Although Mr. Gallop's cultural knowledge of the Basque's (at least the French Basques) was very in depth, as a Student of Spanish Literature at UCLA, I found it dreary, pompous, and inclined to one side of the Pyrenees. The author assumed that his readers knew French. Well I'm sorry, I only know English, Castilian, Italian, and a little Catalan. Another unfortunate point is that it did not offer anything past 1930, which was probably my fault. But I see that progress has been made over seventy years. It wasn't until the later chapters of this book that there were signs of life. It is a shame because there is little affordable information for students out there. Until there is, I will continue buying my books from the true source, Spain!

I usually don't review books that have already been reviewed, but I think the customer below severely misjudged this book.

First of all, the reason why it doesn't go much beyond 1930 is because that's when it was published. British folklorist Rodney Gallop was a pioneer in the field of Basque anthropology and "A Book of the Basques" was one of the earliest (and remains one of the most readable) attempts to explain Basque culture to the English-speaking world.

Gallop inclined heavily toward the French side of the Pyrénées for two reasons. First, that's where he did most of his research. Second, as he points out in the book, the French Basque Country -- at least up to the time he wrote -- had always been much less heavily industrialized than its Spanish counterpart, making it much more ideal for an anthropologist's study. The ancient traditions of the Basques survived more intact in France and, additionally, the French Basques were more culturally "introspective" than their Spanish cousins; that is, they never played as prominent a part in the national life of France as did the Spanish Basques in Spain and its empire. Consequently, they remained much closer to their "roots", so to speak.

Unlike the reviewer below, I thought the book was extremely well written and a fantastic source of information on traditional Basque folklife. Gallop does quote a lot from French, but he wrote in a time when you weren't considered educated until you knew a little French, and a little Latin, too. (In other words, don't blame Gallop -- blame yourself!). The book is divided into chapters on such aspects of Basque folklife as language and literature, folksongs, folkdance, proverbs, Basque houses, superstition and witchcraft, fishermen and corsairs (!), decoration, and that great game, "pelote". Additionally, the author discusses some of the many theories regarding the mysterious origins of the Basques, which, admittedly, is of less interest today than it was in 1930 (the Golden Age of bogus racial theories!).

Unfortunately, much of the book has to be shifted into the past tense today, since the traditional Basque folkways Gallop describes have grown more and more obsolete since he wrote. But as work of history, it's still a classic and is destined to remain one. A+

It's a shame that more people don't know about the life of Frederick Douglass. He goes beyond being just a "Neat Guy" or somebody who overcame something bad, as the author tries to show. McFeely's book does an adequate job of showing the long list of Douglass' accomplishments that would impress anyone during any era while reminding people that this was a guy who couldn't read until he was a teenager. Douglass found a balance between the brute force of mind and body to clear intimidating obstacles from his path and create a life that he seemed to enjoy. Readers will know of his thirst to learn, an escape to the North, fist fights on the docks as a ship caulker, his lectures and writings, world travel, role of advisor to several President's, newspaperman, Bank President (that didn't go too well) and even an Ambassador who defied the Navy. McFeely's one annoying tendency is pretending to know what Douglass was thinking and feeling at any given moment - as if the book was concocted after a seance. Douglass left ample writings upon his death, but was relatively unemotional and guarded about his inner thoughts. Fine. McFeely needed to use more letters and writings of contemporaries to try and fill in gaps and give meaning to Douglass' actions, not provide speculation mixed with fact. In the end, readers are left with a book that does well at describing an independent, forceful and determined man who left an impression on this country like a thumbprint on wet concrete. If you can brush aside McFeely's subjective Oprahization of Douglass' inner thoughts, then you can enjoy the book.

Looking for a biography of the former slave turned lecturer and abolitionist, I came across this work by author McFeely. The first section regarding the birth and circumstances of Douglass' flight to freedom was full of what I consider "psychobabble". The author makes too many conjectures concerning the relationship of Douglass with his owner, including possible latent homosexual feelings but never includes any information to back this claim up. The story picks up when Douglass moves to New England and becomes involved in the abolistionist causes. His travels to England and his relationship with women working for the cause of women's suffrage is particularly interesting. However, the remainder of the book seems to meander with no purpose.

I am still searching for a biography which puts this man's life into context.

Frederick Douglass is an authentic American and a heroic figure. For those wishing to become aquainted with a chronicle of his life, McFeely's book will do the job.

Born a slave in Maryland, Douglass accomplished the difficult task of self education in an era when slaves were not taught under penalty of law. "Running away with himself" (as Southerners used to describe slaves who escaped) twenty years before the Civil War, he became one of our country's great orators in telling the tale of his life as a bondsman and urging that America embrace emancipation of all slaves. He was perhaps the anti-slavery movement's best spokesman. Not only for the sheer eloquence with which he captivated audiences, but as living proof that a black could be educated to a level reached by few people of any race.

Douglass did his part for the Union in the Civil War and bought into Republicanism as the best political vehicle for achieving the end of slavery and the leveling up of blacks to their rightful place in American society. His hopes were frustrated after the Civil War when his party turned away from Reconstruction and blacks were subjugated anew by racism, indifference and Jim Crowism.

Douglass was an idealist in that he believed that America could be exhorted into granting slaves not only their freedom but their civil rights and social equality. His country failed his vision miserably and he ended his life personnally successful (as successful as his skin color could take him in the 1890's) but very distraught at the chasm between his hopes for a free America and the reality.

This is an adequate book, though dry at times. It follows Douglass chronologically. In episodes where his life was a fascinating story -- as a slave, his escape, his establishment in the North, as a politician and as US minister to Haiti -- the book is a fascinating tale. Not so fascinating are long accounts of his work on the road delivering speeches as an agent of the anti-slavery movement. Part of the problem with writing a biography of a man who was in large part a professional orator is that the chapters focusing on that work are not very exciting. Mcfeely spends a lot of ink detailing his journies on the stump and his meetings with many characters who were part of the American and English anti-slavery movements. Douglass's life flow, when examined chronologically, produces a story of varying degrees of drama. Although any biograhpher is limited by his character, I had the feeling throughout that Douglass's life could be told with more verve without sacrificing the facts.

What McFeely should have jettisoned were several parts where he delved into psychobabble -- speculations about sexual attraction or the depth of feeling between Douglass and several figures in his life. Human feelings and attractions are an important part of any biography and certainly shaped Douglass's life. McFeeley speculates on several without any facts to support his views. These are relegated to the first half of the book and do not intrude greatly, however.

If one needs or wants to learn about the life of this great American, McFeeley's book will fill the bill.

This book started out as a good overview of terrorism. How words will define the reality of a situation, how terrorism depends on the media for the terror effect, how terrorist attacks are random while still having a target, and a fairly good discussion of how terrorism is defined. However, at about the halfway point, the book became too focused towards the ETA, a terrorist organization supporting Basque nationalists. This book went from a discussion of terrorism, to a discussion of how the police were abusing their power while trying to fight the ETA. I suppose it covered the topic well, but it was annoying because I wanted a book on terrorism in general, not a book about the ETA and the police.

Some ethnographies can inspire you to read more about a particular society. Others can make you want to emulate the authors and try to write a similarly empathetic work on a certain culture. I'm always looking for ethnographies that will inspire students to get interested in anthropology or some relatively-unknown part of the world. There are also ethnographies that, while painstakingly researched and written, prove to be so incredibly dull that you only ache to reach the end. I'm afraid that this volume is one of the latter.

DEATH IN MURELAGA is a study of social relationships in Spanish Basque society in the 1960s. Chapter One sets the background and Chapter Two gives a description of behavior and ritual surrounding death. As do many other authors, Douglass uses a large number of terms from the people studied. In terms of ethnographic accuracy, this is no doubt a good idea, but for those of us who are not now specialists and have no plans to be, his widespread use of Basque words is excessive. One might forgive the author if the book were more interestingly written. Alas. Chapters Three through Six examine the various levels of social organization in the village and try to show the significance of death as a defining and activating agent for the social units. The continuity of a house or household on a specific piece of property is paramount. Thus, as death is a major threat to that continuity, the rituals which "paper over" the torn society and ensure that things go on are very important. DEATH IN MURELAGA has an unfortunate tendency towards incredible detail. Specialists on Basque society will find this book a must for understanding their focus 40 years ago (and I assume will give it five stars for utility), and scholars of funerary ritual around the world may find this dull but useful. Nobody else could possibly absorb the information presented here. There is no personal experience or description. Almost no Basque voice breaks the sound of the author's monotone. If the book were theoretically strong, such faults could be overlooked easily, but endless categorizing and bare description (in the present tense) of "typical" behavior dominate all. The author also has an unfortunate tendency to say what Basques do NOT do, implying the existence of some Super List of funerary customs.

I found DEATH IN MURELAGA somewhat contrived. The author described social relationships, then showed how they were reflected in rituals related to death. He then claims to have written a study of social relationships "seen through funerary ritual". In my opinion the two things were discussed separately, only tied together loosely. The rituals did not explain the social relationships. This method of examining ritual has long been outmoded. Douglass explained social relationships himself, pictured the rituals himself. What did they all mean to the Basques ? Not included. The benefit of this method of organizing a book seems very small. A few other anthropologists' work is cited in the last ten pages and Douglass asks why death and death-related activities occupy such a prominent place in the Basque world view. His answer is short, but by that point, all but the most determined reader have ceased to care. DEATH IN MURELAGA is an ethnography which has not stood the test of time.

Am I the only one who knows that Mr. Douglass lost his mother at an early age and that contrary to this book, she was not a major influence in his life? The author didn't do his homework. This book is full of inaccuracies about Douglass' life.