Mexico Books

James Josiah Webb was a young enterprising man in his twenties who made several trips down the Santa Fe and Chihuahua Trails in the 1840's and this is his account of what life was like then. While not exactly filled with tales of high adventure or edge of your seat drama, it is a good character study of relationships between Americans, Mexicans and Native Americans. The chapters on his 1846 trading venture during war time Mexico are very insightful and gives the reader a feeling for what it must have been like going through those tense and turbulent times of political unrest. A good book.

In January 1888, a few months shy of his 70th birthday, James Josiah Webb sat down in his Connecticut home and began writing his memoirs of his days as a Santa Fe trader, which had consumed 17 years of his life from 1844 to 1861. Unfortunately, a year later, after writing about only the first three years of that experience, Webb died. Although unfinished, this is Webb's manuscript as it lay in his desk the day he died.

After settling in St. Louis from his family's home in Connecticut, Webb became interested in the trade caravans that took goods between Independence, MO, and Santa Fe (and other points in Mexico). In 1844 he made his first trading expedition; although it wasn't a huge success, he returned to St. Louis and, with a partner, planned another trip. This second venture the following year was a big success. But the war with Mexico threw a monkey wrench into things, and on his third trip the partners decided to bring their goods beyond Santa Fe to near Mexico City. They were arrested in Chihuahua, where they remained prisoners for a month, and when finally released, proceeded on to San Juan de los Lagos, where they sold their goods. His account ends with their return to St. Louis.

Webb must have had a phenomenal memory because his narrative is packed with anecdotes and encounters with other traders and trail travelers that seem fresh and complete. He apparently kept all his account books and business records for all his years spent in the trade, but there is no mention of him keeping journals. His style is breezy and informal, and the book hasn't been "doctored" in any way by the editor (except for spelling and grammar corrections). The editor, Ralph Bieber, has done an excellent job (in footnotes) in identifying geographical features mentioned and expanding on various people encountered by Webb. The only criticism I have is the book is lacking an index, which would be useful. It's a fascinating first-hand account of life on the Santa Fe Trail (and Mexico). Webb's manuscript ran some 250 pages yet covered only three years; one can only imagine had he lived longer to complete his memoirs how many volumes they would comprise. If the rest were only half as interesting and informative as this volume, they would still be worth looking into.

A friend of mine just moved to Albuquerque so I sent him this
book. He really enjoyed reading it and mentioned that the
author had some interesting insights into the growth and
modernization of the city. If your moving to this area of New
Mexico, or are interested in the growth of southwestern cities,
this is a good choice.

This is a wonderful book for anyone trying to make sense of the Duke City. It covers past history and politics. It gives you a sense of the city's future. It is a must read for anyone living in or moving to Duke City.

Peter Cahn offers thought-provoking and insightful views on religious diversity and the role of local community. His descriptive verse conveys the true essence and vibrance of Tzintzuntzan and its people. I look forward to Peter Cahn's next book!

Peter Cahn's All Religions Are Good in Tzintzuntzan is a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. Peter describes a living history of the people of his study with empathy and depth. A truly majestic study, told with the highest standards of academic rigor and in beautifully crafted language. A masterpiece of the first class.

This book takes place in 1995 in the gulf of mexico on the DLB-269 which derrick lay barge which was used to lay completed sections of pipe on the ocean floor to get oil and gas from the oil fields to the yucatan peninsula.The 269 was home to 245 men who were riggers divers mechanics and support crew.This story describes the men who work on the barge and the work they along with the rush to complete so the company they work for could get a 27 million dollar payment on a contract they where behind on .
It also follows the fateful decisions concerning the diving crew who were going threw decompression in a diving bell having to be there from working at depths of a 160 feet and the barge it self laying the path of hurricane roxanne and why they were left at sea instead of allowing to go to safe harbor

this was a great book of terrible tragdey read this book

Wow. I absolutely loved this book. Not only is it an exciting chronicle of human endurance, but it is also an extremely well-written novel. Highly recommended to anyone with a brain.

From the DJ: Often described as the primary mover behind the Mexican Revolution, Ricardo Flores Magon was a liberal journalist working in Mexico in 1900. By 1910 and the Revolution, he was a radical anarchist in exile in the U.S. This book studies Magon's transformation during those crucial ten years, placing his changing ideas in the context of the liberal movement in Mexico, government suppression, the development of the "Partido Liberal Mexicano" in the US, and thwarted attempts at revolution in 1906 and 1908. The first work to concentrate on Magon himself, this book makes clear the journalist's significance in Mexican history and explains modern Mexico's growing appreciation for him.

This study of Ricardo Magon is a fabulous addition to any library's collection on the Revolution. It is thoughtful, well-researched and entertaining.

Polly Brown and Jane Bernard are the Thelma and Louise of Documentary photography, shooting their way down the Mother Road with eyes and hearts wide open. Steinbeck, Kerouac, Mick Jagger, and Elvis would all love this book, and so do I.

Jane Bernard and Polly Brown are accomplished, widely-published Santa Fe photographers who spent three years on American's most legendary trail. American Route 66: Home on the Road (172 p., Museum of New Mexico Press, 2003, $45) "winds from Chicago to L.A." These superb color and black-and-white photographs merge with their subjects mini-oral histories and the photographers' journal entries.

We discover that an elongated Lake Woebegone populated by people such as Charles and Gazelle Stewart, who have surrounded their petrified wood store with towering folk-artsy dinosaurs designed to make kids demand to stop the car. Gazelle recalls how Jerry Seinfeld came in one day with his bodyguard, "a little bitty man...with such a huge gun he could hardly keep his pants up." Seinfeld wanted a $3,000 meteorite, but the power was down, so they couldn't run his credit card. They trusted him anyway.

"We'd make more money," Charles says, "if I'd stop making so many dinosaurs."

This book has tons of color and B&W pictures and some of the best pictures of the southwest ruins you are ever going to find. It also has numerous site maps illustrating the ruins and their vicinity. The pictures are not just your everyday tourbook photos. They are spectacular. The author mixes numerous aerial shots that show you overviews of the sites and mixes in a generous amount of detail shots to help you see what the sites look like when you are there. There are also sketches and conceptual drawings which tell about the history. Just because there are a lot of photos, do not think the text is lacking. The book has all you would ever need to know about the sites including history, archeological finds etc. It accomplishes this amazingly enough without boring the reader. The most important thing about this book is that it is comprehensive. An example is its description of Mesa Verde park which is 44 pages of text and pictures. The section includes a detailed description of the stops you can make off ruins road as well as maps and pictures of sites you can't even access. Overall, this is the book you want to have when you plan your trip and the one you want on your coffee table to show your friends and family where you have been. A must have for anyone fascinated by the Anasazi culture.

I have found this to be an excellent resource for finding sites of interest and a faithfull companion for exploring the site once I have arrived. The information provides a nice addition to any anasazi library

I have read several books about the contemporary Maya, but the majority seem to consist of crackpot New Age theories. What Hart does is to ask the Maya themselves what they believe and how they practice their spirituality, and the result is both fascinating and profoundly respectful of those beliefs. We needed someone who avoids putting their own worldview and paradigms onto another culture's belief system, and that's what we have here.

The book provides a unique set of testimonies, mainly of contemporary Aj Q'ijab', or spiritual guides in the communities, speaking on many intertwined elements of Mayan spirituality - the Calendar, sacred places, the calling to the priesthood, healing, the contemporary social context in which the ancient faith is maintained, and many others.

Highly recommended.

Mr. Hart presents a superb overview of Mayan spirituality in a modern context, and does so with a depth of knowledge and sensitivity that is extraordinary. So far and above the usual disservice done to the subject by countless guidebooks and magazine articles, the many interviews are woven together to show a beautiful tapestry. Un muy buen trabajo, senor sacerdote!

Excellent product...as almost ALL of Terry Deary's works...highly recommend this for kids and adults (especially college students)!

There has been some criticism of the Horrible Histories as misinformed and simplistic, but this particular volume is wonderful. I've studied the Aztecs by looking at the Florentine Codex and reading scholarly works on the subject, and the "Angry Aztecs" gets quite a lot of the information right. It is written so kids can understand it, but anyone with a sense of humor should enjoy it. It is certainly better than the 2 pages devoted to the Aztecs in the textbook I use to teach high school history!

I'd like to add a note or two to the remarks by the previous reviewer: this exemplary work
A) reproduces the original Tlaxcalteca Nahuatl text, in modern typescript but following the manuscript as closely as possible,
B) provides a transcription of that text (rather than a modern Nahuatl version) with vowel length and saltillo indicated (the latter by the roman letter "h", following the scholars Lockhart and Karttunen), and
C) an English translation.
Most of the extensive notes deal with manuscript issues (scribal errors, etc), but some of them address linguistic issues as such.
All aside from its great value for anyone interested in the Spanish invasion of the Valley of Mexico and the lore of the cultures of that region (in this case from a perspective a bit different than the usual material descending from Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) itself), this work provides learners of Nahuatl with a very accessible annotated text for productive study.

Not written until about 1600, after the Spanish conquest of Mexico by the defeat of the Aztecs, this text in the Nahuatl language of the Tlaxcalteca people covering a large part of Mexico north of the Aztec lands in central Mexico has the style and content of an ancient tribal document, like Middle East creation myths. The Tlaxcalteca allied with Cortes to help conquer the Aztecs, their longtime enemies who never conquered them. Myths, history, heroes, royalty, wanderings, wars, and settlements are all mixed together. Though it is rich and significant in content, "Anomino Mexicano" is not too long. This first English translation of the full text at the Bibliotheque Nationale de Paris is three columns per page from pages 7 to 65 in the original, classical, Nahuatl, modern Nahuatl, and English with illustrations taking up some of these pages. Notes run from pages 66 to 101, with a one-page Bibliography of about 30 references before the Index. The complete "Anonimo Mexicano" is a welcome addition to world literature as another vibrant epic on the origins, history, and lore of an ancient people.