Central America Books

this is a book passed along to me from some friends, who picked it up at the local Goodwill store. it sat on my bookshelf for three years before I picked it up, finally. what an amazing gift and treasure - this book opens your eyes to a world which is simply incredible, magic, unbelievable and yet, yet - - - you know it's real and true and entirely possible. I will now endeavor to read anything written by loren ("lowen, over") mcintyre, the great explorer, and petru popescu, the weaver of the tale. what a great, wild, fantastical adventure!

After reading Popescu's Amazon Beaming the world does'nt look the same. All the New Age "rubbish" appears to be just superficial while Popescu and McIntyre reveal the truth so clearly. While following Mr. McIntyre's journey to the source of the very beginning of Time, to the source of Amazon, to his own source, the reader discovers his very own inner source. Accompanied with this knowledge he is also able to understand better the native tribes throughout the world and the importance to rescue them by just leave them in peace. My deepest thanks to Mr. Popescu and surely to Mr. McIntyre ("Tayah")

There have been several prominent books and journal articles on Japan's postwar economic success (my personal favorite is The Misunderstood Miracle: Industrial Development and Political Change in Japan (Cornell Studies in Political Economy)). However, understanding the true nature of this flourishing is a somewhat different matter. While Friedman addresses the ECONOMIC aspects, Fosberg ably addresses the political and diplomatic aspects.

Prior to the War, Japan had been a major industrial power, and while a stupendous amount of plant and materiel had been physically destroyed by Allied bombing, it was clear that Japan possessed the trained personnel and deepened industrial institutions to recover. What was not clear, however, was if the US political establishment had the will or vision to help out.

Political establishments are heterogenous things, with complicated networks of competing and colluding interests; and while this is something so obvious it ought to be vapid, it's a point usually overlooked by ideologically zealous historians. For those interested in a serious, well-documented treatment of how the network of myriad US interests coalesced towards a strategy of helping Japan develop, and then integrate into the US economic sphere, this is a good beginning.

Students of economics will possibly be perturbed because Forsberg does not strictly adhere to neoliberal economic orthodoxy. This book tends towards neutrality on controversial issues in development economics, and rather, deals with what actors expected to happen as a result of the policies they pursued. So, for example, for much of the period covered the US Congress wavered between accommodating Japanese home markets protection (for the purpose of defeating Communism in the region) and demanding that the Japanese authorities open their market to US goods. An orthodox economist might object that protecting domestic markets was a stupid "payout" for either Japanese or US constituencies generally, but the point is that in 1950 very few political actors anywhere thought such things.

In general, the account tends to be fairly favorable to the US polity in terms of "generosity" (in this case, willingness to sacrifice short-term regional preferences for long-term success in the project of Japanese development), and emphasizes the success of Japanese industry interests in protecting specific markets. At the same time, the difficulty of getting the US polity to support Japanese economic recovery is not ignored. The terms of the bilateral agreements with Japan were sometimes one-sided, allowing the USA bases without commitments to actually defend Japan. Partly this was an ugly byproduct of the fact that Japan had become a US client by virtue of defeat in a war; but it also reflected internal divsions in the Japanese polity over the relationship with the USA.

In any respects, the book is an outstanding companion to the above-mentioned Friedman book on the economics of Japan's development. While Friedman emphasizes the overlooked entreprenuerial aspect, Forsberg explains the institutional and diplomatic aspect that actually prevailed. Readers of varing ideological or economic dogmas may draw their own conclusions based on what actually followed.

in my world history class i was doing a project on the japanese economic miracle after world war ii. this was the main source of information i used. i thought that this book was full of information involving the japanese and their sturggle to gain economic success. this book also taught me a lot about how the americans felt about the japanese. although in war they were enemies, after the war, since the US occupied Japan, due to their help, the japanese were able to get the success they wanted. if you are working on a project or just want to know about the japanese economic miracle, then i strongly suggest this book.

Brown and Bradford have provided an invaluable service to Americans interested in our country's national security! They have done a thoughtful, insightful analysis of just where the centerpiece of America's security, our Army, stands in 2008 and where it can go in the immediate future to continue to provice the bulwark against threats, foreigh and domestic. These brilliant scholars of national security point out that the nation now faces a challenge unlike any before in our history....an international landscape altered beyond recognition.

This book provides, perhaps for the first time, a detailed critique of how public-service agencies in this country interact with the Army using the badly flawed response to Hurricane Katrina as a case study. More importantly, they then describe how they should act in future domestic crises.

It lays out the vast array of challenges to the Army of today and just exactly how the Army can work its way forward. It does not minimize the dimension of the challenges but carefully lays out a plan to cope and how to provide the country with the Army is deserves.

It is truly a must read......I sincerely hope our elected officials and their staffs find the time to read it...and think about its implications.

Many readers will find the title daunting. "America's Army" in the lead is enough to frighten away most but the past and present members of the Armed Forces and the civilian aficionados of military affairs. Running away from the book would be, however, a serious blunder. Instead, attention should be focused on the second part of the title: ...a model for interagency effectiveness." Anyone interested in homeland defense, public affairs, business, homeland security, management of large organizations, or leadership should read the book, extrapolate the message, transform military acronyms into those crowding one's own discipline, and, after appropriate extrapolation and transformation, apply the lessons in operations of one's own organization.

The book, military acronyms notwithstanding (and there is a list explaining their full meaning), does not provide lofty enticements as to "what should be done." Instead, the authors analyze solutions employed by the US Army - one of the most complex organizations in the world - to address problems of interagency conflicts, and how to convert these into a productive, mission-oriented collaboration. While reading, one must constantly bear in mind the "operative" word of the title: "a model."

Bradford and Brown do not insist theirs is the only way. Instead, they present a model, a form of an already functioning prototype, that the reader is tasked to convert, modify, then use as a functional tool in the context of one's own organization, and its internal relations as well as interactions with the external world. The authors present a series of lucid and realistic solutions to the challenges posed by friction among organizations which must collaborate, but whose efficinecy of joint effort is hampered by internal and external bureaucracies, procedural inflexibility, culture, or, worst of all, ignorance.

Viewed in such context,the Army serves as s a pretext that merely demonstrates that the methods and approaches discussed by the authors actually work in real life. This is not a wishful "how-to" of many business or leadership texts, but the analysis of a practical application of hard-won lessons: the reader must translate "soldier" into employee, "brigade into a production division, and Army into a global-reach company. The authors could as well speak of GLOBAL OPERATIONS, Inc., with the headquarters in New York or a major NGO operating in the too often argumentative environment of disaster-relief operations. Or the Department of Homeland Security, which, despite billions of dollars spent, continues to be affected by friction among its own components, and by the bureaucratic reluctance of other depratments to offer full collaboration that is frequently critical to the implementation of effective homeland security/defense measures. This is, in fact, the book that outlines in a substantial and convincing detail a highly practical approach whose execution will prevent the embarrassment of managerial and leadership failures that accompanied the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It is, actually, the book whose efficinet perusal may be of assistance in the UN efforts to address the humanitarian disaster of Darfur.

Frankly, "American Army..." is not about the Army, even if the latter serves as its chief practical substrate. It is about learning organizations, about organizations that use knowledge management in their daily operations, it is about organizations working in unpredictably changing environments. It is also about changing demoralizing conflict into effective collaboration. The message the authors convey aims at all of us, whether civilian or military, who work in small and vast organizations consisting of several interacting groups or agencies. Importantly, despite "American Army..." in the title, the book serves equally well the American and the international readers - the essence of the "model" offered by Bradford and Brown transcedents the barriers of nationality and culture.

For those disliking "subjects military" the price of overcoming the initial reluctance, and of looking beyond Army's terminology and acronyms is very small in comparison to the "lessons learned" that emerge from reading the book. Bradford and Brown produced a "manual of operations" that is essential for most, but ideal for an open-minded reader. But, on the other hand, only such readers can manage the complexity of tasks demanded of them by the "globalized world of uncertainty." It is, indeed, a most recommended book.

Expertly compiled and edited by Nelson Lichtenstein (Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara and director of the Center for Work, Labor, and Democracy), American Capitalism: Social Thought And Political Economy In The Twentieth Century is an impressive and thought-provoking compilation of essays from political and national figures on recent and continuing America social and economic issues. Inclusive of thirteen essays contributed by such influential intellectuals and scholars as Ayn Rand, Kevin Mattson, Juliet Williams, and others, American Capitalism substantially contributes to our knowledge and prediction of the need for reform, as well as ideological constructs applicable to the twenty-first century as capitalist economics continues to remain accepted by most countries as the basis for their social systems and development. For its paradigm-shifting knowledge and scholarship-based comprehension of modern American societal thought and economic theory, American Capitalism is very strongly recommended for students of political science, economics, and anthropology.

Expertly compiled and edited by Nelson Lichtenstein (Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara and director of the Center for Work, Labor, and Democracy), American Capitalism: Social Thought And Political Economy In The Twentieth Century is an impressive and thought-provoking compilation of essays from political and national figures on recent and continuing America social and economic issues. Inclusive of thirteen essays contributed by such influential intellectuals and scholars as Ayn Rand, Kevin Mattson, Juliet Williams, and others, American Capitalism substantially contributes to our knowledge and prediction of the need for reform, as well as ideological constructs applicable to the twenty-first century as capitalist economics continues to remain accepted by most countries as the basis for their social systems and development. For its paradigm-shifting knowledge and scholarship-based comprehension of modern American societal thought and economic theory, American Capitalism is very strongly recommended for students of political science, economics, and anthropology.

This book fills a significant gap in the historical record on philanthropy and the rise of civil society in the United States. Kathleen McCarthy's writing meets the highest standards of scholarship, in a very readable and enjoyable style that will appeal to a broad audience. It should be on the "must-read" list for all nonprofit researchers, practitioners, and students of philanthropy!

This is an important book. It offers a novel and compelling explanation of America's early democratic development that suggests a much greater role for the non-governmental sector than previous studies have suggested.

The author throws light on some neglected corners of American development, such as the role of non-governmental organizations run by blacks and women. After reading this book, no one will look on non-governmental efforts in quite the same way. Their energy and vision were essential not only in making America a more decent country but also, surprisingly, a much more prosperous one.

The book describes everything about the furtrade in the American west.It describes the hunters and trappers,the history of the furtrade west from 1807 to 1843,the Santa Fe trade,how the western country looked like and the indians.It was very interesting because it described so much.It should have described the hunters equipment better.

The book describes everything about the furtrade in the American west.It describes the hunters and trappers,the history of the furtrade west from 1807 to 1843,the Santa Fe trade,how the western country looked like and the indians.It was very interesting because it described so much.It should have described the hunters equipment better.

Given the current focus on the mistreatment and torture of detainees in Iraq, Guantanamo and elsewhere and the debate over the origins of this abhorrent behavior, this is a very timely book. As well as describing the Kafkaesque intricacies of recent Immigration law, Dow documents the mistreatment of non-criminal detainees, showing that the abuse of human beings in detention has a long and institutionalized history within the United States. This book is further argument against the Bush Administration's insistence that the recent prisoner abuses in Iraq are isolated incidents, perpertrated by a few low-level prison guards. In fact, it is a reflection of common practice in a penal system that is as much out of control as the Iraq war situation. Dow writes with remarkable clarity, while treating both the incarcerated and their guards with humanity and respect. It is long past time that this secret world of incarceration has been brought into the light. Congratulations to Mr. Dow!

immigration practice and policy is america's deep, dark secret. people are detained indefinitely for reasons that are often trivial and sometimes non-existent. this book shines a light into immigration policy and the detention facilities where noncitizens are held. everybody interested in how our justice system treats noncitizens should read this book. democrat or republican, conservative or liberal, this book will outrage you.

this book gives great information for anyone interested in learning more about the history of native american tribes and the double standard our legal and legislative systems have caused.

The book was recived in excellent condition and in a very timely manner.

A great read on why we need to work to protect the wilderness we have now. It is such a small part of our public lands. Not for preservation but for use, study, admiration and protection for future Americans.

American Wilderness is a great textbook to study the history of US wilderness idea. This book provides a great supporting response to William Cronon's criticism on the modern wilderness idea of America; the insightful articles reveal that Americans have contructed their own wilderness idealism with religious, political, economic, and cultural tools. Despite of the American distinct feature in viewing nature (preservation of wilderness), the idea of preservation was spred to other countries as if it is a universial consensus. If Cronon's criticism mainly focuses on the domestic relationship between urban areas and untouched wilderness, this book reveals the troubles of American wilderness idea in the international context. In the end, Michael Lewis (somewhat indirectly and arguably) suggests Aldo Leopold's Land Ethics as the alternative solution. The whole book has a great logic and is highly recommended to any readers who have knowledges in wilderness conservation-preservation.

I read this book after my first trip to Cuzco. I deeply regret that I did not read it prior to my trip. While some will undoubtedly find it a bit technical at times, it is concise, easily readable, highly informative, and often fascinating. Chapter 12, "The Mummies of the Royal Inca," was one of the most interesting bits of reading I've enjoyed in some time. I very highly recommend this book.

This is a must read if you are going down to Cuzco. Good up to date history of the area.