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Book Review
| Historical Atlas of Central America. By Carolyn Hall and Héctor Pérez Brignoli. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2003. xiv + 321 pp. Illustrations, maps, notes, bibliography, index. $99.95.
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| Because college history students have a notorious lack of geographic knowledge, historical atlases are a most welcome complement to the teaching process. Back in 1967, my university required two courses in "History of the Americas." Theodore R. Miller's graphic History of the Americas (J. Wiley, 1969) was helpful. Long after my university abandoned the Boltonian approach and went to traditional surveys, the Lombardi aid became available—Catheryn L. Lombardi, John V. Lombardi, with K. Lynn Stoner, Latin American History: a Teaching Atlas (Conference on Latin American History, 1984). Unfortunately, until 2003, no historical atlas of Central America existed and one was truly needed for serious students of the region. |
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This Central America atlas is said to have been inspired by the three-volume Historical Atlas of Canada prepared by Geoffrey Matthews (University of Toronto, 1987–1993). There were relatively few historical atlases of anywhere in Latin America available before this one. Among those published were Peter Ashdown, Caribbean History in Maps (Longman Caribbean, 1979), Gustavo Garza Villareal, Atlas de la Ciudad de México (Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Demográficos y de Desarrollo Urbano, 1987) and Atlas de Monterrey (Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Instituto de Estudios Urbanos, 1995), and Edward Early, The History Atlas of South America (Macmillan, 1998). The Historical Atlas of Central America, then, is a significant contribution to a slowly growing genre of reference works. |
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Compilers Carolyn Hall and Héctor Pérez Brignoli approached their project with well-established credentials in regional economic history and historical geography. They generously define "Central America" as stretching from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to the Atrato River, thereby including Chiapas, Belize, and Panama. The book contains 405 color maps and 140 color images grouped around five basic themes: "Environment and Territory," "People and Places: The Patterns of Cultural Change," "Colonial Societies," "The Formation of National Societies," and "The Challenges of Development." Ample explanation (with notes) accompanies each section. The volume concludes with a glossary and extensive bibliography. The maps and charts contain little post-1980 data and they neglect education, health services, energy provision, and the growth of media. Nevertheless, a treasury of other historical data awaits whoever consults this atlas. |
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Environmental historians will be able to pursue certain themes through a series of maps. Several retrace various scientific expeditions. Some depict volcanoes active in historic times, the tracks of memorable hurricanes, and the occurrence of major earthquakes. One can trace land use from pre-Conquest subsistence agriculture through colonial commercial farming, ranching, and mining, to the indigo, coffee, and banana production of later eras. Changes on land tenure systems over time are also apparent. Non-European peoples are fairly represented and demographic changes are emphasized. Transportation history includes colonial roads, nineteenth-century rail lines and trans-isthmian routes, and highway networks from the 1920s. One map reveals deforestation between 1940 and 1990; another identifies the protected areas of the 1990s. |
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Robert H. Claxton is professor emeritus of history, State University of West Georgia, where he taught United States, Latin American, and environmental history. |
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