Mexico Books

W. J. Eccles did a phenomenal job in covering the history of New France. I was expecting a dry history. I didn't get one. What I got was a story of men and a few women.

This book is a facinating account of the settlement of Canada under the French. For a history book, it was hard to put down. Eccles brought the problems of starting and maintaining a colony to life. He presents historical figures like Frontenac and La Salle as real people who made real mistakes without excuses or whitewashing.

I would recommend this book to anyone doing any type of research into New France.

"The Canadian Frontier" is an excellent exposition of the story of the interface between Canadian and native civilizations from 1534-1760. As the Canadian frontier included much of the Midwest, this book is a good choice for both American and Canadian readers with an interest in the history of New France.

Prof. Eccles makes the point that the Canadian frontier is conceptionally different from the American frontier. The American frontier was a geographical concept, the line where settlement gave way to wilderness. The Canadian frontier, by contrast, was a series of settled islands in a sea of wilderness at which civilization "did business" with native cultures.

One test of a good historical book is whether it changes the reader's view of history. This one passes that test. I had always viewed the competition between the French, British and Indians in North America as being based on basic nationalistic and tribal rivalries. Prof. Eccles explains the rivalry in terms of an economic competition over the fur trade. The roles of the Indians was to supply the furs. The locations of the trade shifted over time between the eastern settlements, western trading posts and in Indian villages at which traders visited. Traders competed in goods offered, while tribes competed, at times by war, to control access to traders and their goods. Middleman profits were often at stake.

The economy of New France is contrasted with that of the British colonies. The economy of the British colonies was largely based on farming while the economy of New France was, primarily, extractive, based on the fur trade and, to a lesser extent, fishing. Farming in New France was, initially, merely to supply the settlers. As population increased and the fur trade declined, New France evolved from a trading to an agricultural colony.

The trading pattern of New France determined land use practices as well as relations with the Indian tribes. I had always thought of low populations of New France as a reflection of the unwillingness of the French to migrate to North America. From this book I learned that low population density was indispensable to a fur trade based economy.

Like the Spanish to the West, and unlike the English to the south, evangelization was a major part of the interaction on the Canadian Frontier. Much of the exploration and development was instituted or accompanied by missionaries.

Over time, the Canadian Frontier was changed by tribal wars which determined the access of each tribe to western traders and their wares. Although Indians are often portrayed as victims of white aggression, the truth is that they acquired a dependency on European goods which contributed to their own downfall.

The military aspects of the North American wars are interesting in that they relate the relative contributions of the Regular forces, the militia and the Indians. Another of my conceptions which was changed by this book was that the outcome of the French and Indian war was dictated by the colonial population imbalance. Prof. Eccles makes the case that the fighting qualities of the French militia made them dominant over the English militias and that it was only the skills of the British regulars against the bungling of the French regulars which won the war for Britain.

Ultimately, the world in which the Canadian Frontier arose and prospered changed and the Frontier disappeared. The French and Indian War restricted the numbers of voyagers to a handful. The vision of the French habitants changed from that of an open continent in which to trade for furs, to a river valley in which to farm and sell their produce. The leadership of the fur trade changed from French entrepreneurs to British businessmen. The British, who fought to wrest the Ohio Valley from the French, tried to close it to their own colonists. Ultimately, the colonials who fought to take the Ohio Valley from the French took it from the British with French aid. The Indians who had tried to play one power against the other, found that, in contributing to the downfall of the French regime, they had traded a benevolent, cooperative colonial power for one which would take their land and destroy their culture.

Professor Eccles has told the early history of much of our continent with insight and a skilled writing style. The supporting notes and bibliography guide the reader to sources for further research and reading. "The Canadian Frontier" is a must for anyone with an interest in the history of New France.
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I love these small pocket size (really) Berlitz travel guides. So I was really looking forward to this one. And I will admit...I didn't blow up the cover of the book to see that the title was actually in Spanish...and I do read a smattering of Spanish...but I was NOT expecting a guide totally written in Spanish. As I said orginally, it appears to be a great guide...if only I was FLUENT in Spanish. Now...if I could just find this guide in English.....

It looks like this would be an extremely helpful book on Cancun and Cozumel. However, I couldn't say for sure because it is in Spanish. This was not posted at all on the site where it is ordered, so be aware of this before ordering! If you do read spanish, it looks like a great handbook, easy to carry, and lots of information

Sometimes you just want to read something that warms your heart. Something that is so rich and abundant with kindliness and warmth that you have to pause several times in your reading to ponder and absorb. The author must have been a very "nice boy." A nice boy with kaleidoscope vision and compassion.

Nothing fancy. Just plain home-cooking, albeit sometimes spicy, like the chilaquilas recipe in the book, which incidently, is wonderful!

I have never read a book about my hometown. This book took me back to my childhood days, and what it meant to grow up in a border town where everyone knew each other, everyone was friendly, there was no racism and you could sleep with the door unlocked, leave your keys in the car and it was safe. It also brought sadness at the same time, since Nogales is not the same Nogales of the fifties, sixties, seventies and even part of the eighties. It has grown extensively, has crime, and is no longer the little friendly town I once knew and loved.

Albert was at Nogales High School at the same time as I. He has truly written a BEAUTIFUL memoir of what my little childhood town was.I knew his family, his father married my husband and I and his mom pierced my ears. I was saddened by the fact that his father had passed away,(since we moved to culture shock California 10 years ago,I don't have much contact with Nogalians). But, believe me,you don't have to be from Nogales to enjoy this little marvel of a book.

We speak Spanish and want our children to learn, so we purchased this book. The story is fun and the pictures are nice. We read it to them in Spanish, and they read it in English, as it has both languages. Our hopes are that when they become familiar with the story, they will read it in Spanish too!

A wonderful story for Kindergarten-3rd grade readers. Recipe for cornmeal pancakes is outstanding and both my girls loved it. The pancakes are tender, flavorful, and have a slight crunch from the cornmeal. I serve the pancakes smeared with strawberry jam and my girls won't eat pancakes any other way.

I am a Kindergarten teacher who has read this book to many classes. They love it! Many little children relate to Carlos and his aversion to baths. I understand there are flaws in the translation, but, as a read aloud for children it scores big.

This book is extremely funny. Most of the children hate to take baths. This book has beautiful colored pages and the Spanish language is clear, fluent and well used. I recommend this book to be use in the classroom for English language learners or for dual inmersion settings.

Excellent map...used it to navigate over 2,600 miles in Mexico...and very pleased it was accurate and easy to read.

It came when they said it would, in perfect condition. We will be using it to travel aroung Mexico this fall!!!! Very easy to read.

This book is written very nicely. The tone is very personnal and to an extent intimate. The difficult subject is treated very well. The painting reproductions are of great quality. The research is very complete.

I had been waiting for years for someone to put together a comprehensive book on the casta painting genre. The book contains many, many beautiful reproductions and there are even ones that I had not seen before. And Katzew's thesis on the subject puts together every other piece of information I have ever been able to find in one place and weaves in her own views. In todays society we can learn a lot about how we work in regards to race politics from casta painting and this book in particular.

This book is a chilling true account of the disappearance and murder of Mark Kilroy and thirteen others in 1989 makes you wonder just how many more cults like this are out there and makes you think twice about allowing a loved one under 30 to travel the border country alone and unarmed.

Whoever said fact was stranger than fiction never read this one. If they had, they would have said "No story ever conceived by mortal mind could approach the real-life horror if non-fiction." This one will give you the creeps, no kidding, and -beware- the nganga will get you!!

I really enjoyed this book on Mexican Pottery. I really think that the layout of this book was perfect, and all the captions for the pictures were very insightful. I feel that I learned a lot from this book, and i can't wait till the author creates another title, because I feel that whatever she produces will be amazingly educational to read. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the pottery, or just anyone who would like to learn a little bit.

As a long time collector and appreciate of my time spent in Mexico, this book provides any excellent representation of folk art, past and present. Lastima, that they are not more widely appreciated outside of Mexico. This well photographed catalogue opens an opportunity to explore the beauties of Mexican culture. Highly recmmended.

Young people will be delighted in addition to being informed. And even adults will be charmed by the personal history of Gwinn Vivian, who grew up in glorious, mysterious Chaco Canyon and became the "living history" reporter on this amazing place. We are so lucky to have this book to enlighten our minds and our hearts.

Young people will be delighted in addition to being informed. And even adults will be charmed by the personal history of Gwinn Vivian, who grew up in glorious, mysterious Chaco Canyon and became the "living history" reporter on this amazing place. We are so lucky to have this book to enlightened our minds and our hearts.