This volume of 14 essays covers such varied topics as: the origin theories of the Basque language and its viability in the contemporary world; literature; gender studies; rock music and the bertsolari or troubadour; cinema; sports; and Bilbao and the Guggenheim museum.

Topics in this textbook cover the prehistoric period to the present day and include Basque physical anthropology, archaeology, language, sociolinguistics, and identity formation. Distributed for the Center for Basque Studies.

The Basque language, Euskara, is one of Europe’s most ancient tongues and a vital part of today’s lively Basque culture. Reclaiming Basque examines the ideology, methods, and discourse of the Basque-language revitalization movement over the course of the past century and the way this effort has unfolded alongside the simultaneous Basque nationalist struggle for autonomy. Jacqueline Urla employs extensive long-term fieldwork, interviews, and close examination of a vast range of documents in several media to uncover the strategies that have been used to preserve and revive Euskara and the various controversies that have arisen among Basque-language advocates.

The Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno is the leading international research and educational institute of Basque culture outside the Basque Country. Based on oral history interviews by Pedro Oiarzabal, this book chronicles the history of faculty, staff, student workers, visiting students and scholars, and volunteers who have contributed to the development of the longest lived academic program dedicated to the study of the Basques in the history of the United States. Combined, their stories are a narrative not only of the history of Basque Studies, but also of its offspring: the Basque Studies Library, the Basque Book Series, and the University Studies Abroad Consortium.

Gloria P. Totoricagüena presents a thorough comparative examination of the remarkable endurance of Basque identity and culture in six countries of the far-flung Basque diaspora. Using the results of interviews and extensive anonymous surveys with more than eight hundred informants in the diaspora, plus extensive research in archives and printed sources in all six of her study countries, Totoricagüena reveals for the first time the complex and interrelated universe of these dispersed Basques. She explores the elements of their migration patterns and the institutions that have encouraged identity maintenance, the impacts on established communities of each new wave of immigrants, and the nature of economic and political ties with the homeland. Totoricagüena offers a superb quantitative study of an aspect of Basque culture that has been largely ignored by scholars—the diaspora. In doing so, she enlarges the understanding of cultural identity in general—how it is defined and preserved, how it evolves over time, and how both the politics of distant places and the most intimate family habits can shape an individual’s sense of self. Identity, Culture, and Politics in the Basque Diaspora is a major contribution to the knowledge of Basques and their persistent political and cultural traditions.

Bullen provides an overview of gender theory, then focuses on Basque women as agents of cultural transmission in the context of the nationalist movement, and in the diaspora. The myths surrounding Basque matriarchy and the extent of women's rule fixed in a mythical past are questioned. While the powerful mother figure has a vital role in handing down Basque language and culture, contemporary women are also breaking old stereotypes and carving out new niches for themselves, at times coming into conflict with the force of tradition. Distributed for the Center for Basque Studies.

From critically acclaimed author Frank Bergon comes a new personal narrative about the San Joaquin Valley in California. This intimate companion to Two-Buck Chuck & The Marlboro Man brings us back to an Old West at odds with New West realities where rapid change is a common trait and memories are of rural beauty. Despite the physical transformations wrought by technology and modernity in the twenty-first century, elements of an older way of thinking still remain, and Bergon traces its presence using experiences from his own family and friends. Communal camaraderie, love of the land and its food, and joy in hard work done well describe Western lives ignored or misrepresented in most histories of California and the West. Yet nostalgia does not drive Frank Bergon’s intellectual return to that world. Also prevalent was a culture of fighting, ignorance about alcoholic addiction, brutalizing labor, and a feudal mentality that created a pain better lost and bid good riddance. Through it all, what emerges from his portraits and essays is a revelation of small-town and ranch life in the rural West. A place where the American way of extirpating the past and violently altering the land is accelerated. What Bergon has written is a portrayal of a past and people shaping the country he called home.