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Rating: 
Summary: Response to Conn. Reader
Review: As a person who loves history and anthropology, the title of this book really got my attention and I eagerly anticipated the arrival of this book. I suppose anyone who wants to know more about the descendants of Europeans living in exotic and remote corners of the world would find this topic very interesting. The author tells of how (and under what circumstances) the ancestors of these peoples got there. He also decribes the lives of the members of these communities. These groups are quickly diminishing in numbers due to emigration, assimilation/intermarriage and inbreeding.The title "Lost White Tribes" is rather misleading though, as only the Jamaican Germans, the Blanc Matignons and some of the Confederados are actually whites. The Dutch Burghers, the Rehoboth Basters, and many of the Confederados as well as the Haitian Poles are in fact mixed-race peoples (ie. Eurasians and Afro-European). From the author's decription, the Haitian Poles despite proudly claiming to be Polish are mainly of African descent with some white admixture. Hence, I was quite suprised that notwithstanding the title and the fact that there are so many white groups and sub-groups in the New World, including some who live amongst a non-white majority, the author has chosen to include these communities. There are still French white creole communities in Mauritius and the Carribean islands, Mennonites in Belize as well as various distinct communities made up of descendants of Germans and other continental Europeans in Latin America. When I was in the Philippines, I found out that there were still many wealthy Spanish families descended from 16th century settlers. I give this book 4 stars because the author wasted too much time describing in detail the place he stayed in, whom he met along the way to asks directions and what he and his companions did (eg. his encounter with a pimp in Sri Lanka, his misadventures with a Protestant minister in Haiti, the two kids he hung out with in Jamaica etc.) He should have used the space in the book to have included more communities.
Rating: 
Summary: Great subject matter, so-so writing
Review: I cannot think of many subjects more intriguing than hidden pockets of living history in remote corners of the world. The whole concept that descendants of colonnial powers still live in isolated pockets of their former colonies has a surreal feel to it, which makes it an incredibly compelling topic. Although one must commend Orizio for his curiosity and dilligence, his writing is sometimes confusing. In some passages, Orizio's "stream-of-consciousness" writing manages to turn an enthralling subject into a bewildering hodge-podge of history, sociology, and first-person accounts. Having said this, I truly believe that Orizio's effort to put out a book like no other is evidenced by the obvious large amount of research. However, I would have to say that this is a very interesting book that failed to live up to its potential.
Rating: 
Summary: rare gem!
Review: It really is rare to find an original take on colonialism but this book is brilliant! The stuff on the Confederates who fled to Brazil is beyond bizarre and fresh. I mean, who amongst us knew American descendants of the Confederates were living in Brazil? The lost white tribes the author finds are so varied and unique it begs the question, why has it taken so long for anthropologists to study these groups? Whatever the case may be, Orizio goes to the top of the list as an investigative writer in my books. If I could give it 10 stars, I would.
Rating: 
Summary: Fair Account of Colonists Decendents
Review: The book gives a fair account of the decendents of European colonists in remote corners of the world. I found it interesting that it did nort include those nations where colonists decendents still live in large numbers and are a major success in their new home! It is interesting to note that in almost all of the countries discussed the economy and lifestyle have plummented for everyone since independence.
Rating:
Summary: Fair Account of Colonists Decendents
Review: The book gives a fair account of the decendents of European colonists in remote corners of the world. I found it interesting that it did nort include those nations where colonists decendents still live in large numbers and are a major success in their new home! It is interesting to note that in almost all of the countries discussed the economy and lifestyle have plummented for everyone since independence.
Rating:
Summary: Lost Corners of History
Review: The misleading subtitle of this book is a bit of a shame, and it's hard to imagine Italian journalist Orizio being very pleased with it. By positioning the contents in relation to colonialism, the subtitle overlooks the fact that at least three (more depending on interpretation) of the "lost white tribes" visited in the book have nothing to do with colonialism as the word is commonly used-in the imperial context. Unlike the bulk of books about colonialism, which tend to focus on history, politics, and economics, Orizio's six chapters are largely unrelated essays that merge travelogue with anthropology. His style-as in his previous book of essays on ex-dictators, Talk of the Devil-is to start the story by detailing his search for his subject matter. This may put off those looking for straight history, but the stories of traveling down dusty backroads to reach these "lost white tribes" set exactly the right context for their stories. And once he finds his subjects, their stories are fascinating. Americans will probably find the chapter on Confederates in Brazil the most interesting. This tells of the thousands who fled the South after the Civil War, rejecting Reconstruction in favor of a new life in Brazil. Their stubborn "rebel" identity and annual carnival in full Confederate costume is rather bizarre. My own favorite chapter is about small pockets of Polish genes in Haiti. These are the descendants of soldiers sent by Napoleon to assist in quelling the rebellion of 1803. When the rebels led by Toussaint Louverture won, the remaining French were systematically killed but the Poles were spared, as their country was also under Napoleon's boot. Orizio also tracks down pockets of inbred French in Guadeloupe whose reasons for settling in remote parts of the island in the late 1700s are lost to history, the remnants of indentured German laborers imported to Jamaica in the 1830s, Boers who left South Africa and mixed with a local Namibian tribe to become the Basters in the late 1860s, and the remnants of Dutch colonial rule over Sri Lanka/Ceylon. The communities share some characteristics: most are, if not desperately poor, living on an economic razor's edge. Almost all retain some disturbing notions about race and the superiority of their own genes compared to others in their country. The past is clung to in bizarre and fantastic ways, such as the French on Guadeloupe insisting on their connection to French royal blood, and the Haitian Poles waiting in vain for their Polish Pope to help them. They're pathetic figures in many cases, as they seem unable to break free of their tight communities in order to assimilate to any degree that may bring a better life. Of course, Orizio's journeys are to find those stuck in their ways, and it emerges in many cases that the best and brightest youths often don't stick around. His style is fairly conversational and choppy, and each chapter stands alone as its own essay since Orizio never attempts to make connections between any of the groups' experiences. This may be off-putting to some, but it never bothered me-just think of it as a series of related long magazine essays. An excellent glimpse into some of history's lost corners, and sure to be of interest to amateur anthropologists (a bibliography on each "tribe" would have been nice or those of us interested in further reading).
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Summary: What Lost Tribes
Review: This book sounded so fascinating that I made two shopping trips to find it in time for a long transatlantic flight. The premise--forgotten descendants of lost empires still clinging to shreds of their heritage in distant and remote lands--was enough to make any adventurous reader salivate. But the payoff was disappointing. Mr. Orizio's characters are two-dimensional and his style rambling. We learn very little about these real people; not enough to learn to care about them very much. This ought to be riveting stuff, but the literary equivalents of archeological relics glitter only rarely. Despite solid historical information, all of it news to me, I came away feeling I'd been on a tour bus that never stopped long enough to see much.
Rating:
Summary: More like a travel magazine
Review: This book was shorter than I expected. Its a good book for beginner's, but it is as much an account of Mr. Orizio's travels as it is a scholarly work. Good book, needs an in-depth follow up
Rating:
Summary: More like a travel magazine
Review: This book was shorter than I expected. Its a good book for beginner's, but it is as much an account of Mr. Orizio's travels as it is a scholarly work. Good book, needs an in-depth follow up
Rating:
Summary: Genetic Heritage
Review: When dreams of empires get displaced they leave behind buildings and monuments that become destroyed or just wither away. But they also leave behind a genetic trail: the descendends of conquerors and dreamers who the former mother country forgot or never acknowledged in the first place, This excellent book visits six of those lost white tribes. Their history is sometimes bizarre (Confederates in Brazil), sad (Poles in Haiti) or just a tale out of a time gone by since centurys (Dutch in Sri Lanka). The six storys vary in their mixture of the author's account of his search for and visit with the lost tribes and the history of those people. The quality of the information is somewhat uneven. One sad impression is universal in all the six tales: the tribes discribed are not only forgotten, but will very soon cease to exist. However this still is a very interesting, fascinatig to read book.
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