This book ties together over 500 years of Mayan history and places the current conflict in its accurate historical and cultural setting. Unlike many of the current videos and some books that have been published on Chiapas and surrounding areas of Mexico since the Zapatista uprising, the author has done the extensive research needed to sort out a very complex conflict. I have traveled much in this area of the world and I immediately recognized the social and political landscape described within these pages. I cannot say this about all the books in the recent spate of Chiapas and Mayan scholarship.

I've followed Bill Weinberg's writing for years and have the highest regard for the veracity and insight of his work...

I found this book, which is an anthology of essays on the subject of the community gardens movement in New York City and other urban areas, to be very informative and a good source of history. Though I do not have an intiuitive understanding of the consciousness of most environmentalists, and I have grown little more than an avocado plant in my lifetime, this book helped me better undertstand the importance of natural surroundings to the urban community. The opposing forces are the indigenous, autonomous, self-help movement that created the gardens on garbage-strewn, abandoned lots during the 1970s; and the government's favoritism toward private developers and other forces of gentrification which threaten the ethnic and class diversity of the city.