"The best thing about this book is its overarching thesis, the concept of a Columbian exchange. This provocative device permits Crosby to shape a lot of familiar and seemingly unrelated data into a fresh synthesis. . . . The implications of this interplay between novel biological and social forces are fascinating." Journal of American History.

Explore the African American foodways of early 20th century Florida through the life, work, and recipes of a celebrated author and Sunshine State native. Author and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston did for Florida what William Faulkner did for Mississippi, providing insight into a state’s history and culture through various styles of writing. In this book, historian Fred Opie explores food as a recurring theme in Hurston’s life and work. Beginning with her childhood in Eatonville, Florida, and the foodways of her family, Opie goes on to explore Hurston’s ethnographic recording of dishes and recipes as well as natural food remedies. In other chapters, Opie examines African American foodways across Florida, including the importance of poultry and the social and political aspects of barbecue. Through simple dishes and recipes, foods prepared for everyday meals as well as special occasions, Opie offers a unique view of both Hurston and the food traditions in early twentieth-century Florida.

Mexican conservationists have sometimes observed that it is difficult to find a country less interested in the conservation of its natural resources than is Mexico. Yet, despite a long history dedicated to the pursuit of development regardless of its environmental consequences, Mexico has an equally long, though much less developed and appreciated, tradition of environmental conservation. Lane Simonian here offers the first panoramic history of conservation in Mexico from pre-contact times to the current Mexican environmental movement. He explores the origins of conservation and environmental concerns in Mexico, the philosophies and endeavors of Mexican conservationists, and the enactment of important conservation laws and programs. This heretofore untold story, drawn from interviews with leading Mexican conservationists as well as archival research, will be important reading throughout the international community of activists, researchers, and concerned citizens interested in the intertwined issues of conservation and development.

In this distinguished contribution to Latin American colonial history, Douglas Cope draws upon a wide variety of sources—including Inquisition and court cases, notarial records and parish registers—to challenge the traditional view of castas (members of the caste system created by Spanish overlords) as rootless, alienated, and dominated by a desire to improve their racial status. On the contrary, the castas, Cope shows, were neither passive nor ruled by feelings of racial inferiority; indeed, they often modified or even rejected elite racial ideology. Castas also sought ways to manipulate their social "superiors" through astute use of the legal system. Cope shows that social control by the Spaniards rested less on institutions than on patron-client networks linking individual patricians and plebeians, which enabled the elite class to co-opt the more successful castas. The book concludes with the most thorough account yet published of the Mexico City riot of 1692. This account illuminates both the shortcomings and strengths of the patron-client system. Spurred by a corn shortage and subsequent famine, a plebeian mob laid waste much of the central city. Cope demonstrates that the political situation was not substantially altered, however; the patronage system continued to control employment and plebeians were largely left to bargain and adapt, as before. A revealing look at the economic lives of the urban poor in the colonial era, The Limits of Racial Domination examines a period in which critical social changes were occurring. The book should interest historians and ethnohistorians alike.

The 500th anniversary of the Columbian discovery of America is upon us, and with it the obligation to assess existing interpretations of the significance of the voyage and establishment of permanent links between the Old and New Worlds. The traditional, or bardic, version of the Columbian voyages and their consequences was the product of narrative historians who wrote about the American past in ways consonant both with the documentary record then available and with the ethnocentrism of their fellow white citizens of the New World. Though popular, it is deceptive because it takes a selective view of history, reinforces Euro-American ethnocentrism, and confirms premises and approaches clearly obsolete in the late 20th century. The analytic interpretation takes a more scientific, less romantic view of the voyages, their motives and consequences. These historians open themselves to geology, climatology, biology, epidemiology, and other fields. They are scientific in their research and in attempts to limit bias. Examples of historical interpretation from each school of thought are presented. The Columbian influence on the Old and New Worlds is assessed; and intellectual, economic, nutritional, and demographic effects are discussed. Finally, the legacy of the Columbian exchange is reviewed in terms of its effects on world population and ethnic composition. (GEA)