Review by Choice Review
This is one of those rare books that will presumably be of interest to only a few people, but that will be of considerable interest to each of them. In part, this is because Guayana can be said not to exist: it is a collective term that refers to what used to be called "the Guianas"--i.e., Guyana (formerly British Guiana), Suriname (formerly Dutch Guiana), and Guyane (formerly French Guiana), together with small portions of Brazil and Venezuela. Another reason for such limited interest is that, in this sparsely populated region, little has been written about the few multiethnic colonial enclaves along the coast, and less about the vast interior ("the bush") that is still peopled largely by small, diverse indigenous groups whose languages and cultures remain relatively alien in European terms. There are 19 chapters by 21 authors: those by and about pioneers are interesting contributions to the history of anthropology. All include caveats about poverty, regionalism, racism, and oligarchies. Each adds data and ideas to the still-partial knowledge about such varied topics as archaeology, ecology, ethnology, linguistics, politics, worldviews, policing, and ethnicity. In short, this book makes a disproportionate contribution precisely because there is so little else of substance on the subject. Summing Up: Essential. Graduate students, faculty, professionals. D. B. Heath Brown University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
