This book untangles politics in Yucatán's henequen zone at the transition from Porfiriato to Revolution. It seeks to join middle level political history with the "uncertain terrain of social history and political culture at the grassroots (iv)." From this juncture, Wells and Joseph propose to explain the success of Yucatán's Merída oligarchy in staving off change in the absence of the Porifirian regime and in the face of widespread dissent and revolt. So successful was this oligarchy that, "the Mexican Revolution would have to fight its way into the peninsula with an army of seven thousand troops (1)." The success of Merída's export oligarchy against change is a comparative case, the authors argue, for Central America and the Southern Cone illustrative of "the capacity of local (or national) oligarchies (such as Yucatán's henequen planters or El Salvador's coffee barons) to 'hang on,'. . . even in the face of escalating social challenges,. . . local rebellions,. . and multiclass coalitions (iii) ." Part one, titled "Summer of Discontent, Oligarchy and Its Costs, 1876-1909," examines the factional politics of Merída's oligarchy within the Porfirian state. It details how Porfirian patronage first quelled Yucatán's chronic political instability, and later abetted the exclusive dominance of the Molinista faction. From Merída in the tropical jungle, the Molinista faction took economic and political control of Yucatán by forging national and international alliances, positioning itself both as the guarantor of the immense henequen profits and the broker of Dìaz's patronage. The Molinista faction held rival factions in check through manipulation of the henequen market and political repression. Repression was exercised against not only rival elites during official elections, but also against dissidents--radical liberals and labor organizers who denied the henequeros' legitimacy, and who articulated an opposing social vision. Frustrated by the entrenched Díaz-Molinista alliance, rival elite factions began courting the support of the artisans and peasants who found cause with this dissent. "Seasons of Upheaval" continues the story of henequero rule at the end of the Pax Porfiriano. In 1910, the Morenista and Pinista elite factions allied with Francisco Madero's reform movement, seeking not so much a new social pact as a means to pry the Molinistas loose from the state house. They organized in the villages along the fringe of the henequen zone, recruiting local leaders like Pedro Crespo and José Loreto Baak into their loose political organizations. Their strategy, the authors reason, was to foment enough political agitation to convince Díaz to arbitrate a compromise. Initially, the move partially succeeded, as Díaz replaced the Molinista Enrique Muñoz Arístegui with General Luis Curiel as governor. However, this bid for regional power soon spun out of the hands of the Yucatec elites. Not only did Francisco Madero briefly replace Díaz as president, leading to the collapse of the center, but the revolts in the countryside continued as aggrieved villagers and peons sought to redress the abuses of the henequeros. The desperate attempt of the Morenistas and Pinistas to unseat the Molinistas produced an opportunity for Yucatán's beleagured campesinos to turn their machetes against the masters. Over two chapters, the authors recount the major episodes of the agrarian revolts which menaced the henequen oligarchy during 1911-1913. Here, the work delves into social history and peasant studies, turning to criminal archives and oral history to reconstruct the world of the Mayan peasants. While they note that the judiciary's support of henequero hegemony in its time of crisis shaped the trial records, the detailed testimonies of the criminal cases "allow the social historian," argue Joseph and Wells, ". . . to hear the voices of the dispossessed (15)." With these, as with the oral histories, they pursue the internal dynamics of the revolts--how did they begin? Who participated in and who led these revolts? What were their purposes, and who and what were their targets? Rejecting contemporary newspaper accounts and those of later Marxist historians which depict peasants manipulated by paternalist ties for the causes of elite caudillos, they argue that the peasants pursued their own agenda, turning this "critical meeting of grievances and opportunities" into a time to settle scores and recoup community rights (185). For example, in November of 1911, armed campesinos took the cabecera Halachó in the name of Delio Moreno Cantón's party. After taking the plaza, however, the rebels cut the telegraph lines and named their own municipal authorities (237). Personal vendetta also played prominently in these rebellions. Pedro Crespo tied his fortunes to the Morenista and anti-Díaz causes as he led a pre-dawn raid on Temax on March 4, 1911 to avenge his father's murder(202). Also in early 1911, campesinos and artisans from pueblo Peto attacked the Catmís hacienda, seeking to revenge the abuses of the hacendado Arturo Cirerol and his crony Casmiro Montalvo Solis. With the support of the district prefect Solis, Cirerol had exacted "first night rights" from newlyweds on his hacienda and in the district at large. In a court action brought by Cirerol against the rebel Máximo Sabido, Sabido decried Cirerol's abuse against the campesinos' families. "These are the facts," he declared, "and they will be remembered two generations from now." As with Pancho Villa, whose sister was raped, the authors conclude that "a deep personal outrage" motivated many of the rebels on the edges of Yucatán's henequen zone (201). Despite the Morenistas' advantage at the grass roots, Delio Moreno Cantón and his supporters never arrived to the governor's house. The Huerta regime, once safely established in Mexico City, "wooed Morenismo," the authors conclude, "playing on its illusions and cravings like a hussy toying with a sugar daddy (250)." The clear miscomprehension of sexual power this equation of Huerta with a hussy expresses undermines the authors' contention that sexual outrages sparked those revolts. A hussy toys with a sugar daddy because she does not have the coercive power to take what she wants. Toying, we might say, is a weapon of the weak, a means of extracting money from The Man who controls money, the basic resource in a capitalist economy. Huerta, in control of the state apparatus, by contrast, had the power to manipulate Delio Moreno Cantón. Power is the matter of this work. And, the authors, in this metaphor, evince a poor understanding of it, perilously so in light of how important sexual expressions of dominance stand in the authors' account of Yucatán's "Seasons of Upheaval." Between 1911 and 1915, changing Revolutionary governments and the Yucatán oligarchy pursued politics on the Porfirian model with varying success. The game, though, was not the same. The demand for agrarian reform from Yucatán's campesinos remained, and that threat brought a check against a full revindication of henequero domination. Moreover, the Carrancista governors, Eleuterio Avila and Toribio de los Santos, came into office with a reform agenda. Affronted by the heavy handed administration of de los Santos, Yucatán's oligarchs stirred a desperate separatist movement which was put down by an army of seven thousand federales. In the aftermath, firing squads accomplished what Porfirian style political machinations and agrarian revolt could not--the overthrow of the henequero oligarchy. Summer of Discontent, Seasons of Upheaval is a methodologically sophisticated work which makes an important addition to the bridge being built across the divide that separates political history from subaltern studies. Summer of Discontent, Seasons of Upheaval is remarkable for its transparency and the ease which it allows the reader to enter the world of the henequen oligarchy.

I was first drawn to this book because I had known and worked with Mr. Sam Young, Sr., the 'Sun Country Banker, during the last decade of his life. I found it to be a very interesting biography that did a good job of documenting the life and accomplishments of an exceptional individual. Although I am not sure that any book can capture the true charisma, dynamics and sphere of influence of one of the most remarkable gentleman I have ever known, it does an excellent job of providing personal insite into the man and the community he loved. I highly recommend the book, especially to all Texans and El Pasoans who have a interest in their state and local history and heros.

In this book, the fictional protagonist essentially describes the authors life, according to his daughter who wrote the introduction. Struggling to be successful in the white man's world, a mixed-blood Osage Indian is really only comfortable back home on the reservation. Never feeling at home in either, he often feels isolated in both. The book follows him from boyhood on the reservation to college and military life beyond, but always returning home.

This book is an absorbing read, and is notable for being one of the first books to examine this topic intelligently. It is devoid of romanticism or New Age allusions (illusions?), but is not the inevitable sinking despair of a James Welch read. I strongly recommend it for anyone with an interest in mixed-culture and heritage topics.

John Joseph Mathew was probably the most influential Osage Indian writer yet born. A World War I Army Air Corps pilot, he was Oxford educated as a geologist, travelled the world, especially Africa, yet came back to the Osage hills in Oklahoma to be "home". He was not a "full-blood" Osage, but was a "mixed-blood" of Osage and Caucasian heritage.

In his era, it was this mixed heritage that probably allowed him to be as educated as he was. This was invaluable in his later writing career, because his books are both poetic in style and writing, capturing much of the feel of our Osage oral history and home, yet scholarly in their documentation. He wrote the first best-seller by a Native American author (Wah-Kon-Tah: the Osage and the White-Man's Road)published in 1932. Following this, he wrote a history of our tribe, (The Osages, Children of the Middle Waters) which while controversial in some aspects, is the most complete written history we have yet. He also wrote on topics of naturalism and his personal views on many topics, and a biography of an oilman, both of more or less relation to the tribe.

But in none of these books to we get a real flavor of how he *felt* about things, and the experiences that molded him. In this book, Sundown, we see an intimate personal, often painful look at a younger Mathews. This, along with Mathews' prose syle is why I recommend the book.

This cookbook as some great shortcut ideas using mixes, canned foods, and other clever shortcuts. Helps you find new uses for that canned stuff at the back of the shelf. The only drawback is the limited number of recipies, some of which are pretty bizarre (prune cookies?!?). Try the rum cake, it's great.

As the author points out, a person is much more likely to die on the job or from illness than be a victim of terrorism. However, terrorism can be so desctructive and all-encompassing, and blown out of proportion by the media, that we fear it more than common, everyday, more threatening dangers. With terrorism on the rise, and its pattern too random to predict, everyone should have some familiarization with what to do should some catastrophe strike you or your family. This book provides useful advice for potential victims, without working one up into a survivalistic frenzy.

The book is not without its drawbacks. It does take almost 2/3 of the book discussing terrorism and its tools from recent and not so recent events, before ever getting to the useful information. However, when it does get to that information, it's more than worth the price paid for the book. Useful advice on first aid, items to keep on hand, things to do should you be attacked, along with more common sense approaches to everyday threats are contained here. As one of the first post 9/11 terrorism books written, this should be studied, if only to see how our strategies are changing in dealing with the terrorism of today.

This book brings unexpected laughter each time I go through it. Cherayoff has a wonderful eye and a great sense of humer. The images are brilliant.

The book gives a broad understanding on what is going globally in the field of sustainability. The initiatives declared by the UN are stressed on. The book is suited for decision-makers, because it gives a good advice that is based on statistics. however, it does not go through the details at all. It sets up objectives and action plans, not technical solutions. It is good for city and regional planners.

If you like Milan Kundera check out this author. He speaks of human folly with humor honesty and tenderness. He addresses major human issues with incredible specificity and with a little more sensitivity than Kundera. Enjoy.

Those who remember being rankled or reassured by the political columns of the Alsop brothers during the 1950's will appreciate this thorough study of two of the most prominent journalists of their time, Joseph and Stewart Alsop.

This well written, well researched book is more than just a dual biography. It is a fascinating walk-though of the times which the Alsops reported with intelligent insights drawn from their unparalleled contacts.

Sons of a privileged Northeastern WASP family, the Alsops had the best of everything: education at Groton and then at Harvard; they had money; their cousin, Franklin Roosevelt, reigned supreme in the White House; their a great-uncle, Teddy Roosevelt, had become an historical monument. With these resources behind them, they applied their great talents as writers and their high intellects to make the most of it.

As partners in the syndicated newspaper columns, their contacts and influences put what they reported at the top of the list of "must reads". When they separated to go their separate ways, the flamboyant Joe remained a highly influential daily columnist while the more reflective Stewart won even greater praise for his Saturday Evening Post features in the days when the Post was the preeminent weekly family magazine.

The lives of the Alsop brothers paralleled the history of the United States during the mid-part of the 20th Century -- from the Depression to Reagan's election and finally the fall of the Soviet Union. It was because they participated in and reported history in the making that their biographies resonate with so much interest. We see Stewart parachuting behind enemy lines during World War II while Joe -- with General Chenault -- was chased by enemy troops over the rough terrain of China. We read of their many dinners and parties with their cousins the Roosevelts at the White House; their mutual abhorrence of Senator McCarthy; the benign acceptance but not idolatry of President Eisenhower; their love of Jack and Jackie Kennedy; their awful sorrow at President Kennedy's assassination; their encouragement and then their discouragement of the Vietnam war; the Watergate fiasco -- American history of that time in the raw -- from their perspective.

Through it all, Mr. Merry is able to paint good, memorable pictures of the flamboyant, often outrageous Joe and the down-to-earth Stewart and how they became important to the Washington of their times. This is a fine book, worth reading and owning.

Tales from the Wrecktory is a wonderful book to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon with. The characters are convincing and well developed and Father Frank Beckett is the compassionate pastor we are all looking for. In this collection of heart felt stories the priest follows that small voice within which doesn't always please his congregation or Church hierarchy and often leads to complications. But the reader knows no matter what happens Father Frank will do the right thing.