Customer Reviews:
Artificial Life is the new Artificial Intelligence........2005-03-04
If you are intrested in how biological systems can be simulated via computer or in what contect computer programs or computer simulations can be called alive -- this is the book to read.
Eventhou the articials in this book are technical reports from a scientific conference most provide easy reading for the layperson.
Artificial Life is a fassinating scientific endevor that seeks to do for biology what Artificial Instelligence did for psychology -- model biological processes, instead of mental processes on the computer and look to biology as a model for computation -- using techniques such as Genetic Algorithms, Cellular Automata and Neural Networks.
I find that all the books I've read that were published by the Santa Fe Institute to be intresting -- how ever the Artifical Life series is the easiest for an armchair scientist to grasp.
Average customer rating:
- Good read
- American Heros display fine mettle amid gruesome horror
- Focuses on one doomed unit from New Mexico the 200th Reg.
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Beyond Courage: One Regiment Against Japan, 1941-1945
Dorothy Cave
Manufacturer: Yucca Tree Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1881325148 |
Amazon.com
A vivid narrative of the men of New Mexico's 200th and 515th Coast Artillery (AA) units. Cave skillfully tells a story of hardship, bravery, unspeakable treatment, and a never-dying belief that their country would liberate them. They were the first unit to fire on the enemy in the Philippines and the last organized unit to lay down their arms when surrender came.
Book Description
"Their irrepressible spirit and unshakable faith that their country would liberate them, enabled them to survive... ." "The men joined the Army for adventure, fun, and a few extra dollars. They found themselves facing a Japanese juggernaut with old weapons, too little food, and only their 'esprit de corps' as a defense. BEYOND COURAGE is a wrenching look at the small band of New Mexico National Guardsmen of the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment, sent to the Philippines just before WWII and captured there at the fall of Bataan. "Acknowledged in 1941 as the best anti-aircraft regiment in the Army, the 200th (and the battle-born 515th) fought the Japanese until starvation forced the surrender of over 70,000 Americans and Filipinos. The New Mexicans were the last organized resistance on Bataan to face the Japanese. Little did the men know that the worst was yet to come. "From the Bataan Death March to the staggering death rates at the O'Donnell prisoner of war camp, the story of the 200th is told in unstinting, horrifying, believable detail. Dorothy Cave's exhausive original research gives the reader a personal, first-hand account as the 200th and 515th travel through the prisoner of war camps of the Japanese empire. "The shocking brutality of the Japanese is exposed as a recurring, unrelieved, and barbaric way of life. That any of the New Mexicans survived at all is a testament to their toughness and comradery. The 200th 'buried its own' as it left the Philippines on the hell ships, fighting to survive the death throes of Japan's war machine. "At every opportunity, using every wile imaginable, the starved, diseased men sabotaged Japanese work projects and machinery. Throughout their imprisonment, they sustained their faith in their country and in their ultimate deliverance. American POWs from other units marveled at how 'those damned New Mexicans' looked out for each other, shrugging off Japanese attempts to break unit cohesion." -- LTC John Whitman, author of "Bataan: Our Last Ditch.
The 200th's story is one that shocks, yet inspires in its portrayal of the human spirit, that can, under such grueling, inhuman conditions, somehow still survive.
Customer Reviews:
Good read.......2007-01-28
Cave has done her homework following the New Mexicans through the Bataan Death March and labor camps.
American Heros display fine mettle amid gruesome horror.......2001-07-14
When I first moved to New Mexico in 1963, I became aware that many of the troops on the Bataan Death March came from New Mexico. They used to have an annual reunion here in Las Cruces, and I met a few of those men.
This book is by a professor of history at Eastern New Mexico University, who is I think a relative of one of the men on the march. The book entails the experiences of the 200th and 515th Coast Artiliary units, which were based in New Mexico.
I had always imagined that the worst part of their ordeal was the 60-mile forced march (and at war's end in 1945, I traversed that 60 miles in a jeep, a truly terrible ride in the Philippine heat and humidity). But far worse were the trips those heros made in the holds of enemy cargo vessels. They were put in the holds, so crowded that everyone had to stand, where the human urine and excrement simply dropped to the deck for everyone to stand in, and where people died standing up. The cruelty was worse than anyone could possibly imagine.
These units were the first to fire on the Japs and the last to lay down their arms when surrender came. And you learn of the espionage these guys performed when doing their slave labor in the factories and the mines of Japan and Manchuria. Such labor, and the treatment forced on the prisoners, were in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions, of which Japan was a signatory.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. The author is a superb writer.
Focuses on one doomed unit from New Mexico the 200th Reg........1999-02-13
Dorothy Cave has really done an excellent job of research and storytelling with this book. She was able to accuratly document the fate of many of the soildiers that were mobilized in 1940 in New Mexico.
I hope that Dorothy Cave will write a second book on the 200th and include more of the research material that would mean so much to the relatives and decendents of the warriers of the 200th Regiment.
Since I was born in Silver City NM and am now a member of the New Mexico National Guard, I request that all new Officers assigned to my Battalion to read Beyond Courage so that they may better understand the importance that history may place on their contirbution to New Mexico and the United States.
Amazon.com
"The primal command," writes anthropologist Christy Turner, "is, do not eat people." Historically, cultures across the world have violated this prime directive, some regularly and without apparent afterthought, some only under harshest duress. Turner has uncovered what he considers to be incontrovertible evidence of human sacrifice and cannibalism in a part of the world once thought to have been free of such horrors: the American Southwest. There, Turner maintains, thousands of burned and broken human bones, sometimes buried en masse, have been uncovered, most in sites ranging from a thousand to a few hundred years old. In one such site, the Arizona village of Awatovi, dozens of suspected witches were massacred by their fellow Hopis; in another, the great mountaintop city of Mesa Verde, Colorado, several pits containing the remains of cannibalized murder victims have been excavated. Turner suggests that the great Anasazi city of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, may have been a center of violent ritual and cannibalism, which helps explain why modern Indian residents of the region shun it as a place of bad medicine.
Turner and his coauthor, the late Jacqueline Turner, are careful not to conjecture too widely on the whys of prehistoric Southwestern cannibalism, perhaps having guessed that the whats and hows would be controversial enough--and their book, challenging received wisdom as it does, is sure to generate significant controversy among archaeologists working in the region. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
Until quite recently Southwest prehistory studies have largely missed or ignored evidence of violent competition. Christy and Jacqueline Turner's study of prehistoric violence, homicide, and cannibalism explodes the myth that the Anasazi and other Southwest Indians were simple, peaceful farmers. Using detailed osteological analyses and other lines of evidence the Turners show that warfare, violence, and their concomitant horrors were as common in the ancient Southwest as anywhere else in the world.
The special feature of this massively documented study is its multi-regional assessment of episodic human bone assemblages (scattered floor deposits or charnel pits) by taphonomic analysis, which considers what happens to bones from the time of death to the time of recovery. During the past thirty years, the authors and other analysts have identified a minimal perimortem taphonomic signature of burning, pot polishing, anvil abrasions, bone breakage, cut marks, and missing vertebrae that closely matches the signature of animal butchering and is frequently associated with additional evidence of violence. More than seventy-five archaeological sites containing several hundred individuals are carefully examined for the cannibalism signature. Because this signature has not been reported for any sites north of Mexico, other than those in the Southwest, the authors also present detailed comparisons with Mesoamerican skeletal collections where human sacrifice and cannibalism were known to have been practiced.
The authors review several hypotheses for Southwest cannibalism: starvation, social pathology, and institutionalized violence and cannibalism. In the latter case, they present evidence for a potential Mexican connection and demonstrate that most of the known cannibalized series are located temporally and spatially "near" Chaco great houses.
Customer Reviews:
Superbly written, strongly documented, provocative thesis.......2005-01-10
That violence and cannibalism were practiced during the Chaco/Mesa Verde Anasazi period should no longer be in serious doubt. Chapter 3, an extensive look at over seventy sites throughout the Southwest effectively silences any critics who might claim that Turner's assertion is not based on physical evidence. Turner chooses an interesting order of presentation, reviewing the sites in their chronlogical order of discovery. This is probably to underline that many archaeologists and anthropologists in the past came to similar conclusions. Claims of cannibalism are not new, and this is not a sensationalist theory created from a questionable interpretation of previous work in the field. It is a scientific reinforcement of previous observations and masterful overview that confirms that the early pioneers in Southwestern Archaeology were correct. Cannibalism did occur.
Had Turner stopped at a description of his methodology and the sites he reviewed, Man Corn would have been a valuable resource, but only half of what it could have been. Fortunately, Turner goes on to propose a theory explaining cannibalism and the extreme violence accompanying it. In 1993 he made a surprising discovery--the sites showing evidence of cannibalism had a strong correlation with the "Chaco Phenomenon." That is, the sites were from the same geographic area and within the same time period of the Great Houses. In fact, some sites are in fact inside the Great Houses themselves (Pueblo Bonito, Penasco Blanco).
Using this as a base, Turner devotes a chapter to body-processing in Mexico, where cannibalism had long been practiced, a fact well-known to archaeologists. He then makes the connection between Chaco's ties to Mesoamerica and the appearance of cannibalism in the American Southwest. He proposes that actual warrior/priests cultists from the Toltec culture arrived in Chaco, bringing their political system with them, a system built not on peaceful cooperation, but on ritutalistic terror. It's a convincing argument, especially when backed up by a skull found in a high-status burial at Pueblo Bonito--a skull showing dental modification characteristic of Mexican Indians; a modification unknown in the Southwest.
Turner theorizes that they might have been refugees from the collapsing Toltec Empire. My guess would be that they were imperial colonizers intent on taking over the turquoise trade and building it up to be a high-capacity monopoly. But whichever the case, they seem to have brought more than architectural ideas with them. And if, as many have suspected, Mexican religious beliefs influenced the Anasazi, then it's very likely that rituals associated with those religious beliefs were also present.
The book generated a storm of controversy. Not surprisingly, many critics mistakenly assumed that Turner was claiming that all Anasazi at all times were cannibals. This certainly wasn't the case and Turner of course proposes no such thing. But just as Darwin's pioneering work was reduced by misinformed critics to some kind of proof that man was descended from apes, so many critics have assumed Turner's book is somehow racist or culturally insensitive. In fact, just like some of Darwin's more vocal opponents, one gets the impression that some critics haven't even read "Man Corn."
Too bad. Unlike so many other books on the Anasazi, it's not as dry as dust. It's presented in an intriguing way, a survey of the past and a voyage of discovery. It has tons of data, but for each section of data, there is an interesting discussion of what it means.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Especialy for those who've tired of the "peaceful stargazers" school of Anasazi research. "Man Corn" makes the Anasazi appear more real, a people who had a dark side as well.
Professional.......2000-08-22
(I'm just a lifetime Arizona resident/spectator) This book is a scholastic report from years of intensive work about a sensitive subject. One that most of us seem to automatically stay away from and think is not PC to even mention. Just read it for what it is: facts collected and reported on by professionals and add it to your data base. Its amazing the number of people in the field an average Arizonan like me has bumped into that seem to want to think there's another agenda here. I don't sense one; they seem to have done a fine job and one that is long past due. Now we need more information...from 4Corners, Hohokam, Mogollon and Mexico, and about the Mesoamerica connections at all these areas.
NPR Interview.......2000-02-03
Actually....I havent read the book.
However, I did listen to the interview last night (2/1/00) on NPR. It was one of the more remarkably clear descriptions of the complicated logical and reasonings used to determine what happened. Given the blurred interpretations of reality and undisciplined reasoning that predominates today's society (Monica scandal to NASA's estimating probability of failure on shuttle missions) it was refreshing to listen to a mind that didnt mince logic nor dumb down his reasoning. But what made the interview extraordinary was the eloquence with which the argument was made. It made following the deductions and reasonings a pleasant and even exciting experience.
PS. Just picking: I have to disagree with his assertion that there is no such thing as proof in science. Proofs exist in the realm of mathematics and logic but no where else; e.g. if A=B and B=C then A=C. However, this point is irrelevant to his arguments.
A controversial topic.......1999-12-18
Many readers find this and Tim White's book to be controversial, equating any references to cannibaliam as racism; cannibalism is not politically correct.
Some feel this book should be removed from press for that reason.
Having read both books, I feel that Turner & Turner make some convincing arguments for cannibalistic activity during periods of the southwestern US. If one reads this book with an open mind as to the culture and the difficulty of life during periods of stress in one of the world's most rugged landscapes, it can be a valuble reference.
The butchering, defleshing, cooking and disposal of human bones with other faunal remains is strongly suggestive of cannibalism--for ritual, subsistence or both. I find some of Turner's conclusions to be based on some rather scant evidence, but time will tell if he is correct.
Like the Maya, the Anasazi have long been viewed as peaceful; the myth of the platonic Amerind living in harmony with nature. But over time the dwellings of the Anasazi became increasingly defensive structures, suggesting there was some sort of conflict. And as with the Mayans, the myth is slowly melting away to show the Anasazi as a far more warlike people. Just like the rest of us.
After this book was written and I first reviewed it over five years ago, more evidence of cannibalism has surfaced, including a human coprolite (preserved fecal material) containing digested human myoglobin (from heart or striated muscle tissue) at Cowboy Wash. This is fairly conclusive evidence that some cannibalsim has occured, though we still don't know why. I suggest readers draw their own conclusions from all the evidence.
Remember that some extant cultures like the peoples of New Guinea have practiced cannibalism within the last twenty years, and that does not make them any less wonderful of people; it's always dangerous to project one's own views of right-and-wrong upon another culture. In particular if that culture crashed 800 years ago.
A previous writer's comment that this book will lead to an increase in looting is without merit; sites have been described in thousands of publications over the years (including USGS topographic maps), and a book is hardly likely to be a guide to looters who usually live nearby.
Excellent! The content MUST be considered!.......1999-06-02
Man Corn addresses, with scientific data, the possibility of cannibalism in the American Southwest. Defining how cannibalism can be recognized through taphonomic evidence, Turner systematically addresses 76 sites in the Southwest. Many of the sites hold up to these criteria for cannibalsim and many do not. Turner's detailed descriptions and excellent photographs make this book a must for anyone interested in REALLY addressing cannibalism in the Southwest. As with any good scientific study, Turner has made his argument with easy to understand criteria that can be scientifically challenged should someone choose, instead of dismissing the argument. Turner's explanation for cannibalism includes a Mesoamerican connection with evidence as well as ideas that do not have evidence to back them up. Turner has succeeded in opening up a subject that many do not want to address. Because of this, Turner will be accused of sensationalism. I suggest looking at the evidence in "Man Corn" before making any decision on the side of sensationalism or science. Turner puts before us a scientific study with no intent of sensationalism!
Amazon.com
Book two in the Anasazi Mysteries series, The Summoning God is the sequel to The Visitant, in which archaeologist-authors Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear introduced readers to murder, mayhem, and the myriad details of life in a 13th-century Native American pueblo. In both novels, the narrative arcs between the present and the past, drawing aside the seemingly thin veil of time that separates them. Here, as archaeologists Dusty Stewart and Maureen Cole sift through an ancient Anasazi kiva, attempting to understand the circumstances that could have led to the presence of 33 charred children's bodies in the ceremonial chamber, we also see the members of the pueblo as they move toward the terrible destruction so carefully unearthed by Stewart and Cole. This narrative device isn't revolutionary, but it is clever: the demands of classic mystery plotting (we have a corpse, but who committed the crime?) are fulfilled, while the reader lives simultaneously in the worlds of evidence creation and deduction.
The Anasazi characters will be familiar to readers of The Visitant: warriors Browser and Catkin, holy men Springbank and Stone Ghost, and the witch Two Hearts continue to move silently through the sand and sagebrush, circling through a world marked by warring religions and vanishing resources. When Browser and Catkin find a mutilated old woman surrounded by the skulls of her clan, they must summon all their courage to combat what surely must be witchcraft--or is it? Although the narrative founders at times in a sea of murkily presented myth, the characters are vibrantly drawn (though to watch an Anasazi holy man conduct an autopsy in a manner that would do Kay Scarpetta proud is one of several discordant anachronisms).
The Summoning God, like its predecessor, renders the lives and habits of the Anasazi in compelling detail: we learn that they used blazing star petals for perfume and that their ceremonial purification rites included cornmeal and ground seashells. Though the tenacity with which the authors seek to hammer home a situational equivalency between modern life and the 13th century is sometimes painfully heavy-handed, the evocation of daily life never is. Readers might wish to acknowledge that overutilization of resources, a thirst for territory, and a propensity toward holy wars are indeed threads that bind us to the Anasazi--then ignore the lectures and settle into the story. --Kelly Flynn
Book Description
Step back into the year A.D. 1263....and the secret lair of a killer. He walks the ruins of a dying civilization, stalking the weak, the chosen, stalking them into terror.When War Chief Browser stumbles into a subterranean ceremonial chamber filled with headless bodies, he know it is just the beginning. The darkness that has haunted him for most of his life has returned. A murderer lurks in the shadows around Browser's village, taking people one at a time. Browser turns for help to a crazy tribal elder who has solved many crimes before. Browser is certain old Stone Ghost knows the killer, but the elder is telling no one. As Browser frantically works to find the fiend, the murderer watched from closer than he would ever dream....Only a few heartbeats ahead in geological time, archaeologist, William "Dusty" Stewart, finds himself excavating a mass grave in new Mexico filled with the burned bodies of children. As the number of bodies begins to mount, he is forced to call upon the skills of his arch-nemesis: world-reknowned Canadian physical anthropologist, Dr. Maureen Cole. What Dusty and Maureen discover about the killer's methods is almost too horrible to believe.From the national award-winning archaeologist and international bestselling author of The Vistant comes a novel of unforgettable terror about mass murder in America eight hundred years ago....
Customer Reviews:
Grim, fascinating read.......2007-05-26
Just finished reading the Summoning God. This one took place around the Four Corners area. Again, I encountered some of the same problems: overwriting (Purple Prose:), weird grammatical rules, and I know they have no clue what New Mexican food really is. Maybe I'll send them a cookbook or link or something. But these were nothing - in fact a person could even have fun with it.
The switching back and forth was still there. Dusty and Maureen were warming up to each other; how sweet. But there was too much unnecessary stuff in those chapters that I didn't care about. They were at their best when they digging up bones or looking under the microscope. Those parts were what kept me going.
What I found more difficult to deal with is the unforgiving violence in the story against elderly women and the emphasis on violence towards children. Yes, I know this is a work of fiction. And I know that period was harsh and violent. It was driven home by the Gears, I'll hardly forget it.
I think some of the stuff the Gears came up with to explain the warfare was a bit of a stretch. I loved Catkin but I think she took a back seat in this story. Browser wasn't quite focused for a chief but I liked him. Never gave Springbank a single thought. Loved Redcrop and Straighthorn. Overall I did enjoy the story although I didn't love it. Probably why I gave the book three stars. But I will read the next one. I'll review it too.
Intriguing device, painfully bad writing........2006-05-23
Yeesh, what "A reader" said. Was a professional editor employed in the publication of this book? Repetitive, unbelieveable physical descriptions of the characters and their actions irritated me enough to detract from the intriguing device of an Anasazi murder mystery. No-one's hair actually looks like a "glistening black serpent", no matter how many times you repeat it.
And yeah, the story jumps around too much and introduces too many characters and situations. You'd need to keep notes to follow what is going on.....and I was irritated enough by the poor writing to lose interest in keeping it all straight.
To continue damning with faint praise, this book's wannabe-Indian authors aren't too insistently "Indian good, modern world bad" nativist, although it's in there. I've encountered worse. Still annoying, though.
If you are interested in native American/First Nations mysteries, give Tony Hillerman a try. Better written, with more believeable characters.
The Anasazi Mysteries Triogy.......2006-03-31
I got this triogy after seeing a lot of other reviews at first all I cared about was the indian half of the books. but I read the other modern half and liked it just as much. The entire triogy was great.
Lots of Smoke, No Fire.......2002-11-30
Intertwining contemporary archaeology with an Anasazi mystery is a good premise. Unfortunately, the authors fail to execute it well.
Repetitious descriptions deaden the writing, making it flat and formulaic. No less than three times, Catkin's black braid is described as a "glistening serpent lying across her back." Too often, moonlight "gilds" or "sheaths" her "upturned nose," "beautiful oval face," and lots of others things. I lost track of how many times yellow cottonwood leaves glinted or glimmered in the autumn sun or swirled somewhere (down paths, on the river, over the kiva edge, etc.) We are reminded ad nauseum of the glints in Dusty's blond beard and hair, of the chin-length black bangs plastered to Browser's face by sweat, of his knee-length war shirt whipping against brush or bushes. Concerning Elder Stone Ghost, "Thin white hair blew around his face as he looked up at Browser." A mere three lines later we read, "Thin white hair blew around [Browser's] uncle's wrinkled face. Sloppy! Where was the editor when the authors needed him/her?
Gestures are recycled until they become tedious. People tuck stray hairs behind their ears or under their hats again and again. Lots of brows draw together lots of times. There is much cupping of coffee cups, sipping of coffee, gripping of war clubs in hard fists, and clasping of capes. The result is unintentionally comic and Chaplin-esque. These characters come across more like marionettes than full-blooded people.
The problems are not merely stylistic. Early on, too much information is thrown at the reader, confusing him/her: a mummy hanging from a rock, copper bells apparently left as bait, a murderous female, a little girl tagging along with her, somebody in a wolf kachina mask, a vicious pack of white-caped warriors, a woman with her eyes gouged out, beheaded bodies in a kiva, the heads in a grove, a necklace that seems important....Whew! The narrative would have been more coherent and the pacing better if these details had been doled out more slowly, one at a time. Easing into a good mystery should be like worming into a ripe apple: the deeper you dig, the darker and juicier it gets.
Sexual tension between Dusty and Maureen is a central conflict in the novel's contemporary portion. However, their unresolved mutual attraction/revulsion soon became frustrating, if not downright annoying. When are these two going to hop in the sack together? Or at least confront their obvious feelings for each other? I know, I know...this fat novel is one in a series of fat novels, and the authors want to keep things simmering. Maybe we'll find out if anything happens between Dusty and Maureen several thousand pages hence. Want to wait that long? I don't.
Hopefully someday somebody will give prehistoric Southwestern peoples the fictional treatment they deserve. But not today....
Buy This Book!.......2002-05-24
The anasazi series by the Gears is fantastic! History comes alive, and I like the parallels written into the modern day story as well! Well done!
Product Description
On-the-go Instrction Because your time is valuable... All Audio All on the go! Beginning level instruction is presented in an all-audio format on 4 digitally-recorded CDs. You have the opportunity to learn on the go, taking advantage of time normally wasted. Study in your car, while exercising, doing yard work anywhere you can safely listen to a CD player. No accompanying books are needed to help you complete the lesson activities. Why can t learning be fun? It can! Linguaphone has chosen to present the allTalk series in an entertaining, soap-opera format. No dry old teacher with a monotone voice putting you to sleep, you follow the adventures of a visitor to a Spanish-speaking country as she interacts with individuals in a variety of interesting situations, learning the language and beginning to understand the culture. Actually learn the language Tired of spending money on language courses that don t work? Did you ever think the problem could be with the course and not you? With Linguaphone s unique learning sequence: Listen, Understand, Speak, you will find yourself actually using the language in no time at all! You are presented with a unit of the language, it is then broken down and explained to you, then you put it back together with greater understanding than just repeating what you may not have understood in the first place. . . . and learn it well! The all Talk methodology not only teaches well, but will have you speaking and understanding basic spoken Spanish in no time at all. Other popular all-audio courses require four times the cds, four times the money and four times the time to do what Linguaphone s allTalk Basic does with 4-one hour CDs.
Average customer rating:
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The Last Flight of Liberator 41-1133
William F. Cass
Manufacturer: Winds Aloft Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
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New Mexico
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ASIN: 0970297203 |
Book Description
The story of a B-24D Liberator bomber which crashed on Trail Peak, at Philmont Scout Ranch, near Cimarron, New Mexico, on April 22, 1942. The wreckage is the world's most visited military, or civil, crash site in the world. The book follows the crew, especially the two young pilots, during their training and up to the final moments of the roundtrip training flight between Albuquerque and Kansas City.
Book Description
Kent McManis has written a welcome sequel to his immensely popular book that covered the essentials of animal fetish carvings. Now he leads us further into this fascinating and expanding art form. VOLUME II: THE MATERIALS AND THE CARVERS describes the many materials that Zuni artists work with today and discusses eleven more carving families. As McManis' many readers have come to expect, the book is loaded with photographs of contemporary fetishes by the best Zuni carvers, from the traditional white healing bears carved out of alabaster to a lapis lazuli mountain lion for deer hunting. The whimsical and innovative are also included, such as a Picasso marble dinosaur and a stained glass mole.
Customer Reviews:
Great, but not as good as the first volume........2001-10-28
This is a book that collectors should have. As a beginner, I did not find it as interesting as the first volume. But it is well worth the money. If you could only have volume one or two, I would say get the first. But because they are both such inexpensive book, you should have both around. They are both well indexed. I found information about every carver that I was looking for listed in the index of either this or the first book.
A Valuable Sequel For Beginner or Experienced Collector.......2000-07-30
In this valuable sequel to Volume I, McManus provides additional information and understanding of this unique art. There is no one better qualified to discuss these wonderful creations and their contemporary carvers. The author does so in a fashion that will fascinate and educate both the novice and experienced collector. One can only hope that McManus will continue with this exceptional series.
The handiest of guides.......2000-07-04
This handy little volume packs a lot in its pages. If you have been collecting and want to move beyond the "oh isn't this pretty" stage and know more about the pieces you have and the ones you are selecting, this is the volume for you. McManis clearly and concisely discusses the wide range of materials used in carving (from pipestone and turquoise to jet and glass) and the main carving families. The volume is filled with pictures that are modern (not recycled 70s and 80s photos as in some other books) and gloriously clear. This book is a companion to McManis' A Guide to Zuni Fetishes: Volume I: The Animals and the Carvers and the two work well together. Those new to fetishes (and collector's interested in a solid reference text) will want volume I to complete their education on this wonderful art form.
Book Description
The convergence of Corts and Montezuma is the most emblematic event in the birth of what would come to be called "America." Landing on the Mexican coast on Good Friday, 1519, Hernn Corts felt himself the bearer of a divine burden to conquer and convert the first advanced civilization Europeans had yet encountered in the West. For Montezuma, leader of the Mexicans, April 21,1519 (known in their sophisticated astronomical system as 9 Wind Day) was the precise date of a dire prophesy: the return of Quetzalcoatl, a fearsome god predicted to arrive by ship, from the East, with light skin, a black beard, robed in black--exactly as Corts would. The ensuing drama is described by eminent historian Maurice Collis in a style that is equal parts story and scholarship. Though its consequences have been treated by writers as diverse as D.H. Lawrence and Charles Olson, never before have the facts of this event been rendered with such extraordinary clarity and elegance.
Customer Reviews:
A Must-Read whether interested in pre-Hispanic Mexico or not.......2003-12-07
If you¡¯re interested in pre-Hispanic America this book is a must read. Maurice Collis tells it in a way that makes you see the real thinking of both Montezuma and Cortez. And if you aren¡¯t already interested in ancient Mexico this book is still a great read. It reads like a novel rather than a history.
There are things that are hard to imagine until you compile the Cortez letters, the friar¡¯s notes, and previous historical documents as Mr. Collis has expertly done. For example there¡¯s a section about how the Spanish soldiers were wearing chain-mail so they were burning up under the desert sun during day and then (when the temperature dived down as desert weather is apt to do) froze at night.
This book is filled with the harsh realities that both sides faced. This gives a reader a greater understanding of the rationales for decisions. Also, Mr. Collis has a great cultural- or anthropological-sensitivity so we see how Aztec cosmology, predictions, and religion influenced Montezuma¡¯s standpoint. At the time of invasion, the Aztec army could have quickly destroyed the Spanish soldiers. The forces that prevented this outcome are beyond common Western thinking.
This book shares the complexities that both of these great men faced. And it treats Moctezuma deservedly as one of the world¡¯s great men. Often books have a pro-Spanish feel to them. This book is as close to fair as I have seen.
Also, consider Broken Spears by Miguel Leon-Portilla.
One of the very best!.......2002-02-21
I have read other accounts of the Mixica, most notably by Michael D. Coe, but none of them hit upon the complexity involving the meeting of Cortes and Montecuzoma as this book did. Drawing on dialog from Bernal Diaz (The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico-also another great read), Collis has stripped away the dryness of other books, on this subject, that were written primarily for academia, leaving the intimate human perspective to the greatness of both of these men and the circumstances that caused each to react as he did. As did Diaz's book, this book made me feel as though I were sitting beside Cortes and Montecuzoma as the drama of their meeting unfolded. For those who are students, as a vocation or avocation, of the ancient cultures that inhabited this continent this is a must book to read and have on hand to reread over and again because you won't want it to end.
The Esoteric Drama of the Conquest of Mexico.......2002-01-21
The incredible chain of events that led to the conquest of Mexico by a small group of Spaniards is wonderfull told by Maurice Collis in this fascinating book. Well organised and stylishly written, the book includes many quotations from contemporary sources, as well as some very vivid descriptions of the places and persons involved. Collis's understanding of the events and his clear and involving style make Cortes and Montezuma an extraordinary piece of historical writing.
The complex characters and motivations of both central figures are explained in detail. According to Collis, Montezuma was a generous, devout and able ruler, but at the same time he was a tyrannical monster who indulged in endless orgies of ritual murder; Cortes was a civilized and enterprising explorer who brought enlightenment to a oppressed land but he was also the bringer of death and destruction to a complex and fascinating civilization. The author also explains the amazing astrological-magical religion of the Mexicans and how it made the conquest possible.
This is probably the best book on the subjet, a veritable page turner that will help you understand one of the most incredible events in history.
A New Perspective on an Incredible Story.......2001-01-24
The story of the conquest of the remarkable Aztec civilization by Cortes' handful of Spaniards is an incredible drama. The accounts of Bernal Diaz and Prescott tell it well, but at considerable length, and with only a superficial comprehension of what motivated the Mexicans' responses to Cortes' invasion. What makes Corliss's succinct and compelling account so insightful and remarkable, to me, is his sympathetic understanding of the Mexicans' and Montezuma's complex astrological-magical religion, and how it decisively shaped their actions. He understands a pre-modern time when religious beliefs were the predominant context for social and individual actions, as well as the importance of Cortes' religious faith, and he notes the fascinating paradoxes and ironies that resulted from the primary actors' actions based on their respective religious convictions.
But regardless of that, this is simply a wonderful read. My one regret is that the book wasn't accompanied by illustrations to convey the extraordinary richness (and horror) of the Aztec civilization, as well as the difficult and stunning terrain where the action took place.
As a footnote, it is fascinating to contrast the ethos of the Conquistadores with that of the North American settlers so well described in Albion's Seed.
A Great Story and a Great Tragedy.......2000-09-08
My best friend's wife was in the hospital, and I was put in charge of their son for a few hours. I decided to tell him the story from memory of how Hernan de Cortez, with a handful of men, brought down an entire world. I had just finished reading Collis's book, and also Bernal Diaz's first-hand account of the same story and Prescott's able retelling in THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO, so it was still fresh in my mind. The boy was entranced.
Maurice Collis's is by far the best telling of the story as such. (Prescott and Diaz are both worth reading if you have the chance.) I collect Collis and love everything I have ever read by him.
There are, of course, two sides to every story. Cortez's gain was Montezuma's loss: And it was the Aztecs' loss. According to J. Eric S. Thompson in MAYA HISTORY AND RELIGION, approximately 80% of the population of what is now Mexico died of measles, smallpox, malaria and other diseases brought by the Spanish within a very short time. The Aztecs' sacred books were burned as heresy; their language (Nahuatl) is dying out; and the name and image of Montezuma are absent in the Mexico of today. Only Cuauhtemoc, who resisted Cortez and his lieutenants, is honored.
Read this book and marvel at how tenuous a civilzation can be. It took Rome over a thousand years to fall: Tenochtitlan fell in a year.
Book Description
When World War II began, New Mexico had a population of 531,815 inhabitants, one of the least populated of the 48 states. Yet, New Mexico and New Mexicans played a key role in the outcome of the War in the Pacific. The New Mexico National Guard was the first U.S. military unit to fight the Japanese, holding on for four months on Bataan, and then suffering through years in POW camps. The atomic bomb was developed at a secret laboratory in Los Alamos, and tested at a site near Alamogordo. Navajo code talkers helped provide bases from which B-29s bombed Japanese cities. Finally, several thousand Japanese Americans, classified by the FBI as dangerous enemy aliens, were interned in a camp near Santa Fe. These seemingly separate events were related through unique qualities of the arid, spacious land. The authors have now provided a voice for the previously silent heroes of these wartime events: Special Engineer Detachment (SED) enlisted men and women at Los Alamos who actually fabricated the atomic bomb, Navajo Marine privates, National Guard enlisted men, and Japanese American internees. Their stories, obtained through personal interviews by Rogers and Bartlit to supplement the historical record, illuminate the patriotism, human suffering, and humor in these important World War II events. EVERETT M. ROGERS, Ph.D., was Distinguished Professor in the Department of Communication and Journalism at the University of New Mexico. His special interest in intercultural communication is illustrated here in analyzing American/Japanese relationships, often occurring through barbed wire stockades or at the end of a gun. NANCY R. BARTLIT earned a BA degree in history from Smith College and an MA in international communications from the University of New Mexico. She taught in Japan for two years, tutored Japanese in Los Alamos, and returned to Japan to study technology and industry. This book is a confluence of her unique familiarity with Japanese people and culture--their war museums and battlefields--and New Mexicans, their multiple cultures, and war memorials. She represents a human link between a country that was once the arch enemy and the place that created the weapon causing its defeat, between a history of war and an enduring present and future of trust and friendship.
Customer Reviews:
Silent Voices of WWII.......2007-09-06
Hildreth nailed it. Not a fancy book but one of grating memories that all Americans should read. I liked it except that it was too short. I wish the author could have an editor or a even a ghost writer draw forth more detail about the settings of the events and those who peopled them.
World War II Experiences.......2007-08-04
Rogers and Bartlit tackle aspects of World War II related to New Mexico. Some of their material has until recently received little attention, such as the Navajo Code talkers, the internment of Issei (Japanese citizens) in New Mexico, and the soldiers of the New Mexico National Guard who fought at Bataan and suffered the "Death march." Somewhat more familiar is the story of the A-bomb's development at Los Alamos, New Mexico, and its dropping on Hiroshima.
All of these stories are well written and gripping--entrancing the reader and making the book a real "page-turner." The writers interviewed hundreds of people, who were mostly ordinary citizens but sometimes heroic during the war. Excellent photos also help bring the narrative to life.
Especially intriguing to me were the personal stories of the valiant national guardsmen, including their imprisonment in the Philippines and their "Death Ship" transportation to camps in Japan. Details of the Navaho code soldiers and of the internment camps were also quite riveting.
Anyone interested in World War II should get this book.
The story of New Mexico's involvement in the second world war .......2006-01-13
New Mexico was one of the least populated of the 48 states when America became involved in World War II. Nevertheless, it was the New Mexico National Guard which was the first U.S. military unit to fight the Japanese and hold out for four months on Bataan, followed by years of suffering in POW camps. It was in Los Alamos, New Mexico that the atomic bomb was developed and then tested at a site near Alamogordo. It was Navajo code talkers from New Mexico that helped American forces capture the Pacific bases from which B-29s bombed Japanese cities. Finally, it was near Santa Fe, New Mexico, that several thousand Japanese Americans (classified by the FBI as dangerous enemy aliens) were interned in a camp for the duration of the war. A welcome and highly recommended contribution to twentieth century American history in general, and New Mexico's involvement in the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War in particular, Silent Voices Of World War II: When Sons Of The Land Of Enchantment Met Sons Of The Land Of The Rising Sun, collaboratively authored by Everett M. Rogers and Nancy R. Bartlit, provide readers with the story of New Mexico's involvement in the second world war as reflected in the stories provided through personal interviews of Navajo Marine privates, National Guard enlistees, Japanese American internees, and the men and women who worked in the wartime Special Engineer Detachment at Los Alamos fabricating the atomic bomb..
Average customer rating:
- Fascinating Perspective
- a marvelous compilation of reminiscences
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Standing by and Making Do: Women of Wartime Los Alamos
Jane S. Wilson
Manufacturer: Alamos Historical Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos
ASIN: 0941232085 |
Book Description
Nine women residents described in 1946 their lives in Los Alamos while the atomic bomb was being developed. The shock of arrival, housing conditions, security and secrecy, medical care, relations with Pueblo neighbors, and more--told with insight and humor.
Customer Reviews:
Fascinating Perspective.......1999-12-09
The nine authors who each tackle a chapter provide a unique and fascinating insight into life, and more specifically, women's life at Los Alamos. This book is a must read for those interested in the cultural and social aspects of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos.
a marvelous compilation of reminiscences.......1999-04-22
This book, originally compiled during the early postwar years at Los Alamos, consists of reminiscences, letters, and essays by representative women who devoted their lives to the Los Alamos experience during World War II. A unique description of the Manhattan Project, it remains one of those disarming pieces of historical literature that make history such an engrossing field to wander into.
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