Borders. Language. Culture.
347969
This book is very much like Michael Savage's radio show. You can hear him telling you these stories in your head while reading it. Good book but you will not learn anything. Purely leisure.
1705376
In this collection of poems, Eduardo Corral slips in and out of his own identity, that of his mother and father, and that of others who live and struggle in the borderlands between the U.S. and Mexico. He paints an exquisitely detailed portrait of life lived in the borders between the U.S. and Mexico, between father and son, and between native country and adopted country.
4535653
Having studies geopolitics, this book is a wonderful addition to any travelers bookshelf. Travelers don't simply experience their environment but add to it. Being a respectful guest in another country does have an impact on our global connectivity with others. Rick Steves does an amazing job of examining different aspects of travel and culture that affect all of us. He reaffirms the multifaceted opportunities we have to connect across borders.
4351765
Border Security is written by three professors at Angelo State University. Border Security is an approach into todays issues of Homeland Security. This is a well-read book for the novice reader to the most educated reader of border security. The book will keep your attention by first educating the differences of border, boundaries, and barriers. It will then cover the history of border security from the many issues that still plague it today without a political agenda. The three authors speak on border issues from a historical perspective into todays immigration issues.
Border Security has a vast amount of historical information from The Great Wall Of China to The Berlin Wall. These walls had different objectives form one wall keeping people out to another keeping people in. Learning from our past is vital to better understanding of our future.
Other main topics covered in Border Security are Border Security Operations, Physical Border Security, Maritime Border Security, Trafficking, People Movers (Human Trafficking and Migrations), U.S. and Mexico Border, U.S. and Canadian Border, and Future of Border and Boundaries. The vast amount of information is one of its positives of this book.
I didn't feel this book had any negative portion to it. Since Border Security was written by three professors it has a non-bias feel to it. This book has a lot of illustrations, photos, and charts to help keep the readers attention. Overall, this is a must read if you're looking into border security.
1746026
Derek Hall has taken on an enormous task in examining land from just about every angle.  The complexities of the issues surrounding the topic is evidenced by his grappling with a comprehensive definition beyond that offered by the OED, in essence "that which is not water" (though in an ironic twist, land covered by water is now being treated as "land" for the resources hidden in the deep).  He looks at land as a commodity, a producer of commodities (via mining and agriculture), a habitat, a historical metric of power and wealth and one which defines borders,/ boundaries and frontiers (that nebulous area at the fringe).  While there is some discussion of individual property rights and issues the dominant focus is on land as territory and the evolving politics of land: borders, rights and sovereignty between ever shifting Nation states (as well as the rumblings within).
  He provides a brief but solid historical overview asserting that we are effectively done with going to war over territory (though Nations may still go to war over other things to include resources harbored by sovereign territory).  In fact, it is almost dizzying to consider the rapidity with which we have gone from fuzzy borders to drawing lines in the ocean (and on the polar caps).

  It is a dense, thought-provoking read which frames perhaps the most fundamental substance of International politics.  Recommended for students of political science and anyone else who wants perspective on one of the primary forces shaping International dialog (to include politics, markets, sovereignty issues, agriculture and trade, in fact the list could go on.  There very few topics which do not have land as a foundation and Derek Hall attempts to broach them all and lend perspective, a global historical view.
2396565
This book covers examples of how different people think about negotiations and interactions based upon their cultural experiences.  Anyone interacting with people from different cultures would benefit from this book's content.
1724833
The Story of French describes the ongoing process of the creation of an international language. Extending from the fall of the Roman Empire up to the present-day , the authors mix history with a clever eye to how the past has prepared the way for the present condition of the French language. It is benefited by years of on-site study from Canada and Africa to East Asia - and of course, France.

The book is full of interesting historical tidbits. For the lover of applied history, this book has a lot to offer. I would have liked to see more on the early languages and dialects that birthed French, as that time period always interests me more than the modern period. But of necessity, well supported by the authors, heavy emphasis is put on the period from 1700 to the present, which have seen French grow to be more than just the hallmark of high society and scholarship, becoming first a truly national language, and then with fits and starts developing into an international language, increasing the possible influence of French-speaking nations even as France itself wanes in direct influence.

Knowing French is not required to read this book, though it won't hurt. A familiarity with French phonetics is probably more helpful than any other facet of French. The authors do address a number of features of French around the world, such as the use ofargot and regional dialects, changes in spelling and grammar and differences in approaches to vocabulary development around the French-speaking world (especially contrasting Quebec and France).

English naturally takes a large role in this book, and the authors seem torn at times between viewing it as friend, or at least amicable companion,  or foe. They solidly portray French as not being opposed to English, and even benefiting from its ascent. At the same time, English is  often presented as anever-present competitor for the hearts and minds of those within international organizations such as the United Nations.

The facts and opinions presented are definitely biased by a distance from France. Benot is from Quebec, a fact that repeatedly plays into his relationships and conversations with French speakers around the world. This at some points works well with the point the author is trying to make, but this is not always the case. For instance, I found Benot to be overly critical of the French Academy's usefulness, even when he was clear about its purpose and mission.

Also, I found that the book often strays from topic - or at least takes extended side trips. For example, descriptions of the many scientific achievements of Frenchmen likely intended to show that French once was and continues to be a language conducive to scientific discourse. However, it continued for many pages, failing to circle back to the main focus. While many sections were very well organized and had just the right balance between supporting information and historical assertions, this was not always the case.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed reading it, and getting a better feel for how history and the language itself are intertwined.
253940
With caustic lucidity and splendid geopolitical care, Arif Dilik surveys taken-for-granted discursive regimes of postcolonial study and puts the history and place-based imagining back into over-extended concepts like 'hybridity,' diaspora', and 'identity.'  The result is a helpful and pragmatic collection of essays full of splendid insights into the dialectics of globalization and localization and the spaces and histories 'in between.'
3443425
Wonderfully written. This book not only helped me understand the historical impact of language on nation building in 26 diverse case studies, but gave me a deeper understanding of global issues unfolding today.  Recent political events in the Middle East, Eastern Europe or even post-tsunami events in Asia came alive in the context of my better comprehension of the impact of language on the citizenry and political leadership of these far-flung corners of our world.
4253214
This book details exquisitely the challenges of transnational migration in a global market economy and the impact to cultural norms. This book addresses the gender and social norms and practices of the people of a state in India. It shows the reader an inside look at the relationships between class and caste systems and how emigration can alter or shift deeply held cultural norms while still maintaining connections to their home community and religious practices as best possible. The author shows the reader how immigrants attempt to maintain identity in both places, which proves challenging. A good book.
74530
Nandita Sharma neatly explains the ways conceptions of home, identity and ethnicity are used to draw boundaries into which people may be invited or from which they may be strategically excluded. Her examples are from Canada but the ideas she investigates are applied around the world. Sharma's will interest everyone affected by and attempting to influence migration and mobility.
3393191
This is a very unique album which connects culture, heritage and beautiful lyrics. I love the peace it provides as each song is being listened to.
3644554
More than just a record of events, this provides some understanding of what gave rise to events in border history.
1104945
THE LINE BECOMES A RIVER dispatches from the border between the United States and Mexico, and shares insights into what story is behind each migrant and Border Patrol agent. Author Francisco Cant is able to talk about this divisive matter as a five-year Border Patrol agent, but also as the grandson of Mexican immigrants who crossed the border generations ago.

Informed and with a sense of humanity, Cant may be a lone, rational voice on the Southern Border --- bringing experience from both patrolling the desert and reminiscences from family. But THE LINE BECOMES A RIVER is far from a modern both sides argument: Cant feels something was wrong with the way things went while patrolling the border, and has been in touch with Mexican subjects for which he feels empathy. He was troubled by, though very successful at, his job as a Border Patrol agent, and now expresses these feelings as a full-time writer in a savvy and intelligent nature.

Cant has had to collect the bodies of those who perished in the heat of the summer desert. He has rescued a pregnant woman who had walked for days, only to process her case and see her deported. It has resulted in memories and nightmares that linger with him today. Cant has the irreplaceable and superb ability to uncover how the way the border has been patrolled for years resulted in violence for so many in the United States and Mexico. He explains how the border is more than just a barrier; it is a symbol and place of interaction where cultures, countries, generations and stories can meet and collide. He proves through a series of personal experiences that the story of the border is one that will always be shared by both Mexicans and Americans from the United States.

THE LINE BECOMES A RIVER is personal and emotional, not some everyday debate about immigration. It has nothing in common with an insufferable shouting match on television. The details are rough and the story is real, yet the contact between Cants own story and those of the Mexican migrants is dignifying. Words flow from memory to prove how the history of immigration and the topic of identity are irremovable from the policies made, or that should be made, for the border. The humanity in his language is more familiar to poetry than anything else, but he is an adept writer with a faculty for prose. Cant is in a better position than perhaps anyone to provide a balanced look for all involved in immigration, even though he was a Border Patrol agent, and an effective one at that.

It is a rare border story that connects more than divides, yet Cant incorporates compelling immigrant stories to which every American family can relate in some way. He approaches this American border from many angles, and he is a product of that border, just as the border is a product of the movement from generations between the United States and Mexico.

Reviewed by John Bentlyewski
339482
The purpose of this book is to teach languages; some linguistics is taught in the process, but the emphasis is on languages. The main body of the book consists of six chapters, one for each continent (Oceania is grouped with Australia), and one for pidgin languages. The surrounding material consists of chapters on classification of languages and writing systems, and a set of language maps.

Each chapter in the main body starts with a summary of the languages found in the region concerned, followed by "sketches" of two languages from the region; exercises introducing a few more languages and selected literature references conclude the chapter. This approach gives quite a balanced view of the languages of the world.

The languages featured are: Europe: Russian and Finnish (with exercises about Turkish and Sanskrit); Asia: Mandarin Chinese and Classical Tibetan (+ Hmong and Japanese); Africa: Modern Literary Arabic and Swahili (+ !Xu (Khoisan)); Oceania: Hawaiian and Dyirbal (+ Tagalog, Fijian and Buang (Papuan)); Americas: Yup'ik (Eskimo) and Quechua (+ Hixkaryana, Aztec, and Huave); Pidgin and Creole: Tok Pisin (+ Hawaiian Creole English. Each "sketch", which is actually a description of reasonable depth, covers the background, phonetics, morphology, and syntax of the language, in about twenty pages. This knowledge is then applied to analyse a small (about fifteen sentences) text; the analysis consists of a literal morpheme-by-morpheme translation, explanatory notes and a translation to normal English. These sketches are of high quality; seriously working your way through such a "sketch" gives one a good grasp of the language and may well allow one to decipher simple texts in it, using a dictionary. The treatment of the languages in the exercises is of course much more restricted.

The chapter in pidgins and creoles has this same structure, and Tok Pisin (Talk Pidgin) gets the same treatment as, for example, Finnish or Quechua. It is remarkable how much Tok Pisin looks like a normal language under this treatment, even though it is evident that the English original is never far away: "Dispela man i kam asde em i papa bilong me" = This-fellow  man he come yesterday him he father belong me = This man who came yesterday is my father.

In summary this book gives the student/reader some knowledge of a very wide range of languages and their features, supplemented by more in-depth knowledge of a dozen or so specific languages; a good combination it seems to me.
Having finished the book I came away with the intuitive impression that actually all languages are the same. For example, some languages have prepositions, some have postpositions, and others have case endings, and so on, but even these differences repeat themselves so often that they become next to meaningless.
3056633
The book shows great artwork with words in each of the five languages. We recently had guests from Europe, and it was a great reference for items that have many individual parts, e.g. cars or washing machines.
1812367
A master piece of putting together a bilingual series.  Extraordinary and something to be honoured by Radio Canada (French) and CBC (English).