Latin America, First Edition: Regions and People (Texts in Regional Geography) - Softcover

Kent, Robert B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1572309091 ISBN 13: 9781572309098

Publisher: The Guilford Press, 2006

Synopsis

This comprehensive text introduces key geographical concepts while providing an incisive, timely, and highly informative primer on Latin America. Thematic chapters trace the development of the region from the pre-Hispanic era to the present, while regional chapters reveal the diversity of its constituent people and places. Coverage includes cultural history; environment and physical geography; land use, agriculture, and urbanization; social and economic processes; and the Latin American diaspora. Enhancing the utility of the text are quick-reference tables and illustrative vignettes, over 160 photographs and maps, and suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter.

About this title

About the Author:

Robert B. Kent is Chair and Professor of Geography and Planning at the University of Akron. He earned a BA and MA from the University of California, Davis, and a PhD from Syracuse University. His research and publications have focused broadly on the human geography of Latin America, especially the Andes and Central America, and on the evolving geography of Latin Americans in the United States. He has traveled, lived, and worked throughout Latin America, including 3 years as an urban and regional planner in Peru for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and has worked as a consultant for USAID in Bolivia on numerous occasions. He has been a Fulbright Scholar at the Universidad Nacional de San Juan in San Juan, Argentina, and at the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He is a past chair of the Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers and a past councillor and treasurer of the Association of American Geographers. Dr. Kent is the editor of Region in Transition: An Economic and Social Atlas of Northeast Ohio and a coeditor of Regional Development and Planning for the 21st Century, and he has published numerous articles and book chapters on regional development, urban planning, cartography, GIS, and cultural geography.

Review:

"This is a book to make one think--about how regions, places, people, and landscapes take shape and how they change. In a skillful blending of thematic chapters and regional vignettes, Kent demonstrates mastery of a huge bibliographic base, and also a personal, intimate knowledge of the complex macro-region that is Latin America. This is an innovative, up-to-date text that will be warmly welcomed by those who teach geography and Latin American studies."--David J. Robinson, Department of Geography, Syracuse University

"Kent provides a refreshingly new perspective on a complex and fascinating region. This is a great text for teaching Latin American geography, with lots of informative pictures, data tables, and maps that help to bring this complex environment sharply into focus. With discussions of such important issues as globalization, environmental change, and cultural continuity, students will enjoy the book's easy-to-read approach and crisp visual imagery. Highly recommended!"--David J. Keeling, Department of Geography and Geology, Western Kentucky University

"This book offers a well-crafted blend of topics and themes that serves as a nicely seasoned introduction to the geographical diversity of Latin America. The many regional vignettes in the book add ample spice to the comprehensive coverage of the people, places, and environment of this important world region."--Karl Zimmerer, Department of Geography and Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison

"This book is suffused with Kent’s passion for and deep knowledge of Latin America, born out of his 30 years of work, research, and travel in the area. It covers an immense range in terms of both the regions and the topics addressed, making it an excellent teaching text and reference. The book will support a wide range of teaching options, but will be particularly helpful for introductory courses on Latin America. The writing style will help stir interest even among those students unconvinced of the virtues of engaging deeply with this fascinating, wonderful, and perplexing part of the world. This is a book many of us will want on our shelves as a source for those pieces of information so often needed in our research but rarely at our fingertips."--Anthony Bebbington, School of Environment and Development, University of Manchester, UK


"A welcome addition to the regional geography genre, with traditional thematic coverage nicely interwoven with analyses of linkages to both the local and the global environments....Flow maps, graphs, tables, and photographs augment the discussion and provide excellent visual support for the various explications of people and place....A sensitive treatment of a profoundly complex yet incredibly fascinating region. Kent's love of its place and people shines through....This book offers scholars and students looking for a regionally informed approach to Latin America terrific insights into the internal and external complexities of peoples and places. It provides a very traditional, descriptive framework for analysis and discourse that is enhanced nicely by broader and deeper examinations of both the whole and the parts that are Latin America....Provides, especially for students in an introductory course, an informative and very readable overview of both place and its context." (Journal of Regional Science 2006-01-26)

About this edition

• Publisher: The Guilford Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1572309091
• ISBN 13: 9781572309098
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 422