This is a beautifully-produced books with haunting photogrpahs of a Brazil that has largely vanished. The focus is on people, and the photographer captures their humanity. Excellent analysis and history too.

The photographer, Genevieve Naylor, went to Brazil after working for the Associated Press and the Roosevelt administration's photographic corps. She brought to her assignment a wonderful eye for composition and an affection for the simple aspects of Brazilian life. This is a compelling book that is beautifully printed and handsomely presented. The author does an excellent job of setting the scene, too.

Genevieve Naylor was a PSA photographer hired by Nelson Rockefeller to travel through Brazil and document how American's wartime allies lives and worked. Her large format, beautifully printed photos reveal the texture of life in a proud and vibrant country. The author of this book provides clear and highly insightful analysis of the historical context in which to understand and appreciate Naylor's genius.

This book by one of the authors of Secret Missions, offers a pleasant and often poignant glimpe of the history of Miami's Cuban community. Rather than books of this kind, the author shows his respect for Miami's Cuban community although he does not emphasize the glittering success of its most powerful indivuduals. Rather, the book covers everyone from Peter Pan arrivals to Mariel boat people and rafters. A model study, and illustrated with wonderful cartoons and photographs.

The Authors Asis and Levine have created an excellent documentary of the Cuban immigration to Miami-Dade county. The book takes one from the 1930s to the present. It explains ins and outs the Cuban life in Miami. It is a very neutral book which neither glorifies nor demeans the Cuban immigration to Miami and Florida. It simply explains the reasons of Cuban behavior which might seem somewhat confusing to a non-Cuban as well as other races and nationalities from Latin America.

Miami and Cuba had a long relationship way before the revolution came to the island nation. Many of the wealthy sugar barons, rum distillers and tobacco kings kept their cash in South Florida. Miami was the playground for the rich and famous of Cuba usually occupying more hotel space than the rather well known northern snow birds of today.

The politics of dislocation is discussed indepth to help one understand the often hostile position of Cuban-Americans toward Castro and Cuba today. Something of a surprise for me was the way the first wave of exiles often viewed the newcommers of the second wave commanly known as the Marielitos with suspicion.

The influence of wealthy Cuban businessmen of yesterday and today are felt in many places of the US in Finance, Educational Scholars, Politics and Government. They superficially touch base on this without going into a lot of detail but it still one understand from where they have come from to where they are going.

The Catholic church plays a very important role in almost all Cubans' lifes. Many of the cultural and religious specific traditions are explained in great detail. All of the refugees from the first wave and operation Pedro Pan were mainly cared for by Catholic charaties, which also reinforces their beliefs and support for the church.

Gloria Estefan, Willy Chirino, Silvio Fontanellas and other Cuban-Americans who have contributed to Cuban culture in the area of music and arts is only briefly discussed on several pages. As a passionate listner of Cuban music, I thought it would have been great if they would have introduced other Cuban musicians in South Florida but then again, this is not a publication about Cuban music.

Exiles love to dream about the Island but I think this chapter is a little bit niave as most of the Cubans think that once Castro is gone they will all return home. I have been in Europe during the fall of the wall and many of the former East Germans dreamt about going back to their former country and rebuilding their homes and reuniting their families. This all turned out to be falacy. Those that tried to come back and claim their property were detested by their families who remained in the Communist part and saw their relatives from West with a lot of suspicion. Many family reunions didn't last long and the their dreams were shattered. Things will be different when Castro is gone but it will not be like most Cuban exiles think. Family members who have stayed in Cuba the entire time will want to have their property as well, citing the suffering they have endured under Castro as their rights to the deeds. More important is that exile Cubans understand what caused the revolution and that they try to avoid the pitfalls of their predecessors.

Most companies prepare a business plan and if it is not bearing fruit after a certain amount of time they decide to try something else. Perhaps the Cuban exile community should try and persue a dialogue with Cuba. Fourty years of isolation hasn't worked guys.

Excellent! This book manages to provide a comprehensive textual documentary of the Cuban exile experience in Miami in an easy-to-read manner. It accomplishes this with its great visual exposition of photographs ranging from the early 1900's to the present time, as well as a thorough analysis of this group's migration to this country.

For those interested in understanding the Cuban-American experience, especially after the Elian Gonzalez events, this book is a must. Ironically, and it gives it more credibility, this book was written prior to the Elian saga. Yet, I think it can help answer to others why this group of opinionated, passionate, and often stubborn Cuban-Americans have reacted the way they have on the Elian debate. It indeed answers a lot of questions regarding the political, economic, and social idiosyncrasies of Cuban-Americans. Answers to such questions as why Cuban-Americans are the only Hispanic group (and probably only "minority" in this country) with an overwhelming Republican Party affiliation? Why economically Cuban-Americans have been such great implementers of the "American Dream" in such a short amount of time? Why socially Cuban-Americans are closer to the American family and religious values held in the 1950s in this country?

The authors have done a wonderful job of capturing and reporting a sense of a Cuban-nostalgic state-of-mind that only exists in the Cuban-Americans' psychic, almost frozen in time. It is a testimony of perseverance and survival to the older and first generation of Cuban exiles that arrived in this country. Their main accomplishment has been to be able to pass this "dream" or state-of-mind to the next generations. The book's last page states - "In Miami, but not in Havana, you can buy a "Cuban sandwich" and "Cuban bread," Bacardi rum and Hatuey beer." This I find ironic and hopefully fitting. Who knows? It is, I think, in the end this kind of Cuban-American capitalistic mentality which might bring back to Cuba itself a sense of Cuban identity at some point in time. Not to mention of course a sense of family and religious believes kept alive by that first generation of exiles. A sense of family and religious believes that unfortunately no longer exist in that island.

Like other groups of immigrants to this country, this book shows the Cuban-American experience as homage to the human spirit, survival, and a great tribute in itself to this great country of ours. If you're of Cuban descent and live in exile, this book will make you proud, sad, and also hopeful. If you're not of Cuban descent and living in this country, this book will make you better understand that other group of Americans residing in "Cuban Miami". And yes, it should also make you very proud of this country.

I remembered having this book in High School. Even then I recognized it's value in helping to build a large vocabulary. None of the other vocbulary books even come close. Words are grouped by type, such as words related to "sobriety". Words are also split into groups with either Latin or Greek roots. No other book does this.
I have searched in vain for a resource to buy this book for my own children until finally ordering it from Amazon. Buy this book for your High School student BEFORE he or she takes the SAT. Thanks Amazon.com for being such a great source of hard-to-find books!

As a student studying this book, the advanced vocabulary within it contains valuable information in order to succeed on achievement tests, essays, and even daily spoken language. I proudly say that this book has changed how I think, read, and feel these words. The format of this book is very laudable (I got that from the book!). Hopefully others will increase there vocabulary for the sake of knowledge and understading.

In searching for a vocabulary workbook to help my son studying for SSAT test, I stumbled into a very old edition of this book at a second-handed book store. I immediately recognized the value of this book. As you can see, English is not my mother tongue language, so studying English for me is a science. I like the way the book builds up blocks of knowledge and goes up from there. I studied it along with my son for six weeks, his SSAT test score jumped from 20 to 70 percentile. We still have a way to go, but I am happy that I found the right tool for our goal. I am looking forward to have my son taking SAT test. I know he will do well, and my English will improve at the same time. Double pleasure! Thank you Mr. Levine.

The author never forgot the time his mother, Eileen Levine, stopped an official from cutting down a neighbor's tree in Elmont (Long Island), NY. From that seed, this exciting story germinated, the story of a tough but sweet woman who saves a gingko tree and teaches us how to be a mensch in the world. Pearl and her sisters (Selma, Velma, and Wilma) grew up on Gingko Street (formerly Smith St) -- a street filled with Jewish and other immigrants, shaded by young, wide leafed, gingko trees. As time progressed, the trees grew, and people moved. Pearl stayed and the surnames changed. By the end of the book, Pearl is playing cards and hanging with her neighbors -- neighbors with Asian, African American and Hispanic surnames. They eat bagels and steamed dumplings, jalapenos and iced tea. When someone comes to cut down the last remaining gingko tree on the street, Pearl takes action, involves her neighbors, leverages the media, and gets the mayor to save the tree, plant new trees, and try her warm noodle kugel.

This is a delighfully sublte book that both children and adults will enjoy. It is about justice, about change, about pride, and about community. The illustrations are wonderful and in themselves provide many opportunities for discussion. Every school should have this book and every teacher should read it. Please check it out!

I read this book on recommmendation by a friend. Athough the language is sophisticated, the book makes Brazil in the 1890s come alive. It made me want to go out and read Da Cunha's work, too. This book is masterful and compelling, and the story it tells is tragic.

Northeast Brazil has arguably inspired more fine writing than any other region in Latin America, & Levine's book continues this tradition. The Canudos episode has had two major previous chroniclers, first Da Cunha's classic eyewitness account "Rebellion in the Backlands," & Vargas Llosa's "War of the End of the World," familiar to US readers. Levine's scholarly history does not have the literary merit of its predecessors (though it's still quite readable). But it is analytically superior, because in documenting the historical background & religious orthodoxy of the Canudos community Levine reveals his subjects as well-rounded historical actors rather than incoherent fanatics. He thus restores the humanity of this tragic episode's victims, not least by showing how they exemplified millenarian patterns found elsewhere. The well-chosen illustrations make the book visually striking too. I would not hesitate to assign the paperback to advanced undergraduates. It is the definitive modern interpretation, & ultimately it will stimulate more research & revised perspectives. We cannot ask more of a good historian.

I've been using the Typing and Keyboarding for Everyone to train over 50 clerical students in keyboarding for the past year now with great success. It's an easy reading book for beginners and those looking to just refresh lost skills. I personally would recommend it to anyone.

Behind The Curtain by Christian Thee is a delightful book for anyone interested in what happens backstage. It makes a delightful gift for theater lovers of all ages. The illustrations and the text have humor hidden throughout.

One of the best books on this topic because it not only examines Brazil's social and political problems but sees them as the legacy of past historical events and actions. The author knows Brazil intimately and conveys a sense of compassion for its people.

This book is a collection of short essays on Brazil. I found at least half to be quite interesting, though I probably skimmed about a quarter of them. Many of the essays frequently give a first hand account of life as a small farmer, favela resident or fisherman in Brazil. These essays capture and explain to the English reader the hopes, values and experiences of actual Brazilians. Most English readers gain their understanding of Brazil only second hand through academics or journalists. This book offers a fresh, reality based perspective on Brazil for English readers who haven't learned about Brazil outside of academia, the New York Times, or the beaches of Rio.

From exerpts of historical claims to letters from diplomats, from essays on slavery to descriptions of food, this book gives insights on the spirit and history of Brazil in easy to read snippets. A picture of a people emerges from original sources and non-academic evaluations that adds debth to what you will see when you go there.

I brought this book in Los Angeles on the way back from a trip to Disney with my children. I finished it almost when I arrived home. The book has great insight and should be read by Brazilians, because it presents things as they are, not as they are supposed to be. Maybe the book will be públished in Brazil some day. I hope so.