Central America Books

Very useful if you want to go there and understand the real Morocco. Well written, too.

It is all very well, but the main vehicle of culture is the language. This book is helpful in highlighting cultural features but a good section on the language would also be a good idea.

I have spent 3 summers in Morocco and 5 years with my husband who is Moroccan and this book clarified a lot aspects of Moroccan life for me. No matter how objective one may be about cultural differences, it helps to have a neutral party explain what is happening in a given interaction. I didn't even realize how much I suffered from culture shock until I read "Culture Shock!" Particually helpful were the author's comments on the difference in Western and Eastern concepts of personal space, public space and privacy.

In anticipation of accompanying my close Moroccon friend to his homeland on a business trip with another American, I read this book in one sitting and read it twice more before leaving for Morocco. It proved to be an invaluable tool to better understanding my Moroccan friend here in the states and it provided knowledge, information and tips that proved priceless during my recent stay in Morocco. I have no doubt that had I not read this book, I would have had a very different experience. This book enabled me to have the most incredible travel experience of my life despite the fact that I don't speak arabic or french. At the very least I had an understanding of this wonderfully rich culture steeped in tradition. I recommend this book to anyone interested in Morocco whether for travelling or simply interested in the country, their people and customs. While this book is ideal for someone relocating, I found it to be more useful than any of the other travel companions I purchased for my trip. Any future travel plans of mine will start with a purchase of "Culture Shock..." for that country.

After reading this book, now I'm all the more excited to go to Morocco. Hargraves paints such a vivid picture of the people, the culture. It is a complicated society, very foreign to my understanding and experience. And yet, as I read through it, so many times, page after page, I realize that the culture is so familiar, so like my experience. Most of all, I now understand that it will take a lifetime to learn to adapt to Moroccan culture. I am eager to see how the words lift off the pages and into reality.

Almost every page has nuggets and key points to learn and understand, and my copy is mostly yellow from highlighting. One aspect that I wish were different, though- Hargraves appears too often to accept the stratification in Moroccan culture, and the mistreatment of the lower classes, as par the course, and something Moroccans accept, and therefore something that we should accept, and something culturally neutral. There is so much good in Moroccan society, but, just as in any society, some that is not as good as well.

But that's only one small detraction in an otherwise great text. Particularly interesting is the quiz at the end of the book, where you test one's knowledge gained through reading. I've never seen this in any other culture or travel book, and it should really be more common! Hargraves doesn't just repeat information here either- rather, he asks the reader to intuit the answers not yet given, from the information that he's previously provided- and then of course, he provides all the possible correct answers.

I want to learn how to live and eat and talk and think, Moroccan. I want to see what it means to be a Moroccan who is so adept at adaptation to so many different cultural situations. I want to learn to engage in real Arab relationship, and to learn how to politely refuse a request, and how to be a good guest, and a good host. I want to learn how to serve the Moroccan peoples. If you're interested in this as well, then this is a book you need to get.

I am always careful about books written by journalists from back East, especially when they deal with Montana's vigilantes. Frederick Allen, however, has made a worthwhile contribution to a controversial field.

I gave him five stars, although I do not entirely agree with some of his conclusions. It seems to surprise him, for example, when Plummer and some of his contemporaries started bouncing off the walls mentally after shooting somebody.

My experience in law enforcement has been that such behavior is normal. There are some sociopaths out there who just like to kill and don't feel any emotion about it, but they are few and far between despite what Hollywood scriptwriters would like you to believe.

This is a well written book, but it didn't change my opinion that the vigilantes cleaned up a situation that had spun out of control at a time when nobody else would, or could. The country was, after all, engaged in a bloody Civil War and the struggling miners in Montana's goldfields needed something to restore order in their isolated, vulnerable communities. Vigilante justice proved to be better than no justice at all.

This amazing book works on three different levels. It is first of all a compelling, action-packed narrative of Montana's vigilante period - carefully researched, engagingly written, and peppered with memorable characters and dramatic action. Western fans will love it. But Allen does not stop there. His brilliant examination of Henry Plummer, the mysterious and elusive sheriff-protagonist, adds deeper and darker shadings to the story. This is less a black-and-white tale of heroes and villains than one about how power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The author does not trade in the romanticism surrounding the vigilantes. Finally, and most remarkably, Allen's book can be read as an allegory about the uses and misuses of all governmental power. In the nineteenth century, Montana's besieged citizens cried out for help against their version of terrorists -- only to discover belatedly that the response by unchecked governmental authorities could be equally lawless. Who would have thought that the Vigilante Trail led to Abu Ghraib?

People who hate "High Noon" have been known to cite the goings-on in Idaho Territory of the 1860s as proof that an enraged citizenry would never back down from outlaws. According to "eyewitness accounts," a locally formed vigilance committee rounded-up Sheriff Henry Plummer and his bloodthirsty compatriots and, with the aid of lots of rope, soon put an end to the rampant murder and robbery in the gold camps.

While this account made for excellent melodrama, it was a bit too pat to stand the test of time, and of late, had become the center of some arguing and fist shaking in the vicinity of Alder Gulch. Frederick Allen painstakingly examines the players and their times. His conclusions will not please the revisionists nor the vigilante apologists. While the vigilantes started out with the best of intentions and went after the worst of the thugs, their focus was lost in the chaos and power struggles of their era. Like many mavericks, they went from being heroes to embarassments.

But Allen confirms that Henry Plummer, George Ives & Co. were not martyrs of misdirected justice. It's too bad the vigilantes didn't have the forsight to stop while they were ahead.

This is the type of book that gives University Presses a good name. The author is a former political editor and columnist with the Atlanta Constitution and commentator for CNN. He has managed to write a scholarly yet reader friendly book that challenges some standard accounts of the famous Montana Vigilantes and their sometimes extra-legal activities. In what was the deadliest chapter of vigilante justice in American history, from 1864-1870, in excess of 50 men were hanged in Montana. The majority were inocent of capital crimes and a disturbing numer were innocent. This is a riveting book that will, in addition to bringing the reader up to date on a significant chapter in western history, cause one to ponder the significance of the Vigilantes on our current political debate over the war on terrorism. This is first rate scholarship in a reader friendly format. Highly recommended.

One tends to associate the dark legacy of lynching almost exclusively with the South of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but in point of fact the most extensive episode of vigilante justice in American history actually took place in the Montana territories in the 1860s. The Montana vigilantes have long been hailed as heroes in Montana (Montana Highway Patrolmen, for example, still bear a patch honoring these men and their cause), men who took upon themselves the obligation to rid their community of dangerous individuals. In this thrilling historical account, however, Frederick Allen pries open the chinks in the vigilante movement's historical armor to show that their brand of frontier justice eventually descended into something much darker and much less defensible.

In the early 1860s, Montana was a wild country overrun by thousands of men clamoring for the new-found gold in its rivers and streams. Even as gold camps began appearing overnight, there was no government of any sort to oversee justice - just miners' courts to settle disputes over claims and the like. The nearest outpost of territorial authority lay hundreds of miles west of the Montana frontier. Thus, it is easy to see how lawlessness could prevail under such conditions; it manifested itself most particularly in the form of stagecoach robberies on the paths leading away from town. A man could lose a whole season's worth of gold dust in the blink of an eye, and such hold-ups could turn deadly on occasion. What could the settlers do to secure their safety and safe passage back to the States or elsewhere? There was no legal system in place in the territory, there were no cells to hold prisoners, and there were no courts or judges to adjudicate cases. There was a sheriff, however, a fascinating man named Henry Plummer - and he really stands at the core of the entire drama. He came to be suspected of complicity in the robberies and murders in the area, and this growing sense of doubt in their sheriff served as the final impetus for the leading men of Bannack and Virginia City to take the law into their own hands. Plummer was among the 21 men hanged during the first six weeks of 1864. There will always be a level of debate as to Plummer's guilt or innocence, and Allen examines this fascinating man's life in great detail. The real question is how a man twice convicted of murder could have become a sheriff in the first place, but this speaks to the true remoteness of the Montana territory in those days.

In all, 51 men were killed by the vigilantes over a six-year period. Allen agrees with the consensus opinion that the early stage of the movement was justified, as there is evidence that all 21 of the men lynched in the first six weeks of 1864 were guilty, dangerous men - including Henry Plummer. Were the story to stop there, the Montana vigilantes would deserve nothing but admiration for bringing order and security to their local community. They did not stop, however, and their activities inevitably devolved into acts of personal vengeance and the very perversion of justice. In that first crucial period of early 1864, accused men were given trials of a sort, their fates usually decided by the entire community. Hangings took place in broad daylight, and the identities of the vigilantes were in no way kept secret. As time went on, however, men were summarily executed by individuals acting upon little more than their own authority. With no hope or manner of defending themselves, it is very likely that some innocent men were hanged - and there can be little doubt that many of the guilty had not committed crimes serious enough to warrant death.

As is always the case in history, the most fascinating aspect of this whole story is the lives of the men involved. Allen identifies the vigilantes as leading citizens of the area, an unusual amalgamation of men both for and against the battle for Southern independence being waged during that chaotic time. Politics came to play a significant role in the whole saga, as the appointed leaders of the newly-established Montana Territorial government did themselves no favors by immediately alienating the significant number of Democrats among the local populace. This new government was ineffective at best, with the executive and judicial branches nullifying each other's authority - and this provided the pretext for the vigilantes to continue their operations.

A Decent, Orderly Lynching really is a fascinating book. Allen brings to life the mining camps of gold-rush Montana, recreating all aspects of society there on the remote frontier. He offers penetrating assessments of the men at the heart of this story, those on both sides of the hanging rope, drawing a sharp distinction between the early, honorable activities of brave men determined to establish order in their lawless region and the excesses of those who continued to pursue vigilante justice after Montana's new territorial government had been established. Through it all, he maintains an objective air, making his own judgments based on the evidence in hand - and his research efforts were impressive, to say the least. The story of the Montana vigilantes is a most telling part of the history of America, and Allen has done a superb job telling that story to those of us unfamiliar with it.

A return to savings. A tax cut is designed too encourage the rich too save. The rich create jobs and invest in ideas. The savings of the rich increase innovation by infusing money that produces products and services, in the economy. However, excessive governmental debt is the thief in the night destroying all wealth.

Banks use these savings too fund new corporate projects. The innovations attract foreign investment as they seek to profit from the new ideas. The stock market booms and jobs increase. Economic growth reaches an impass as government spending increases beyond a safe amount of government debt. Debt to finance rebuilding of natural disasters ($61 billion) and the Iraq war (est $200 billion). Perpetual debt, debt that can never be paid off. In 1990s, a $5.6 trillion surplus existed and by 2002, $4 trillion had been spent, and by 2005, -2 trillion was spent or borrowed. Debt is suppose to decrease during economic booms and the neoconomist are predicting future boom and future debt reduction. Debt slows down growth, as money becomes more difficult to risk and acquire. At the same time the government becomes increasingly burdened with the interest it must pay on the money borrowed.

The Fed attempts to slow inflation by increasing interest rates soaking up liquidity and cooling the economy. The Fed raises interest rates is hoped to keep inflation in check. High fuel costs threaten too increase inflation. The responds by raising interest rates and the rising interest rates have the affect of stifling corporate earnings and dampering Research and Development thereby slowing down innovation. The rising interest rates makes debt vehicles look more attractive increasing purchases of U.S treasuries.

As long as innovation remains strong investors will not flee from stocks because this sector represents growth. A tax cut on earnings increases the amount of money moving into the commerical sector. As money becomes tighter, companies cut back workforce, insert technology to increase production, and delay product introduction. What is expected is more with less. More productivity from less employees.

Investors become uncertain about stocks and seek refuge in Bonds or Commodities. The Fed attempt to quell fears in the bond market about rising inflation. If an investor believes the Fed has contain inflation than the investor will be more optimistic that growth and continue investing into the market.

If the economy is perceived to be slowing down that current bond prices go up. Economic slow downs hold longer-term interest rates down making existing bonds yields more attractive.

In a recession, government is expected to increase debt, spending more, in order, too stimulate growth. So during a boom the new revenue accumulates from taxes. Cut social program whenever possible. The government social machine is a false ideal and will not produce a greater society by spending tax money as its fuel to build infrastructure. The only hope is growth and innovation produced by private machinery.

However, if economic growth does not increase than government revenues will not increase. Economic growth is the key to government revenue. Government spending can not remain constant and perpetual without dramatic impacts on the economy. With $5.4 in surplus, the government believed it could afford a tax cut and spent $2 billion on debt reduction and $1.4 trillion too the emergency reserve.

The author presents an interesting question, "What happens when a country can not pay its interest payment?" The author briefly explains how these countries experience hyper inflation and destablized currencies. At $500 billion a year in interest payments pressure not to increase debt seems prudent, yet more debt continues to accumulate. I think this is the heart of the issue raise about the new economy, "Can it make its interest payments"?

Tax cuts were expected to generate revenue, however, heavy debt and inflation inhibit tax revenue generation because companies don't produce as much. Inflation means higher interest rates and higher taxes.

The following correlations are not true: 1. Unemployment decreases shortly after a tax cut 2. The poor will immediately spend their tax refund money. Most of the poor were discovered to save their tax money. 3. Research and Development will produce immediate innovation cash flows.

The rich save over 50 percent. The savings can be used to invest in company projects that stimulate economic growth . However, if the economy is contracting, company put off new project because money is hard to get.

Research and Development offer a marginal return on the investment. The biggest problem with R&D is that the innovations do not alway equate to profits, increased consumer demand, and immediate introduction in the market place.

How does the government eliminate Taxes over a trillion dollars in taxes? Getting rid of the capital gains tax, dividend tax, interest tax, and estate tax. Taxes targeted at the working class. Interestingly the author does not talk about the consumption tax that congress wants so desparately to pass into law.

How does the government raise money for government spending? U.S Treasuries which are considered the most stable security in the world. Are there any limits to how much money can be produced? A policy of a strong dollar means foreign investment finds favorable investments in dollar denominated securities. A strong dollar means U.S manufacturing production and profits go up and higher profits means more tax revenue.

The author points out that the Laffeur curve did not gain strength. The Laffeur curve suggested the same amount of tax revenue could be gain at a low tax rate verses a higher tax rate. By lower the tax, the consumer had more disposal money, and spent more and the increasing in spending produced tax revenue.

Individualized Social Security accounts may not mean investment profits. The stock market may become bearish and return to a mean of 15 PE causing billions in reduced equity. Fees associated with the broker, transaction, and maintenance will cut into investment profits. The assumption of 7 percent growth perpetually may not hold up.

Imagine it is 2012, what will the new economy look like? By neoconomist standards the economy will be a pulsating capitalist machine with individuals incomes surge higher and money being stashed away. Economic growth will exceed 4 percent. Tax collections will be growing, debt decreasing, and interest payment reducing. The government will defray its debt and long term interest rates will be decreasing. There will be no taxes on wealth and savings. Foreigners will see the U.S stock market attractive for investing. Even China and India will not be able match the high returns of U.S companies. Innovation will create and insatible demand for American Labor. The Unemployment rate will fall. Individualize Social Security accounts will pump billions of dollars into private companies. Senior Citizens will have a new level of disposal cash available. A new era of American economic supremcy, if it can become a reality.

"Neoconomy', along with `What's the Matter with Kansas' are probably the two most influential books I've read in the last five years. Forget all you know about Supply-Side Economics and Trickle Down Theory, Daniel Altman has written an easy to understand book on what the heck the Bush Administration is attempting with all those tax cuts and why they target the wealthy.

In a nutshell the Neoconomy is about reducing taxes on unearned income and savings in order to increase the accumulation of capital. This capital could be used to modernize, increase productivity and raise the holy grail of economics, the GDP. The country would theoretically attain more wealth, higher standards of living and a happy future for all. It's not an insane plan and it has the support of many well respected economists. The first problem with the plan is that it seems rather self serving. George W. Bush assembled a cabinet with an almost unprecedented cache of wealth. The author estimates their combined assets at between 3 and 30 times the value of the second Clinton administration. These are exactly the people who will benefit most from tax cuts on unearned income. They are also people who can afford to take considerable risks with our economy and still come out fine if things go sour.

The other larger problem is in the very nature of the leadership of George W. Bush. He surrounds himself with like minded people and gathered an economics team consisting almost entirely of supply-side adherents creating an echo chamber of ideas. These are people who have taken economics beyond mere theory into the realm of religious dogma. Unfortunately when tax cuts and growth are the only path to salvation everything else tends to get shortchanged. It has occurred to business owners that some of the things holding back growth include employee benefits, high American wages, regulations and assistance for the poor. The obsession with growth sometimes seems to reach the level of pathological and government finds itself ripping away at society's foundation in order to raise the tower higher. The author also points out that capital accumulation on its own is useless. You also need an educated society in order to both develop and use new technologies. Meanwhile the administration has consistently under funded education programs, worked to cut college grants and shown disdain for the scientific process (Read `The Republican War on Science' by Chris Mooney to see how bad it has gotten).

The last problem is that the Neoconomy may just flat out fail. Like the weather, economics can be affected dramatically by small unexpected perturbations. It's difficult to predict what will happen in six months or next month much less decades in the future. The Bush administration is treating economics like a hard science when in reality it's based on difficult to predictable human psychology. Changing the tax codes may have exactly the opposite intended effect. By reducing taxes on dividends people may actually begin to save less rather than more if they have specific retirement goals. Unfortunately Bush's extreme tax cuts are intended to handcuff lawmakers and force us down one path. The Republican groupthink is also the likely cause of the wildly optimistic (bordering on obscene) predictions about job creation that rivaled anything made in the run up to the Iraqi war. People forget now but the numbers being offered by the administration weren't just wrong they were `we have no idea what we are talking about' wrong. The scary thing is that these same people who were as wrong as wrong could be on job creation numbers seem to have absolutely confidence that they can precisely predict the effect of Social Security privatization decades in the future.

`Neoconomy' is Daniel Altman's first effort and he smacked this one out of the ballpark. Economics can be a rather dry and confusing subject but Mr. Altman manages to write a book that is lucid, informative and engaging. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the direction the United States is traveling.

Lets start out by saying this is book to bash president bush but rather it shows what the president and his economic advisors ideas and plans and what the effect and possible effects will be.
This should be another one of those books that should be red before the election because some of these ideas will be considered radical by some.

The main idea for the bush plan is to have the tax cuts and such to put more money out for companies to have pools to borrow from and this inturn will stimulate the ecomony. But this is an experiment could go wrong. This administration can afford to experiment because if it does go wrong bush and his cronies will probably lose some money but they will still have many millions to live on, it will really hurt the middle class on down.

It is no secret that most of the tax cuts have benefited the so called rich by cutting taxes on estates dividends and savings. All of these people get the most of their income from stocks and real estate. Yes these cuts are for everybody but how many people from the $40,000 level on down can save and invest to get these breaks. Would you not think that if the president really wanted to stimulate the economy he would gear cuts toward the majority. With the tax cuts bush signed into law in 2001 the book shows that for those making $50,000 or less the tax difference is less than a $1,000 compare that that make $500,000 or more they get breaks at least 10 times that amount don't you figure those on the lower end of the scale could use the money the most.

Another example is the estate tax cut while they figure if they cut the tax it will encourage more investment but in reality it has probably encouraged them to save more for there heirs because of course less tax.

Just like in the Reagen era alot of these cuts are based on future years where they figure the economy will be strong but what will the effect be if the economy is in a poor state as it is in now you do not have all the projected revenue and you have record debt that has to be paid sometime

This book is written so that it is pretty easy to understand on a subject that at times is dry and difficult.

We all know about the war on terrorism. And the war in Iraq. The debates about these things are fairly clear. Or at least ubiquitous.

And yet perhaps the Bush Administration's central and most groundbreaking effort has to do with none of these topics, but rather with the economy. The Administration is seeking to re-orient it from top to bottom. And there is little coverage of this in the news.

Daniel Altman explains it to me in crystal clear and easy prose. What I liked the most was the sort of intellectual history approach he takes, showing where the ideas for the "neoconomy" came from, as in what professors espoused them, who their students were, and how they came to positions of influence in Washington, and the responses over the years to their ideas. It's a fairly small group with a distinct lineage--think of the economists' equivalent to Wolfowitz and the Straussians.

One striking thing, if I read it right: the desired endpoint for the Neocons is a society in which only working people are taxed. A person who derived their income not from salaries, but entirely from stocks, bonds, and the like, would not be taxed at all.

The neoconomists' measures, supposedly undertaken for the bland and admirable goal of enhancing savings, inevitably end up being regressive.

Altman is quite rigorous and judicious, weighing the arguments on their own terms, following them to their logical conclusions, noting contradictions and inconsistencies in their own logic.

What's being touted is quite different from what's really going on, as the neoconomists themselves admit. It seems, apparently, that an attempted revolution is in the works, behind the scenes. This book peels back the veil and lets us know what is really going on.

I came away from this book with a better understanding of both basic economics and the real paradigm shift that is potentially underway in the largest economy on earth.

With presidential elections on our doorstep, Altman's 'Neoconomy' comes to bat with light to shed on future repercussions of the Bush Administration's economic plan. Altman's 'Neoconomy' is refreshingly un-biased allowing the reader, whether PH.D or undergrad, to determine what America's economic futrure holds in store.
Altman is charismatic, intelligent and makes his points fairly and concisely. I was thouroughly convinced of this after listening to him speak in San Francisco.

I'm Salvadoran and I'm married to a Jewish-American woman. She bought this book for us to take a tour in El Salvador. Let me tell you, this is the best guide book I've ever read. It's so easy to use and it has ALL the information about this little beautiful country that you need. I even used some of the information on my website, of course with the permission from the authors. Thank you Jeff, Julian and Veronica for making this possible.

For years I looked for a book that would cover travel to El Salvador. I have been married to a Salvadorena for 16 years and have made five trips to the country since 1991. I love El Salvador, its beauty and its wonderful people. You can't travel there without this book! Buy it today!

I found this book quite helpful. I'm a native from El Salvador who had been out of the country for 20 years. I found it a good supplement to other sources of information (e.g., local phone books in El Salvador, people and friends). Although some of the directory information may be dated, most of the facts and directions still hold. It's best to cross-reference the book with a local phone book for more accuracy. Yet, the book is a great trip planning tool. It allows you to pick and chose places and things to do at a pace that not even locals can keep up. It's clear that a lot of good work went into making the book. The level of detail is beyond what any local can know all by himself (e.g., bus routes, mores, festivals, local rituals, etc.). I found the hand-drawn maps most helpful and the history/background informaiton information least helpful. Advisories should apply to all locations outside the central city or popular foreign tourist attractions. Also, the book does not address which locations are most ideal to visit depending on the small universe weather conditions, e.g., heavy rains or dry, hot to extremely hot temperatures. I recommend this book. I've found no other books as helpful as this one but feel that the book and its contents could be much improved, e.g., day-trips, sports events, local festivity schedules, shopping information, entertainment options, ground and non-ground recreational activities, specific coverage and related-activities regarding aviation, boatin, sailing, surfing, fishing, golf, lakes, rivers and bodies of water, etc. (perhaps on future editions, beyond the 2nd). I currently own both of the first two editions. They're both pretty much worn out and it's because they go with me and take me places each time I visit there. I just wish the book were more expansive and provide material for all the other sites that one encounters while going from place to place, yet this would make it too thick and heavy. Also, if you ever go to El Teleferico, please say Hi to Mr. Moon (a local cartoonist) there for me!

This is really the only comprehensive guidebook to El Salvador that is widely available. The Lonely Planet and Let's Go and other books have chapters on El Sal in their books on Central America, but none of them go into real detail. In fact, I've noticed that most of the guidebooks don't recommend going to El Salvador, or skipping it if you're short on time.

Well, you should go. There is a lot to see and do but it's important to realize that it's different from the other Latin American countries. It's maybe a little less pretty and the people are a bit more hardened from the long guerra civil. This book does a good job providing sociopolitical background and anecdotes from important periods in history. Other than that, it's your basic guidebook, going region by region in the country, detailing sights, hotels, transportation, all that stuff. There are also several pages of decent color photos.

The one problem is that the book is now nearly ten years old. While most of the things are still accurate, a lot has changed. Things like prices and bus routes especially. There are also many different sights, museums, roads and enormous Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises that did not exist when the book was published. Likewise, some things no longer exist. The only way to find out, unfortunately, is to go and discover these things for yourself.

El Sal is not the most tourist-friendly nation in the sense that the infrastructure is not really there to support a heavy flow of tourists. The people are _wonderful_, don't get me wrong (don't think for a second that it's the people's fault), but to give one example, some of the bus routes to tourist sites make absolutely no sense and can be very frustrating to navigate. This is the fault of the government. Likewise, the El Sal government tourism agency could do themselves a big favor by publishing or funding an up-to-date guide.

But this book is as good as it gets.

If you are going to spend any time in the country and want to tool around, you'd be a fool not to get a copy of this book for your backpack. I just got home and gave my friend a hug for grabbing this book out the the bargain bin at Borders for me. In several cities I was able to pick it up and quickly flip through to find a map and make my way through the town. Or simply discover something interesting within or nearby my location. It's an absolute must for anybody going into the country. Well put together and concise - 5 stars for sure!

Pirates of the Caribbean Visual Guide is fantastic. It is beautifully illustrated and printed a fine paper. This is a great companion book to Pirates of the Caribbean. DK has always done a fine job with these types of publications. Pirates of the Caribbean and DK is a Treasure Trove. This will make a great Christmas gift.

Okay. So, I am an adult woman who bought this book so I could look at photos of Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Jack Davenport as sexy swashbucklers in the privacy of my own home. And,it works. If I can't actually join them in their adventures, I can enjoy looking at them. Plus, the book has lots of fun information and other great photos from the films. If you liked the films and just want to relive them a bit, this is a great book.

Great picture book including everything needed to know about the Pirates of the Caribbean stories. Lots of information included among the pictures, not to mention the pull out poster of the Black Pearl. Great visual and fact guide!

A must have for any Johnny Depp or Pirate fan. The pictures and text are excellent. I highly recommend this book.

This book is a great purchase if you're a POTC fan. Lots of beautiful, detailed, color photographs paired with interesting info about the first two films that you might not find anywhere else. The book is neatly broken down explaining each character independently as well as each of the places the pirates hang out. There is also a very detailed map of the Black Pearl located in the center of the book and not to mention dozens of great photos of Capt. Jack! A great purchase!

In addition to the reviews previously posted, my advice to the non-intellectual reader is to first read Errol Lincoln Uys's Brazil, which is an easy to read historical Michener-type novel that will frame the events of the eye witness account of the "rebellion" of Canudos documented in d Cunda's book. After reading Rebellion in the Backlands, I recommend Mario Varges Llosa's The War at the End of the World, again a novel but featuring a fictionlized Euclides da Cunha that makes The Rebellion in the Backlands even more understandable. Both Llosa's and Cunha's books are required reading in Brazilian schools and I believe it would be a waste of time to try to gain insights into today's Brazil without giving yourself this very unique experience.

"Rebellion in the Backlands" is one of the best books ever written in the Brazilian literature and one of the most poorly known, given the intrincacies of the Euclidian vocabulary. The centennial of the first publication of the book was commemorated in 2002 not only in Brazil but also abroad, where there are many intellectuals who are keen of everything related to the book, the so-called euclidians. "Os Sertões", the Brazilian Portuguese name of the book, is an epic and was inspirational to many ancient and modern films run in Brazil about the conflict, and also to a book by the Peruvian celebrated author Mario Vargas Llosa ("The War at the End of the World"), who had Euclides da Cunha as idol since his childhood.

Euclides da Cunha, then a war correspondent of the very famous southern Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo, wrote the book with a view to the conflicts ocurring in Bahia, after the so-called Proclamation of Republic, in 1889, thus ending 72 years of monarchical rule, something which upset many powerful landowners tied to imperial interest to raise arms against the new republican order. The revolt, known as the War of Canudos, as a historic fact, was eventually lost and the insurrects had to put down their arms, and the battle was won by government troops, but the War of Canudos was to enter Brazilian history as one of the cruelest ever fought in Brazil, and the government had to spend much more money than at first foreseen, losing its face in the end: how come a so strong army had so much difficulty to conquer a bunch of illiterate misers?. All this to kill the dozens of thousands of insurrected who amassed themselves in the poor village of Canudos, in the northeastern region of Brazil, the poorest region of a poor country.

From the side of the mutinees, the revolt had (almost unwittingly in the beginnin) a leader, Antonio Conselheiro, a mystical man who wandered for years in the hinterlands of Brazilian Northeast, followed by growing multitudes of disposessed, who saw in him a religious man to rescue Catholic fundamental religious values of medieval importance, and to whom they follow as sheeps follow their sheperd.

To sum it up, the book has all the ingredients of a good historic novel, despite its characters being non-conventional. I hope you enjoy it as I did.

Da Cunha�s 1902 book has been justifiably called the �Bible of Brazilian Nationality�. This is a challenging book, over 500 pages in this edition, dense and probably unsuitable to those who need the stimulation of a pop novel. Da Cunha was present at the 1896-97 military assaults on the rebellious village of �Canudos� in the arid Brazilian interior. A gifted writer with a background as a military engineer, Da Cunha brings a precise expert�s eye to the military campaigns, never failing at such details as order of battle, casualties, supply lines, and tactics. The campaigns themselves were stirring and bloody affairs: four separate military campaigns, each larger than the last that met increasingly stiff resistance from the Canudos villagers. In the end, 10,000 souls may have perished on both sides. The end, of course, is well known to all Brazilians. �Canudos did not surrender. The only case of its kind in history, it held out to the last man. Conquered inch by inch, in the literal meaning of the words, it fell on October 5, toward dusk � when the last defenders fell, dying every man of them. There were only four of them left: an old man, two other grown men, and a child, facing a furiously raging army of five thousand soldiers.�

If the book were merely a military history, it would be successful. But it is far more, for Da Cunha is more than just a military observer. He is geologist, geographer, anthropologist, sociologist, and historian. This book literally defines the still-nascent nation of Brazil. The backwoods villagers of Canudos were inspired by a religious fervor cultivated by a heretical evangelist named Antonio the Counselor. Their story is part Masada and part Waco. Da Cunha places Antonio in the context of his own life and the development of Brazil�s interior. While sometimes indulging in unfortunate racial generalities, Da Cunha takes an incredible interest in the geography of the region, describing how it shapes people. How the society that emerges in such a poor and desiccated land can yield the lawlessness and anomie suitable for the development of an Antonio. Da Cunha both despises and respects the villagers, �jaguncos�, in Canudos. He hates their illiteracy, superstition and backwardness while grudgingly praising their bravery, loyalty, and cunning.

Canudos, in his view, is a time warp, Brazilian society spun back to a primitive time, and for that all Brazilians share guilt. He blames urbanites and elites, the generals and craven politicians, the recently deposed monarchy and the addiction to European styles for the evolution of a Canudos. Two Brazils have developed, he writes, one is built on the European and Portuguese model and necessarily fails to address the second Brazil, the one populated by millions of rural souls in the impoverished interior, for Portugal was never faced with such a community.

Da Cunha�s genius is demonstrating that Canudos is a consequence of the failure to develop a unified national identity that incorporates all Brazilians. It is a battle between old poor Brazil and progressive modern Brazil. Thus his book was the first step to defining the true Brazilian nationality, one that survives to today � a nationality that blends European, African, and native traditions. A nationality to which all Brazilians now belong. Canudos was a wrenching experience in many ways. There was immediate and widespread shock over the year of military disasters and thousands of casualties inflicted by a ragtag band of backlanders. Then there was the deeper self-analysis that accompanied the publication of this book. Like other American states, Brazil could never survive until it stopped looking to the Old World and developed its own identity, one shaped by its own people and circumstances, and one that acknowledged the existence and worth of every citizen.

The enduring testament to Da Cunha is that he was among the first to recognize the need for such a national self-criticism, and his work is one of the efforts that launched it. Brazil is what it is today in part because of the clarity of Da Cunha�s vision of Brazil as set out in this monumental work. Canudos was a Brazilian failure, and this book went a long way to finding the solution. It really is as great as they say.

This is not an easy book. Don't pick it up if you like pop novels and sci-fi. It's for the serious reader of history, military tactics, and social upheaval. Da Cunha is a brilliant observer of the 1896-97 Brazilian military's crushing of an ostensibly revolutionary movement in the dry interior. Brutal, honest, clear, incisive. An amazing and challenging book.

This book is familiar to every educated Brazilian, but is not widely known in the USA; it should be.

It recounts a historical episode of 1896 and 1897. The government of the Republic of Brazil decided to suppress a religious sect of perhaps 7000 members, some of them violent and lawless, living in a remote rural area; the sect denied the legitimacy of the Brazilian Republic. The ensuing campaign lasted ten months, involved the deaths of hundreds of Brazilian army soldiers, and culminated in the extermination of the sect; these days it might be considered genocide.

The book's author, a formal professional Brazilian army officer, covered the campaign for `O Estado do Sao Paulo', Brazil's equivalent to the New York Times. He was horrified. So he wrote this book, which has beeen compared to everything from Lawrence's `Seven Pillars of Wisdom' to Dickens, Carlyle, and the prophet Ezekiel. Originally published in 1902, it has been in print in Brazil ever since.

The book is tough reading (and is no easier in Portuguese than in English; Samuel Putnam, the translator, did a superb job.) So why should one read it?

For one thing, it poses in the starkest possible terms a dilemma we still face from time to time. Under what circumstances, and to what extent, is it ethical for an elected representative government to coerce an organized group of its citizens who sincerely deny the legitimacy of the government and the laws?

And, it forces the reader to ask: What is history? How should it be written? How do the facts of history depend on cultural assumptions? Euclides da Cunha, like Thucydides, could find no suitable model for what he wanted to write, so, like Thucydides, he invented his own. I think this book could serve as fertile ground for a productive discussion among social constructionists and their adversaries.

The thoughtful reader will also ponder on what central message da Cunha was trying to convey; in later life da Cunha declined to clarify this. One possible answer is implied in `The War of the End of the World', a novel drawn from da Cunha's book by the Peruvian writer and politician Mario Vargas Llosa. But I have seen other possible answers in thoughtful commentaries on da Cunha's book, so the reader may wish to decide for himself or herself.

Finally, despite its difficulty, the book is great literature. It accelerates steadily from a seemingly interminable prolog in which nothing much seems to be happening to a climactic ending so gripping and fast paced that it's hard to stop reading. The only other author I'm familiar with who employs this technique as effectively is Thomas Mann.

This 690 pages book is the most comprehensive book I read on the subject. It provides detailed account of the background of the SALT treaties and the complete history of the soviet nuclear buildup. It is detailed enough to describe the complete process, from uranium processing to the MIRV and ballistic missiles deployment. Even, a table of all nuclear tests with every detail, an incredible sort of sometimes scary reality. Sharp pictures, accurate and exhaustive tables, this book is a reference. Russian references and identifications are provided, this is more accurate than NATO equivalences. It is to be read with 'The Kremlin`s nuclear sword, Zaloga', they complement each other.

Worth having in your library.

This book is really exciting to read. I have been trying to find a book on Soviet weapons for a while and came across this book. I must say I was amazed of the amount of content and detail included in this book. The book lists different strategic missiles from the very first ICBM to the latest model that was produced in the Soviet Union. The authors even lists different missile bases and production sites i.e. (closed cities) and warhead depositories, and the nuclear fuel cycle . Even though the Cold War is over I'm wondering if some of the material should still be classified.

This book goes through the early history of the production of missiles, naval fleets, information of strategic aviation sites and production facilites and locations. This book has a section on nuclear tests which lists nuclear explosions. It also describes the decision making process of the strategic nuclear forces in the event of a nuclear war. The chapter that was interesting was the "Strategic Defense" chapter which includes missile and space defense forces, antisatellite and space surveillance the Soviet version of the United States SDI program was interesting. Toward the end of this book includes the present state of Russian strategic forces.

I would recommend this book to anyone that's interested in soviet military thinking and the history of Soviet/Russian weapons systems. A great reference.

Pavel Podvig's Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces was initially available only in Russian, however when it was finally updated and released in English we received the absolute most authoritative and detailed report on the subject available in the civilian sector.

Podvig's effort is to be highly commended, as he has compiled an impressive amount of research, much of it relating to the technical side, though good write-ups and historical overviews are included. From R&D to production and finally deployment, every Soviet/Russian ICBM, SLBM and Strategic Bomber system is discussed in extensive technical detail, including such well researched and hard to find details such as Circular Error Probability of all Russian strategic systems.

The book is a heavy volume containing nearly 700 pages, none of it filler, so you can imagine the sheer amount of information in this volume for anyone interested in attaining a deeper understanding of the subject. Given the price, it really is a no-brainer. Furthermore Pavel Podvig maintains a frequently updated and detailed web site which continually adds newer information, essentially making this a "living research" project on the subject. You can locate his site here:

Seems Amazon edits out any links in reviews, so to try again Podvig's site can be found at russianforces.org

Once again, for the incredibly low price this book is offered at, you have nothing to lose, and a wealth of knowledge to gain.

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Mr. Podvig, aside from being someone who has been won over by his dedication and research to the subject at hand.

Mr. Podvig's book, "Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces," is an excellent unclassified look into the world of Russian/Soviet nuclear weapons. The book covers weapon systems, facilities and nuclear tests since the dawn of their nuclear age. The diagrams and tables are clear and concise.

This book was very helpful in allowing an individual to quickly memorize (or 'compare and contrast') different missile ranges and warhead yields. Very useful if briefing American missile combat crews on potential nuclear threats, or if writing 'peace-nik' papers on the evils of nuclear weapons. Honestly, I don't care what your bent is - if you want to know about nukes, this book needs to be added to your library.

Nuclear forces, like other branches of the military, are divided into two categories: Tactical and strategic. Strategic division of the nuclear forces covers the armaments that have a wider scope of effect. These are the forces that have kept the MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) balance between the superpowers so far. Strategic nuclear forces have air, land and submarine launch capability of nuclear warheads targeted for intercontinental targets.
This book covers every aspect of the Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces from the very beginnings up to post-Soviet restructuring. It covers detailed development phases of strategic bombers, land-based launch platforms and the submarine leg of the nuclear triad. There are detailed data on the organization of the nuclear command, early warning systems and launch protocols. There are also detailed data on the Soviet/Russian nuclear complex and their products. At the end of the book, there is a long list of the nuclear tests undertaken by Russia.
All in all, this book should be read and kept as a reference by all those who want to have a well-balanced look at the Russian Nuclear Strategic Command's capabilities and importance. Readers of this book will appreciate why the latest efforts by the United States for a missile defense system will be highly counter-productive.

This is a well researched and written book about the Indian wars on the New York and Pennsylvania frontiers during the American Revolution. It tells the stories of the Wyoming Massacre, the Cherry Valley Massacre and the Sullivan campaign providing the details on each but in a very readable format. It also provides some details on other not so well known events on the frontiers like the situation around Pittsburgh and in western Pennsylvania. Consequently, this book fills in a gap in the American Revolution and worth the purchase for any individual interested in reading more about that period.

Mr. Williams recent book describes in excellent, understandable detail what caused the Americans to invade Iroquois territory and the effects of the invasion. His book is an excellent companion to another book I have read titled History of Wyoming, by Charles Miner that was originally written in 1845. Miner interviewed people who survived or were connected to the Wyoming Massacre, while Williams had access to all the archives. The two books fill in details and each makes the other more rewarding to read.

I read this book because I have Loyalist ancestors who were members of Butler's Rangers and almost certainly participated in the battles described in such detail. My ancestors, William Pickard and his 2 sons James and Benjamin, two privates and a drummer boy, did not get mentioned in the book, but that was not a problem since around 900 people were in Butler's Rangers. They survived to move to Canada after the war and they started large families after leaving their homes in Tryon County.

The book has a nice section on the key personalities that I found useful since there were Butlers on both the Loyalist and Patriot sides. The book would be improved by detailed maps. Unless you can imagine where places like Tioga, Unidilla and Stone Arabia are, you will read the book in front of your computer with Google Maps open as I did. The book would also be improved with contemporary photos of the battle sites; some of these, like the Battle of Newton, were easily found on the web.

I learned much from the book and enjoyed it. It was very interesting to see that the Rangers contained a good number of Black soldiers who lived with the rest of the Rangers and the Indians. It was also interesting to see how both sides courted the Indians and tried to win their support. The book really makes the Revolution look much more like a civil war than people typically think.

The book was well written to the point that the book rich in detail was not lost by the tremendous amout of utilized quotes and reference points. More detail on the life style and pressures (for survival)of settlements along the frontier border would have been benefical.

After two years of fighting in America with limited success, the British felt they were, to coin a popularized modern term, in a bit of a quagmire, and sought a new strategy for their overseas war. The new strategy involved moving the war away from the more populated northeast and into the western frontier. This move would not only disperse the already diminutive American forces, but would also allow Britain to utilize its strongest North American allied force, the Iroquois Indian Confederacy.

Glenn William's book, THE YEAR OF THE HANGMAN: WASHINGTON'S WAR AGAINST THE IROQUOIS chronicles the events that took place in those western frontier skirmishes and battles. The book derives its name for the year, 1777, which had become popularly known at the time as the `year of the hangman' due to the three sevens appearance of gallows when written, though the majority of the events actually occurred in 1779. Though using that title for his book was too good of an opportunity to pass up, William's title is slightly misleading as to the dates of the primary events.

The Iroquois, though primarily located in Western and Central New York, were quite possibly the strongest Indian nation of North America for a span of over 500 years. Their control reached across the Great Lakes into Central Wisconsin and their rise to prominence came at the cost of driving out, and driving to extinction, numerous other Indian tribes of the region. They were, to be sure, a force to be reckoned with.

Both the Americans and the British had heavily lobbied allegiance with the Iroquois, but in the end, the Indians felt their best chance for future lay at the hands of the British and consequently, four of the six main tribes of the Iroquois sided with the British. This error in judgment would prove fatal to the Iroquois nation, when, as a primary result of the Sullivan Expedition, the Iroquois nation would virtually lose all of its military and political power.

While the Sullivan Expedition is the primary focus of William's book, other major events are deftly chronicled as well, such as the Battle of Oriskany and the Wyoming Valley attacks. By 1979, Gen. Washington had successfully developed the army making it capable of taking the fight to the Indians and literally destroying their economical stability and rendering them harmless, not just for the remainder of the revolution, but into the subsequent years of frontier settlement into the traditional Iroquois homelands.

That Washington was able to develop a force the size of the Sullivan Expedition (5000 men) is in and of itself, a testament to Washington's military leadership abilities and, though today, only an afterthought in Revolutionary history, stands as one of the General's greatest military accomplishments.

This is good reading. Glenn William's had put together a readable and valuable presentation of a rather forgotten aspect of America's fight for independence.

Monty Rainey
Junto Society

I took this book on my trip to the Yucatan, and it proved to be an absolute gem. The itemized, unreadable lists of hotels, restaurants, and sights that comprise most of the other guide books here are kept to a reasonable length. Instead, there is vivid -- and very readable -- prose, organized logically. What you can see by driving down southward along the Mayan Riviera, with histories of the region, histories of every little town. It's all put in context, like a novel. The detailed walkthrough of Chichen Itza made me a bigger expert on Mayan history, architecture etc. than the guide we hired. Overall, I highly recommend it!

This book is jam packed with in-depth information about the Yucatan including a full chapter on the Maya, another chapter on the history of the region, on top of all the important travel-related information that you usually see in travel books. I have a few books on the region and I think this is one of the best!

I spent 3 weeks in the Yucatan this fall and this book helped make my trip very enjoyable. I traveled to Merida, campeche, cozmel, cancun, plus many of the ruin sites and this book proved to be an acurate and reliable friend! If you like to travel on your own and seek out those outta the way places this is the book for you. I also enjoyed "Tourist in the Yucatan" fun thriller adventure novel set in the yucatan.

I have just returned from a two week driving vacation that visited 23 Mayan ruins and several museums and cities between Cancun and San Cristobal de Las Casas. I used it for hotel reservations as well as Mayan site and city visits and found it to be excellent, much better than the Moon guide or the Kelly guides to ruins. It let me down only once, in Cuidad de Carmen, where it had no map of the city, and its hotel recommendations were incomplete and misleading. Otherwise it was accurate and up to date. I recommend it highly to travelers who want comfort but not luxury, and who like to travel fast and intensively.

I'll add my voice to the chorus of praise, with one very small caveat. Comprehensive, in-depth, great historical background to put everything in perspective. We traveled with this and the Lonely Planet, but eventually just left the Lonely Planet in the car at all the sites, as Nick covered things so much better. But this is starting to get a bit out of date - published in 2002, so much of the info is now 4 years old. While there was more practical information (restuarants, hotels, etc.) here than I expected, it's worth the few extra bucks to get another, more updated guidebook as well.

Una interesante aventura en donde se refleja el principio de la realizacion de todo sueno o proyecto que es comenzarlo sin importar si es o no posible realizarlo, solo a medida que transcurre el tiempo se dan las condiciones llevarlo a cabo. Como historia es muy interesante, pero el estilo de redaccion, sus constantes referencias al auto (con lo cual se llega a pensar que sin el auto no hubieran llegado a destino porque fue la pieza clave en la aventura), la constante repeticion de frases, su visible exaltacion del yo personal y la exagerada demostracion de sentimentalismos lo hacen un poco pesado de leer. Es entendible que fue escrito a medida que realizaban el proyecto pero estaria bien que fuera revisado por un editor y estilista literario. En general un evento digno de admirar, quizas de repetir, pero como obra literaria le hace falta bastante.

I met Herman when he was selling his book in Maryland! I had seen them in a TV show a few weeks earlier and immediately recognized his car. I bought him a book and started dreaming.

This book really inspires you to start achieving your dreams! If they can achieve their dreams why can't you. You need to start now.

This book inspired me to start doing things that I had always wanted to do but kept leaving aside. I now started taking tennis classes, I started an MBA and have plane tickets to spend New Year's in Paris.

No matter how big or small your dreams are, this book gives you that extra push you need to take off and begin living what you always dreamed of.

We need to enjoy life! Don't allow the years to pass by and later say I wish I would have done this. Act now!

Aun continuo leyendo el libro y me ha parecido FANTASTICO. Ha sido escrito en un l