Latin America & the Caribbean

By David L. Clawson

Book Overview

Written primarily as geography of Latin America and the Caribbean, this book is also intended to serve as an interdisciplinary introduction to the region. It focuses on comprehension of concepts, patterns, and issues rather than on memorization of facts and figures.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0072826940
• ISBN13: 9780072826944
• Release Date: July 2005
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 2.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.7" x 0.7" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Comprehensive, but spotty in places

Clawson's text on Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the few texts that attempts comprehensive coverage of these regions with a thematic, rather than regional, approach. It is a fair, balanced, and well-written treatise on the cultural and physical landscapes of the large region to our south. And yet, in many ways, it is a frustrating text. There is a lack of basic data from this text that confounds students. For example, there is no mention of basic facts, such as the largest economy in Latin America. No table provides GDP (gross domestic product), GNP (gross national product) or similar figures, although GDP/per capita is provided. There are helpful illustrations, tables, and photographs and all are of generally high quality with one exception: the first section's reprints from Goode's Atlas, where fuzzy resolution blurs student use of the maps. This is a good general text for geography, history, economics, and anthropology classes but the cost makes it very difficult to combine this text with more regional emphasis. At $65.00, this is no cheap paperback, and the high price is even more glaring when one considers the small size of the volume. 3rd edition addendum: Clawson's text has been improved with better use of graphics, updated stats, and some color. Still my choice of texts for Latin Americanist geography courses (at least survey ones). Updated 12.21.04