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Reproductive Physiology of Marsupials (Monographs on Marsupial Biology)
Hugh Tyndale-Biscoe , and
Marilyn Renfree
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0521337925 |
Book Description
Marsupials differ from most other mammals in their method of reproduction, in that they have chosen, in an evolutionary sense, to develop lactation rather than placentation for the nurture of their young. The neonate is therefore born with a mixture of advanced and embryonic characters, and yet is readily accessible within the pouch, providing a unique system for the study of the ontogeny of various physiological and endocrinological parameters. Marsupials are therefore ideal animals for research into mammalian reproductive physiology. The results of this exciting new research are summarized in this book by two of the foremost workers in the field. Individual chapters analyse the genetic and hormonal control of sexual differentiation, male and female reproductive structures and their functions, the role of the corpus luteum in the oestrous cycle and pregnancy, the hormonal control of embryonic diapause and the role of the marsupial placenta in the development of the embryo. This book is more than just a straightforward review of marsupial reproduction for its detailed analyses and broad comparative coverage will attract mammalogists and reproductive physiologists with a wide range of research interests.
Book Description
Visitors flock to Italy for its culture, culinary pleasures and awe-inspiring sights. Tuscany alone has more classified historical monuments than any country in the world and Italy as a whole has the worldÂ's greatest concentration of art treasures. The Rough GuideÂ's 41 “Things not to Miss” introduce the authorsÂ' highlights through stunning full-colour photos cross-referenced to the main section of the guide. The Â`BasicsÂ' section covers all the pre-departure nitty-gritty to help you plan your trip and the Â`GuideÂ', the heart of the book, divided into user-friendly chapters gives accounts of towns, sights and reviews of places to eat, drink and stay all pinpointed on accompanying maps and street plans. There is detailed background on ItalyÂ's history, art, architecture and a thorough further reading section with reviews of dozens of books relating to the country.
Customer Reviews:
Good book, nice guide, a few things are outdated - French one is better!.......2006-11-05
We have purchased The Rough Guide to France before and loved it. It was a very accurate and extremely helpful guide. Every recommendation turned out to be right on the money. The Rough Guide to Italy is a good guide, but not as good as the one for France. While the Italian history, the maps, the general area descriptions were excellent, many village / city specific recommendations were outdated and many places (mainly restaurants) listed in the book were not there in reality. We believe such differences between the two books really depend on the writers, and those who visited France simply wrote a better book. We would still recommend this book, but if you do the combination travel to France like we did, please know that the Italy version won't be as thorough and accurate as the French one.
Rough guide? A misnomer........2005-10-23
Rough guide was recommended by a co-worker, whose suggestions I respect. I expected a guide that perhaps just stuck to basics.I PERUSED THE GUIDE for 4 days before my trip, and during air travel and stop-overs. I found all info accurate, especially appreciated history and language sections in back helpful. The only problem I encountered was the print was finer than the guides I had perused at the library, making reading in poor light situations difficult. Hostel info was accurate. Historical backround w was very helpful.
Great practical advice...combine with second book and you are set..........2005-08-31
What I like best about the Rough Guides is that they give critical reviews. They will point out the tourist traps and will give negative reviews. I find that Frommer's and Fodor's rarely point out the negatives to a particular hotel or site. The rough guide is very critical and is a great balance to these other guides. I would balance your trip to Italy with a Fodors (or Frommers) book because the maps and illustrations are often better and there are more higher-end hotels listed.
This book will help you decide where is best to spend your vacation in Italy. There are clear critical descriptions of all the regions and great general info on getting around in Italy.
If you aren't interested in "roughing" it and staying in lower priced hotels. The guides are still very useful in rating attractions, and areas in which to stay... but you will need another book to look at more moderate and luxury hotels.
I would definitely read this book before going to Italy.
Book Description
The Rough Guide to Venice & Veneto is your definitive handbook to this splendour-aching European City. From the water-lapped palaces along the Canal Grande to the buzzing Rialto market, the full-colour section introduces all of the regions highlights. With more cultural background than any other guide, you’ll find detailed accounts of all Venice’s monuments and museums, from San Marco to the far-flung islands and practical coverage of Verona, Padua, Vicenza, Treviso, and a host of other Veneto towns and sights. Opinionated reviews of all the best places to eat, drink and stay in every price range. The guide also takes a detailed look at the region’s history, culture, events, painting and architecture and comes complete with maps and plans for every area.
Book Description
Now completely revised, this bestselling historical atlas includes a chronological series of more than fifty maps and accompanying text tracing the movements of peoples in Europe, the Mediterranean area, and the Near East from 5000 b.c. to the fourth century a.d.
Customer Reviews:
Dynamic Maps - hurrah!.......2006-07-20
As an avid devourer of both history and maps I can say that this book fills a certain niche within my appetite that has not been addressed by either thick historical reference materials or other historical atlases.
Specifically, the strength of this book (whatever its other failings are) is that it does the best job I've yet seen of presenting a TRULY DYNAMIC VIEW of the area in question. [For caveats as to its limitations, skip to the bottom of the review.]
This means that, after the early stuff is gotten out of the way (your neolithic revolution and other early times for which our information is sketchy, which involves leaving out a lot of time), we are treated to a map of the same area at regular ~50 year intervals. [The actual intervals between maps actually ranges from 15 to 100 in some cases, but ~50 is probably the mean.]
Now I own a few other historical atlases, many of which come highly recommended (The 2005 Oxford Atlas of World History, for example, as well as a few other comparable atlases), and while they are valuable purchases in their own right, they do not present a detailed DYNAMIC view of any part of the world, let alone sticking with one piece of it. The Oxford Atlas presents 'The Roman Empire' in two (admittedly large) pages that are supposed to take us from 500BC to 400AD, accompanied by three maps. While the simple narrative tells us what happens within that time period, we do not get to SEE what happens. Another atlas presents one very large and well detailed world map for every 250 year interval - empires pop up from nowhere like dandelions and are gone by the next map as if they never were!
In contrast, McEvedy's work sacrifices global scope and global time to present a limited frame of reference (Europe, North Africa, the Near East/Iran and half of the Eurasian steppe) and gives us a blow-by-blow account of what exactly was going on. We can actually see Rome growing over the course of 20 or so maps covering a thousand years, not to mention the ebb and flow of the various other historical peoples that shared the stage with Rome. [This doesn't take into account the pre-Rome maps that make up the other half of the book.]
I have yet to encounter any other series of maps, in proper historical reference materials or in other historical atlases, that provide this glimpse into a dynamic world that changed with each human generation (as all human communities do, whether we know it or not). [If anyone else knows of such a series of maps, by all means post a review listing the title.]
As an amateur scholar who prefers to get proper historical information from thick, specifically targeted thousand page works, I can definitely say that there is no substitute for the visual information that maps can provide. I've lost count of how many pages have been wasted attempting to explain in (many, many) words what could have been presented instantly and without confusion by a simple well drawn and well-excised map - in fact I've yet to encounter any proper historical work in which the use of maps has been what I'd call adequate. Every targeted proper history should have a section of dynamic maps as comprehensive in time (50 year snapshots) as McEvedy's work, and without all the clutter added in. [If the entire historical narrative never even mentions cities G-Z, why are cities G-Z included in the maps at all - to make cities A-F difficult to find?]
Finally, McEvedy certainly has a way with words, as well as a sense of humor, which makes the narrative, simple as it is, more enjoyable then your average millenium trudge.
Having said all this, however, one should keep in mind that this Atlas fills a specific and so far unmet need - without competition in that specific realm it stands unparalleled. When measured according to other parameters that are already serviced by other products, this Atlas is average at best.
Factors to consider:
1) Can only be classified as the most basic of introductions to history - the historical narrative is very very simple, easily outclassed by other atlases, and is primarily meant to simply accompany the maps and explain any apparent anomalies. This is not a book with which to learn history, but to offer a supplement to the amateur historian that simply isn't available elsewhere (at least not collected into one convenient place that I am aware of).
2) Limited in geographical scope. Relatively clearly stated at the outset. I, personally, would love to see the same treatment given to the rest of the world (either as a whole or by region or both), but this has not been attempted. [Cursory book store inspection of the regional Penguin Atlases, such as Africa or Egypt or Greece, suggest that they have moved away from the dynamic presentation of many maps towards a more narrative approach.]
3) Lack of detail. This is not a standard reference work - it is not a book with which to look up specific facts or places or cities. It details the movements of large numbers of people who are defined in cultural/linguistic terms - it is a work of demographic history, and in terms of such, excess detail would indeed simply get in the way of the purpose of THIS work. Other Atlases and dictionaries have already provided reference services.
4) The author is not precisely a neutral party. Whil McEvedy's specialization involves demographic history, in which I do not doubt he is both objective and an expert, he is not afraid to stake out a position on other issues in history about which he may not be such an expert. If certain historical controversies tend to set you off (such as the Aryan invasion conroversy), then you may well be set off by some of the random comments interspersed throughout the book. McEvedy's opinions clearly represent that backlash against the historical-PC movement (or whatever it might be called), in which there have never been any real Dark Ages anywhere at any time (as this would insult the people who lived at those times, making them seem inferior), and in which large regions were never invaded by other people (as this is a threat to the patriots of [Nation X], however long ago it didn't happen), or if they were invaded the 'invaders' were really friendly and nice and accomodating (not ambitious, opportunistic and clever thugs, because thugs are never smart), or that the invaders clearly made no useful or worthwhile contributions to subsequent cultural development (because aggression and invasion are wrong, and the perpetrators should not be encouraged by admitting that they were anything except pure destructive evil). Of course such theories began, some time ago, as a response to the old conservative position in which fresh blood and racial superiority demanded that invasions determined everything (because muscles are good), that the conquered people were weak, stupid, insipid and given to orgies and all manner of archaic and disgusting customs (and probably used masking tape to fix their glasses), that the conquerors were massive and virile noble savages (full of honor and repute and definitely not a collection of rapists and murderers), and that the conquered people were usually dissolved in the pure elixir of new blood (or at least kept where they belonged, in slavery).
Seen in the light of past and present exremisms, McEvedy's comments are pretty tame, and more of a calling for balance between various hypotheses (which, when left to themselves, tend to become hyperbolic). In any case such few comments as exist are not integral to any theory presented by McEvedy, and are really no more than asides to the work - most authors would excise such unnecessary and provocative comments, but McEvedy has not. The comments are almost meaningless to the purpose of the book, so you can easily take the maps and forget the narrative completely, and still come out ahead, regardless of your position.
In summary, and speaking as an amateur historian, this book is an amazing kind of supplement that I have yet find anywhere else. It is not, however, a comprehensive introduction to world (or regional) history, and it is not a general reference work.
History as it should be enjoyed.......2006-05-20
I defy any other historian to compress so much raw material into such a concise but precise volume. The language is a pure joy: Caesar's son being "tidied away into a small box"; Nero "dying by his own shaky hand"; the "proud and prickly" Great Kings of Persia. The book (and others by the same author) is also refreshingly politically incorrect: unashamedly European in outlook, rightly contemptuous of less civilized polities, unafraid to defend the Indo-European conquest of Iran and Northern India.
Best of all, the maps are a succulent treat: I remember tracing them out by pencil when a student (that was the first edition) and being caught out by my history master - leading to a heated debate on the origin of the Etruscans.
I have now gone through no less than seven copies of this book (first or second edition): three given away to enlightened friends, four disintegrated through long re-readings in the bath.
A Gibbon for the IT age.
Not the Atlas I was hoping for.......2005-10-04
When you teach introductory courses in ancient history ranging from the first cities to the fall of Rome a good atlas that doesn't cost much is difficult to find: its still difficult to find. I like that the maps are organized by topic to a degree but I found a lot of the commentary to be more introductory history (simplistic at that) than atlas commentary. I liked that the maps themselves are simple gray scale and not all the colors that can get confusing when you deal with smaller nations and tribes but overall I think they lacked some detail. Given so much of the book is this simplified history it really needs a bibliography too. For $15, I think I can put up maps on our class overhead or computer which are as good and in many cases better.
A fine book, somewhat mis-titled.......2005-05-04
This is a very nice piece of work but not exactly an atlas of ancient history. It is a cultural geography of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. It has far fewer place names than I wanted from an atlas and much of it is pre-history beginning some 40,000 years ago.
It starts with a brisk and entertaining account of the author's methods for interpreting scanty archaeological and linguistic evidence. This is at once accessible, learned, detailed, acerbic, and engaging. There is a funny bit about how archaeologists will say "a major new civilization" when they mean "a particularly disappointing dig", or will say "earliest known" when they mean "undated", and more. There is a terrific account of what it took to re-settle humans in Europe as the last ice age retreated. The effects were strong on Northern Europe into historical times (indeed Scandinavia and some of Russia is still rising and drying out today). The author estimates the human population of all of Europe and the Middle East was only about 100,000 in 9,000 BC.
The book describes movements of peoples, languages, technologies, and writing systems. It maps out the earliest known trade relations. It includes many maps but with few place names. Rather they indicate where various ethnic groups lived and what technologies were used where. As it enters historical times the book describes the campaigns of rulers and empires. It is a beautiful piece of work and beautifully concise.
On the other hand, if you are reading Euripides and you want to know where Lemnos was, you won't find it here. You will find the most famous places: In Greece, besides
Athens and Sparta, are Mycenea, Lesbos, Argos. That is like finding Chicago and San Francisco in an atlas of the US. But you will not find general Meno's birthplace of Larissa--which you would read about in either Plato or Xenophon. It is like not finding St. Louis in a US atlas. Those places are found in the Atlas of the Greek World (Cultural Atlas of) by Peter Levi. And they are found in another book you should read anyway, namely the Landmark Thucydides. It is a terrific edition available in paperback and it shows these places in detailed maps.
Very nice summary of ancient history.......2005-02-22
I must say, this is one of the best summaries of the ancient world that I have read in a while. The text is detailed yet concise, and even humorous at times. It and the maps do a good job recording the rise and fall of many of the ancient states. My only complaint is that some of the text is outdated; the 2nd Edition is from 2002 but it fails to incorporate some of the newer discoveries. The text on the Indus Valley Civilization (discovery of only two cities) and the Aryan entry into India (states definitively that they invaded and destroyed the IVC, when this is questioned) are the most blatant examples. Still, most of the text and maps are very useful and still current. If you like ancient history, this book is for you.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent way to get an overview of Europe in the Middle Ages.......2007-09-21
This new edition of a classic overview of Medieval Europe is well worth the small price. It makes clear that the Middle Ages was a period of tremendous change and flux. Empires rose and fell almost overnight. Recommended for anyone who wants to more fully appreciate this period. (The maps and the text are all much better than in the previous edition, which was excellent.)
Great.......2006-08-25
McEvedy's shamlessly Eurocentric view is a breath of fresh air in a world polluted by the smog of neo-anthropological cultural correctness. If you want to learn about the who, what, when, and where [emphasis on the last two] of Europe/the Near East during the Middle Ages, then this is the book for you.
The maps are highly detailed; the text is informative and easy to read. You won't get lost in a labyrinth of meaningless jibberish. Buy this book--you will not be sorry. I promise.
Fascinating and wonderful book!.......2005-09-20
I read the old edition, from the library, and it is completely one of the most fascinating books I've ever read. It was recommended as background reading for a history of Western Christianity course I took. This book is perhaps not as furnished with specific details as some would prefer, but as a comprehensive overview of the Mediterranean world in the middle ages it is extremely successful. It is true that the book focuses only on Europe and the world specifically surrounding it (North Africa, the near East, Scandinavia and some of Russia) but I think it is also arguable that we consider "the medieval world" to be specifically that area in light of the social and cultural history associated with the Middle Ages. Using the same map over again is extremely useful and makes the book easy to understand (producing an enjoyable flip-book effect, as another reviewer said). The text is wonderful: though dense, it is extremely easy to understand and McEvedy brings an enjoyable personal flavor to his narration. The absence of most significant landmarks on the map is sometimes inconvenient; I found myself turning to the full map in the index quite frequently. However, I feel that not cluttering the maps with excess print is probably worth the inconvenience. Throughout the book, specific people are identified by an elaborate shading-and-bordering system that, once one has adjusted to it, makes reading the maps very easy. If you are looking for an informative and fantastically compelling broad history of the middle ages, this is a most desirable book.
Nice for students of Medieval Europe.......2004-05-26
Good book with simple maps, black, white and green and not poor texts. Detailed. But unfortunately, mostly focuses on European history. I' d call it Atlas of Medieval Europe.
Poor map quality and duller history!.......2002-12-15
This book uses ONE single map on every page to document the movement of various people over time. However, it does not designate major landmarks. It tells of tribes crossing the Danube and the Volga but these rivers are never labeled. It refers to the Tigris and Euphrates but you need another map to tell you where they are. When major landmarks are not identified it is hard to understand how this can be called an Atlas. The history is disjointed and poorly written. The only reason to buy this book is that you don't have a match with which to burn your money.
Book Description
304 nostalgic images compiled from rare and expensive antique chromolithographs portray men and women from a broad range of historical periods and cultures — dowagers and debutantes, soldiers and sailors, mandarins, medieval monarchs, Indian princesses, and gentlemen of every description sporting top hats, powdered wigs, and other regalia.
Book Description
A totally fresh look at fish.
Focus on Freshwater Aquarium Fish is a valuable reference for fishkeepers at all levels. The book features a wide variety of fish illustrated in a dynamic way and offers practical advice for their care.
The book presents the fish based on their families or fishkeeping groups. These groupings consist of:
- American and African Cichlids: bold inhabitants
- Characins: from tetras to piranhas
- Live-bearers: includes guppies and mollies
- Killifish: short-lived beauties
- Anabantids: air breathers including Bettas
- Danios, Minnows and Rasboras
- Catfish: found in tropic and temperate waters
- Rainbowfish: tropical fish at home in tap water
- Sharks and Loaches: bottomfeeders and efficient algae eaters
- Barbs: active and gregarious
- Oddballs: pufferfish, low-voltage eels, elegant predators and more
- Goldfish: a wide variety of a perennial favorite.
Each section opens with an overview that introduces the range of fish within that group and explores their adaptations. The images and text provide details of the mature size and main characteristics of each fish, its behavior in the aquarium and a brief look at how it breeds.
The bright, colorful photographs display the fish swimming rather than as static side views. This evokes a clearer sense of the personality of each species. Freshwater fishkeepers will be delighted at the beauty and choice available.
Customer Reviews:
A great picture book of freshwater aquarium fish.......2007-01-31
This book has large, detailed, and colorful pictures of various kinds of freshwater aquarium fish, as well as some useful information on each kind of fish. If you are looking for a book to help you decide which kinds of freshwater aquarium fish you would like to buy, you definitely should buy this book.
Really nice photos of tropical fish.......2007-01-23
As the title clearly specifies, "Focus on Freshwater Aquarium Fish" it's not a book on setting up an aquarium. I don't understand why anyone would expect to find such information in a book that focus' on the fish.
What you do get is pages on pages of GREAT color photos of various common species of freshwater fish. The pics are superimposed on a white background and really stand out. There is some text describing the fish and it's behavior but not too much.
Every aquarist should have a such a book to show new fish enthusiasts or guests in your home.
Maybe not to much information, but beautifal pics!.......2006-09-09
I saw this book at borders. I love it . There is virtualy no information on setting up tanks, or filtiration, but the fish set on a stunning white background is incredible.
A beautiful picture book.......2006-09-08
This book is full of color illustrations derived from photos, which are often bigger than life size. Often the page is full of images of the same fish shot from different angles. Even the common goldfish is shown nicely. It is a good picture book for young children and armchair hobbyists. People who want to set up an aquarium should not buy this book.
The focus is on photos.......2006-04-10
This book is neither an 'encyclopedia' nor an 'atlas'. The title says it all i.e. it's a focus on aquarium fish. It's not about plants or filters or feeding requirements. If you're looking for a book with lots of info about fish keeping, this one is not for you. I bought it for the pleasure of the absolutely fantastic photography. All of the fish are presented with a white background so there is no distraction from the fish itself. This is a stunning,unique,artistic book. For this it has five stars in my opinion.
Customer Reviews:
Cool as a Cucumber, Hot as a Pepper: Fruit Vegetables.......2004-03-12
Full of interesting facts & stories, richly illustrated & photographed, historically & geographically relevant (helping urban children understand the origins of the plant foods we buy & eat from convenience or grocery stores; documenting the farmers, workers, travellers & scientists who helped collect & distribute popular food plants, etc.), nutritional facts, recipes & activities are also included in the mix. Overall text, photos & illustrations are colourful, interesting & educational for readers of all ages.
Book Description
This book deals with the Jewish High Priesthood between 301-152 BCE. The research was carried out as part of a doctoral thesis at the Pontifical Gregorian University. It is of a historical-biblical-theological nature. Historical, in as much as it refers to a chronological period and to the historiographic sources; biblical and theological because it questions a Biblical institution, its meaning and its religious function. The history of the High Priesthood is analysed on the basis of conflicting documents, starting from the question of power and the autonomy of the high priests under the rule of the Ptolemies and the Seleucids. However, the historical reconstruction is strongly determined by the political ideology and theological vision of the available sources on this subject.
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Historical Perspectives: From the Hasmoneans to Bar Kokhba in the Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls : Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium of ... on the Texts of the Desert of Judah)
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Studies on the Hasmonean Period (Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity, Vol 39)
Joshua Efron
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Publishers
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ASIN: 9004076093 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Journal of the American Oriental Society, published by American Oriental Society on January 1, 1994. The length of the article is 895 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.
From the author: Studies on the hasmonean Period. By Joshua Efron. Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity, vol. 39. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1987. Pp. xvi. HFI 144, $72.
Citation Details
Title: Studies on the Hasmonean Period. (book reviews)
Author: Louis H. Feldman
Publication:
The Journal of the American Oriental Society (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 1994
Publisher: American Oriental Society
Volume: v114
Issue: n1
Page: p87(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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- A service to scholars and a treat for readers
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This America of Ours: The Letters of Gabriela Mistral and Victoria Ocampo
Gabriela Mistral ,
Victoria Ocampo ,
Elizabeth Horan , and
Doris Meyer
Manufacturer: University of Texas Press
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A Queer Mother for the Nation: The State and Gabriela Mistral
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ASIN: 0292705409 |
Book Description
"Meyer and Horan have done extraordinary and valuable work in collecting and editing the letters of Victoria Ocampo and Gabriela Mistral in
This America of Ours.... Ocampo and Mistral's exchanges often reveal their differing approaches to literature, politics, and feminism and, as such, provide an example of the richness and variety of women's intellectual engagement in Latin America."
—Elizabeth A. Marchant, Associate Professor of Spanish and Portuguese, UCLA
Gabriela Mistral and Victoria Ocampo were the two most influential and respected women writers of twentieth-century Latin America. Mistral, a plain, self-educated Chilean woman of the mountains who was a poet, journalist, and educator, became Latin America's first Nobel Laureate in 1945. Ocampo, a stunning Argentine woman of wealth, wrote hundreds of essays and founded the first-rate literary journal
Sur. Though of very different backgrounds, their deep commitment to what they felt was "their" America forged a unique intellectual and emotional bond between them.
This collection of the previously unpublished correspondence between Mistral and Ocampo reveals the private side of two very public women. In these letters (as well as in essays that are included in an appendix), we see what Mistral and Ocampo thought about each other and about the intellectual and political atmosphere of their time (including the Spanish Civil War, World War II, and the dictatorships of Latin America) and particularly how they negotiated the complex issues of identity, nationality, and gender within their wide-ranging cultural connections to both the Americas and Europe.
Customer Reviews:
A service to scholars and a treat for readers.......2004-03-15
_This America of Ours_ chronicles the thirty-year epistolary friendship of Latin America's two most remarkable women of letters. Though intended primarily for readers already familiar with Mistral or Ocampo, the book's editors provide such generous and well-placed notes and supporting material that the two writers and their turbulent worlds emerge in compelling depth and intimacy even for the nonspecialist.
The surviving letters from Mistral are more numerous and longer than Ocampo's and--especially later in the correspondence--Ocampo's are more often censored (or self-censored). Thus we experience the Chilean poet more vividly, though the editors have compensated for this imbalance by including pertinent letters by and to other correspondents, as well as poems and essays by both writers on each other's work.
Portraying a fascinating range of relationships across three continents, the letters make personal the intellectual and political upheavals leading to the Spanish Civil War, the rise of European fascism and horrors of the Second World War, as well as the Peronist movement and its aftermath in Argentina. They also show Mistral's struggle to cope with the suicide of her nephew and adopted son Juan Miguel (Yin Yin).
But their chief value may lie in revealing--especially for Mistral--the process of self-fashioning. Both women successfully created platforms for their own work as artists and public intellectuals in cultures that tried to constrain them to approved feminine roles. Mistral particularly had enjoyed unusual (for any poet) proximity to real political power in her education work for the revolutionary government in Mexico. In the letters we witness her constant awareness of playing roles--of carefully selecting positions, associates, and words. Like Thomas More, she knew only too well how dangerous rulers could be, and how trapped she could become in an image the state found useful. She derided under the term "organdy" the starched homages she constantly received from provincial schoolteachers and pupils when she appeared in public.
This self-fashioning had a private side as well. For decades, we learn, Mistral engaged in an astonishing and apparently unsolicited _interpretation_ of Ocampo in her letters to her, explaining to her friend what her true nature was and how her behavior and words could better embody it. This apparently bizarre mirroring can be understood in the context of Mistral's passionate desire to define a specifically "(pan)American" identity. It was crucial for this project that any such definition be able to accommodate her elegant and courageous friend. Over the years we watch Mistral cajole, berate, and praise Ocampo, and occasionally grudgingly adjust her own categories to allow a revised appreciation of some action on her friend's part.
Mistral urges on Ocampo the works of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, among other Spanish mystics. These passages in the letters highlight two things fundamental to an understanding of the Chilean Nobel laureate's poetry and politics. First is her awareness of a vast and complex inward space, a spiritual landscape or architecture suggesting that of Teresa's _Interior Castle_. For Mistral the world of action is only part of the human sphere. Second is her paradoxical (for one who insists on the value of the concrete natural world) commitment to the concept of essence.
Whether discussing class, national traits, aesthetic trends, or religious or social doctrine, Mistral argues from essence in an almost Platonic way. She judges both poets and politicians by what we would call character, and explicitly mistrusts intellectual calculus, however much she might employ it herself. She gently abuses Ocampo for her attachment to the French language, disparaging the France "of Racine," for her a symbol of sterile academic technique. Perhaps surprisingly, her essentialist vision does not lead her to serious intolerance: it seems to be more organic, favoring a diverse human ecology in which each type, while true to its nature, has a place. The letters reinforce her public reputation as a tireless worker on behalf of the displaced and oppressed.
Horan and Meyer have each spent years with the voices of their respective authors, and their translations reflect that familiar toil. The letters read smoothly and colloquially, with remarkably few verbal oddities in a work of this length. The book is a distinguished addition to Texas' growing catalogue on Mistral and her Latin American contemporaries.
Readers drawn to this epistolary friendship will find additional delight in _Amigas_, the record of a similarly lengthy correspondence between two extraordinary contemporary Chilean writers--childhood friends and expatriates since the 1973 coup that overthrew Allende--Marjorie Agosin and Emma Sepulveda, also published by Texas.
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