Customer Reviews (2)

I never got the book or a refund
Dont try to buy this as you will never get it or get a refund after you waste time trying to get this seller to respond and send the book. Too bad, I would have much rather had the book than a dispute with Amazon. Cheap.

New Mexico History in Maps
My copy of this book is becoming tattered from wear.When I checked Amazon listings I discovered it's now out of print.I'd recommend anyone interested in the history and demographics of New Mexico buy one of these while it's still possible to get it used.

The Contents includes numerous maps under each of the following headings:Natural Environment, Historical Landscapes, Population Characteristics, Economic Characteristics, Cultural Elements and Government.Although the title is several years out of date in some areas, it's still the best document of the kind I've ever seen for the State of New Mexico in a broad-brush quick reference or for an in-depth study of certain aspects of New Mexico history you won't find elsewhere.I'd love to see UNM Press do another run of this one or print it on a book by book POD.It's entirely too good to allow to become unavailable. ... Read more

Product Description
In Geography and the Art of Life, geographer Edmunds Bunkse fusesthe exterior landscape of his life with wrenching, and poetic, impressions of his World War IIchildhood to create a stunning narrative that explores an intimate geosophy—thehumanistic geography of place, heart, subjective, expressive, and literary evocations of theindividual's place in the world—this unique work illuminates major themes in geography andhistory through autobiography.

As a child of war and exile, Bunkse writes, he had to develop an early awareness of the meaningsof home and homelessness. Born in Latvia in 1935, he and his family first evaded deportation toSiberia in 1941. In 1944 they fled by sea ahead of advancing Soviet troops—and certaindeportation to Siberia. Upon landing in Gdansk, they were imprisoned in a German labor camp.In flight once more at war's end, the family was settled in a displaced-persons camp in Lubeckbefore finally emigrating to America in 1950. During this sojourn, Bunkse lived in the shadow ofcommunism and nazism; he drifted dreamily on a raft in the Baltic sea; and he cowered by theroad, a boy on a mission to fish in a nearby stream, waiting for the terrifying thunder of Germantanks to pass. These and other haunting memories give exceptional power to the author'sexploration of humanistic geography.

Weaving autobiography together with classic works in geography, literature, and art, Bunkseexplores such fundamental concepts as home, road, place, and landscape in light of his ownremarkable experiences in the world. An original contribution to the study of geography,Geography and the Art of Life is also a compelling human story of impossible departuresand unexpected arrivals. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A beautiful contribution to humanistic geography
With this book, Edmunds Bunkse (Professor of Geography at the University of Delaware) has produced both a moving autobiography, and a compelling account of humanistic geography.Bunske's life experiences and his professional projects are here intertwined, each motivating or informing the other.As an autobiography, this book offers an account of Bunkse's developing "geographic sensibilities" - or "knowing how to be in a place and how to find one's way about in geographic space" (13) - as these have been affected by experiencs of war, travel, parenthood.As a defense of humanistic geography, this book offers an account of how individuals' geographic sensibilities affect their understanding of and, more profoundly, their "orientation" in the world.This a geography of "heart and soul," wonderfully illustrated with the author's own life experiences.

Bunkse's choice of metaphor is apt.He links the practice of geography, and the development of geographic sensibility (which is nothing like geography education), with the humanistic concept of an "art of life."Humanists, certainly since Montaigne, have long upheld the view that each individual human life is like a work of art; each individual should be appreciated as a work of art is appreciated.Unfortunately, in many fields of study, such as geography, this humanistic perspective is overlooked.As Bunkse states, geography as a whole is generally lacking in humanity.Humans are present in geography, but not as complex and deep individuals.Bunske's book - and the work of other humanistic geographers such as Yi-Fu Tuan - attempt to redress the lack of humanity in the field.Bunkse achieves this by revealing the intimacy or depth with which he has experienced different environments (in both natural and urban settings), and the manner in which his imagination and experiences have informed each other.

Bunkse's book appears at a very propitious moment.Geographers are increasingly taking an interest in autobiography, or, more generally, the close study of individual lives.Hopefully, this broader interest in autobiography may promote more geographers to engage with humanistic thought.

All in all, this is a fine book.It is an enjoyable read, intelligent without being 'academic', and moving without any hint of sentimentalism.

Thought provoking and honest...
Excellent book which moved me beyond words. ... 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

Customer Reviews (1)

worthless and void of content
There is just nothing to this book; someone took a pamphlet of New Mexico fun facts, attached pictures to it, translated half into spanish and called it a Bilingual Library of USA product.No wonder the web is taking over with books like these.

Don't even consider buying this. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

very well written,very informative
We were going on a trip to see the Llano Estacado and the canyon in west Texas.This book gave the trip so much dimension and understanding at how hard the life was for the explorers and the pioneers in this harshland.Very cleverly written,holds one attention. Wonderful

Excellent contemporary treatise on Llano explorations
Using historical writings of early explorers, the author captures the mystery and magic of the great Llano Estacado or "Staked Plains" that begin in West Texas and extend north and west. Particularly amusing is the efforts of early railroad surveyors to find underground water at the edge of the Llano (aka the caprock) only to miss one of North America's largest aquifers (the Ogalla) by a matter of miles and in some cases yards.

"...extremely well written new work of Southwestern History"
[Review by Larry Blumenfeld, Blumenfeld & Aswsociates, Post Office Box 2831, 660 Circulo Nomada, Tubac, AZ 85646-2831, (520) 398-3371, published in COUNCIL FIRES, The Publication for Western Americana Enthusiasts, Vol. 8, Issue #1, January, 1998, p. 16-17.]E1 Llano Estacado: Exploration and Imagination on the High Plains of Texas and New Mexico, 1536-1860. Written by John Miller Morris. Austin: Texas State Historical Association, First Edition ($39.95).El Llano Estacado is an extremely well written new work of Southwestern History, brilliantly revealing the historical core and heart of one of America's most history-packed regions--the mesaland of the Southern High Plains in Texas and New Mexico. From the Canadian River in the north to the Edwards Plateau in the south, from the Pecos River in the west to the awesome canyonlands of the Red, Pease, Brazos, and Colorado Rivers in the east, these 50,000-square miles of what is commonly referred to as "the Llano" are here chronicled over a period of 300 years, revealing the history, cultural grandeur, and mythic wonders of this special ruggedly beautiful land. A knockout read for both historians and buffs alike, Morris's new book is his song to this unique environment, revealing, melding, and analyzing a diversified series of Spanish, French, Mexican, and Anglo-American explorers and adventurers and how they made their mark on this remarkable land. The book opens with an examination of what is known as the Lost Coronado Trail, pursuing the question of where did the Coronado Expedition go in 1541. What follows is nothing short of a breakthrough analysis of what they saw and how they remembered it as revealed through their personal accounts and journals.The second part of the book, which deals with the Llano Frontier, continues its unique approach to the study of the three centuries of Spanish exploration and imagination following Coronado. Here we revisit this extraordinary land through the eyes and imaginations of the conqueror, Juan de Onate, the accounts of the French explorers, Pierre Mallet and Paul Mallet, and the travel diaries of trailblazers Pedro Vial, Jose Mares, and Francisco Amangual. Part Three then explores and analyzes "the invention or discovery of the Llano through the Anglo imagination," including the "prose of the poet Albert Pike, the grand deceits of Alexander Le Grand, the reasoning of Josiah Gregg, and the legendary collapse of the Texan-Santa Fe Expedition" as chronicled by George Wilkins Kendall and Thomas Falconer. Together the author analyzes what he calls the "American rhetoric of romantic discovery." The Great Zahara, the last of four parts, deliciously delves into the "perceptual approaches of classic U. S. Explorers James W. Abert, Randolph B. Marcy, A. W. Whipple, Andrew Gray, and John Pope...."Powerful, unusual, stimulating, and nothing short of brilliant, El Llano Estacado is one of the finest works of cultural and mythic history of a region I have ever read. Morris has penned a great work of both history and imagination, pushing the boundaries on historical scholarship to limits that I would have never thought possible. This book should change the way history is not only written but perceived. You must read this mmagnificent book!! ... Read more

Product Description
This study illuminates the Spanish settlements founded on land grants along the northern reaches of Mexico - what came to be called new Mexico. Unlike the "conquest culture" to the south, these Hispanic pioneers colonized the northern territories to secure converts to Roman Catholicism, to protect as a buffer the more productive southern colonies (silver was discovered in 1531 in Michoacian), and to some extent for general territorial aggrandizement. The settlements followed the lines of life typical of small communities in Spain itself, though by the standards of the mother country of central Mexico, the villas and pueblos around centers like Santa Fe and Albuquerque were so unpretentious as to have certain recognition witheld. Van Ness provides the historical, geographical, economic and racial settings for these corporate communities and traces their existence through United States rule. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Solid information
This book covers the settlement of and existing Hispano communities in Northern New Mexico.Carlson includes a lot of details concerning Spanish land grants and the various homesteading acts that assigned land ownership in Northern New Mexico.He also discusses the public domain.He closes with details of what is happening to the community as of the early 90's and why these land based cultures have changed.My only issue with the book is his arbitrary boundaries for the homeland it should include the Rio Grande valley south to the Socorro area.He stops his boundary at the modern Sandoval county line on the North side of Albuquerque, and this boundary does not match the historical Rio Arriba/Rio Abajo lines. ... Read more

Product Description
Surveys the people, geography, and history of state known as the "Land of Enchantment." ... Read more

Product Description
First of a series of monographs that will deal withsingle issues relevant to the history of Los Alamos.The series iscalled THE LOS ALAMOS STORY.Monograph 1 is an overview of Los Alamosfrom its geological/geographical setting, to its manypopulations--Indians, Spanish settlers, homesteaders, to the famousLos Alamos Ranch School, to the Manhattan Project which developed theatomic bomb in World War II, and to 1949 when the town was recognizedas a part of the state of New Mexico rather than as a federaldistrict. ... Read more

Product Description
Visual highlights of New Mexico ... Read more