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Rating: 
Summary: Comprehensive, but spotty in places
Review: 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
Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive, but spotty in places
Review: 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.
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