Review by Choice Review
Raat and Janecek's handsome and valuable short book strikingly illustrates the lives of the inhabitants of Mexico's Sierra Tarahumara, in southwestern Chihuahua. These are "people of the edge" because their terrain ends at the edge of canyons. They are poor, but they endure, maintaining many of their customs and adapting to cope with changing conditions. Raat provides the commentary and Janecek the photographs in this "photohistory." Successive chapters describe the physical setting, the regional ecology, its historical evolution, and the region's links with the outside (that bring economic opportunity but also has brought Tarahumara culture into the orbit of the world of drug production). The photographs give life to the book's subject. They offer rich insights into material culture and the quality of life in this corner of the Third World. Maps are excellent and there is a brief bibliographic essay, mostly of books. Printing quality, which is highly important for studies of this type, is excellent. All levels. R. M. Levine University of Miami
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
