make you think, will remind you of missed opportunities caused by the Bush Administration's actions and give you a perspective on what the American nation may be like in just a few years. Highly recommend.

At the time of the US "mid-term" elections in the Autumn of 2006, the credibility of the Bush regime in that nation had reached nadir. The favouritism of its domestic policies and the false premise of its foreign wars prompted a belief in the need for "regime change". The exposure of the deceptions and illegal activities of the regime was largely due to such journalists as Lewis Lapham. Lapham lays bare the inconsistencies, evasions and falsehoods that Bush and his team have put forth during their time of governance. This collection of those columns makes dismal reading, but the information they present is invaluable. They are a requiem chorus of a once-admirable nation.

Lapham, who wrote the "Notebook" column for Harper's Magazine for many years, was an early detector of the direction the Bush coalition was taking. That direction not only disturbed him for its potential results, Lapham was also alarmed at the lack of attention US media gave the trend. The fundamental issue, Lapham argues, is the attempt to transform a democratic republic into a global empire. Underlying this change is a document published in 1993 by Pentagon "officials" - officials who later played major roles in the Bush administration. The paper defined the US as the sole superpower - a power with the means and will to strike anywhere on the planet. Inhibiting or challenging that will was tantamount to treason if domestic, or tending to "terrorism" if external.

The US would undergo a fundamental change resulting from the provisions of the document. "Terrorism" was already long in the US lexicon by the time the World Trade Center towers were struck. Yet, Lapham recognises that declaring a "war on terrorism" necessitates defining non-existent ideology, then countering its adherents. Because the WTC attacks were carried out from within the US, one tactic must be the close surveillance of the domestic population. Lapham asserts that the implementation of that policy is turning the US into a "quiescent police state". This new condition is exacerbated by the economic policies of the government which enlarges the chasm between corporate wealth and real income for the less well-off. He is clear that, irrespective of which individual is in the White House or which party that individual represents, it is the shift from the traditional ideals of his country that alarms him. He wants others to share his concern, since once those ideals are demolished, their reconstruction will be a long, monumental task shared by all citizens.

Lapham's keening is a lament for lost principles. His conclusion, that Bush must be brought to account for ignoring or violating his Oath of Office, may be an act of political redemption, but it will not shift attitudes in the US very much. Lapham seems convinced that by placing Bush on a sacrificial political alter will restore the past. He ignores the fact that the legislation enacted by the regime will remain on the books unless repealed or sharply revised. The thousands now employed by "Homeland Security" and other "anti-terrorist" agencies will need jobs somewhere. Nor is it likely that the elimination of one individual will reset the collective viewpoints of a nation committed to maintaining world hegemony. This reality may seem to give Lapham's essays a tinge of "Bushwhacking", but the blatant disregard of the regime for law and truth show how badly this collection was needed. The results of those mid-term elections may have been an encouraging glimmer, but they don't promise the level of restoration Lapham is looking for. [stephen a. haines = Ottawa, Canada]

This book is the most complete political analysis of the Nicaragua's Sandinista Revolution, not for academics, but for working revolutionists, for workers, peasant and youth who want to change the world. It contains resolutions on Nicaragua adopted by the Socialist Workers Party starting in 1979, the historic Program of the Sandinistas by the FSLN's historic founder Carlos Fonseca, and several important articles and speeches by SWP leaders. Most unique are the fifty-page introduction by SWP leader Steve Clark and the articles by Larry Seigle, a leader of The Militant's bureau in Managua during the revolution. They document that the revolution failed, not because it was anticapitalist, but because it failed to go on to end capitalism.

The fall of the Nicaraguan revolution was neither inevitable, nor caused by the lack of political consciousness of the workers and farmers who had made that revolution, neither was it caused by those same workers "voting with their stomachs" in 1989. No, it was the leadership of the Sandinista National Liberation Front ( FSLN ) and its policy of " concertación", of catering to the domestic capitalists of the city and the countryside that demoralized the working people, without gaining a single concession from Yanqui ( U.S. ) imperialism as the FSLN leadership had promised ! The working people I met in Nicaragua in 1986 during the war against the U.S.-backed counterrevolutionary terrorists were ready to make whatever sacrifice necessary ( and they were doing so ) in defense of THEIR workers and farmers government that then was in power, under the leadership of the Sandinista Front, that was still a revolutionary leadership then. The Nicaraguan people were betrayed by their leaders, who had and have to this day more faith in capitalism then confidence in the workers. The lessons of the degeneration of the FSLN and the defeat of the workers and farmers government that is treated in this book are based on the experience of of a revolutionary workers party in the U.S. defending that revolution here and opposing the U.S. dirty war, and on the socialist journalism of its permanent bureau in Managua during the ten years of the revolution. These lessons are just as important as the lessons of the victorious Cuban revolution , also covered in thumbnail sketches here .We workers and farmers here in the U.S. can still learn much from the FSLN during its revolutionary period, as we can learn from the works of comandante Carlos Fonseca, founder of the FSLN, on the road to power, referred to throughout this valuable book.

The 1979 rise of Nicaraguan workers and peasants inspired freedom-loving people around the world. The FSLN led a massive mobilization that uprooted the long-standing Somoza system of repression and subservience to U.S. capitalism. The armed people began a road of social justice and genuine sovereignty. Led by the Sandinistas, they defeated the invasion of counterrevolutionary contras -- armed and commanded by Washington. Yet the FSLN, at the moment of its greatest victories, turned away from the road of leading the workers and peasants forward to the overturn of capitalism. Instead, they reversed course and abandoned land reform, workers rights, and sought to become an inoffensive bourgeois political party. Even that modest ambition was thwarted, and they lost power in 1990.

The July 1979 triumph of the Nicaraguan revolution showed the way forward for fighting workers and farmers throughout the Americas and the world. It transformed the possibilities for revolutionary struggles in Central America and the Carribean...attracted a new generation of fighters in the United States to communism...interwined with the rising freedom fight in South Africa...and gave impetus to new advances by the socialist revolution in Cuba.

"Only the workers will go all the way" - that battle cry of Augusto César Sandino, leader of the war against the U.S. marines' occupation of Nicaragua in the 1920s and '30s, once again became a line of march for millions.

This special issue of New International, based on ten years of working-class journalism from inside Nicaragua, traces the lessons fighters everywhere can learn from the rise and fall of the workers and farmers government in Nicaragua.

Nicaragua, Grenada, and Cuba "are three giants rising up to defend their independence, sovereignty, and justice, on the very threshold of imperialism...One must have a sense of history to know what these revolutions mean." Cuban president Fidel Castro March 1980 (from the back cover)

Mary Lu Abbott rounds up Lone Star lodgings, restaurants and sightseeing with lovers in mind. Recommendations are organized regionally and introduced with a brief history of the locale. Among the romantic stays are rooms in a former stagecoach stop; among the memorable restaurants is the palatial Mansion on Turtle Creek Dining Room in Dallas. The book includes major festivals and strikes a nice balance of activities, sightseeing and recreation of interest to both genders.
Chicago Tribune

The updated second edition of Romantic Weekends: Texas covers places to get away for a romantic weekend in Texas, outlining both popular areas and hidden places which can be easily accessed in a long weekend. From central Texas and the Southeast to the Panhandle, the regional breakdowns make it easy to look up particular areas, while specifics on restaurants and accommodations make this a winning set of recommendations.

This book offers the best places for romance in and around Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas/Fort Worth, Corpus Christi, the Rio Grande Valley and the Mexican border. Only those lodgings with special appeal have been selected, and all have been visited by the author - former Houston Chronicle editor.Table For Two sections profile the most intimate places to eat, where ambiance and service are as important as the food. But this is more than a guide to the best places to stay and eat. Activities that a couple will remember forever are also covered - balloon rides over the desert, romantic strolls under a starry sky, horseback trails into the wilderness. Contact names, telephone numbers and website addresses are given.

This book offers the best places for romance in and around Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas/Fort Worth, Corpus Christi, the Rio Grande Valley and the Mexican border. Only those lodgings with special appeal have been selected, and all have been visited by the author - former Houston Chronicle editor.Table For Two sections profile the most intimate places to eat, where ambiance and service are as important as the food. But this is more than a guide to the best places to stay and eat. Activities that a couple will remember forever are also covered - balloon rides over the desert, romantic strolls under a starry sky, horseback trails into the wilderness. Contact names, telephone numbers and website addresses are given. Maps, index and photos, plus hand-drawn sketches.