***image1*** Oh, the state we're in.
A JOURNEY THROUGH NEW MEXICO HISTORY
Sunstone Press, $24.95
Author Donald R Lavash survived 13 years teaching New Mexico history in secondary school and worked as Southwest historian for the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives for five years. His book is a welcome addition to generalized New Mexico history studies that are accessible and readable from a contemporary point of view. The book is also lovely to look at with many maps, illustrations and photos.
BERNARD PLOSSU'S NEW MEXICO
University of New Mexico Press, $29.95
Lots of outsiders have wandered haplessly into New Mexico over the years. Bernard Plossu trekked through here in the '70s, camera in hand, and the record of his Tocqueville-like exploration has resulted in
Bernard Plossu's New Mexico
. Plossu is a world-famous photographer who has shot in Senegal, Turkey, Poland, Mexico, Guatemala-and, of course, New Mexico. From the foreword by Edward T Hall: "The viewer knows what Plossu is saying by the immediate impact followed by slow release. There are no clichés here." With text by Gilles Mora, founder and editor-in-chief of Les Cahiers de la Photographie.
CANTEMOS AL ALBA: ORIGINS OF SONGS, SOUNDS AND LITURGICAL DRAMA OF HISPANIC NEW MEXICO
University of New Mexico Press, $80
This bilingual Spanish/English tome is destined to become a classic in New Mexico studies, folklore, musicology and religious studies. Tomas Lozano uncovers new perspectives on the evolution of New Mexico's unique music and liturgical drama, tracing lines back to medieval Spain through permutations in Mexico and up the Camino Real into New Mexico. More than 1,000 pages and musical notation for more than 100 songs and two CDs mark this as an epic touchstone and indispensable study of the foundations of our local arts and culture.
