Central America Books

This is a must read for anyone interested in the ancient Maya and why their advanced civilization that had achieved so much under such harsh conditions suddenly collapsed and disappeared for parts unknown. Demarest argues that the collapse was political rather than the most widely accepted paradigm that it was ecological. He concludes that the collapse was due to a proliferation of royal elites competing for power, similar to the present situation in Saudi Arabia. Warfare between these competing elites caused a collapse during a 100 year period that resulted in a depopulation of major cities and a drastic reduction of palace and temple construction. The book is worth reading if only for Demarest's description of the Wizard of Oz type power structure where Mayan royal elites held power through fantastic ritualistic displays that captivated the masses. He describes the Mayan royal elites as a combination of rock stars, evangelical preachers, and circus performers that dressed in elaborate costumes with feathered head dresses, lit fires with pyrite mirrors, and engaged in public displays of blood letting. Demarest even relates the Mayan architecture to theater with temples high above plazas where the masses could observe rituals. The book is easy to read for layman.

Reading a carefully researched, painstakingly compiled academic book is always a pleasure for me. As a former academic myself, I know what it takes---the hours, the millions of details, the checking and cross-checking of facts, the gathering of bibliography and weighing the arguments of all the authors, the mental absorption of months and years. You can never get free until it's done. So, when I find a fine book like ANCIENT MAYA, I'm always glad, but I hold a respectful admiration as well. OK, so Demarest's work may not read like some best seller or pop history. If you don't like references scattered thickly on every page, you won't like his book. You've got to get the sequence of Maya culture's stages [archaic, early preclassic, middle preclassic, late preclassic, classic, postclassic, colonial, modern] firmly in mind in order to follow a lot of the text, and if you don't want to be consulting the maps (good ones) every five minutes, it would be good to have some idea of the geography of the region too. It's not bedtime reading, but if you are interested in a wonderful overview of Maya civilization, you've come to the right place.

The first five chapters don't really discuss the Maya, but "how we know what we know" and "theories about the practice of archaeology" if I may put it like that. The reader gets a crash course in the history of Maya archaeology, various weird theories that have been propagated over the years, modern archaeological techniques, and the beginnings of Maya civilization as dimly perceived through archaeology. The description of Classic Maya society begins with chapter six, on agriculture and ecology. Many of the "old chestnut" theories about the Maya are put to rest here. Drought and erosion were not major causes of the "collapse" of Maya classic culture. The Maya secret was to know how to build an advanced civilization in a rain forest environment. In short, they used techniques that mimicked the diversity and dispersion of species in a rain forest. They used many styles of agriculture, no one predominating. The subsequent chapters deal with the overall economy, ideology and power, the political units and history, and the idea of "collapse". There wasn't a real collapse....it was more a transition to other types of society after a period of intensive wars and overpopulation. He calls this period a "rapid decline in complexity". Actually in some parts of the Maya world, new, vibrant political units sprang up after the end of Classic Maya times.

You can learn in great detail about Maya agriculture, trade, statecraft, religion and ritual, mathematics and astronomy, and the glyphs from which we have learned so much about them. You will encounter interesting sketches, photos, and charts. In short, ANCIENT MAYA is a compendium of modern knowledge about that fascinating ancient civilization. I will not tell you it's easy reading, but it's probably the best book on the subject these days.

Excellent story and photographs of a real little boy's life in the rain forest. Particularly useful for teachers to integrate science, social studies, even a math component, as students may calculate the amount of sap needed for a 90 pound ball of rubber, etc. I also liked the facing pages of historical information. For younger children, the focus can simply be on Antonio's own story. Older students may read more details of the historical struggle to gain economic independence and preserve the forest. The historical background and the dangers of daily life are recounted in a matter-of-fact manner, giving a realistic and yet over all positive view of the lives of people who are conserving the beauty of the forest and their way of life. I am delighted to find this book is still available! A colleague who searched for it typed "Rainforest" as one word, and found nothing. "Antonio's Rain Forest" really is something. I highly recommend it.

Antonio's Rain Forest is an outstanding contribution to anyschool or community library collection on nature, ecology, and livingin the Amazon rainforest for young readers. Beautiful photographs by Edward Parker showcase this picturebook adaptation of Anna Lewington's original text. Children are informed of the economic value and history of the rainforest and its rubber plantations as 8 year old Antonio Jose describes the life and work of his family who make a simple living from their surroundings. Portuguese words are provided with pronunciation guides. Highly recommended.

This was one of my favorite all-time books. I purchased one as a gift for my sister also. I love to read about other cultures, and this was an enjoyable read.

I really enjoyed reading this book - even though I will probably never try the recipes. I read the whole book through in one sitting (although, to be truthful, it's a small book.) Besides being an interesting memoir of the author's childhood in Egypt during WWII, in a wealthy Jewish family, it's also an honest account of her alienation from her mother, which really spoke to me. The author is a good writer, which makes the book easy and rewarding to read.

This book is very finely done! The pictures are excellent, the information is very educational.

Danial Fox has written a very informative book that I would highly recommend to anyone intrested in Great Plains arrowheads.I found the section on lithic materials very helpful and the pictures of artifacts fantastic. It's packed cover to cover with good information.

"Honest, straightforward and audacious" is how the author describes Che Guevara, the Argentine who along with Fidel Castro led the Cuban revolution to victory. Such description is the polar opposite of the dishonest, double-speaking and cowardly character of imperialist leaders in Che's time: Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, as well as today: Bush, Clinton and Bush. Some of who used their wealth and privileges to evade the fire of war. All of who glibly sent young people off to slaughter others or be killed while trying to protect the interests of the ruling rich.

This 36-page pamphlet, including the excellent footnotes and photographs, is a wonderful introduction to the Cuban revolution and its foreign policy. It is made up of easy-to-read interviews with "Pombo" - Harry Villegas, brigadier general in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba who fought alongside Che during the final battles of the Cuban revolution as well as with freedom fighters in the Congo and Bolivia.

Additional reading: Cuba and the Coming American Revolution by Jack Barnes; Our History is still being written by Armando Choy; Capitalism's Long Hot Winter Has Begun by Jack Barnes.

One way to measure the Cuban Revolution is to look at the women and men it produces. This pamphlet does just that. It both tells us about Harry Villegas's amazing life and gives us a number of his insights. Villegas (also known as Pombo) joined the Revolution as a working class youth in rural Cuba. Since then, his life has been dedicated to world solidarity, frequently risking his life. Pombo served at the side of Che Guevara in Cuba, Africa, and Bolivia. After Che was executed by the CIA, Pombo led a small band of Cubans in a courageous escape from Bolivia. After that, he served in Angola as part of the Cuban force that helped defeat the invasion by apartheid South Africa. What a life! This man and his insights are a true reflection of the Cuban revolution and its incredible record of solidarity with the oppressed. While Amazon may say this book is not available from time to time, it is always available from booksfrompathfinder store listed under new and used at the top of this page.

A fascinating book, well worth the time to read. I found the following article about Nicholas Said in THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION (newspaper), dated July 23, 1870:
"A REMARKABLE PERSON"
"Nicholas Said, a very intelligent native of Africa, called yesterday at THE CONSTITUTION office to make arrangements to have published his autobiography, written by himself. He is tattooed over his face, arms and body, and says that he was born in Bornou, of a royal family -- was sold to Mischacoff, the Russian General, in whose service he was during the Crimean war. He seems to have traveled much, and talks intelligently on almost every subject. Originally a Mohammedan, he joined the Greek church in Russia, and now professes to have been converted to the Swedenborgian faith, about which he seems to be well informed. Upon the subject of the European war he converses with great intelligence, and seems to be decided in his convictions. He has been teaching school at Thomasville, Georgia, and in the Herald of that place he showed us a very complimentary notice of himself. We examined his manuscript with some care, and were astonished to find it well written, both as regards arrangement and the grammatical construction of sentences. The contents are novel, and, as far as we read them, very interesting.
"Whether he is what he represents himself to be or not, (and we have no reason to doubt it) Nicholas Said is a remarkable character, and a few moments' conversation will convince any one of this fact. He proposes to publish his autobiography if a sufficient number of subscribers can be obtained to enable him to do so. He will wait upon our citizens to canvass for subscribers."

It introduces us to the life of a talented, ambitious and well educated man. This is an inspirational journey of an African and of an American. You will not be able to put this book down.

Great review of life in Rome. Good pictures. Fun mystery for kids to solve. My girls ages 6 & 8 loved the book, especially the mystery. We have enjoyed Ardagh's History Detectives of Greece and Egypt as well.

This is a easy read, better then Usbourne.
The illusrations are great and covers important figures,
religion, government,science, sports,daily life, arts,
everything. Then it finishes with a mystery for review.
Sure to keep kids and adults interested.

"Bad Neighbor Policy: Washington's Futile War on Drugs in Latin America," by Ted Galen Carpenter is arguably the best book ever written on the American war on drugs in Latin America. This book is engaging and enlightening. Moreover, it is one of the most thoughtful and perceptive analyses we've ever had on Washington's campaign against drug production in Latin America.

This book is truly special. The "Introduction" exposes thirty years of American failure. From there the author explains policy from Presidents' Nixon, to Reagan, to Bush and to Clinton. He then goes on to focus on the dangerous implications of Plan Colombia and of many other flawed strategies that create an "ugly American" image. Finally, the author's narrative arrives at Mexico and the potential for disaster.

In conclusion, author Ted Galen Carpenter bravely outlines a blueprint for peace and for ending the war on drugs. This man has unique vision and this is a very worthy book. Hats off to a tier-one scholar! Highly recommended.

Bert Ruiz

"Ted Galen Carpenter's new book is an indispensable, up-to-date examination of `Washington's futile war on drugs in Latin America,' as its subtitle states the topic. The author, a vice president at the Cato Institute, surveys the history of this policy, dissects the `ugly American' tactics used to carry it out, and concludes with `a blueprint for peace.'

"The title Bad Neighbor Policy cuts to the quick by twisting Roosevelt's `Good Neighbor' phrase of the 1930s to fit the current reality of destructive buck passing that characterizes the U.S. drug war in Latin America today. Most Americans, including drug policy analysts, seldom take this international aspect seriously. Although U.S. policymakers since the Cold War have trumpeted U.S. support for legal, democratic, and market reforms in the region, the `prohibitionist [drug] strategy works at cross purposes to all of these objectives' (p. 167). Indeed as Venezuelan American journalist Carlos Ball remarks, `The war on drugs has done more harm to democratic institutions in Latin America than all the communist guerrillas of the last four decades of the twentieth century combined' (personal correspondence, Ball to William Ratliff, June 24, 2003)....

"Public and government `hysteria' in America reached `record levels' in 1986 after the death of basketball star Len Bias from an overdose of cocaine. This hysteria provoked passage of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act and the declaration that drug trafficking is a national-security issue that requires significant involvement by U.S. military and intelligence forces. The invasion of Panama to seize Manuel Noriega in 1989 was the most overt U.S. military intervention to date....

"The core of recent drug policy is the Plan Colombia, originally an integrated $7.5 billion project that was born dead during Clinton's last years. Little beyond the antidrug military component (about a quarter of the total) was delivered (by the United States), while the economic and other development aid depended in large part on nonexistent Colombian and seldom forthcoming European funds. Neighboring countries have become unwilling hosts to drug producers and traffickers driven out of southern Colombia by expanded eradication campaigns -- the inevitable `push-down, pop-up' phenomenon.... Arrogant policies -- such as the potential annual `decertification' of Latin American governments that are determined not to have `cooperated' enough with the United States -- have weakened fledgling institutions, angered the public (who think the United States should be decertified), and driven peasants into the arms of narcoguerrillas. `The bottom line,' Carpenter notes, `is that, no matter what the specific configuration of tactics, the supply-side campaign against illicit drugs is doomed to fail. As long as there is a substantial global demand for those drugs, the supply will continue to flow' (p. 121). In the end, as The Economist has stated, `by any reasonable measure, America's "war on drugs" is a disaster' (May 3, 2001, qtd. from the on-line edition).

"In his final chapter, Carpenter concludes that the only way out is drug legalization -- that is, `treating currently illicit drugs as alcohol and tobacco are now treated' (p. 232). The book's strength, however, is its detailed dissection of U.S. drug policies in Latin America, not its summary statements (however much we may agree with them) on other matters that must be examined in detail when changing a complex, fundamentally flawed, decades-old policy with vast international repercussions. The monster the U.S. government has nurtured in Latin America and beyond is now on its own seeking whom it may devour....

" ...Rather than dodging this dilemma, we need to highlight it, pointing constantly to the baleful international consequences of the prohibitionist drug strategy and to the extremely difficult options it throws in the laps of American policymakers, who of course made the bad policies in the first place and are in a position to change them. Most Americans are moralistic about foreign policy, so one important tack would be to emphasize the moral abomination of this policy, abroad as well as at home.

"Some other recent studies touching on Latin America offer valuable supporting or contrasting perspectives. Ivelaw Griffith's edited volume The Political Economy of Drugs in the Caribbean (New York: St. Martin's, 2000) and Robert MacDoun's and Peter Reuter's coedited book Cross-National Drug Policy (London: Sage, 2002) touch on many of the broad issues. The latter includes a thoughtful essay by Francisco Thoumi. Robin Kirk's More Terrible Than Death (New York: Public Affairs, 2003) relates many examples of the horrors in Colombia and places great responsibility on the United States, but for the most part it targets users, not government policy. Russell Crandall's Driven by Drugs (Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner, 2002) provides considerable detail on how drugs drive U.S. policy toward Colombia. My essay co-authored with Edgardo Buscaglia, War and Lack of Governance in Colombia: Narcos, Guerrillas, and U.S. Policy (Stanford, Calif.: Hoover Institution Press, 2001), focuses on domestic as well as international factors affecting drugs and chaos in Colombia. Articles by Pamela Falk and Kenneth Sharpe in Stephen Thompson's edited volume The War on Drugs: Opposing Viewpoints (San Diego: Greenhaven, 1998) are useful, but their brevity illustrates how even books that bring together drug war specialists seldom look seriously at the problem's international aspects. Finally, a different twist in several ways is Walton Cook's Buzzword (Boalsburg, Pa.: Public Policy, 2001), a novel that discusses the possible control of narcotics-producing plants by the use of natural or enhanced organisms."

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Excerpted from a review by William Ratliff in "The Independent Review," Winter 2004.

The books is very good.
Its reviews are pretty much right on for the 10 or so beaches that I have visited since owning this book.

My only minor suggestion for it would be to add a top 3 for each of the different sections in the book.
And maybe somehow signify that a particular beach was a top 10.

There is a top 10 at the front though.

precise directions to the beaches -excellent summarization of facilities and amenities.ratings of beaches are helpful.can't wait to revisit Michigan.

Once again, Dick Lutz has written a fascinating book to add to his list of travel books.
He spares no detail, and writes with his usual clarity and insight. Should be on every adventurer's bookshelf, and should also be given as a gift to friends.

Nicely illustrated throughout, Belize: Reefs, Rain Forests, And Mayan Ruins begins with an account of a tour of Belize, and then continues with a thoroughly "reader friendly" history of Belize, including a description of its government, people, problems, and environmental beauty. Author Dick Lutz is a gifted travel writer who showcases the many features and attractions of this remarkable Central American country. Chapters cover Belize's rain forests, the history of the Mayans, the history of local tourism, the history of Belize itself, and the conditions of Belize today. An index allows for quick and easy lookup of specific topics. Belize: Reefs, Rain Forests And Mayan Ruins is an excellent resource for bringing the lay reader up to date quickly on the people, forces, and events that have shaped Belize up to the present day, recommended for armchair travelers, amateur historians, and would-be tourists looking to better understand their travel destination.