Southwest Books

I think this book is a very good book,in that it is a counter to the typical "price guide" arrowhead books, this book does not go that route, and discusses the lithics in more of a professional manner, and is more for people who are interested in the cultures, and the lithics and not in what something is worth. The only critique I have is that the book trys to cover too large an area...i would prefer one that is aimed at specific states (even though the boundaries lap over state lines), and would prefer the author to stick with established nomenclature as to lumping points into various categories. I think the book is headed in the right direction but needs improvements.

excellant point type guide to arrowheads of the southwest. Much information on the cultures that made them and on how they were made.

This is an essential reference. Noel Justice has done an amazing job of gathering the references and synthesizing a very complex and diverse array of "spear and arrow points" in this volume. I can also recommend "Stone Age Spear and Arrow Points of California and the Great Basin". Well worth the rather high price.

This is a really, really useful book for those of us who only get two seasons...(searingly hot and humid, cloudy and humid), but the best feature is that the guy writes well and sensibly---no boring stuff, and no high-flown references to white-flower rooms at Sissinghurst. This ain't England.
I may start taking the book with me to the big box stores, in order to reduce the death toll among plants that never should have been sold here in the first place!

In his first effort as a full-length work, Tom Peace has succeeded where others have failed. Finally, a resource for those of us who have longed for a lesson in hot-weather gardening! Rather than a book of charts and lists of what to plant when, the author provides us with the tools to make informed decisions. Resplendent with pages and pages of color photographs of the author's work, real-life examples of hot-weather gardens, this book is not to be missed. I can't wait to get started on my garden!

Gardeners in zones 7, 8 and 9 often endure drought and extremely hot and humid temperatures. Our plants often suffer as a result. This book, divided by sections of the southeast and the southwest, shows what plants will do well in these climates. The author also discusses winter gardening and how the sunbelt gardener can successfully have color in their gardens year round. The book is well organized and the photographs are spectacular. It will serve as a valuable reference to gardeners in this region.

Tijerina states that, "Tejanos founded the ranching frontier on their land grants... were the founders of the State of Texas". I agree that only Tejanos have lived and fought under six flags and that Tejanos are here to stay. Tejano Empire is a bold book, well documented, and difficult to lay aside once opened by a reader. Stories handed down for generations are finally put into print. Beasley's sketches depict tejano stories that will live forever. Bravo - Andres Tijerina and thank you.

An excellent well written book ! Being a descendent of one of the early pioneers of South Texas, this book really open up my eyes on how our early ancestors used the natural resources around them to built their homes and where proud of them. It also describes how the unity in the family helped them cope with the struggles of goverment changes. This book takes you back in time as if you where there to see it. This is a book everyone who is interested in early South Texas History must read. My hats off to Andres Tijerina.

Being a descendant of a pioneer ranch family in Duval County since the 1860's, Rancho San Buenaventura; after reading Tejano Empire it brings out the spirit of my greatgrandfather's and so many other rancheros of that era's way of life. I think this book will bring back self confidence to the many families in South Texas with ranching roots. With this book Tijerina helps fill the void of the much neglected history of the ranchos in South Texas from a Tejano point of view. The beautiful illustrations by Ricardo M. Beasley and Servando Hinojosa are also an additional plus. A definite book to add to anyones collection if you're into Texas history.

When president George W. Bush July 5th and 6th 2005 visited Denmark he brought with him a present to the Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. It was "The Texas Cowboys".

This is a book of superlative photography, capturing the essence of the Texas cowboy and his life--the dirt, the work, the gear, the animals, the life. Stoecklein has a love for the West that dances joyously through his work.

This is Mr. Stoecklein's finest work to date! Through his camera lens were able to get a close up view of the life of a Texas Cowboy and his natural surrondings. What is most interesting about this photo essay is that it shows the diversity of Texas and how the cowboys have adapted to the land. One of my best friends is a Cowboy from Pampa, Texas and he went nuts for this book. Full of beautiful photography and illustrations, and imformative text, this is a must for anybody who shares a passion for the American West and what it stands for.

For perfectly good reasons, we tend to associate Cajun and Zydeco music with Louisiana, but for much of the 20th century, Cajun and Creole people moved West into Texas, usually for straightforward economic advantage - the towns and cities of Texas offered more employment and better living conditions - and they took their music with them. You are at least as likely to find people playing Zydeco in Texas as in Louisiana. In the introduction to this stunningly handsome book, the author makes the point that it was in Houston, not in New Orleans or any other Louisiana city, that `the folk music of black Creoles from southwest Louisiana first (underwent) a major synthesis with urban influences to create, document and codify that sound'. He goes on to make the claim (and as the book progresses, to substantiate it) that `several key innovations in the evolution of this music - concerning not only its name, but also its instruments, recording history, leading figures, and stylistic twists and turns - occurred initially in Texas'. He uses the phrase `Louisiana Lapland' to describe where `a large part of south Louisiana seems to have "lapped over" into Texas, and quotes John Minton to the effect that the music `first made its mark' in Texas, before becoming popular back in Louisiana. Later, he asserts that `Zydeco is a doubly syncretized musical phenomenon, a hybrid that required transplantation and cross-pollination to come into existence' - saying in effect that Zydeco, as we know it could only really have happened in Texas.
The book is a celebration of this music and its associated culture, marrying Roger Wood's text and James Fraher's photography. It is a marvellously successful combination. The photographs, of which there are a great many - on average, every other page seems to be given over to one - are beautifully reproduced in a monochrome of outstanding depth and clarity. Fraher is evidently as much an artist as he is a Zydeco fan, and he has captured the people, the instruments, the atmosphere and the context of the music with great skill, sensitivity and style. Almost any photograph could be singled out for special mention, but for just a few examples - Leroy Thomas with his stars and stripes accordion, Raymond Chavis almost in silhouette, the proud determination on the face of Sherman Robertson, Zydeco dancers at the Silver Slipper, Dora Jenkins in seductive pose and Vanessa David in action at a festival. There's an especially poignant portrait of L.C. Donatto Jnr, holding a photograph of his father and a rubboard that has been played so hard it has a gaping hole in the middle. This is black music, but Fraher's scope extends also to the white people who are and have been players in the scene, as club owners, collectors (including a fine shot of Mack McCormick), fans, dancers and even occasionally as executants.
The illustrations are so striking, and you could spend so long admiring them, that you might almost forget to read the text, but that would be a bad move. Wood's account of the music has to be the most definitive yet published. He is well informed and lucid on the subject of the music's history - the chapter `Chank-A-Chank and Social Change' tells the story of how the music came to be, and it is a measure of the thorough job he has done that it begins by noting a French presence in Texas documented as far back as 1682. A couple of pages on, he points out that Amadie Ardoin recorded in San Antonio in 1934, and that just over a decade or later, it was at sessions in Houston that the first two recordings were made whose lyrics included the word `zydeco' (or a variant of the word - the book goes into some detail on the etymology, variation and development of the term), by Lightnin' Hopkins and Clarence Garlow respectively. The music's history is thoroughly rehearsed, supported by what looks like meticulous research and plenty of fine oral history - an appendix giving the list of interviews carried out takes up more than three pages. There is a chapter devoted to Clifton Chenier, covering the introduction of the piano-key accordion and the invention of the rubboard (the first one was made by a Cajun welder by the name of Willie Landry, based on a design drawn in the sand by Clifton himself). This must be one of the fullest accounts of Chenier's life and music yet published, and it ends by quoting Wilbert Thibodeaux - `Clifton Chenier is the only zydeco man who ever really deserved to call himself the king'. Amen to that, but we're still only a little over halfway into the book.
The remainder covers the wide range of other Zydeco men and women - not kings or queens perhaps, but plenty with claims to the aristocracy. It also tells the story of how Zydeco's popularity grew and grew in the years following the king's death - he had benefited from the wider interest in the music, nationally and internationally, but it has been the last twenty-odd years (Chenier died in 1987) that has seen the music's greatest popularity. It has also been a time when, as Moore states, it: `went through a process of radically redefining itself according to a multitude of contemporary realities and new possibilities'. These change factors are covered here, and the story is brought right up to date, not only with the work of young radicals and experimenters like Li'l Brian Terry, but also with the reach back into the music's roots represented by Les Amis Creole (a recent Arhoolie CD). The story covers not only the musicians themselves, but also the role of the venue owners, the musical instrument makers, the recording companies and so on.
This book is a beautiful object to own for its own sake, but it is also of major significance in the documentation of Zydeco, and is highly recommended to anyone interested in learning more about this most extraordinary of music. (this review, by Ray Templeton, first appeared in Blues & Rhythm magazine, used by permission)

I could hear the Zydeco music playing as I read this book. Roots, if you want to know how Zydeco orginated, who played or stills plays Zydeco music and where to go to listen to this music, this is the book. Being a Zydeco music fan and actually attending zydeco events that are mentioned made this a very exciting book.

James Fraher's black and white photos highlight a solid story of the most influential players and history in Zydeco music past and present, and while the survey focuses on the genre's rise in Texas, any with an interest in Cajun or Zydeco music will find it incorporates facts and history from other states as well. Chapters chart the movement of black Creoles from Louisiana into Texas and the cross-influence of their music with other Texas forms. The seven-year collaboration between writer Wood and photographer Fraher provides powerful visual embellishment to the facts and biographies within.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I'm a gardener in California, and was looking for something to help me select worthwile gardens to visit while touring Texas on vacation. This book fills the bill admirably.

Nothing is more invigorating and tranquil than a walk in a lovingly tended garden, and this wonderful book guides the lucky reader to the best such spots in Texas. Touring Texas Gardens catalogues the most seductive gardens over the sprawling state, complete with descriptions of their territory, lists of their flora and fauna, contact information, and driving instructions.

Jessie Gunn Stephens, a well-known Texas naturalist and columnist who specializes in gardening, has created a carefully and exhaustively researched book that makes a wise and friendly companion for trips to these special places.

I especially appreciate the book's "bird alerts," which remind readers which avian friends they will meet in these gardens and when each species is likely be there.

This book is a rare treasure. You might like to keep an extra copy in the car.

Bob Huffaker

This directory spotlights the best of Texas gardens. Many are hard-to-find treasures you'll recommend to gardening friends and family as great destination spots, or as ideal along-the-way travel breaks while driving through the state.

The guide book provides details about each special garden: days and hours, garden type, size, themes, special "don't-miss" features, and even "bird alert" notes for birders. Many Texans don't know about these secret places -- I didn't! -- but with TOURING TEXAS GARDENS you'll find favorites to return to, time and again.

Charming love story set in the Southwest circa 1940. This book is timeless in its portrayal of the teenage years. From the very start, it captures the reader. Highly recommended to readers interested in cowboy lore. G.N. Buffington knows of what he writes. It is alve with ranchers, cowboys and horses amidst the sometimes hostile desert terrain of the Southwest. The easygoing narrative is crisply written. Highly recommended from a fan of Edward Abbey.

This is the strong yet touching story about the coming-of-age of a young man who after a series of disasters at eastern boarding schools is sent by his parents to Arizona as his "last chance". It is an excellent tale well told and the book has great detail and color of life in Arizona during the early 1940's. I recommend this book highly.

I can still remember the thrill when I, as the young publicity director, read Richard Bradford's "Red Sky At Morning" and then had the pleasure and the honor of promoting his first novel. What excitement when the reviews came in and it started climbing the best seller lists...and then stayed up there too! We celebrated every time it went back to press -- it is a classic now.

When I read "Virgin Spring" I felt, as Richard Bradford himself says, that it is an "engaging" coming-of age story of young Nic Nichols.

We all have had to ride our own broncos in our lives, but Nic's are the real ones and his journey is, in effect, our own. It is enchanting and, set against the magic that is the Southwest, I found I could not put this book down.

I came across this book while looking for a biography of Carl Hayden. While there is a considerable amount of biographical information in this book, it is not primarily a biography. Instead the title of the book is an good description of this books contents: a description of the political battles involving over water in the lower Colorado River basin and the role and impact that Carl Hayden played in this political drama. Towards the goal expressed by the title, this book is well written and an engrossing read. If you are looking for a general biography of Hayden that does not focus primarily on a single area of the senator's career then Ross R. Rice's Carl Hayden is a better choice.

Author Jack August tells an engrossing tale of the politics of water in the American southwest which is virtually the same as the past, present, and future of this region. Arizonan Carl Hayden became the Arizona's first congressman (when Arizona only had one congressman) upon statehood in 1912 and moved to the the U.S. Senate in 1927 where he remained until retiring in 1969. In today's era of sound bites and short attention spans, Hayden labored for decades, leading the way to first establish federal control over western water management (so the resources of the federal government would build the needed dams and other projects needed to tame and manage the area's rivers), then parceling out the rights to the water between the various states and other jurisdictions through legislation, compacts and court decisions, and finally, after it was established by the U.S. Supreme Court in "California vs Arizona" that Arizona did have rights to Colorado River water, getting the authorization and funding for the Central Arizona Project which today brings water from the Colorado River near Parker, AZ to the mushrooming metro areas of Phoenix and Tucson. August writes a technically detailed book. Its not a fast read, but I found it indispensible to understanding the past and probably future of this state which over 5.5 million people now call home.

August brings extensive expertise concerning the history of water and hydroelectric power development in the Southwestern United States. The story of water politics in the American southwest is instructive for the governments of both the United States and Canada.

Management of North America's water resource is poised to become the defining issue in Canadian-American relations in the twenty first century. Certainly, that issue will dominate trade negotiations and will precipitate fallout for the movement of other major commodities of Canadian goods into American markets.

In Arizona, water rights was topical as a political concern before the turn of the century to 1900. Central to the issue was Carl Hayden who was elected in 1911 and served in the U.S. Congress for the next 57 years; as a Democratic member of the House of Representatives until 1927 and then as a Senator from 1927 to 1969.

August reveals in this engagingly-written biography that Hayden knew from 1914 that his political future would be tied to water resource development; a thought documented as a young politician in letters to his parents. Hayden's personal papers disclose his legendary kindness in all relationships and perhaps part of the secret to his long political career.

In constructing the history, August draws out the competing interests of upper basin states with those downstream of the Colorado River, bringing in the early interest expressed by Los Angeles for electricity and water. What was involved was large scale manipulation of water in an extremely arid environment.

The protracted negotiations resulted in CAP -- the Central Arizona Project -- which put Colorado River water to thirsty agricultural areas and provided for the unimpeded development of Phoenix and Tucson by protecting them from water shortages. The bill was signed into law September 30, 1968 by President Johnson. The cost of implementation, US$1.3 billion, was the most expensive single Congressional authorization in history. Hayden considered the accomplishment the most significant contribution of his career.

The book is extensively researched and animated through interviews with Barry Goldwater and others prominent in the issue. The author has also drawn fom Johnson's presidential papers, court cases, and six decades of the Congressional Record. Some flavor of the thrust and parry of political debate has been drawn from accounts in dozens of newspapers and journals. That all of these sources have been assembled in one volume is a valuable gift to future scholars.

Evoking transportation images to bracket Hayden's working life, August reminds us that "He began his public career riding a horse and buggy to his office and ended it voting for funds that ultimately enabled him to watch people walk on the moon." No doubt, those astronauts were looking for water!

Contention over management of North American water resources has bracketed both the beginning and end of this century and will carry on well into the next. The World Bank warns us that the wars of the next century will be about water. August's prediction: "In the future, the use of water will underlie every public policy decision made in the American West."

even though this is a short and easy to read book, it hooks u into reading other books that go more into deteail about the same topic. reveals many truths about history that has been hidden from us. everyone of indigenous decent should definately read this book.

Whatever opinions you may have on Xikano-Mexikano people, the truth is that we're not illegals on this land. Tlapoyawa gives it to you straight and tells it like it is. Citing acclaimed and reknowned scholars and authors, he takes you step by step through the different chapters of historical Mexican culture and identity. After reading this compelling and thought provoking book, there will be no doubt in your mind of the ties and right Mexikah people have on the land now known as the Southwest. Aztlan is not a myth; it is a documented historical ancestral homeland of the Nawatl speaking people, and we, the descendants of the original people of this continent, have the right to migrate freely back and forth as we please, following in the tradition of our ancestors. This book is a must read for truth and culture seekers, myth de-bunkers, and students in Indigenous/Native American and Chicano Studies.

"We Will Rise" is based on the belief that Mexicano/Chicanos must begin our liberation from the correct point of reference. The book
begins not with the Chicano Movement of the 1970s, or the Treaty of Guadalupe in 1848, or even the Spanish invasion of Mexiko in
1519. It begins with our origins in the present-day Southwest U.S. thousands of years ago. It brings the reader full-circle to our current situation as an occupied nation in the Southwest. It offers a system for lifting ourselves to our former greatness and unity as a people, not through violence, but through Mexikayotl, in solidarity with our northern native brothers and sisters. It does all this in a very easy-to-read style, with clarity as well as beautiful original artwork. It is perfect for students of all ages. A truly uplifting book.

I love this book. It has tons of beautiful exterior photos but I would like to see more historical photos and more interior shots. I would also love to see more recounts by the people who lived there. There are a few stories and I read them over and over. I'd really like to give this book a four and a half but that's not an option.

Should you actually wish to drive down either Westmoreland or Portland Places, expect an unnessecarily rude treatment from what must be the local rent-a-cop. It matters not the price of your car or attire- you might get (as I did) threatened to be "thrown in jail for trespassing", and lectured as if you were an idiot. Other students of architecture beware. It happened to me, and judging by the character of the "gentleman" in question, I'm just glad I'm not black. I escaped without kissing the hood of my car.

Congratulations to all that contributed to this outstanding book. The history of the Places was carefully and completely researched and presented with beautiful photographs.