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Book is 5 1/2" x 8 1/4", has 694 pages, is blue in color with black stripe and includes The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States. ... Read more

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Two of the world's most pressing needsbiodiversity conservation and agricultural development in the Third Worldare addressed in Karl S. Zimmerer's multidisciplinary investigation in geography. Zimmerer challenges current opinion by showing that the world-renowned diversity of crops grown in the Andes may not be as hopelessly endangered as is widely believed. He uses the lengthy history of small-scale farming by Indians in Peru, including contemporary practices and attitudes, to shed light on prospects for the future. During prolonged fieldwork among Peru's Quechua peasants and villagers in the mountains near Cuzco, Zimmerer found convincing evidence that much of the region's biodiversity is being skillfully conserved on a de facto basis, as has been true during centuries of tumultuous agrarian transitions.Diversity occurs unevenly, however, because of the inability of poorer Quechua farmers to plant the same variety as their well-off neighbors and because land use pressures differ in different locations. Social, political, and economic upheavals have accentuated the unevenness, and Zimmerer's geographical findings are all the more important as a result. Diversity is indeed at serious risk, but not necessarily for the same reasons that have been cited by others. The originality of this study is in its correlation of ecological conservation, ethnic expression, and economic development. ... Read more

Product Description
This is the new "pocket" version of the classic California Place Names, first published by California in 1949. Erwin G. Gudde's monumental work, which went through several editions during its author's lifetime, has now been released in an expanded and updated edition by William Bright. The abridged version, originally called 1000 California Place Names, has grown to a dynamic 1500 California Place Names in Bright's hands. Those who have used and enjoyed 1000 California Place Names through the decades will be glad to know that 1500 California Place Names is not only bigger but better. This handbook focuses on two sorts of names: those that are well-known as destinations or geographical features of the state, such as La Jolla, Tahoe, and Alcatraz, and those that demand attention because of their problematic origins, whether Spanish like Bodega and Chamisal or Native American like Aguanga and Siskiyou.Names of the major Indian tribes of California are included, since some of them have been directly adapted as place names and others have been the source of a variety of names. Bright incorporates his own recent research and that of other linguists and local historians, giving us a much deeper appreciation of the tangled ancestry many California names embody. Featuring phonetic pronunciations for all the Golden State's tongue-twisting names, this is in effect a brand new book, indispensable to California residents and visitors alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Stunned by the tiny histories and lacking depth
I ordered this book as well as the book on NM place names, "The Place Names of New Mexico" by Robert Julyan, and they arrived same day.If you want to see what a great book on place names looks like, get the NM place name book above.The CA place names book is tiny in physical size and has 170 pages.Compare with the NM book which is massive and has 385 pages.The reviews in the CA book are tiny...most are three lines that tell how the town got its name with little passion.The NM book has large reviews on most town and place names, 6 to 12 lines that are told with some passion and interest.Take an example from the CA book for the town name Dulzura- Spanish for sweetness, from dulce "sweet".that's it!Not much passion or interest in the descriptions!
One would think with the physical size of California, compared to the smaller physical size of New Mexico that California would have made a better showing.I noticed many CA towns were NOT included in the book, French Gulch being one.
Save your money on this one folks.

Place Name Books
I am using this book as a source of information for some railroad travel guides I am putting together, and it is very helpful, in that it is not merely a "list of place names," like so many other similar books I have seen are.This book actually has historical information and useful material which I can incorporate into my guides, which will make train travel passing through the places listed in the book much more enjoyable and interesting.It is an excellent resource!!!

Fun Book for California Buffs
This book is not for the serious researcher, but is tremendously interesting for those curious about the sometimes zany history of California's place names.Most entries include an interesting tangle of history and culture and the usual mispronunciation of Native American names by early white settlers.Its a fun book that would make a great stocking stuffer and should brought along on any California road trip. Two thumbs on this one. ... Read more

Product Description
Introduces the land, history, government, people, and economy of the most populous state in the nation. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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In marked contrast to California's landscape of urban sprawl, expansive agriculture, and wildlands altered by protectionist management systems, many landscapes in neighboring Baja California would still be recognizable to the first European explorers. This book shows that the vegetation of present-day Baja California is remarkably similar to that observed in the 18th and 19th centuries, and that historical fire and grazing management has done little to alter the region's resilient mediterranean-type shrublands and forests. ... Read more

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In part a tour of California as a virtual laboratory for refining the circulation of capital, and in part an investigation of how the state's literati, with rare exception, reconceived economy in the name of class, gender, and racial privilege, this study will appeal to all students and scholars of California's—and the American West's—economic, environmental, and cultural past. ... Read more

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Shady Practices is a revealing analysis of the gendered political ecology brought about by conflicting local interests and changing developmental initiatives in a West African village. Between 1975 and 1985, while much of Africa suffered devastating drought conditions, Gambian women farmers succeeded in establishing hundreds of lucrative communal market gardens. In less than a decade, the women's incomes began outstripping their husbands' in many areas, until a shift in development policy away from gender equity and toward environmental concerns threatened to do away with the social and economic gains of the garden boom. Male landholders joined forestry personnel in attempts to displace the gardens and capture women's labor for the irrigation of male-controlled tree crops.
This carefully documented microhistory draws on field experience spanning more than two decades and the insights of disciplines ranging from critical human geography to development studies. Schroeder combines the "success story" of the market gardens with a cautionary tale about the aggressive pursuit of natural resource management objectives, however well intentioned. He shows that questions of power and social justice at the community level need to enter the debates of policymakers and specialists in environment and development planning. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a gap filled
Shady Practices not only fills a gap in gender research, it is also interesting to read. Schroeder describes the context in which he researched in detail including his personal motivation for the research, methods andethical consideraditions. This is something far too litlle published yetuseful and informative for both junior and senior researchers.Altogetherthe book provides a comprehensive description of the rise of femalegardeners in the Gambia. Part of that description is an analysis ofchanging gender relations in the studied villages. It is here that theauthor reveals the care with which he embarked upon the project and thechallenges he faced himself as a male researcher investigating the role ofwomen in a traditionally male-oriented society. Athough the theme remainsin the foreground, carefully described, the role of the author in theresearch and the changes he experiences himself remain present. Inparticular for these reasons, i.e. the honesty of the researcher and theclarity of his writing, I recommend this book for gender researchers whoseinterest is in the theory of gender research and those who are concernedwith feminist methodologies. ... Read more

Product Description
Capturing the vitality of California's unique indigenous cultures, this major new introduction incorporates the extensive research of the past thirty years into an illuminating, comprehensive synthesis for a wide audience. Based in part on new archaeological findings, it tells how the California Indians lived in vibrant polities, each boasting a rich village life including chiefs, religious specialists, master craftspeople, dances, feasts, and ceremonies. Throughout, the book emphasizes how these diverse communities interacted with the state's varied landscape, enhancing its already bountiful natural resources through various practices centered around prescribed burning. A handy reference section, illustrated with more than one hundred color photographs, describes the plants, animals, and minerals the California Indians used for food, basketry and cordage, medicine, and more. At a time when we are grappling with the problems of maintaining habitat diversity and sustainable economies, we find that these native peoples and their traditions have much to teach us about the future, as well as the past, of California. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A fine introduction
Lightfoot, who is a UC, Berkeley Professor of Anthropology, and Parrish, who is an elder of the Kashaya Pomo tribe, bring the reader up to date on the latest research on California Indian culture with an emphasis on ecology from a historical and anthropologic perspective.

Much of the book is devoted to the pyrodiversity collecting economies of the California natives.The Indians routinely set fire to the land in order to increase the supply of desirable plants and animals.The main point is that because of the great range of different ecologies in California it was natural for the native Californians not to develop the kind of dependency agriculture typically found elsewhere in the world.The fact that El Nino and La Nina extremes and other phenomena made for a diverse and unpredictable abundance of various food sources made it natural for the native populations to diversify their techniques for food gathering.

There are a number of color plates showing important plants and animals harvested by the Indians as well as maps and charts showing where the various tribes and tribelets flourished.Included are notes on particular species and how they were gathered and processed by people in various parts of the state from the Northwest Coast Province to the Southern Desert Province.The writing is academic with the usual amount of specialized vocabulary but fairly easy to read.

One of the things I found out that I always wanted to know was how prehistoric people were able to make soup.It turns out that the California Indians, who were great weavers of baskets, actually made baskets that were water tight.The question then is how do you heat the water to make soup over an open fire?You don't.You heat some rocks and put the hot rocks in the basket moving them around with a wooden paddle to keep them from burning the sides of the basket.This problem had always bothered me because I liked to imagine living in the prehistory but I was stymied in my imagining by the inability to purify water by boiling it.I simply could not figure out how to do it since there were no metal containers to put over the fire.

Another thing that bothers me is the thick stand of tan, dead cattails on the pond outside my back window obscuring my view of the pond and its wildlife.I would like to see them burn, and lo and behold I found in this book a photo of cattails burning!It seems that the native Californians routinely burned the cattails.

There was much I didn't find out however.(But of course this book is merely an introduction.)The text reveals that the Indians harvested and ate the pine nuts of the Foothill or Gray pine tree (Pinus sabiniana, AKA as "Digger Pine") but how they economically got the nutmeats out of the hard shell is not explained.I've harvested the seeds myself and found them delicious roasted or not, but cracking the shells is incredibly labor intensive. There must have been some trick they used, but I haven't discovered it.

There is also mention of the California black walnut (Juglans californica) which I have also harvested and eaten.Again cracking the nuts and extracting the nutmeat is so labor intensive that by hand I was able to obtain but a third of a cup of nuts after an hour's worth of work.I wonder had the native Californians did it, but this book doesn't say.

Another problem in obtaining food is catching the abundant waterfowl, quail, rabbits and such without the use of firearms.This is a formidable task for the lone hunter, but the Indians worked co-operatively and employed nets and snares, sometimes driving the animals into a narrowing gap where they waited with clubs and bows and arrows.

Probably the most conspicuous natural food in California harvested by the natives is the acorn from oak trees.I have harvested and processed acorns myself.The book identifies the favorites of the various Indian tribes.It seems that the acorns of the Black Oak, the Blue Oak, and the Tan-oak (not really a true oak) were the most desirable.My limited experience agrees that the acorns of the Black Oak are tastier than those of the Valley Oak.However I want to note that the great Valley Oak which can yield as many as 500 pounds of acorns from a single tree (p. 320) has relatively little tannin in the acorns which need little to no leeching, whereas the Black Oak acorns need a lot of leeching.

Finally I want to report that the authors identify the California Buckeye (Aesculus californica) as a "less desirable, fall-back food source" that contains tannin like acorns that has to be leeched out before the seeds can be eaten.However I understand from other sources that the California Buckeye contains some kind of poison that is not identified.The authors do state that the seeds are "prepared" as a fish poison. (p. 224)It's not explained here but the seeds are crushed and dumped into ponds and the poison from the buckeye kills or stuns the fish so that they can be easily harvested.I have been meaning to leech some buckeye seeds myself to taste them, but I will wait until I get more information on just how extensive the leeching has to be!

The Index could use a little work, e.g., the last reference to the Valley Oak is on page 320, not 319 as the Index has it, and we are referred in the text to "fish poison" on page 224 as noted above, but there is no Index entry.There is also some avoidable word for word and paragraph for paragraph repetition in the entries on how various foods were used by the Indians from one tribe to the other.However the General References (for further research) covers 37 dense pages.

Overall though this is a fine addition to the prestigious line of Natural History Guides edited by Phyllis M. Faber and Bruce M Pavlik for the University of California Press.

Rave review from a reservation Native Californian
This book is daunting, but well worth the read.

While the book is huge, the print is small, it is several classrooms of material for teachers of all grades, and for reservation or urban cultural centers to base a class on tradition.

For any Native Californian, this book is a good reference to show your children, grandchildren and friends that indeed we existed and thrived for more than 200 years ( I was told recently by a friend from a foreign country that I could not be Native Californian, there was no one here before the Spanish, that apparently is what is taught in some foreign COLLEGES, let alone lower grades).

The foods, medicinal and other plant use portions are phenomenal, and bring back my Grandmother and Aunts. The pages brought back my childhood, in the silver trailer by the creek. No addresses in those days, no post office boxes, just one huge mailbox down on the road leading to Dry Creek lane, the little road my Dad put in with a little bobcat.

Gathering acorns, and seaweed, my Dad getting abalone, and cooking it after softening it with rocks, ON rock. My Mom, who was white could never believe he could cook right in the fire pit without ashes, she could not do it on a commercial BBQ on the rack.

What a great book. I think some areas of the ancient days are missing, at least for me, and would love to see another book about why the matriarchal tribal customs existed. I wondered. Today we have a male chair because my age group some years ago decided to give the guys a chance! The women were left to take the children and Elders to the mountains while the men and boys defended their escape. It left the women (in our family we called them all the Aunties) to run the community business. I would also like to see a comparison to ancient Asian and Hebrew medicine and the Shamans of California, but am not the person to do the research, too busy with gang abatement, sorry.

The book is great, give to children and grandchildren, to grandparents, aunts and uncles. For once a book that does not make us look like the bunny people in hides, out in the brush awed by the killers and what ended up being worse than Hitler to our amazing state and the original citizens.

This Natural history guide is great!
I read the first half of this book in part of a day and quite enjoyed the whole thing. The authors make a strong case that the California coastal Native Americans made intensive use of fire to clear shrub lands and promote the growth of plants and animals that they used.Native peoples were not the only source of fire, of course, but it is striking that the parts of the state where natural sources of ignition are common from lightning strikes (the Sierra Nevada and Sonoran deserts) are not the places (namely the coast) where low intensity fires like those set by native people were most common.The book has extensive discussion of fire as a tool of native people and also discusses coastal peoples at some length and their archaeological record.In contrast, interior Indian populations are not discussed in much depth. There is little discussion of genetic diversity of California Indians or their likely points of origin outside California.However, the book is well referenced and is a great source of recent academic literature in archaeology, environmental history and cultural anthropology.

The second half of the book is a series of annotated lists of native plants (and some animals) used by Native people.These native uses are discussed for major geographic regions in the state and often have rather extensive entries on major food plants or those used in tool manufacture. The second half of the book is not introduced with much in the way of an overview and so is better as a reference work than as something to read straight through.

On the whole, I find the California Natural History Guides to be really excellent stand-alone books.They are not field guides in the usual sense (the one on California Water has extensive discussions of how the State water system works, for example) but rather are written as fact-filled books that carry a distinct point of view and are fairly complete in their treatment.The California Indians volume clearly has an agenda--namely to demonstrate that the native people of the State were actively modifying the landscape and managing resources. I highly recommend the book for anyone interested in native uses of resources, California pre-history, and a sense of what our state was like before Europeans turned up. ... Read more

Product Description
Löfgren takes us on a tour of the Western holiday world and shows how two centuries of "learning to be a tourist" have shaped our own ways of vacationing. We see how fashions in destinations have changed through the years, with popular images (written, drawn, painted, and later photographed) teaching the tourist what to look for and how to experience it. Travelers present and future will never see their cruises, treks, ecotours, round-the-world journeys, or trips to the vacation cottage or condo in quite the same way again. All our land-, sea-, and mindscapes will be the richer for Löfgren's insights. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Making it Last...
There is an old advertisement promoting a California vacation that informs us that `Life is Better in California'!Orvar Löfgren has written a bookthat both celebrates and critically assesses such statements, in acompelling blend of scholarly insight, historical research, and personalnarrative.On Holiday: A History of Vacationing is a rare work that makesfor enjoyable reading in the office-or on the beach.Löfgren, who teachesat the University of Lund in Sweden, combines his personal expertise andinterests with a rigorous eye for detail to build a fascinating account oftourism as an industry as well as the personal experience of vacationing. He adroitly balances insights from his native land of Sweden, the UnitedStates, and the rest of Europe with his research on tourism as a globalindustry.His book covers tourism as well as travel, images, brand names,destination marketing and relates them to social movements, such as labor,leisure, and lifestyle.A well-researched collection of illustrations andphotographs add to the book's appeal.

On Holiday's themes revolve aroundissues of work vs. leisure, labor vs. rest, home vs. away; tourist vs.host-yet its strength lies in focusing on the everyday life of vacationsrather than attempting to build a grand theory of leisure.Löfgren buildsfrom his own history of vacationing-without being esoteric oridiosyncratic-in developing a way of thinking about tourism that is usefulfor marketing scholars.He shows how the industry influenced and wasaffected by broad cultural patterns.His work suggests that tourism-andhow consumers experience vacations-is central to understanding the globaleconomy.

Readers will find this book much like a good vacation-a chanceto reflect, meet new people, getaway from the usual, and wind up refreshedwith new interests and directions. For much like a well developedresearch program, "a strange and often insatiable longing fortranscendence gives tourism an element of secular religion, a quest forfulfillment waiting out there somewhere-in the elsewherelands" (p.282). ... Read more

Product Description
Arusha National Park in northern Tanzania, known for its scenic beauty, is also a battleground. Roderick Neumann's illuminating analysis shows how this park embodies all the political-ecological dilemmas facing protected areas throughout Africa. The roots of the ongoing struggle between the park on Mount Meru and the neighboring Meru peasant communities go much deeper, in Neumann's view, than the issues of poverty, population growth, and ignorance usually cited. These conflicts reflect differences that go back to the beginning of colonial rule. By imposing a European ideal of pristine wilderness, Neumann says, the establishment of national parks and protected areas displaced African meanings as well as material access to the land. He focuses on the symbolic importance of natural landscapes among various social groups in this setting and how it relates to conflicts between peasant communities and the state. ... Read more