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Left to his own devices, John Adams might have lived out his days as a Massachusetts country lawyer, devoted to his family and friends. As it was, events swiftly overtook him, and Adams--who, David McCullough writes, was "not a man of the world" and not fond of politics--came to greatness as the second president of the United States, and one of the most distinguished of a generation of revolutionary leaders.

He found reason to dislike sectarian wrangling even more in the aftermath of war, when Federalist and anti-Federalist factions vied bitterly for power, introducing scandal into an administration beset by other difficulties--including pirates on the high seas, conflict with France and England, and all the public controversy attendant in building a nation.

Overshadowed by the lustrous presidents Washington and Jefferson, who bracketed his tenure in office, Adams emerges from McCullough's brilliant biography as a truly heroic figure--not only for his significant role in the American Revolution but also for maintaining his personal integrity in its strife-filled aftermath.

McCullough spends much of his narrative examining the troubled friendship between Adams and Jefferson, who had in common a love for books and ideas but differed on almost every other imaginable point. Reading his pages, it is easy to imagine the two as alter egos. (Strangely, both died on the same day, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.) But McCullough also considers Adams in his own light, and the portrait that emerges is altogether fascinating. --Gregory McNamee

From Publishers Weekly
Here a preeminent master of narrative history takes on the most fascinating of our founders to create a benchmark for all Adams biographers. With a keen eye for telling detail and a master storyteller's instinct for human interest, McCullough (Truman; Mornings on Horseback) resurrects the great Federalist (1735-1826), revealing in particular his restrained, sometimes off-putting disposition, as well as his political guile. The events McCullough recounts are well-known, but with his astute marshaling of facts, the author surpasses previous biographers in depicting Adams's years at Harvard, his early public life in Boston and his role in the first Continental Congress, where he helped shape the philosophical basis for the Revolution. McCullough also makes vivid Adams's actions in the second Congress, during which he was the first to propose George Washington to command the new Continental Army. Later on, we see Adams bickering with Tom Paine's plan for government as suggested in Common Sense, helping push through the draft for the Declaration of Independence penned by his longtime friend and frequent rival, Thomas Jefferson, and serving as commissioner to France and envoy to the Court of St. James's. The author is likewise brilliant in portraying Adams's complex relationship with Jefferson, who ousted him from the White House in 1800 and with whom he would share a remarkable death date 26 years later: July 4, 1826, 50 years to the day after the signing of the Declaration. (June) Forecast: Joseph Ellis has shown us the Founding Fathers can be bestsellers, and S&S knows it has a winner: first printing is 350,000 copies, and McCullough will go on a 15-city tour; both Book-of-the-Month Club and the History Book Club have taken this book as a selection.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

In this engrossing detective story, Rosalie David uncovers a fascinating picture of Kahun, a pyramid workmens' town excavated in 1887. In David's hands, the Egyptian builders of the pyramids are revealed as simple people, leading ordinary lives while they are engaged in building the great tomb for a Pharaoh. They worry about their families, grumble about the quality of the food, cheat overseers, even plan a strike for better conditions. Gone are the whip-driven slaves of the popular image: in their place are skilled workers knowing the value of their labor.

Since 1992, German scholar Germar Rudolf has been giving lectures to various mainstream audiences all over the world. His topic is very controversial: the Holocaust in the light of new forensic and historical findings. Initially his listeners think they know exactly what "the Holocaust" is all about, but their world view is completely turned upside down after the evidence is presented. Even though Rudolf presents nothing short of full-fledged Holocaust revisionism, his arguments fall on fertile soil, because they are presented in a very pedagogically sensitive and scholarly way. This book is the literary version of Rudolf's lectures, enriched with the most recent findings of historiography to a topic regulated by penal law in many countries. The book's style is as unique as its topic: It is a dialogue between the lecturer on the one hand and the reactions of actual audience members on the other. Germar Rudolf introduces the reader to the most important arguments and counter arguments of Holocaust revisionism. The audience reacts with supportive, skeptical, and also hostile comments, questions, and assertions. The "Lectures" read like a vivid and exciting real-life exchange between persons of various points of view. This book is a compilation of Frequently Asked Questions on the Holocaust and its critical re-examination. The usual moral, political, and pseudo-scientific arguments against revisionism are all addressed and refuted. With more than 1,300 references to sources and a vast bibliography, this easy-to-understand book is the best introduction into this taboo topic for both readers unfamiliar with revisionism and for those wanting to know more.

and a hard rain fell (20th Anniversary Edition)
By John Ketwig


* Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
* Number Of Pages: 400
* Publication Date: 2008-01-15
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 1402210353
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9781402210358



Product Description:

"A magnetic, bloody, moving, and worm's-eye view of soldiering in Vietnam, an account that is from the first page to last a wound that can never heal. A searing gift to his country."-Kirkus Reviews

The classic Vietnam war memoir, ...and a hard rain fell is the unforgettable story of a veteran's rage and the unflinching portrait of a young soldier's odyssey from the roads of upstate New York to the jungles of Vietnam. Updated for its 20th anniversary with a new afterword on the Iraq War and its parallels to Vietnam, John Ketwig's message is as relevant today as it was twenty years ago.

"Solidly effective. He describes with ingenuous energy and authentic language that time and place."-Library Journal

"Perhaps as evocative of that awful time in Vietnam as the great fictions...a wild surreal account, at its best as powerful as Celine's darkling writing of World War One."-Washington Post



Summary: ...and a soft whiner's tear fell
Rating: 1

I bought this book because I thought it was a first-hand account of what it was like to fight in the Vietnam war. But no, it's nothing more than the account of an army mechanic who wrote a book so others can feel as sorry for him as he did for himself for being inconvenienced by a war he disagreed with and (apparently) never understood.

Ketwig only breifly is ever in danger during his short stint in Vietnam. Unless, of course, one considers mud and spiders and bugs and rain a danger. Oh the horror!

He finds more "danger" when he falls in lust with a prostitute and asks her to come back to America with him, only to learn later that she was (surprise!) telling him what he wanted to hear. It's a lucky break though, as this event provides the author with yet another opportunity to feel sorry for himself and once again serenade the reader with his sad-sack rendition of "poor, poor pitiful me."

Was the Vietnam war unpopular? Yes. Did the bureaucrats in DC screw up our chance to win it? Definitely. But many brave soldiers fought and died for America in those swamps and jungles, and most did it without feeling sorry for themselves. Ketwig seems to believe it was all a grand conspiracy to interrupt and inconvenience him personally.

There are many good books about our brave men who fought in Vietnam. This is not one of them. Don't waste your time.


Summary: Terrible book!
Rating: 1

Served in RVN at the same time and this book is not how it was. Don't bother reading it.


Summary: A contrived bore
Rating: 1

Don't be misled by this book. It's not the story of a combat veteran reflecting on the horrors of war. Rather, it is the story of a narrowly-focused guy "in the rear with the gear" complaining, endlessly, about the manner in which the war inconvenienced him.

In addition, the book is very poorly written. What Ketwig did was tell the fairly boring and un-compelling story of his military service and supplement it with a witless history of the war and a number of stories that are most likely apocryphal (his basic training stories and Special Forces tales are undoubtably make-believe...I am sure that anyone with some initiative could discover that there was no basic-training "suicide" at the fort he trained at in the manner he described) in order to spice-up an exceedingly dull tale.

Furthermore, there is something obscene about reading a litany of complaints from a rear echelon soldier when one considers that, not far from his boring but relatively safe posting, men were facing mortal danger. This is especially true in the case of Ketwig, who is myopic in the extreme when it comes to what he "suffered."

I will give Ketwig some credit for his unintentionally comical sketch of his unrequited love for a prostitute. That kept me in stitches for a while.

In closing, this is not an attack on Ketwig's politics. Indeed, there are a number of excellent books by anti-war combat veterans (Tim O'Brien for instance). My complaint is that for one to read Ketwig's book to get a feel for the war is akin to learning about sex from a voyeur.


Summary: We can ignore reality - or read and learn from history...
Rating: 5

This book is well written, captivating, balanced, and fair. I highly recommend it to anyone of any age with a brain - and the ability to use that brain to think for themselves. You don't have to agree with Ketwig to learn from his experiences - but the lessons are there.

Ketwig has written an outstanding book that contains much more wisdom about life (way beyond just The Nam) than the simple memoir it purports to be. Those who want to feel better about the Vietnam war say disparaging things about Ketwig. But do they say his experiences are misrepresented? No - they just don't like the way he REACTED to those experiences.

I wonder why not? I wouldn't want to sleep with rats and scorpions. I wouldn't like to see US war supplies sold on the black market by opportunistic, self-dealing traitors within our own ranks. I wouldn't like to see children maimed by napalm. I don't understand how other reviewers (supposedly intelligent people) can write such things off as mere "inconveniences." Does patriotism and duty require us to turn off our brains and accept mutely everything that is thrown at us by every situation? We can love our country and the American people and still find ample fault with the irresponsible and myopic fools who run the place.

Ketwig tells us what he felt as a participant in a ridiculous, ill-conceived war. As an American he is entitled to his opinion. As an American who served, he is MORE THAN entitled to his opinion. If more people read "...and a hard rain fell," perhaps we wouldn't find our country repeating the same sad, unnecessary sins of the past -and permitting today's clueless "leaders" to send the poor and the disadvantaged to fight battles for the rich and pampered who populate Congress - and the oil companies and the defense contractors who own them.

I am proud to be a Marine. Yet I am also very comfortable exercising my hard won right to confront and discuss the ugly horrors and realities of war - and not rationalize or bury such things because other Marines and servicemen died. Ketwig does a great job describing the lunacy of military bureaucracy and the stomach-churning frustration it causes. Good for him! Can ANYONE who has EVER served in the armed forces deny that the US military is the epitome of inefficiency and bureaucracy at its very worst? Really, let's be honest - as Ketwig has been.

Reading this book can help prepare the next generation for the uncomfortable but real dichotomies that await them wherever they may go - whether it's the military, Corporate America, or the local union office. All organizations are run by people who generally say one thing to rally the troops and get elected/promoted - and then do the polar opposite to ensure that their personal ambitions are met and their pockets well-lined, whether such actions support their constituents or not. This is a timeless lesson that too many people learn way too late in life - if at all. Ketwig helps the reader shorten that learning curve.

My late father, a decorated veteran of Korea, told me he'd gladly fight in the next war - just as soon as the Congressmen who declared it (or their own children) took the lead and led him into battle. He died knowing that this silliness would NEVER happen. The staff sergeant who ran my platoon, a Medal of Honor winner, confided the same attitude to me. Was he a dope-smoking shirker like some accuse Ketwig of being? No - he was a freakin' bona fide war hero - but a war hero WITH A BRAIN. The dirty work of war, as he and my father clarified for me, is

Pakistan: At the Crosscurrent of History (One World)
By Lawrence Ziring


* Publisher: Oneworld Publications
* Number Of Pages: 288
* Publication Date: 2004-01
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 1851683275
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9781851683277



Product Description:

In this probing book, a leading defense expert gives the inside story of Pakistan, telling of a country torn apart by catastrophic civil wars, dominated by the bullish military dictatorship of General Musarraf and struggling against the growth of extremist Islam.

From the Publisher

Born from a vision of political idealism, caught up in turmoil from its first day of independence, this is the tale of one nation's journey from the margins of history to the center of the world stage. Forced into the spotlight by the international fight against terror, Pakistan has become a global player and an acknowledged nuclear power; today, struggling to balance Western influences with internal demands, it stands poised at the very crosscurrent of history.

Lawrence Ziring, political scientist and long-time observer of the Pakistan scene, combines all the salient facts with astute analysis to track Pakistan's history from the pre-Partition era, through Independence in 1947, to its changing role in the post-9/11 world. Guiding us through three wars, and numerous periods of political instability and martial law, he offers a penetrating analysis of the conflicts between tradition and modernity, religion and secularity, which continue both to burden this Muslim country and to shape its destiny.


Summary: Opinionated about some figures in Pakistan's history
Rating: 3

I think the author is too opinionated about Zulfiqar A. Bhutto. For some reason he does not like the late Pakistani leader at all. Sure, as the writer he shares his views about him, but he portrays him in a negative light to the extent that it gets annoying after a while.

Apart from that, it is a very decent source for those who would like to learn about Pakistan's short but turbulant history.


Summary: A Must Read For All
Rating: 5

I'm an American with a great curiosity for world history. I've read many historical accounts of many foreign countries and, by far, this book exceeds all others. "Pakistan at the Crosscurrent of History" is an excellent account of Pakistan's history and how bordering territories have influenced or interfered with its progress. Lawrence Ziring provides a most unbiased account of Pakistan's leaders and its people, even describing how Pakistan's own leaders have abused their authority and deceived the Pakistani people. Those in power, who sought to do good for their country, faced challenges unlike any other leader in the world. Pakistan was almost unheard of in the world until after the events of 9/11. Now, the world has taken a great interest in learning more about this little country. To understand the current times in Pakistan, one must first understand its complicated history and complexity of its people. I would also recommend "Three Cups of Tea" which is co-authored by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. This is a true story about how an American mountain climber's fate lead him to unexpectedly cross paths with the people of a small, mountain village and how this meeting changed both Pakistani and American lives forever.


Summary: Apologia for Pakistan
Rating: 1

Ziring's tome is shorn of any objectivity with the author suffering from an acute case of "nativitis" stemming from his years in Pakistan. Even if one were to ignore his ludicrous caricatures of Nehru and other Indian leaders it is hard to put aside the biases in search of an objective narrative of Pakistan's tumultous political process. For instance, the author alleges that Nehru rejected peace overtures and a "joint defense pact" from Ayub Khan in 1958 that may have resulted in a comprehensive settelement of Kashmir amongst others. There is no evidence of what those proposals were and no explanation of why Pakistan and India ought to have a joint defense pact. The fact that the former has instigated four (three since '58) wars against India only highlights the absurdity of Ayub's offer of joint defense.

In another instance, the author offers an explanation for Pakistan's chronic instability by stating that the British never seriously "tutored their subjects in the art of responsible government". Obviously, that lacuna on the part of the British had a particular effect on Pakistan but not its larger eastern neighbor. And so on...

The book may well find favor among the Pakistani elite as it offers plenty of outs for the many maladies that afflict their nation and are now inflicted on the larger world.

The Literature of Ancient Sumer
By Jeremy Black, Graham Cunningham, Eleanor Robson, Gabor Zolyomi


* Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
* Number Of Pages: 436
* Publication Date: 2005-02-10
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0199263116
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780199263110



Product Description:

This anthology of Sumerian literature constitutes the most comprehensive collection ever published, and includes examples of most of the different types of composition written in the language, from narrative myths and lyrical hymns to proverbs and love poetry. The translations have benefited both from the work of many scholars and from our ever-increasing understanding of Sumerian. In addition to reflecting the advances made by modern scholarship, the translations are written in clear, accessible English. An extensive introduction discusses the literary qualities of the works, the people who created and copied them in ancient Iraq, and how the study of Sumerian literature has evolved over the last 150 years.



Summary: Useful but flawed
Rating: 3

This seems to be the best available recent introduction to Sumerian literature, but it's seriously flawed. Kramer's work doesn't benefit from recent scholarship, but this work suffers from current ideology. Sometimes this is merely annoying, when the editors use "B.C.E." rather than the traditional "B.C.," or waste time discussing an example of modern poetry. Sometimes it's critical, however: Their modernity seems to prevent them from explaining what is (or isn't) known about the rules of Sumerian versification [location 159]. Ideology is also explicitly used as an excuse for dodging the most interesting question in the origins of civilization: Where did the ancestors of the Sumerian-speaking people come from? [location 631]


About the Kindle Edition:
Like most Kindle editions, this hasn't been checked by a human. Basic functionality is incorrect, e.g., the table of contents links are slightly wrong: The very first leaf node, for instance, for "The literature of ancient Sumer," actually brings you to the previous page, "Introduction." No-one even checked the beginning of the book: The second page contains merely a repetition of the title, which may make sense in a dead-tree edition, but not an electronic one.
Sometimes the behavior was even worse. I had repeated trouble and delays in navigation, which eventually crashed the book-reader application and deleted all my notes.
Casual sloppiness abounds, though most of my examples were lost in the crash. I found one more example in the table of contents: a footer ("VII CONTENTS") appears in the middle of a page [location 32].
The illustrations weren't checked either. The very first, "Map of Sumer," is both smaller than necessary, and unreadable.


Summary: The Literature of Ancient Sumer
Rating: 4

I found the book to be a very good introduction into the subject matter. It was written, in my opinion, as a primer in that each translation is preceeded by a dialogue of what the ancient author may be attempting to say.

The book does not seem to assume complete understanding of the writtings, but does offer various options as to what certain words/thought processes may have been.

Another fortunate atribution which very much adds to the readibility is the humor used through out.

For me, this was a wonderful first start into a more down to earth study of ancient sumer than my initial readings from Zecharia Sitchin (Pun intended!)... which I also very much enjoyed!

And while we speak of less than earthly matters, I have only given 4 stars because I have nothing to use as a comparrison, and maybe that very few things are perfect!

Thanks for the great read!

My next read on the subject is "The Harps That Once..." by Thorkild Jacobsen.


Summary: Informative and fascinating
Rating: 5

It seems like every bookstore has at least one book that contains the "Epic of Gilgamesh" or a book that describes and discusses it. On superficial reading most of these books seem to say or imply that the Gilgamesh epic is the world's oldest literary work, and that its text comes from ancient Sumer. Of course, although the text of the Gilgamesh epic is most often found written in Sumerian, the epic in its entirety is Akkadian, transcribed by student scribes whose education included as a requisite the ability to read and copy texts in Sumerian. From the 11 books of the epic, we have only five relatively brief segments preserved from the time of the Sumerian culture itself, and they are noticeably altered in the texts transcribed by Akkkadian scribes. When I read the Sumerian versions of these five, their style and poetic effect struck me as superior to what the Akkadians transcribed, so I wanted to know what else, if anything, has survived intact from Sumerian literature.

This book gives the perfect answer to my wish. I doubt that it will ever be a best-seller, but for anyone who, like me, is interested in how writing came to be used for literature as well as for accounting and for royal edicts and boasts, this is a wonderful book. It provides about 20% of all the Sumerian literature that has been recovered so far, in English translations that preserve the spirit, although not the prosody, of the Sumerian originals. And it gives pointers to where to find alternate versions, additional literature, the Sumerian originals, and scholarly discussion of them. The sheer diversity of what's presented here greatly increases my respect for the Sumerians who composed as written poetry material which had previously existed (if at all) as oral poems or folk tales. The range of subjects and of styles surprises me; it shouldn't, because the Sumerians were of course as much distinctive individuals as we are, and wrote just as distinctively from one another.

I commend this book not only to readers who are interested in Sumer, but also to readers who care about the origins of literary works and literary style, whether romantic or heroic.

Tempest at Ox Hill: The Battle of Chantilly
By David A. Welker


* Publisher: Da Capo Press
* Number Of Pages: 288
* Publication Date: 2001-12
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0306811189
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780306811180



Product Description:

The first-ever popular account of a tide-turning Civil War battle that saved the Union capital-but at a horrific price.

Every Civil War buff has heard of the Battle of Chantilly, the bloody 1862 engagement fought in a driving rainstorm only twenty miles from Washington that claimed the lives of two of the Union's most promising generals. Yet few have known the full story of courage and human drama because no one has ever produced a lively and historically accurate account of the battle-until now.

Tempest at Ox Hill compellingly evokes this pivotal battle of the war, in which the Union army faced annihilation after Robert E. Lee's overwhelming victory at Second Bull Run. At Chantilly, Virginia, on September 1, 1862, a small Union rearguard faced down some of Lee's best generals. The retreating main Union army, and Washington, were saved, but at a frightening human cost, including the deaths of two Union generals-the promising Isaac Stevens and the dashing Philip Kearny, a Mexican War veteran who had also served with Napoleon III's imperial guard. And around these two Union generals lay nearly twelve hundred American soldiers, both blue and gray, dead fighting for their chosen cause. Tempest at Ox Hill captures the moment, the courage, and the carnage unforgettably.



Summary: A REVIEW BY MARC HAVENNER ON TEMPEST AT OX HILL (CHANTILLY)
Rating: 5

This is one of 3 books to have been written on this important but neglected battle in the past 3 years. Mr.Welker has done his homework in a book that emcompasses the battle from the days leading up to it to the aftermath. The book is beutifully written and researched in 12 chapters, a photo section, and an order of battle. A book on this battle is extremely rare and I would consider it as the only definitive record on the Battle of Ox Hill, along with He Hath Loosed The Fateful Lightning by Paul Taylor that you will find. Very informative, addicting and recommended.


Summary: Excellent Coverage of the two battles of Chantilly
Rating: 5

First this is a very readable, easy to follow history of a little known but important small battle in 1862. Second, this shows what will happen if we do not try and save our battlefields. Mr. Welker weaves the two into a single battle history with such skill that you will need to look for the second story.

Very well written, good maps and a complete introduction make this one of the best books on an ACW battle you will find.



Summary: A great new Civil War Book
Rating: 5

As a non-expert on Civil War history, I found this book to be very informative as well as very readable. I thoroughly enjoyed the biographical sketches of Generals Kearny and Stevens. The author raises thought provoking questions at the end.

Plaquemine, Louisiana, about 10 miles south of Baton Rouge on the banks of the Mississippi River, seems an unassuming southern community for which to designate an entire culture. Archaeological research conducted in the region between 1938 and 1941, however, revealed distinctive cultural materials that provided the basis for distinguishing a unique cultural manifestation in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Plaquemine was first cited in the archaeological literature by James Ford and Gordon Willey in their 1941 synthesis of eastern U.S. prehistory. Lower Valley researchers have subsequently grappled with where to place this culture in the local chronology based on its ceramics, earthen mounds, and habitations. Plaquemine cultural materials share some characteristics with other local cultures but differ significantly from Coles Creek and Mississippian cultures of the Southeast. Plaquemine has consequently received the dubious distinction of being defined by the characteristics it lacks, rather than by those it possesses. The current volume brings together 11 leading scholars devoted to shedding new light on Plaquemine and providing a clearer understanding of its relationship to other Native American cultures. It is the first major book to specifically address the archaeology of Plaquemine societies. The authors provide a thorough yet focused review of previous research, recent revelations, and directions for future research. They present pertinent new data on cultural variability and connections in the Lower Mississippi Valley and interpret the implications for similar cultures and cultural relationships. This volume finally places Plaquemine on the map, incontrovertibly demonstrating the accomplishments and importance of Plaquemine peoples in the long history of native North America.

Surrealism in Greece: An Anthology (Surrealist Revolution Series)
By Nikos Stabakis


* Publisher: University of Texas Press
* Number Of Pages: 430
* Publication Date: 2008-08-01
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0292718004
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780292718005



Product Description:

In the decades between the two World Wars, Greek writers and artists adopted surrealism both as an avant-garde means of overturning the stifling traditions of their classical heritage and also as a way of responding to the extremely unstable political situation in their country. Despite producing much first-rate work throughout the rest of the twentieth century, Greek surrealists have not been widely read outside of Greece. This volume seeks to remedy that omission by offering authoritative translations of the major works of the most important Greek surrealist writers.

Nikos Stabakis groups the Greek surrealists into three generations: the founders (such as Andreas Embirikos, Nikos Engonopoulos, and Nicolas Calas), the second generation, and the Pali Group, which formed around the magazine Pali. For each generation, he provides a very helpful introduction to the themes and concerns that animate their work, as well as concise biographies of each writer. Stabakis anthologizes translations of all the key surrealist works of each generation—poetry, prose, letters, and other documents—as well as a selection of rarer texts. His introduction to the volume places Greek surrealism within the context of the international movement, showing how Greek writers and artists used surrealism to express their own cultural and political realities.

Dissident Women: Gender and Cultural Politics in Chiapas (Louann Atkins Temple Women & Culture Series)
By Shannon Speed, R. Aida Hernandez Castillo, Lynn M. Stephen


* Publisher: University of Texas Press
* Number Of Pages: 318
* Publication Date: 2006-12-01
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0292714173
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780292714175



Product Description:

Yielding pivotal new perspectives on the indigenous women of Mexico, Dissident Women: Gender and Cultural Politics in Chiapas presents a diverse collection of voices exploring the human rights and gender issues that gained international attention after the first public appearance of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) in 1994.

Drawing from studies on topics ranging from the daily life of Zapatista women to the effect of transnational indigenous women in tipping geopolitical scales, the contributors explore both the personal and global implications of indigenous women's activism. The Zapatista movement and the Women's Revolutionary Law, a charter that came to have tremendous symbolic importance for thousands of indigenous women, created the potential for renegotiating gender roles in Zapatista communities. Drawing on the original research of scholars with long-term field experience in a range of Mayan communities in Chiapas and featuring several key documents written by indigenous women articulating their vision, Dissident Women brings fresh insight to the revolutionary crossroads at which Chiapas stands—and to the worldwide implications of this economic and political microcosm.