Southwest Books

There are probably only about three people in the world interested in this subject: you, me, and the author. That being said this is a jewel of a book in the genre of academic histories. Not the least of its virtues is that the author has included the astonishing total of 46 maps and charts to help the reader along. Given the usual sparse and inadequate maps of low-budget academic books this is much-appreciated.

The focus of the book is the trade relations between the Cree and Assiniboine Indians of Manitoba and Saskatchewan with French and English traders. In describing the trade the author drops in numerous pearls of wisdom about wildlife and ecology of the Canadian plains, Indian hunting strategies, inter-tribal relations, epidemics, and even details about the trade items most popular with the Indians and their prices in beaver pelts. One of the most interesting sections of the book concerns the role of firearms versus bows and arrows in Indian hunting and warfare. Another little gem concerns the Indian dislike of eating "red deer" meat. It took me a while to figure out that the Canadian author was talking about what we would call "elk" in the US.

This is a sound and scholarly history that delves deeply into the files of the Hudson Bay Company and other trading companies to paint what seems to be an authentic picture of Indian life on the Canadian plains in the early days of White/Indian contact. Highly recommended!

Smallchief

I find the In Sight series to be the best for me when it comes to travel information in new locations. The information is normally not time sensitive. This guide answers a lot of travel questions as well as give information on locations around the country. It helps me decide what I want to see and what to include in the tour.

The prospective traveler to Oman and the United Arab Emirates could hardly do better than to choose this title. Its main rival is surely going to be the Lonely Planet guide, which is certainly cheaper. But money isn't everything when it comes to value. This Insight Guide is more focused in the area it reviews (only 2 countries compared with LP's 6) and has the sort of graphics that usable soft-cover guides - as opposed to wrist crunching stay-at-home tomes - can usually only dream of. So: pictures to whet your appetite, enough text to provide historical and social context for the prospective visitor. But: most important of all - does it work? Can you navigate the souk in Dubai or the sand dunes of Oman armed only with the Insight Guide? Within the confines of its 318 pages, the answer has to be yes. You won't find detailed maps in here to mount a major expedition, but the helpfully colour indexed Travel tips at the back of the book provide just the sort of information that the practical traveler will need. A lovely piece of work, Insight Guides. If you're thinking of breaking a journey, or going for a longer stay, in either Oman or the UAE this book will be a useful preparation, a handy source of facts nd an attractive souvenir.

Covers all of California to west Texas and north to Steamboat OR, Boise ID, Wild River Indian Reservation WY, and barely into SD. Zoom-in insets on the back for San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Grand Canyon National Park. I would rather the Grand Canyon inset (the largest by far) space be used for Denver, Albuquerque, and El Paso insets but I'm not a tourist. Hundreds of call-outs for places of interest and parks for the main map, and separate call-outs for the insets. AND... it is a FlexiMap (the map has a cleverly applied super-flexible lamination). Spill- and nearly wear-proof. I have used the map for tasks in Albuquerque NM and Ruidoso NM, in San Francisco CA, in Denver CO, and in El Paso TX and never found it lacking. You can use it for research or inter-city driving.

Interviewing Appapachia is a rich collection of interviews from some of the forerunners of Appalachian Studies and Literature, such as James Still, Marilou Awiakta, Fred Chappell, Lee Smith, Jim Wayne Miller, Appalshop, and SAWC, the Southern Appalachian Writer's Cooperative. This collection of articles was gleaned from the pages of the Appalachian Journal, founded by co-editor J.W. Williamson in 1972. Published at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, this journal has been on the cutting edge of Appalachian Studies for over 30 years. Though Interviewing Appalachia is not a complete spectrum of every great interview to ever grace the pages of the Appalachian Journal, you won't find such in-depth interviews in one collection anywhere else. A must-read for anyone interested in the literature and culture of the Appalachian region.

This book, being written in 1924, is NOT an introduction to MODERN Southwestern Archaeology but, it is a classic. If you are at all interested in the development of SW Archaeology this is the book. Kidder was the person with the most influence on development in this area. He was not the first person to use pottery seriation, stratigraphic methods, dendrochronology, and sound research design but he brought these and other scientific methods to the forefront of American Archaeology. He introduced multidisciplinary approaches to the field and transformed SW Archaeology from simple artifact gathering for museums into the organized empirical science it is today. In this book you can see it being done. You will see terms such as Basket Maker, Post Basket Maker, pre-Pueblo being developed.

The introductory essay by Douglas Schwartz alone is worth the price of the book. He outlines the work done by five other major researchers (There were several more) in the region before Kidder. These five had an impact on Kidder's work. Schwartz takes us beyond 1924 thru the Pecos Conference of 1927, called by Kidder to, among other things, develop a standard nomenclature system which still stands today (Basketmaker I-III and Pueblo I-V). The annual Pecos Conference has been held every year since 1927.

This guide book may lack the extensive lists of hotels and restaurants that Lonely Planet guides have, but for someone who is curious about travelling to Persia, this is a great idea. There are some nice photos, information on how to get there, and a good amount of cultural notes. While some of the material is probably outdated, its a great book for those who are interested in Iran.

Glassman has produced an outstanding read fresh with new detail and told well. This history of the Santa Fe Trail is full of fascinating characters and finally someone has related the role of the American Indian and the Trail in a fair and compassionate manner. This book should appeal to local history buffs who live along the Trail as well as the general reader interested in the history of the development of America and its western lore.

Note: This book was originally published in hardcover under the title AMERICAN ECCLESIASTES. Why the title was changed for the paperback edition is unclear.

James Pattie is remembered solely for a book he published in 1831 entitled THE PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF JAMES O. PATTIE. The book recounted his experiences as a trapper and wanderer in the Far West between 1825 and 1830, experiences he shared with his traveling companion, his father Sylvester. After trapping throughout New Mexico and Arizona, the men journeyed to California where Sylvester died in [1828]. After continuing on to San Francisco, James boarded a ship for Mexico, across which he walked by way of Mexico City, and then boarded another ship on the Gulf for New Orleans. Destitute, he was able to borrow $40 from Senator Josiah Johnston, a family friend, to pay for passage aboard a steamboat to Cincinnati. It was there that he met publisher Timothy Flint, who published Pattie's narrative.

Since the book was first published it has held the attention of historians and others interested in first-hand accounts of the early West. Often it has been disparaged as a work filled with inaccuracies, half-truths, and tall tales; it was even claimed that Pattie, with Flint's help, made the whole thing up. Richard Batman has taken a fine-toothed comb to the Narrative with the purpose of separating fact from fiction wherever possible. He is able to show that quite a bit of what Pattie wrote is indeed based in fact. His descriptions of the geography he traveled over are often remarkably accurate. Batman wonders if Pattie kept a diary of some kind, since certain details (a rainstorm, for example, that can be verified from other journals that cite the event) are too specifically drawn to be recalled years later from memory. Where he errs the most is in his depictions of his own actions and responses. Zelig-like, Pattie blended in with the background scenery, rarely if ever making an impression on those he encountered (one trapper who spent time with him remembered his horse but not him). Yet in the Narrative he puts himself in the forefront and gives himself all kinds of heroic (at least "manly") qualities. Many of these incidents occurred in California where Pattie felt he was treated with great indignities; Batman is quick to point out where they might have been figments of his imagination. He also fills out Pattie's life, making the book a biography of the man. Unfortunately, but typically it seems, Pattie vanishes from the scene shortly after his book was published, never heard from again. Batman has done a great service with this book, not only helping to clarify a major historical record, but through his own researches adding much information about Pattie and life in the Far West at the end of the 1820s. Highly recommended for anyone interested in this period in American history.

Perhaps, one of the best books for elegant at home cuisine that I have seen on the market. Chef Wilder blends the exotic with regional flavors that make cooking a true joy. One of my favorites is the salmon carpacchio with various aiolis.

How often can you consider a carpaccio as a staple? Chef Wilder makes preparation a joy. The only thing I regret is that the cookbook has limited my visits to his wonderful restaurant in Tucson.