Check these books out today.Pineapple Culture: a History of the Tropical and Temperate Zones (BOOK): by Gary Y. Okihiro
Few other images convey the nature of the tropics as effectively as the pineapple. Yet, this now-commonplace fruit was once a much-sought-after rarity that signified elegance and hospitality while it simultaneously destroyed cultures and launched empires. Okihiro traces the impact this one commodity has exerted throughout time aided by the vagaries of geography, ambitions of governments, heroics of explorers, and vanities of businessmen. Though he focuses on the predominance of James Dole’s Hawaiian Pineapple Company, Okihiro also constructs a thorough time line for the pineapple’s rise to influence and acceptance that ranges from the species’ genesis in a remote corner of South America, to its temptation of European botanists and its unwitting role in the overthrow of Hawaii’s royal government. Seamlessly fusing geography with anthropology, horticulture with international politics, Okihiro draws a comprehensive portrait of how a singular fruit can unite a world. --Carol Haggas
The Companion to Hispanic Studies (BOOK): edited by Catherine Davies
What is "Hispanic Studies"? This companion gives a concise and accessible overview of the discipline as taught today and suggests new directions for future developments. This essential book provides all the necessary introductory information on the subject and will be especially useful for students who have already started courses in Spanish/Hispanic Studies, or who are considering doing so in the future. Written by a team of leading scholars each with established teaching experience this collection of short essays explores topics as diverse as the history of the Spanish language, Islamic Andalusia, race and class in the Spanish Golden Age, Catalan nationalism, the Madrid "movida," Latin America cinema, tango in Argentina, Evita Peron, "testimonio" and the cultural significance of the US-Mexican border.
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