Customer Reviews

Nicaragua In Focus: a Guide to the People, Politics and Culture (In Focus Guides)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

If you're serious about visiting and understanding this undiscovered Central American country, then `In Focus - Nicaragua' should be in your suitcase. This is not a travel guide, thus, I also recommend that you take with you a great travel guide. Consider either `Moon Handbook: Nicaragua' or `Footprint - Nicaragua'. (see my reviews) .

Hazel Plunkett has done her homework. Her short digest of Nicaragua is informative, well written and pensive . When you finish the 94 pages you will have a solid perspective of this country. Her slightly to the left political leanings are evident as she examines the history (often tragic), the politics (for centuries - oppressive and tyrannical) and the economics (exploitive - the small elite use with disregard the impoverished majority who struggle to live) of Nicaragua.

If the publisher would upgrade the mediocre maps, and if Plunkett would enhance her sparse recommendations in her "Further reading section", and give reason why she included them in this section (none of her reading recommendations have a comment to why they were recommended). These few positive corrections would make this very good book into an excellent book. That said, I strongly recommend this short text for anyone visiting Nicaragua 4. 5 stars.

The only possible improvement would be an updating of this book, now five years later, with the free and fair re-election of Daniel Ortega once more as President of Nicaragua, and moving towards the Bolivariano international movement of Latin America.

This book adequately, clearly and comprehensively covers the history of this nation from William Walker to Ocotal to the most recent times, reported very objectively despite what appears elsewhere upon this page by those who might not have seen the same book as the one I received today. I find this book very objective, wel-researched, written and reported, and very thorough.

It is a wonderful addition to any school library at any level, and a great resource for anyone interested in learning more about this intriguing and exciting nation. I lived there. This book tells it like it was, and is.

And that excellent cover photo of the woman with the generous warm smile selling tostadas in the market is making my mouth water with warm memories of happier times.

Not only for the student, but also for travellers. Excellent and updated travellers tips are included for which I can vouch, including how safe it once was while I lived there, although less stable now after the intervening Aleman and Chamorro governments. Very good book to prepare for any trip to Nicaragua. This is a good book, believe me, and the photos are also great. PLEASE DO AN UPDATE SOON!

I have gone to Nicaragua two or three times a year over the past 25 years. This little book is a good overview of the country without getting ideological. It is a few years out of date, but it seems to me pretty accurate. I will order it for my university students who go with me next year.

This rather slender book purports to be an overview of the history, culture, and economics of Nicaragua. In reality it is an apologia for the Sandinistas and for Daniel Ortega in particular. At page 26 she writes (being none too shy about ascribing motives and feelings): "Daniel, as he was affectionately known, was trusted. Huge crowds would flock to "Face the People" meetings in towns and villages across the country, where they listened attentively to his explanations of the nation's problems, asked questions and debated Sandinista policy. Many left those meetings more determined than ever to make whatever personal sacrificies they could for the revolution." If the same kind of thing were written about George Washington, it would justifiably be called romantic claptrap. The author, Hazel Plunkett, about whom I could find nothing on the web, would appear to have a bright future making TV political advertisements for her preferred candidates.

Why this book is listed as a travel vs a cultural guide, I will never know. Maybe it's an indexing problem and the author never meant it to be perceived as a travel guide. It has all of 2 pages of travel-related information and so general as to be practically useless. If you are interested in reading about the history and culture of the country, this may be right up your alley...though none of the information is very in-depth. If you are looking for a travel guide, go with Ulysses. At least it has the usual "attractions, hotels, restaurants,transportation" guides.

The only possible improvement would be an updating of this book, now five years later, with the free and fair re-election of Daniel Ortega once more as President of Nicaragua, and moving towards the Bolivariano international movement of Latin America.

This book adequately, clearly and comprehensively covers the history of this nation from William Walker to the aerial bombardment of the civilian city of Ocotal by US Marines to the most recent times, reported very objectively despite what appears elsewhere upon this page by those who might not have seen the same book as the one I received. I find this book very objective, wel-researched, written and reported, and very thorough.

It is a wonderful addition to any school library at any level, and a great resource for anyone interested in learning more about this intriguing and exciting nation. I lived there. This book tells it like it was, and is.

And that excellent cover photo of the woman with the generous warm smile selling tostadas in the market is making my mouth water with warm memories of happier times.

Not only for the student, but also for travellers. Excellent and updated travellers tips are included for which I can vouch, including how safe it once was while I lived there, although less stable now after the intervening US supported Aleman and Chamorro governments which enslaved Nicaragua once more in globalization and sweatshops and slavery.

Very good book to prepare for any trip to Nicaragua. This is a good book, believe me, and the photos are also great. PLEASE DO AN UPDATE SOON!

There is little backward on the angles or truths in this book, as any traveller of this rich country ought to know its history, their own history, and if he is an American, the history of America's political impact on Nicaragua.

After spending a month in Nicaragua, living with a Nica family, I don't feel this book is completely accurate. First of all, it dwells on all the negative things that have happened in Nicaragua in the past (natural disasters, revolutions, foreign intervention) but, in my opinion, it needs to spend more time on the positive and how Nicaraguans have overcome these events. Although I consider myself somewhat left-of-center politically, this book is completely left leaning. I'd like something more neutral. It also blames many of Nicaragua's problems on foreign governments, and whereas there is some truth to this, it isn't accurate to be blamed for everything. Lastly, I feel the informaion is somewhat out of date. Although it says it was updated just two years ago, I don't think much was actually updated and changed.

This book is a great quick review of the important historical issues and trends that have affected Nicaraguans. I spent a month in Nica back in Jan 06. I'm looking forward to returning and would recommend this book to anyone going who is interested in understanding where the people have been and where they are going.

"In Focus Nicaragua", while a decent enough tool for those searching for a light primer on Nicaraguan history and culture, nevertheless contains glaring revisions of well-known historical events that helped shape important parts of Nicaragua's past.

In specific, Hazel Plunkett's descriptions of the violent Marxist revolution in the 1960's and 70's tell more about her personal politics than they do help explain the circumstances surrounding the fall of the Somoza dictatorship and the wars which followed. The reader is left wondering what lesser-known details of Nicaraguan culture and history Ms. Plunkett has decided to skew to fit her worldview. This calls into question the usefulness of the entire book.

Multiple, negatively inferred references to the "right-wing" Nicaraguan press, "right-wing" American administrations and senators, etc. abound. Nowhere in this book are the words Marxist or Communist written.

Ms. Plunkett fails to inform us that both Cuba and the Soviet Union funded the leftist FSLN, providing billions in aid to help fight both the Somozas as well as the Contras. They cynically viewed the revolution in Nicaragua as a nothing more than a prime opportunity to threaten/embarrass the United States, rather than as a chance to support some lofty egalitarian workers revolution. It's not clear Ms. Plunkett understands this. Rather, she chooses to accuse the United States of having behaved cynically with its use of the trade embargo to pressure the FSLN and Helms Burton to reform the unjust "land-reforms". While one can certainly argue that the United States took a very active role in opposing the Sandinistas, without some proper historical background as to why they were behaving this way, the story lacks perspective. One is left with the feeling that Ms Plunkett has an agenda.

This book is full of these and logically, other, inexcusable omissions that neither serves history, nor "In Focus Nicaragua" well.