South America Books

My husband and I bought the book while onboard a ship cruising thru the Panama canal, the author was giving a speech about lost treasure. After the speech we spoke with him about his research, then purchased the book, it was spellbinding! My husband who never reads, could not put it down, and spent many hours reading. We even bought a copy for a friend at home, who is now also enjoing it. Worth reading even for those "non" readers. Full of adventure and dangers.

A King's Ransom by Michael Cole is an involving novel about three men and a woman who set out to obtain the Golden Disk of the Sun -- a priceless Inca treasure lost within the Amazon jungle. Yet personality rifts disrupt the team, and the threats and hardships of the jungle take their inevitable toll. Catalina Rivera's resolve is sorely tested, and the ultimate prize bears more than one price in this page-turning narrative. A King's Ransom documents Michael Cole as an original and gifted storyteller and will leave the reader looking eagerly toward his next effort.

It's one of the best action/adventure stories I've ever read. Once I started it I coudn't put it down. The story is a lot more than just a quest for gold. What really held my inerest were the characters. They seemed so real that I actually expected them to jump off the page!

You won't have any trouble finding just one or two photographs in this book that will make it worth the cost of purchase alone. This is the most economic concise source of good early Knoxville photographs available. If you would like to get a glimpse of Knoxville of your youth, or much earlier, then this one is for you!

This is one of the best books ever printed on Knoxville, TN and worth every penny for the rare photographs of early life in the city. Mr. Hooper has done an excellent job in bringing history back to the masses and made it fun to read. Anyone who has ever lived, worked or was born in the city will love this book.

I found this book to be fascinating and a breath of fresh air from the usual "archive" authoring that comes from such books. I only wished there were more pages. Numerous friends who are natives to the city have found antique photos of relatives they never knew existed. Certainly worth the money just to see the real history of a city and the real people - not the politicians and patricians- that made Knoxville. Good read!

Sherman writes about true Latin America leaving out morals and biais. It is a very fast paced book. It is very easy to follow. I recommend this book to everybody, especailly to anyone whose major involves Latin America. I go to college where Sherman teaches and he class follows right along with the book.

This book is definitely one of a kind. A 'must-have' for every single Latin American living abroad or in his/her native country. This book should be of compulsory use in secondary schools in all Latin American countries. Truly, an eye opener to all senses!

This wonderfully writen book takes a look at the factors that have kept (and continue to keep) the Latin American masses in near-absolute poverty. This is an excellent book for anyone with an open mind who is trying to understand the present day politics and economics of the area.

The is a most impressive analysis of economic, political, social and cultural life in Latin America. This excellent book offers an holistic approach to understanding these changes, relating them to the wider processes of modernization and globalization. An international group of scholars with impressive credentials and from a wide range of disciplines attempt to contextualize their different disciplinary foci within a broad political economic approach that provides a critical yet balanced view and detailed analysis of the neoliberal policies pursued by almost all countries in the region. They contend that a new political economy is being contructed in Latin America, as national economies become radically reconstructed and transformed, democracy becomes the instituional norm, and new social arrangements are being created. The constestation and alternatives to this new global modernity are also explored. In sum, this excellent book fulfills a much needed market niche for students, scholars, and the educated avid reader, who require an interdisciplinary and contemporary approach to Latin American development.

Roberto Cabello-Argandona

This book is really an anthology or a collection of publications on the matter of social modernization of Latin America. I like the fact that there are many charts/stats of real data to back up these writers' observations and statements.

Somewhat academic, but not erudite - so useful for anyone in int'l business with L.A.

Robert Gwynne and Cristobal Kay have put together an impressive and timely analysis of current trends in Latin American Development. The coverage of the countries of the region is excellent, as is that of their economic, political, and social trends...The range of issues raised and the quality of their documentation make this an excellent text for teaching and for research. Prof. Bryan Roberts, University of Texas at Austin

This book is the one to read if you want to understand the violence--both public and private--that shook Latin America in the last 15 to 20 years. Hollander goes behind cliches about "latin", "Argentinians" and other pat explanations for the Dirty War, the coup in Chile and other right-wing activity against both soldier and civilian. Hollander shows both the class and psychological underpinnings of this period, intertwining marxist theory with psychoanalytic insight. She tells the story through ten psychoanalysts who fought the military in their various countries, who had to either flee or go into hiding, but who all strove to understand their countries. The combination of the analytical and human stories is spellbinding.

Hollander has done a marvelous job of situating her subject in the context of modern Latin American history. Using this book as a supplemental text, teachers can enrich courses in political science, sociology, anthropology, Latin American studies and 20th century history. For certain courses in social psychology this book is essential. Students of the history and psychology of the Holocaust will want to read Hollander. High school teachers who have had "Facing History" training will find this book full of suggestive ideas and curriculum materials.

Not many US psychologists know a lot about psychology in Latin America, whether in terms of history or theory. Nancy Caro Hollander's book provides an interesting introduction to both through the use of historical memoir centering upon six prominent psychologists--many of them European emigres--situated in the Southern Cone region (Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay). Her narrative examines how their classical psychoanalytic training, animated yet challenged by their Marxist political commitments, ultimately unfolded and became transformed in the crucible of the revolutionary (and counter-revolutionary) political environment of mid-century Latin America. These psychologists developed and courageously enacted a personally, professionally, and politically risky activist psychotherapeutic praxis which stands as an interesting counterpoint to traditional US approaches. This book will be an enlightening and thought-provoking read for those psychologists who are genuinely interested in cross-cultural perspectives on psychological theory and praxis, politically-engaged psychology, activist psychology, and/or history of psychology from a global perspective. The book's interdisciplinary approach, which combined history, political science, and psychology, was quite intellectually stimulating. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

This book, while serving as an excellent and colorful children's fairy tale, also has some layers that are invisible to the untrained eye, but satisfying for the person with a little knowledge of modern Salvadoran history. Although the concept of the cadejo goes back a long way in Central American culture, Argueta has hidden a subtle commentary on the political history of El Salvador inside this fun-loving tale. It's no coincidence, for instance, that the number 14 occurs in the description of the landowners who send the lead soldiers to teach a lesson to those workers who have the nerve to think they should get to rest once in a while, or eat; look up the reference "fourteen families" (catorce familias in Spanish) to make the allusion emerge clearly within this charming tale.

Don't get me wrong -- if you want your child simply to read this story as a fairy tale, that will be possible, even easy to accomplish. The story stands on its own two (four?) feet without any need to introduce the allegorical aspects. All the same, there's a good reason this story was excerpted for an intermediate college Spanish textbook ... there's a lot more going on here than meets the eye.

i'm currently living in El Salvador and found this book online when looking for traditional Salvadorean legends on which to base a drama production. I was delighted by the story, which is accessibly presented in both English and Spanish, and which features enchanting details to make adults smile as they read to their children. The beautiful illustrations add to the enjoyment of this story - I intend to buy a copy to send to my 2 year old godson in England - he will adore it.

This is an excellent story, well told with colorful illustrations. It opens children's eyes to compassion, offering a story of hope and reconciliation. Excellent for children and for adults, too - it went over well in a class in Hispanic culture at Wofford College.

Missionaries and colonialism go hand in hand. There is are many accounts of missionaries paving the road for colonial powers. Some of the teaching was that the kingdom of Africans was to be set up in heaven if and only if they would be slaves to whiles. Many twisted ideas. Missionaries are truly evil because they knew what they were doing. Many many missionaries were caught for pedophilia in Philippines and Thailand and other areas of the world. Two years ago, a child prostitution ring conducted by missionaries was broken in Peru...there are many examples of atrocities committed by missionaries around the world.

A brave, intelligent and socially responsible account of the dastardly work of recent North American missionary organisations, often in cohort with morally corrupt government officials, in their quest to "civilise" or exterminate "less Godly" ancient cultures in remoter regions of the world. The book focuses on South America but has many ramifications for other parts of the world where - frighteningly - such atrocious activities are ongoing today in different forms but essentially with the same bag of tricks, most recently in several tsunami hit countries in 2005. The author calmly exposes the extent to which supposedly Christian organisations are prepared to go, possibly in pursuit of their own very contorted, self serving ideals. A rare fascinating look under the skin of modern missionaries, the book deserves wide coverage.

This book reveals the scandalous abuse of indigenous tribes from all over the world but especially South American. It leads one to believe that all US non-conforming off-the-wall religious sects should be banned from all foreign travel. I thought that such barbarity in the name of religious conversion had ended centuries ago. This book should be serialised in a broadsheet newspaper of repute so that it can be brought to general attention the criminality of the US missionaries. All South American governments should prohibit their activity and put an end to their preying on innocent people of the world

This wonderful collection of short stories is ideal for either learning Spanish for the first time, or, as in my case, reviewing the language over 20 years after first studying it. The stories are interesting, with a mixture of commonly-used words and unusual ones. Having both Spanish and English versions side by side makes it very easy to go back and forth to check the meanings of unfamiliar words. I love it!

This compilation of Latin-American folktales is very interesting for young and old alike. This book, along with Drum, Chavi, Drum! (by Mayra L. Dole) and Trinos Choice (by Diane Gonzales Bertrand), are the three best books I have read this year.

This marvelous collection of folk tales from Latin America works beautifully for read-alouds to children from ages 8 up. Each tale is included in both English and Spanish version,with varieties such as "horror" stories, stories of magic and others. My students have especially enjoyed "The Flying Skeleton" [El esqueleto volador] and "The Rooster's Claw" [Pata del gallo], a particularly delightfully grim variation of "The Monkey's Paw." Highly recommended

This is a wonderful book for the intermediate guitarists and the determined advanced beginner. The songs not only sound great, but are arranged to be easily accessible on the guitar. If you are looking to strengthen your reading abilities, this book works very well. You see, musical notation is contained in the first half of the book, and tab. in the second. So this gives you the oppurtunity to check yourself when you are not sure if you are reading the notes properly. I suppose it is a way to test your site reading abilities. This book also contains 23 songs which should keep you busy for some time. All of these songs are a joy to play. No fillers here.

I'm impressed with these compositions/arrangments. The music is compelling and it's easy to play. I consider myself an intermediate player, and I was able sightread most of the book. Looks like about a one month project to get it all polished. It's a good and easy way to build some nice repertoire.

About the CD: I'm guessing it's included here to make it easier to learn the pices (especially if you have to use tab) but the tempos are, for the most part, too slow. I found many of the pieces much more enjyable at more moderate tempos.

I like this collection so much I may buy his flamenco collection...

My second favorite of his books (the collection of Ancient Music for Flute and Guitar is my favorite), this collection is worth the price just for the CD alone. Even though only an intermediate guitarist (who started guitar way too late in life), I am still able to play most of the pieces with some determination.

Among the surprises which I found in this collection and particularly liked are Buenos Reyes, and Ay,Ay,Ay and O Cantiga das Sombras (I particularly appreciate his courage in attempting and succeeding in arranging one of these ancient Iberian hymns to Mary - which are wonderful). Brazilian Lullaby, a relatively easy song to play, may stick in your mind (as it did mine) a long time. I find myself coming back to this book (and the CD) very often.

I agree with both previous reviews. Cannot really add anything other than it was completely enjoyable to read and certainly sheds new light on many aspects of how we have viewed and are now viewing the Maya and their spectacular civilzation...so nice toknow that the longer the culture existed the better off the lot of the common people.

There are many books written on the subject of the Maya civilization. What sets

Jeremy Sabloff's book apart from the rest is how he approaches the subject. He refers

to his book as a story, and provides his reader with a very concise overview of the Maya

civilization. The clarity of his text enhances the usefulness of the book, which in turn

broadens the audience from anthropology students to anyone interested in learning

about the Maya. Sabloff sets out his `story' to combine history, theory, methods and

fieldwork and best describes the text in his own preface, an "attempt to explain how

early archaeologists arrived at the `traditional model' of ancient Maya civilization that

was popular in the first half of the century and how fieldwork has given birth to new

discoveries of the Maya." (Sabloff, preface). The text is broken down into six chapters

and in each chapter he uses subheadings to organize his interpretation of the

information and to reveal an accurate knowledge of Maya studies.

Using Maya archaeology as an extended study, Sabloff uses relevant sites

during specific time periods as case studies to examine the area he wishes to describe

to his reader.

The first chapter is entitled `Growth of Modern Scientific Archaeology',almost

beginning were the preface left on in terms of what Sabloff views as the `traditional

model' of early Maya archaeology. This begins with the idea of what stream of

questions the archaeologist should ask. In the `traditional model', Sabloff shows that

the `what' and `where' questions of the past are no longer as relevant as the newly

replaced `why' and `how' shift. It is in this chapter that Sabloff introduces the first of

many different scholars to emphasize each section. Schiffer and Binford are discussed

as well as one of their more popular methodological issues of the past, linked cultural

activities.

The next two chapters give the reader a contrast with the `traditional model' of

ancient civilization and new views of the classic period. With these topics, Sabloff

refers to the findings of Morley and Thompson in chapter two and Willey and

Proskouriakoff in the following section. The way he introduces these scholars is one of

respect. Sabloff does not bash the early ideas of archaeologists (knowing now that the

information is not thorough), he describes their work prior to the archaeological

revolution as successful and that many of their ideas were not wrong, just not

developed enough. With regards to the later of the four scholars, Sabloff explains

Proskouriakoff's remarkable findings from the Usumacinta River sites of Piedras and

Yaxchilan and the breakthrough idea that Maya texts record history. What Sabloff

seems to stress is that with each decade, the scholars and the information they have

gathered help the next generation of archaeologists in their quest to better understand

Maya civilization.

Chapter four evaluates new views of the Pre-classic and Post-classic period.

Sabloff introduces specific case studies such as the areas of Chichen Itza and

Cozumel. By focusing in on these areas, Sabloff is able to convey to his reader an

understanding of what archaeology can accomplish.

The remaining two chapters analyze the emergence of a new model and takes a

look at archaeology under this new modern world. Sabloff highlights the scholars

Webster and Gonlin and their research on the emergence of more distant rural

areas among the Maya subareas.

With each chapter, Sabloff gives the reader a new finding in terms of Maya

civilization. He frequently looks for parallels between ourselves and the Maya which

make this civilization even more real and exciting to the reader. The `story' concludes

with Sabloff asking questions to the reader, and having read the book, the questions

encompass so much information in only a few lines. Sabloff leaves the reader thinking

as well as feeling confident enough to ponder the questions himself.

After the final word has been read, there are ten pages of further readings listed

by chapter, which include everyone mentioned in the book and then some.

`The New Archaeology and the Ancient Maya' is lavishly illustrated with

photographs, site plans and maps all of which are in colour. All of these visual aids in

conjunction with the accurate read, help to summerize this complicated subject with

success. Sabloff hits his target perfectly with how he feels this story should be told,

his story is "to understand the development of a past culture, not find lost arks".

I found this book very informative. It demonstrates how much archaeology and our knowledge of the Maya has changed since the Mayan ruins were first 'discovered' in the 19th century.

The cultural biases of the early archaeoligts now explain many of the 'facts' put forward in early books on this subject. Acutally many of these 'facts' were just guesses, but because they were put forward by prominent people they were taken on face value. Much of the work, especially since the 1960's has disproved or changed out of recognition these early 'facts'.

The last overview book on the Maya I read had them as peace loving people in lovely cities in the jungle, who just "gave it all up for no decent reason". This book completly changed my view on that. It made me realise on how slim a foundation many of the earlier works lay.

I'd reccomend this book to anybody who wants to know how much archaeology has changed - and why what these people have discovered is not only in the past, but also has a bearing on us today..