The Norte Grande of Chile, the world's driest desert, had ''engendered contemporary Chile, everything that was good about it, everything that was dreadful,'' writes Ariel Dorfman in his brilliant exploration of one of the least known and most exotic corners of the globe. For 10,000 years the desert had been mined for silver, iron, and copper, but it was the 19th-century discovery of nitrate that transformed the country into a modern state and forced the desert's colonization. The mines' riches generated mansions and oligarchs in Chile's more temperate region—and terrible inequalities throughout the country. The Norte Grande also gave birth to the first Chilean democratic and socialist movements, nurturing every major political figure of modern Chile from Salvador Allende to Augusto Pinochet. In this richly layered personal memoir, illustrated with the author's own photographs, Dorfman sets out to explore the origins of contemporary Chile—and, along the way, seek out his wife's European ancestors who came years ago to Chile as part of the nitrate rush. And, most poignantly, he looks for traces of his friend and fellow 1960s activist, Freddy Taberna, executed by a firing squad in a remote Pinochet death camp.

The compelling true story of Col. Cliff Acree and Cynthia Acree, two high school sweethearts whose lives were torn apart by the Gulf War.

Pinner mixes her family's down-home maxims with recipes for magical concoctions in this collection of soul food desserts and memories. The book shares more than 100 desserts, from bourbon balls to sweet potato pone and down-home banana ice cream.

Native-born Roy P. Drachman gives a personal account of how Tucson, southern Arizona, and the entire state have grown and developed in his lifetime. As a real estate developer, community activist, and philanthropist, the author is able to provide a behind-the-scenes look at some of the changes.

The Review Guide for NLN-RN Pre-Entrance Exam, Third Edition provides an overview of the math, science, and reading comprehension skills necessary for admission to AD and BS programs in nursing. This best-selling study guide includes review questions and practice exams in each of the three test areas: math, science, and reading comprehension. Also includes helpful tips for test preparation and for becoming a more effective learner and test taker.

This book contains the author's impressions of natural beauty and historic interest from his travels. His early years were devoted to mountain climbing, such as in his 1872 trip to Iceland, and his expeditions to the Polish and Hungary Alps, made with Leslie Stephen. He also went to the Alps in 1884 with Edward Bowen of Harrow in order to follow the march of the Russian General Suvaroff in the campaign against the French in 1799 when he crossed the St. Gotthard to make his way through Canton Schwyz to join the Austrian Archduke Charles at Zürich. Also included are later travels to Palestine and Petra just months before the outbreak of the Great War; the Islands of the Southern Pacific; a journey through Siberia, and two hundred miles up the Obi River to the Altai Mountains; as well as a visit to the United States in 1921.

Traversing the wild landscapes of the American West, prose and photography combine to create a lucid, dream-like vision of visitations and allegorical animal encounters with Snake, Owl, and Dragonfly, among others. The Spring tells a stirring, elegiac tale of death, love, rebirth, survival, and resilience.

For poet Ray Gonzalez, growing up in El Paso during the 1960s was a time of loneliness and vulnerability. He encountered discrimination in high school not only for being Latino but also for being a non-athlete in a school where sports were important. Like many young people, he found diversion in music; unlike most, he found solace in the desert. In these vignettes, Gonzalez shares memories of boyhood that tell how he discovered the natural world and his creative spirit. Through 29 storylike essays, he takes readers into the heart of the desert and the soul of a developing poet. Gonzalez introduces us to the people who shaped his life. We learn of his father's difficulties with running a pool hall and of his grandmother's steadfast religious faith. We meet sinister Texas Rangers, hallucinatory poets, illegal aliens, and racist high school jocks. His vivid recollections embrace lizard hunts and rattlesnake dreams, rock music and menudo making—all in stories that convey the pains and joys of growing up on the border. As Gonzalez leads us through his desert of hope and vision, we come to recognize the humor and sadness that permeate this special place.