Central America Books

Vivid illustrations, more up-to-date than other children's books on El Salvador because it was written after the war. Fun to read, especially the chapter on folktales. Not too shocking for children. Recommended!!:)

Luis Poma logra escribir varias ideas, pensamientos y anecdotas. Aunque muy cortas y simples, tienen mucho significado y logran tocar temas profundos. No cabe duda que este hombre disfruto la aventura de la vida de la mejor manera.

Argueta does a good job of retelling the tale of El Zipitio. If yo are from El Salvador you probably heard this story or the name. Even if you are not familiar, this story goes back to the Pipiles who inhabited El Salvador. The art of the book is very good. It's worth the money.

Bayard Taylor, with the eye of the photographer for detail and composition and the writing talent of the professional journalist Horace Greely so willingly paid, provides the reader with a fantastic look at California of the mid-1800's. His vivid descriptions of the people, the events, and perhaps most importantly, the pre-development beauty of California's wild mountains, seacoasts, and valleys, made this reviewer (a native Californian) long for a time machine to allow visits to the wondrous collection of experiences described by Taylor. From his many travels across the land, to his viewing of the first California constitutional convention, his words allow the reader to feel the wind in one's hair as the California-bred horses fly at top speed across the valleys and through the washes, or to become a fly on the wall as the convention delegates reach compromises which shaped and prepared the State for its Golden future. The pictures he paints of the natural environment of early California are so dramatic that they must could certainly be used to support any attempts to preserve the tragically few remaining expanses of California wilderness. This is a book for Californians (and those who love the state) who wish to return, if only for a few brief moments, to the sounds and the sights of it's birth: raw, chaotic, beautiful, yet with a rich Spanish/Mexican heritage and social codes that provided a useable framework to maintain law and order. Taylor describes it all, allowing us to understand not only what was happening, but also why. It's a great book.

This is a fascinating critique of how North American scholars have interpreted revolutionary movements in El Salvador and, by implication, neighboring Central American countries. The "dominant paradigm" is the idea that injustice + reactionary governments = revolution. Why have Latin America scholars lagged behind others in studying revolution in terms of culture, ideology and agency? Grenier's focus on the role of the Salvadoran universities and political-military organizations suggests an answer. The dominant paradigm removes the revolutionary vanguard from scrutiny. Not being a specialist on El Salvador, I hope to see Grenier's approach taken seriously and debated by other Central America scholars.

"Topics of this important collection range broadly over the origins of sugar plantations and the planter's world, the relations between the British West Indies and the North American colonies, the character of slave societies, slave family life, and slave resistance, the process of emancipation and the transition to other forms of labor in the 19th century, and the nature of island and regional identity.

Craton writes well, and he makes major contributions to historiographic debates and methodology. He combines the traditional historian's care over sources with the cross-disciplinary approaches of the new social history. This is a convenient and valuable collection. Highly recommended..." -Choice

If only one definitive high school or college-level reference on American Indians were to be purchased for a library, it should be the multivolumed reference Encyclopedia of American Indian History. This is simply an outstanding keepsake reference for any collection where patrons regularly review Native history and culture: contributors come from university, museum and scholarly circles alike and provide important details on historical demographic, political, legal, and cultural facts. Articles are extensive and peppered with source material quotes and footnoted references for further reading, while maps and black and white illustrations abound. An exceptional, well detailed reference, this is a 'must have' for any collection serious about Native American history.

The powerful 2-volume ENCYCLOPEDIA OF IMMIGRATION AND MIGRATION IN THE AMERICAN WEST is a winner: it will appeal both to high school and college library holdings in offering a definitive reference cataloging both key immigrants and key migration patterns of different ethnic groups in the American West. From entries on Chinese early immigrants to Japanese internment, discussions are sometimes several pages in length and conclude with bibliographic material for further reading. Contributors work for historical societies, museums, and universities and provide both authority and clarity.

Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch

Verity Smith has compiled a work that will stand the test of time for years to come. As a starting point, this tome is indispensible to the serious scholar of Latin American Literature, rivaling Foster's Handbook of Latin American Literature.

There are five (5) volumes to this edition. Expensive they are, and you never know which volume you will receive. So I recommend you contact the distributor before you buy and determine which volume he has in stock It's like buying a pig 'n the poke, and at $95 bucks a copy, that's expensive pork. I have reviewed Volume 3 and own Volume 1 (A to D)and Volume 2. I am currently seeking Volumes 3, 4 and 5. I especially like Volume 1 because it described Colonial America for the century preceding the rebellion and ultimate revolution. It also discusses the circumstances that led up to the revolution from an American perspective (which were many) to the British perspective which was often determined by who was in power at a particular time as Prime Minister, etc. The King appears to be out to lunch throughout the entire set of events which led up to revolt. He finally regains his senses when Cornwallis loses at Yorktown and the French Fleet controls the ports required for a British escape. But too late! A month earlier and the outcome might have been far different since Washington's Army was at rest for nearly three year and the French Army was lounging in the field eating precious rations and firing nary a shot at anyone or any thing. All this time, the Red Coats are tearing-up the Southern Colonies and on their way north. At any rate the Volume 1 truly concentrates on the many causes and credits Payne's Common Sense publication as one of the two galvanizing reasons that America finally declares war. Common Sense sold over 100,000 copies and certainly awaken the country. Virginia's House Of Burgess certainly played an important role along with the Bostonians and New Yorkers, and South Carolinians that either intercepted ship filled with tea and sent them back to England, or confiscated the tea, or dumped three ship loads of tea chests into Boston Harbor. The Boston Tea Party tea had a street value of over one million dollars in today's currency, so you know the East India Company was a bit perturbed with the loss. It's kinda like spitting in Superman's Cape or messing with the IRS. Fortunately for the colonies, we had the far bigger stick. It was always a matter of how much public sentiment and support could be mustered amongst the artisans, craftsmen, store owners, laborers,farmers and the gentile class. Most all wanted to remain under the protection of the British. But the British Parliment kept imposing new duties and taxes under questionable authority and had little means to enforce them short of an outright conflict. And when the King implored divine rule in May 1774 through the Massachusetts Government Act by altering their charter which had been in effect since 1692, you can just imagine the reaction of Sam Adams and the Committees of Correspondene over this latest outrage. So as you can see, there's a lot of great reading and introspect in the first 100 pages of Volume 1 before you ever begin the "A's." I suspect if the vendors ever agree on a reasonable price for these 5 volumes, like $69 per volume or $250 for the set of 5 volumes, then it would be a great set of books to own. The paper the material is printed on and the pictures are average at best. Just be patient and wait for the market to adjust the price downward. Otherwise I would rather own Volume 1 if you can find it then purchase the Illustrated Version of 1776. That is a masterpiece! Good reading fellow historians for pleasure.