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The "Arc" of Relics
The Natural History of Madagascar is a tome. It weighs about 8 pounds and is some 1700 pages long. It does contain information on most all living things ( and some fossils) found on the island: plants, insects, molluscs, spiders, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. This is not a field guide however. There are few illustrations and few keys to species. What is contained is informationon for understanding the systematics and phylogeny, the natural history of the various groups and the ecomorphologic diversity important in how individuals fit into the various habitats of the island. Since Madagascar has just about every conceivable ecologic niche for its sub-tropical location from bone-dry desert in the southwest to soggy rain forest on the entire east coast and everything in between. The island is essentially a shoe shape (left) with the toe pointing north and a high mountain range running south to north. The island broke away from Gondwana still attached to India some 120 mya and then separated from the west coast of India in the mid late Cretaceous. This has led to a burgeoning of endemism in all forms of life. Though an isolated "arc" island carrying its load of archaic animals and plants and allowing for its own pattern of evolution, it was not without occasional input from the outside world. Animals and plants could literally "barge" in on detritus rafts and introduce new groups. Whether or not the new species survived and prospered depended on their ability to fit in some niche. This has led to some interesting complexities of the species lists. There are no dog family or cat family predators. Civets and Mongooses fill some of the roles and large Lemurs and birds may have also. Then the late arrival human predator eliminated all of the larger animals and birds. On the other hand you have many relics still prospering whereas elsewhere they have been supplanted or died out. Tenrecs and Lemurs are among them. As a botanic example we can look at palms. On the whole continent of Africa there are some thirty species; on Madagascar 130. As noted in the discussion many "endemics" are really relics of evolutionay lines that died out on the main continents.
Other chapters have discussions on the physiologic adaptations of animals and plants that allow them to exploit the niches. Data is also found on some of the infectious diseases, parasitic, bacterial and viral for some of the animals. In my own area of fungal infections of animals, it is noted that several tenrec species had evidence Pneumocystis carinii, a strange ascomycetous fungus.
In the early chapters there is extensive coverage of rainfall and climate, soil types and geologic formations, fossils, origins of the Malagasy peoples that arrived only two thousand years ago and the culture and agriculture they now practice.
Its the kind of book I love - filled with biologic trivia - and it is good background for the serious natural history traveler. I'll be there soon.

The Natural History of Madagascar. Goodman & Bensted eds.
This weighty volume is an edited collection of scientific papers about the natural history of the island of Madagascar- how Madagascar came to be separated from Africa; its fossil record and relationship to existing forms of plant and animal life, most specifically the unique lemurs; its landforms, climatic, and biological zones, etc. Having just returned fromtwo week visit there, in three different areas of country, I can say that I wish I had read more of this book beforehand! I found the parts of Chapter 2 dealing with why Madagascar has such a unique collection of endemic plants and animals especially enlightening and surprising. I happen to be a marine biologist/ecologist professionally and was not put off by the specialized technical terms used by paleontologists, botanists, geologists, and so forth, but I don't think a well read lay reader will be much troubled by them either. This volume is not a guide book, however, but it is amply illustrated to demonstrate particular points. I doubt there is another single source of so much state of the art information about this extraordinary island. ... Read more

Book Description
Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world. It is a unique blend of Asian and African culture and is well known as the home of some of the world's most unusual and most endangered flora and fauna, from lemurs to giant tortoises. Although so close to the east coast of Africa where traces of human existence go back hundreds of thousands of years, Madagascar was uninhabited until about two thousand years ago. How it came to be inhabited by seafaring peoples from present-day Indonesia is just one of the many fascinating aspects of this book. A History of Madagascar examines the origins of the Malagasy, the early contacts with Europeans and the struggle for influence in the nineteenth century between the British and the French. It also covers the colonial period from 1896 to 1960, the recovery of independence and subsequent history up to the early 1990s. ... Read more

Book Description
Youth and identity politics figure prominently in this provocative study of personal and collective memory in Madagascar. A deeply nuanced ethnography of historical consciousness, it challenges many cross-cultural investigations of youth, for its key actors are not adults but schoolchildren. Lesley Sharp refutes dominant assumptions that African children are the helpless victims of postcolonial crises, incapable of organized, sustained collective thought or action.
She insists instead on the political agency of Malagasy youth who, as they decipher their current predicament, offer potent, historicized critiques of colonial violence, nationalist resistance, foreign mass media, and schoolyard survival. Sharp asserts that autobiography and national history are inextricably linked and therefore must be read in tandem, a process that exposes how political consciousness is forged in the classroom, within the home, and on the street in Madagascar.
Keywords: Critical pedagogy ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Great work
I did not expect much from this book. What was my surprise when I finally have a look at it! Composition of the pictures, lighting, colors and what is very important - quality of the print - is excellent! Photos are taken with all kind of lenses: from macro to telephoto. Commentary provided to each chapter is short but informative enough. If you are planning trip to Madagascar this book could help decide which national parks to visit. There are also some general traveling (what to take, when and where to go) tips. ... Read more

Book Description
In this story of the impact of slave trade on an insular African society, Larson explores how the people of highland Madagascar reshaped their social identity and their cultural practices. As Larson argues, the modern Merina ethnic identity and some of its key cultural traditions were fashioned and refashioned through localized experiences of enslavement and mercantile capitalism and by a tension-filled political dialogue among common highland Malagasy and their rulers. Larson's analysis expands traditional definitions of the African diaspora to include forcible exile of African slaves within the African continent as well as areas external to it. By locating Merina history within wider narratives of merchant capitalism, African history, African diaspora, and Indian Ocean history, Larson has produced a book that both recognizes the diversity of historical experience and highlights the structural connections of intercontinentally joined systems of forced labor. In this story of the impact of the slave trade on an insular African society, Larson explores how members of the Merina Kingdom of highland Madagascar reshaped their social identity and their cultural practices. With great skill and insight, Larson places Merina history within two scholarly traditions: that on the Atlantic slave trade and that on ethnicity and the making of ethnic identities in Africa. Using a broad range of indigenous traditions and well-informed European sources, Larson gains access to an inner history that eludes most scholars working on the slave trade in other parts of Africa. By locating Merina history within wider narratives of merchant capitalism, African history, African diaspora, and Indian Ocean history, Larson has produced a book that both recognizes the diversity of historical experience and highlights the structural connections of systems of forced labor in various parts of the world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

History and Memory in the Age of Enslavement
Following the television series, Wonders of the African World by Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Africanist world refocused attention on slave trade in Africa. Gates Jr. oversimplified the complex history of slavery by suggesting that if Africans had not sold slaves, there would not have been any slavery. Pier Larson's text comes at an appropriate time, to demonstrate just how complex the story of enslavement was and to correctly warn that we do a lot of injustice to a complex history by stopping at identifying losers and winner, benefits and disruptions.

The study focuses on the realm of cultural transformation and is exceptional in several identifiable ways. First, it pays immense attention to the process of enslavement and to those who remained in the slave supplying society. Secondly, it re-integrates Madagascar into the wider Indian Ocean mercantile system and into the general history of Africa. Thirdly, the study demonstrates that slave trade entailed opportunities and challenges and that people made choices on the basis of their circumstances, some of which changed drastically and forced some to enslave kin, neighbors and relatives.

Larson argues that the notion of diapora ought to be extended. Many people were displaced within Africa. They were mostly women and children and they were more than those who crossed the Atlantic. The notion of diapora, he argues, ought to be extended to include intra-continental displacement. Finally, the study shows that some societies worked to create a post-slavery dispensation that was fruitful to their existence. In Madagascar, Larson demonstrates how the people constructed memories of slavery that they used to create their political and later ethnic identity as Merina while at the same time they constructed historical amnesia about those things they did not wish to remember.

This study is a welcome addition to the history of slave trade, the historiography of Africa and to the discipline of history. The study re-interprets the notion of historical sources in a more inclusive perspective. This should be intriguing to all historians. It also extends our history of social displacement which should be good reading for human rights activists, humanitarians and people operating in conflict situation. The author is not only persuasive but is also innovative and lucid in his analysis. I strongly recommend this book to all those mentioned above and students of African studies around the world. ... Read more

Book Description
This comprehensive economic history of pre-colonial Madagascar examines the island's role in the burgeoning international economy and the rise of modern European imperialism. It reveals that the Merina of the Central Highlands attempted to found an island empire and, through the exploitation of its human and natural resources, develop the economic and military might to challenge British and French pretensions in the region. Ultimately, their failure (due to imperial forced labor policies and natural disasters) caused the nefarious consequences, attributed to external capitalist and French colonial policies. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Historian, published by Thomson Gale on June 22, 2007. The length of the article is 811 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: An Economic History of Imperial Madagascar, 1750-1895: The Rise and Fall of an Island Empire.(Book review)
Author: Pedro Machado
Publication: The Historian (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 22, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 69Issue: 2Page: 308(3)

Article Type: Book review

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A must-read work for serious scholars of Madagascar
Though Madagascar does not appear on the travel wish-lists of many people, nor is it the area of study most young anthropologists aspire to, it is one of the most fascinating places on the planet for travellers or for peoplewith interests in anthropology, religion, music, and history.Eighteen ortwenty different branches of the Malagasy people grew up over thecenturies, each in a specific ecological niche, all of whom were eventuallydominated by the highland dwelling Merina, whose kings ruled the greatisland in the 19th century.Over the last few decades, various works haveappeared on the different Malagasy groups: Merina, Sakalava, Tanala, etc. Kottak's book must be considered the definitive work on the Betsileo, alarge group living in the southern highlands, traditionally earning theirliving by rice farming and cattle herding.THE PAST IN THE PRESENT is atraditional ethnography, (most data was gathered in 1966) describing inparticular, state formation (in the past), social organization, andceremonial life.Kottak assembles an impressive collection of data andmakes the most of it in a rich description.Statistics, maps, diagrams,tables, and footnotes mark a thoroughly professional job. If this is whatyou are looking for, you are bound to find this book useful.To understandMadagascar from a historical point of view, as well as in the time justafter independence in 1960, the book is a necessity. Kottak studied adistrict town and a village in the Betsileo area.If you wonder what theBetsileo thought or said about themselves or about life; if you are lookingfor a more qualitative ethnography, you will not find it here.Given thatthe author did not set out to create such a book, it is unfair to criticizehim for not doing so. I strongly recommend Kottak's work to someone whodoesn't mind wading through a mass of detail, who wishes to become aserious student of Madagascar. ... Read more

Product Description
RARE BOOK PUBLISHED IN MADAGASCAR PROVIDING A COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF THE 18 TRIBES OF MADAGASCAR, WITH BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES AND AN INDEX. WITH COLOR PICTURES, AND MAPS. TEXT IN MALAGASY ... Read more

Book Description
This book studies the prominent role played by Norwegian missionaries in late 17th-century Madagascan history.Based on Norwegian missionary reports, the essays provide invaluable material on a crucial period of modernization and European orientation as well as the history of missions in
Africa. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Canadian Journal of History, published by Thomson Gale on December 22, 2006. The length of the article is 932 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: An Economic History of Imperial Madagascar, 1750-1895: The Rise and Fall of an Island Empire.(Book review)
Author: Jeremy Rich
Publication: Canadian Journal of History (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 22, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 41Issue: 3Page: 604(3)

Article Type: Book review

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This digital document is an article from International Bulletin of Missionary Research, published by Overseas Ministries Study Center on January 1, 2002. The length of the article is 1810 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Ancestors, Power, and History in Madagascar. (Book Reviews).(Brief Article)
Author: James B. Vigen
Publication: International Bulletin of Missionary Research (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2002
Publisher: Overseas Ministries Study Center
Volume: 26Issue: 1Page: 43(2)

Article Type: Book Review, Brief Article

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Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Biological Conservation, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
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