Central America Books

A great book to start with. We bought First-Time Asia before we took off to Asia for 6 months and it was extremely useful to help with all the planning and decide where we wanted to go. This time we know we want to go to Latin America but have no idea how south we will go or what so this book is great for the rampant changing of minds that occurs while we plan trips bc the information is so broad and covers everything. But it's just the basics. You will need a guide for each country you go to to take with you (we usually buy them used and trade them in when we arrive). Leave this one at home.

I bought this book when I first began planning my trip to Latin America. I hadn't ever been to the region and wanted to know as much about it as possible. When I bought the book, my prior travels included the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and I knew that Latin America would be a bit different! It's a great book for travelers planning a first trip to Central or South America, and also a great guide for first-time travelers in general. I think people of any age would find this book helpful, too--it's information that any traveler will find useful.

There is a chapter on each country in the region with highlights to consider visiting, plus practical information on what to take, how to get around, routes to consider, visas, health, safety, and lots more. It's not a book you will probably take with you when you leave, but one you'll want to read in the beginning or mid-stages of planning your adventure. It'll answer a lot of your questions and concerns and help you have a better idea of what to expect.

I'm definitely glad I bought and read this book as it prepared me well for my three month adventure in Central America and addressed many of my concerns and questions. Recommended for everyone considering or planning a trip to Latin America.

Beautiful poetry, with rich Haitian style artwork. Young readers will love to be read this book, and we can all learn about what a privelege it is to attend school and how hard it is for some children. The story captures the rhythm and excitement of the children running to school early in the morning in Haiti.
Beautiful, readable, enriching.

The illustrations are absolutely stunning; the text is delightful and touching. Haitian children travel long distances in the wee hours of the morning without shoes to simply get to school. What a wake-up call for those of us in the U.S. struggling to get our children dressed and off to school. I bought it for my three-year-old daughter who is half Haitian, but it is a beautiful tale for any child (or adult).

As a Lewis and Clark historical interpreter, I have found scholary articles dealing with Jean Baptiste or Sacagawea or Toussaint but the authors rarely cover all three. A few recent books have attempted to cover all the Charbonneau family members but failed to be as well researched and thorough as Ms. Colby's. Her insightful and well documented passages allow the reader to understand the motivation that led the Charbonneaus to action and made them crucial to Lewis and Clark and westward expansion. This is the definitive book for understanding the 100-year saga of Toussaint Charbonneau, his young wife, Sacagawea and their son, Jean-Baptiste, who became the prototype American adventurer and pioneer. As I historically present Toussaint Charbonneau, this book will be held in one hand as the ultimate historical reference.

Sacagawea's Child: The Life And Times Of Jean-Baptiste (Pomp) Charbonneau is a carefully researched biography of the son of the legendary Native American guide and heroine of the Lewis and Clark expedition, Sacagawea, and her French-Canadian husband. Paying attention to both what can be reconstructed from historical record and what scholars remain in dispute over to this day, Sacagawea's Child offers as full a picture as possible of events from before Jean-Baptiste's birth to the circumstances of his demise. Though Jean-Baptiste was flesh-and-blood with flaws like all human beings, he was also a "citizen Indian" who sought to remain mindful of his heritage while living peacefully among people of various cultures, and his story is ultimately one of exploration, wonder, and tolerance. A highly recommended addition to school, public, and reference library shelves, as well as personal biography and American history shelves.

San Rafael is a fictitious city whose location is between Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and Guatemala. This book is a historical description of the changes in the city starting with the first clearing of the jungle, through the rise of the Mayan civilization, Spanish conquest and control, post-independence political and social instability to the rise of a modern industrial metropolis.
Fourteen historical epochs are examined and for each there is a textual description of the main social and political structure and specific problems. There are also four diagrams, one a two-page layout of the city, a second that is a depiction of the people going about their daily lives, one that is a small layout of the city with highlights on the main structures, and a small one that demonstrates a specific item in the city at that time. All of the last three types of diagrams also have accompanying explanatory captions.
This book is an excellent supplementary text for the study of Central America. By going through the historical phases of a city, you learn how urban life in that region has evolved over thousands of years.

Wow! This book is great. I have used it in my ninth grade geography classroom as an introduction to research. The kids really enjoy the pictures, and it provides a focused look at the development of civilization on the Yucatan Peninsula. This is also a great book for readers as young as ten.

I have only just finished reading this wonderful book about Henry Shukman's journeys in New Mexico.My own imagination would take over as i took in all the fascinating landscapes,people and places that the author was sharing with me.Indians and artists,shacks and glorious views from the middle of no-where...The author came across as sensitive and although at times he would feel pulled by fond memories of England,his passion for where he was there and then was so obvious.I now have a passionate dream of my own. To go and search out these places for myself and be inspired by all they have to offer..

The writings of the author left a deep impression on me. He writes with a very romantic, extremely descriptive style that allows you to feel what he saw. I lived in NM for 3 years and after reading the book was ready to go back. Mr Shukman did such a great job detailing his journey. He described many of the places I remember from there. I found myself nostalgic for the Southwest. He did such a good job, that I was ready to go back because I wanted to visit some of the places that I had never gone to when I had the opportunity. After you read the book, if you've never been to the Southwest you too will be ready to pack your bags!!!

"Scarlett Slept Here" is a lively, interesting read. Not only did I pick up considerable background on the southern cities Dickinson mentions, but gobs of juicy info on the writers who lived or wrote there. Part of the allure of this book, to be sure, is Dickinson's delight in sharing her enthusiasm for travel and literature. If you're looking for an excuse to do some U.S. travel, you'll find it here. Heck, she's even got me excited about visiting Graceland!

Joy Dickinson's "Scarlett Slept Here" is funny, informative and finally answers the age-old question: What IS it with Southern writers and mules? It's a good book for someone who plans to hit the road in search of the literary South, or for those who'd rather settle into an easy chair to experience it vicariously through the author. The lists of "Literary Lures" with each section, and the suggested reading and Internet sources are particularly helpful. Indexed by author and literary character.

Many books describe British contributions to breaking codes and ciphers during World War II, but until now, the American involvement got scant attention because most of it remained secret. The authors' book exposes the US involvement in codebreaking a bit more and gives us an excellent description of the people and technology involved. I recommend this book highly to anyone interested in the development of codebreaking during WW II, the development of American electronic technology, and the interactions between US and British codebreakers. This book is a "keeper" in my library.

During one of the darkest periods of the war, the German U-boat fleets were decimating the supply efforts of American naval convoys. These killer wolf packs of submarines were coordinated via radio communications encrypted using the newest four rotor version of the Enigma system. While the British had had some success cracking the old three rotor system, the addition of the fourth rotor by the Kriegsmarine made the job almost impossible with existing techniques.
This book tells the details, some for the first time, of the development by the National Cash Register corporation of computing machines to attack this code. This book is riveting in its narative and also covers the background leading up to Joe Desch's work at NCR. It is an excellent read and the combination of a historian and a journalist as authors gives you the best of both worlds. DeBrosse weaves an engaging personal story while Burke firmly establishes the historical accuracy of the material.
All in all, an exceptional book about an, until recently, secret project.

This is the first of Buckley's books that I have read and it was a real treat. This book is so good in a variety of ways that I think it deserves five stars. It is a combination of good story-telling, historical information, compelling characters (including those taken from real life), clear writing, and intrigue. These elements are combined smoothly into a very entertaining and easy to read tale. The book starts with the thoughts of President Kennedy and ends with Johnson in the Oval Office. The story provides a fascinating glimpse of Cuba in the 1960's, starring Castro and Guevara. There is plenty of suspense to keep the pages turning, but the pace and tone are very even - not a run of peaks and valleys. Even the dedication and acknowledgements were interesting. It was fun!

Buckley's Blackford Oakes novels seem to remain one of the best-kept secrets around. For the record: These novels are all based on historic events, but, unless Mr. Buckley has even more of an inside track than I believe he does, they weave a wonderfully complex--and witty!-- web of circustances surrounding them. In this novel, we get a two-fer: the Cuban missile crisis *and* the assassination of JFK. Didn't know that they were linked? Read the book to see how they (maybe) were. [This one ought to be included under the Cuban missile crisis heading.]

This book contains excellent stories-which are true-for potential movies at Sundance Festivals with their horse sex and childhood rape. Original court-martial records carefully collected and culled by Dr. Lowry and his wife form the basis for the 1.036 stories of lust and vicious usually fueled by alcohol. What could have been repetitive listings of cases are instead an intertaining and factual presentation of what actually happened. It has been fleshed out by materia; from laborious searches of letters, diaries, books, unit records, newspapers and Dr. Lowry's knowledge of classic literature and psychiatry. It provides insight into the society of the time, relationship between sexes, and racial attitudes; not available before or presented so honestly. What is amazing is the wide variations in the forms of punishment when the man was judged guilty. Officers not infrequently received only a reprimand and dismissal. Enlisted men were sent to prison, and had hard labor, were branded, wore a chain and ball (10-30 lb) or were executed. Men convicted of rape did not have therapy sessions or long investigations of their childhood but were frequently hung or shot the next day. For the military historian, the units are indexed. This book is not for the faint of heart but is important at a time when "politacally correct" editors or academicians block or delete history when it might offend someone. Jack Welsh, M.D. Ret. Physcian and Author

Queen Victoria allegedly rejected a clause in Britain's Criminal Law Amendment Act that would have criminalized lesbian acts on the grounds that she didn't believe women did such things. She had no inkling of how much the ideal can differ from reality, but your understanding of The War Between The States will not be handicapped the same way once you read "Sexual Misbehavior in the Civil War - A Compendium." Intriguing, absorbing and at times hilarious, Doctor Lowry provides a scholarly and witty pageant of Civil War venery replete with floozies, panderers, rapists, libertines, buggerers, homosexuals, cross-dressers, syphilitics, foul mouths, and other lewdsters. This lucid, painstakingly-researched study joins the author's other fresh, pioneering books: "Don't Shoot That Boy! Abraham Lincoln and Military Justice" ; "Curmudgeons, Drunkards & Outright Fools - Courts-Martial of Civil War Union Colonels" and "The Story the Soldiers Wouldn't Tell." "Sexual Misbehavior in the Civil War" is an exemplary piece of historical craftsmanship. Every page contains rich human detail, and Lowry's lively style carries you along with your enthusiasm and curiosity undimmed. The book draws on a wide range of sources, from the wartime newspapers of Richmond, Virginia, to primary documents saved by those Lowry calls "the unsung heroes of record preservation: garbage men, policemen, ordinary citizens, and manuscript dealers." "The former rescue the documents, while the latter catalog them and offer them for sale to people who will treasure them." The variety of evidence used is ingenious, and makes sense. This tour through the hearts and (naughty) parts of Civil War America deserves a place in your library next to books on artillery in the Civil War, cavalry in the Civil War, etc.

Lulu Delacre illustrates this mix of games, songs, rhymes and stories from Puerto Rico. The foundation follows a little girl throughout her day from awakening to bedtime, drawing upon her Puerto Rican traditions and providing a bilingual story of her customs and experiences. Basic reading skills will enhance this account, packed with games and insights.

This book is a true treasure for all of us that indeed used to play these games and sing these songs. You won't be dissapointed, this book is written in excellent quality of chosen words so everyone can understand. At the same time the illustrations are exquisite, colorful and nostalgic of my beautiful Puerto Rico. This book Enriches and makes our Traditions noted. It is wonderful that it is bilingual also! Share it with your kids! I love it!!