A must-read book to understand México's post-modern conscious. Meyer and Beezley are right when they wrote that a mix of Catholic dogma, medical advances and poverty had been the pillars of México's current population (about 100 million). The analysis on the indigenous matter is brilliant. It's a reminder on how México hasn't solved the indigenous problem even after almost 200 years as an independent country. The authors dissect the socioeconomic web that gave birth to the concept of the modern Mexicano.

Paddling through Minnesota with Greg is a delighful trip. I've been using Paddling Northern Wisconsin as a guide and now I have two wonderful guides and lots of rivers to cross!!!

If you've traced your Polish ancestors back to turn-of-the-century Chicago, You will find a lot of valuable insights on their experience by reading this book. The life of any new immigrant was never very easy in this country and Pacyga leads you through all of the hardships that these determined people faced. Unfortunately, Pacyga's focus shifts away from the immigrant towards the end of the book and he includes an in-depth history of Chicago's labor unions. Although the unions certainly affected the Polish immigrant's life, I thought that too much of the divergent chapters were off-subject. But, don't let that discourage you from reading it. There is real American history being told here.

In Poor Whites of the Antebellum South, Charles Bolton effectively reveals the economic, social, and political complexity of landless white tenants and laborers in antebellum North Carolina and Mississippi. Through census and tax records, court and insolvent debtor documentation, and personal accounts, the lives of Old South poor whites paint a picture that tells far more of their dynamic story than does the stereotypical label "white trash." Bolton focuses on four counties of the South: Randolph and Davidson counties in the central Piedmont of North Carolina and Pontotoc and Tishomingo counties in northeast Mississippi. Arguably the most notable characteristic of the poor whites was their mobility and versatility. Many of them made frequent relocations because of their need to look for employment and the desire to make economic advancements. Poor whites, such as Edward Isham, possessed a wide range of marketable skills since the slave labor in the South made long-term jobs hard to find. Although the most common occupation was a tenant farmer or farm laborer, some poor white males worked as railroad workers, miners, and stock drivers. The wives of these men, like the yeomen, were responsible for many domestic chores, as were the children; however, unlike the yeomen, many poor white women worked outside the home. The meager wages of the poor whites gave them enough money to pay for food, but personal property was scarce (the lack of material possessions facilitated their frequent moves). With regards to the slave society of the antebellum South, poor whites basically disrupted the line between white independence and black dependence. Free blacks and poor whites had many things in common, being as they represented the backbone of the South's workforce - often working side by side in the fields. Both of the groups had horrible clothing, substandard housing, and unhealthy food. Some free blacks and poor whites even engaged in the illegal exchanging of goods such as liquor, while others gathered to gamble, drink, or make love. However, factors such as white racism, kinship ties, religion, and mobility, prevented the development of any political alliance between landless whites and blacks. Between 1830 and 1850, many poor whites began moving to the southwest frontier of the cotton kingdom in hopes of acquiring wealth and land. For the most part, however, poor white emigrants failed to become landowners. The unfortunate story of Benjamin Scarborough, whose dreams of becoming a landowner, was more common than the rags to riches story of Thomas Allred. In Mississippi, for example, the poor whites had several unpromising options: they could obtain the worst land in the area, they could travel elsewhere, or they could live as squatters or tenants on decent land owned by speculators and wealthy planters. Most of them pressed farther west towards Texas and Arkansas, but few found prosperity. Overall, this book is an interesting and comprehensive look at the lives of poor whites of the antebellum South. Bolton's strongest tool in making his presentation is his use of individual stories. The tales of the various poor whites supplies powerful imagery for the reader, and without these personal accounts the book would not be as effective.

Bernardino de SAHAGUN worked a sixty years to concept and write his "Historia Universal de las cosas de Nueva España", also known as "Codex florentinus". This is his first step. The text is in nahuatl (the second part presents an English translation) with splendid free-hand drawings.

This book was good I got to see what I wanted to see like a map of michigan that I have been looking for, it took me a long time to find what I needed to find and I found it thanks to this book.

It shows all of the major highways and interstates and is very easy to read.

This is a great map of St. Louis if you're interested in the downtown area, Forest Park and the areas near it, and a few of the closer suburban areas like Clayton and University City. The level of detail is great, it's easy to read, and the stiff folding format is much easier to handle and more durable than traditional paper maps. So this is a great map to keep handy for touring or if you live in these parts of the city. For areas farther west or out of town in other directions the small scale map on the reverse isn't detailed enough to be really helpful.

In his work titled The Rise of Africa Slavery in the Americas, David Eltis approaches the subject with the aim of highlighting "the tensions that emerge as people pursue goals, moral or material, that cannot be achieved at once or are at odds with some aspect of their individual or their system of belief." Here, Eltis attempts to clarify the "How?" of slavery. While offering a great insight into the intentions and rational of European enslavement of Africans, Eltis does not provide a revolutionary new view of slavery. His work is centered around proving that "it was not just European power and resources that made overseas expansion possible, but also the subcontinent's odd social structure and values." Eltis adds support to the evidence that Africans not only played a significant role in the development of the Atlantic Slave Trade but that the success of the trade was more due to the strengths of the African traders and the strength of number among the enslaved.

I have both guidebooks available for Desolation Canyon, and I have run the river twice the past two years. I prefer this one to the Belknap waterproof guide. Belknap is in color and lists where the rapids are, but with Rampton's book you get a better description and rating of each rapid. You have marks on the map denoting where you can get out to scout. You have a more thorough list of side trips and hikes available, at least the mile marker at which they are located, although the details of the hikes ie. how long it takes and so forth are not good. It makes a good effort at listing all available camp sites, and even highlights a few of my favorites.

The map has a more topographic details as well, and makes it easier to tell exactly where you are as you go downriver.

All in all, a better and more informational guide than its counterpart (which isn't available on Amazon for some reason), but like with all river guides, its limitations include the fact that no river is the same each time. It changes with river volume, season, and the natural erosion and rockshifting that goes on year to year. It's a no frills book in black and white but I highly recommend it to anyone who got lucky and won a permit to run this beautiful river.