Customer Reviews

Dominican Republic In Focus: A Guide to the People, Politics and Culture (In Focus Guides)

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I ordered this book because I thought it would provide an introduction to the politics of the Dominican Republic. When I got it, it reminded me more of a mixture between a tacky guidebook and an elementary school social science book. It does present some insight into the historical, economical and political conditions of the country, some of them even differing from the mainstream image, but it is all very limited in scope and not very useful. If you want a guidebook, I'd suggest Lonely Planet a million times before this one. When it comes to a political review of the country, I have unfortunately had difficulties in finding one. But surfing the web for a couple of hours will certainly provide more useful information than a copy of this book.

This book has dealt well with subjects like the economy, politics, and local places to visit. Unfortunately, I found the information on the history and cultural identity of the Dominicans to be lacking information. For example, When Howard spoke too briefly of the Taino Indians or how the Dominicans have a need to be more "Indian". He was totally incorrect. The author does not hold a strong enough argument or facts to support this. He leaves the reader with much confusion about the Dominican identity.

This book is a much needed new insight on Dominican Republic where I travelled a lot a few years ago. It is very interesting situation with haiti and the author adresses cultural issues sensitively but informatively. The book is very easily to read and has a good order.