Loy & Allan build upon previous atlas efforts (OR 1976, CA 1979) and make use of technology and greater knowledge to produce excellent, useful maps and charts. Pre-1865 (inch-pound) measuring units are used instead of U.S. (SI) units as used in the 1976 edition (for example, temperatures are in °F not °C). Historic growth and immigration maps, education (K-12, university and school districts), demographics and future temperature and precipitation scenarios make this a handy "big picture" reference.

Economic, water and transportation and other "sheds" enable a you to obtain a good understanding of past, current and future trends. Obtain the Atlas and CD - you will use them both for a long time.

This book is a bargain. The wealth of information collected in one place is amazing. I consider this book the ultimate collection of interesting data on the state of Oregon. Those with children in Oregon should consider this a "must buy" for their children's education.

This is the best book about Oregon EVER!...It has all you need to know about the Indians, population and it evan has maps from the Lewis and Clark expedition! If you EVER need info on Oregon this is the Book to get!...

If your idea of Western wear is John Wayne in chaps and creased 10 gallon hat - forget it. Rolling Stone Press Editor Holly George-Warren and clothing designer Michelle Freedman have produced a luxe look at Western garb that is more Las Vegas than Laredo.

The iconic American cowboy typifies our country's spirit to many, from New York City sidewalk stompers who have no saddles but don boots to diamond encrusted Grammy award winners who twang with the best of them.

So, for those attracted by the lore and lure of ranching days, here is a photographed filled bow to all garb Western. It begins with the practical clothing needed by scours, traders, and ranch workers, then details how early movie stars such as Tom Mix, Gene Autry, Dale Evans and Roy Rogers spurred a popular trend in cowboy wear.

That vogue was to later influence British rock musicians and high end fashion designers such as Ralph Lauren.
"There's a little bit of cowboy in everybody," the foreword states and that would be seem to be true as the pages of How The West Was Worn reveal glimpses of tastefully displayed silver buckles, jauntily worn Stetsons, and rhinestone embellished rigs that never saw a range.

- Gail Cooke

A colorful and comprehensive examination of American style at it's most iconic - the authors have done a wonderful job telling the story of how cowboy duds came to symbolize America the world over. A must have for anyone interested in the West, design, decorative arts, fashion, pop culture or Americana/American History. The book is gorgeously presented, expertly written and endlessly entertaining, the photography is beautiful, and the interviews are rare and revealing. From the plains and frontiers, to Buffalo Bill to the Hollywood Cowboy, Country & Western, Rock & Roll, the current fashion craze, the authors leave no cowpie unturned as they reveal how the cowboy hat became our collective unconscious. The most complete record of the lives and work of N. Turk, Rodeo Ben, and Nudie to date. How did the famed North Hollywood rodeo tailor get men in the 20th century to wear fanciful embroidered and rhinestoned creations, that became more and more elaborate in a competitive fervor to outshine each other?(And how did Keith Richards cause him to draw the line?) Find out. From the fanatical to the casual observer, and especially anyone who has ever bedazzled denim or worn a pair of cowboy boots, all will treasure this book.

I found this book was able to shed some much needed light on America's first master painters. I found Flexner's writing to be beautiful and the result of reading this book has been several trips to view the works of the artists featured within. I heartily recommend this title to all who are interested in this period of American/art history, or to those who would likee to be!

I bought Malaria Dreams before I went to West Africa, but only recently read it. I am glad I waited, because without having been there, I would not have been able to appreciate how accurately Stu describes very real situations. His style and humor, however, should appeal to anyone.

Saving Face is a look at American culture and identity through its early roots in shame (when you do not do something you are supposed to do) as opposed to the post-Vietnam guilt culture (when you do something that you are not supposed to do) that we have become. Schneiderman spends most of the book basing America's modern problems on the results of the War in Vietnam; not a rehash of an old subject, but a fresh insight into the modern American psyche. He hypothesizes that the country's loss of face in Vietnam was a clear result of a lack of leadership willing to face the shame and debacle of Vietnam. The vacuum of leadership willing to take responsibility for the results left the nation as scattered individuals, looking for a way to bury the past and restore self pride. Surprisingly, Schneiderman doesn't play politics and lays equal blame both on political leaders for failing to guide the country and on Americans for making poor choices in leadership. Only through self-evaluation and the bearing of shame and personal responsibility can the country as a whole preserve a national culture and move forward. This book is comparable to Philip Howard's Death of Common Sense in that both authors look for a return to personal responsibility, a culture built on respect for others, and decisionmakers who take responsibility for their decisions . Scheiderman prods the reader to "end our romance with telegenic candidates who lack the qualifications for office. We should seek leaders of unimpeachable character who command respect, not quasi-celebrities who lack a sense of shame.....Identifying the qualities we seek in those who would guide us places us in a far better position to know which qualities we should use to guide ourselves." Well put as we choose between leaders to guide the nation to the next millenium

Given everything I've read about this book I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality and veracity of the narrative. I can understand how earlier reviewers taking Lake's claim to have received 100% of his facts from Earp, only from Earp, and entirely from Earp might have prejudiced people against Wyatt Earp, because there is a certain amount of "The tall lean figure of the fearless . . . " etc. The introduction puts this into context excellently well and I have no hesitation in recommending this book to people who are interested in the man and his era, with the proviso that they also read other texts (Sadie is referred two once or twice, never by name, during the portion of the narrative that covers Tombstone; Earp's marriage to and subsequent life with Josie (Sadie) Marcus Earp turns up only in the very last chapter -- on the next-to-last page, if I recall correctly). An excellent summarization of the Wyatt Earp mythos -- perhaps obviously so, since it is created with in large part creating that mythos (g). Still and all, not a book to be scorned, but to be read with a cross-reference or two at hand. The prose style holds up very well indeed.

I read Lake's book as a child. Wyatt Earp became a real hero to me. Later I found there was much more to the story, and much less. Lake found Earp to be uncooperative. So much so he didn't publish this book until Wyatt had been dead three years. Great portions of it were complete fiction such as the episodes in Abilene, Ks. and the arrest of Ben Thompson which never happened. But then, Wyatt Earp never claimed that it had. Lake wanted to write a tale of the old west and in the late 1920's Wyatt was about the only survivor of that breed of men who lived by their wits and survived those days. Nevertheless this book is a lot of fun. If you want a true picture of Wyatt Earp check out the latest issue of American Heritage magazine (Mar/April, 1999). He was a controversial figure and in many ways an admirable one. The story of the making of the myth is as fascinating as the man.

I have always been facinated with the old west and its heroes. This book by Stuart Lake was very well written and exceptionally entertaining. I am in the middle of reading it for the second time. Especially interesting are the quotes from Wyatt Earp himself. The legends own words bring a sense of realism and authenticity to the writers story. I would recomend this book to anyone and hope the publisher puts it back in print.

I tried to like this book. But the more I tried, the more disappointed I was.

I've gone back and forth with myself over whether this book ought to describe more trails. After all, ten backpacking trips, four of which are in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, seems a bit spare. I decided not to give this book a lower rating since I did buy it because it says "backpackers" in the title, and looking at other guide books and maps has convinced me that there are probably a limited number of multi-day trips available on the islands. Nonetheless, you should keep in mind that it's a bit thin for its price tag. Looking at similarly priced titles on my bookshelf, I would expect twice as many trips and more descriptions of branch trails and day hikes beyond the destination campsites.

The trail descriptions themselves are good. The overviews are enjoyable and include major landmarks along the way. The overviews are then followed by overly detailed route descriptions. They go so far as to tell you to "Pass a mango tree on the right," and they count the number of switchbacks you ascend or descend. This is useful for unmarked or unmaintained trails, such as the dayhike to Pu'u 'O'o, but unnecessary filler for many of the other trails.

Most disappointing were the maps. The book has island-level locator maps that show you the general area each trip can be found. But there are no overview maps to give you a feel for what each trip looks like from start to finish. And the detail maps are themselves problematic. They have no color coding, so the reader is left to decipher a map showing gray text on top of gray topographical features on top of gray contour lines. And like a AAA trip planner, the maps are oriented so that the trail runs up-and-down the page without regard for the cardinal directions. For the Mauna Loa trip, North rotates over four maps from the bottom left of the page to the top of the page.

The book's one saving grace is it's photography. 16 pages of beautiful pictures will help you decide which trails appeal to you. Halape, on the beach in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, looks like heaven on earth. And after looking at the pictures, I'm pretty sure that I'd like to dayhike the barren Mauna Loa or Haleakala, but I don't want to camp there.

I have taken this book (or photocopies of relavant information) on all my backpackings throughout the Hawaiian islands. This includes hikes and backpackings on Oahu, Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii and have hiked in parks such as Kokee, Kalalau, Haleakala, and Hawaii Volcanoes National Parks. Fabulous information regarding trail routes, how to get to the trailheads, and what permit and important information any experienced backpacker needs to know. I've led backpacking groups, too, with this information. Stuart Ball has been there and knows his stuff. Highly recommended by the Backyard Oahu website!!

Anyone thinking of overnight stays in the Hawaii backcountry should have this book. In it is info about getting to the trailhead, negotiating the trail itself, and more. I've used it for trips across Haleakala, to Halape, and up Mauna Loa. Don't leave home without it. [g]

As a 27 year resident of Northern California, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by some of the trails I found in this book. The trail coverage is broad as Northern California is not a small place. This book outlines some of the best trails throughout Santa Cruz, San Jose, San Franciso, and all the way up to the California-Oregon border. I look forward to riding some of the far Northern California trails that are outlined in this book.

This book covers Northern California trails in pretty good detail. The book does a good job of covering the famous trails and covering some less well known backcountry trails that even locals may not know about. The directions to the trail heads are usually pretty good. The trail directions are sometimes out of date and a little vague, but usually good enough to keep from getting lost. Overall, I definitely recommed it!

This book has taken us thorugh tropical rain forests, dense valleys, and sun-parched craters. The variety of hikes is wonderful. There is something for everyone in here, well, everyone except the beginner hiker. It seems even beginning hikes in the book are a bit challenging. This is because Oahu has such a varity of terrain. However, if you are looking to take a relaxing stroll through the woods this book will be of no use to you. We have children so we only do the novice hikes and even those are challenging, but fun and dirty! This is probalby for more serious hikers and some of the hikes mentioned are 12 miles long! That takes a long time in Oahu's terrain! The author always write in interesting tidbits of info in his hike description which I like. Things such as the where the strawberry guava trees are, where the WWII tunnel is, etc...The one negative to this book is that many of the hikes the author writes about are closed to the public and you have to write for permission to hike them. To me, this is a pain and I am not organized enough to plan ahead and do this. If you are better organized than I, I am sure you would enjoy them. We are just a bit more spontaneous. Enjoy!

I won a copy of the first edition of this book in a contest in 1994, and since then it has helped me find dozens of beautiful and enjoyable trails.

For example, one of the trails we found was a great hike in Wahiawa through the back country of an Army training base. As the author suggested, we wrote to the commander and we got permission to do this hike that rambles over hills and across streams, and all at the cool elevation of Wahiawa.

Some of the highlights of the book include great descriptions of the flora along the trail, reproductions of topo maps for each hike that show you the pitch of the trail(although you should probably get the real topo if you plan to get lost), clear route descriptions that show that the author has been on these trails many times, and a wonderful layout.

It is the best hiking book I have ever read (although I've probably only read about a dozen). It is without equal among O`ahu hiking books.

I just bought the second edition, and if possible, it's even better than the first one.

this is a great hiking guide but please keep in mind the published date; it's quite old by now and as such, the detailed hiking descriptions are sorely in need of an update. thus, please be careful when using the guide as a reference, as you could end up getting lost. getting an opinion from local hikers would be your best bet.

This was a good read, well written adventure. The "characters" we meet are thoroughly African and provide an insightful view of that country. There are some questions that the book left unanswered. For instance, who is Ann? Why is she travelling with Stevens? And did they learn anything of lasting value from the trip? I loved the adventure. The writing is tight, humorous and makes even the outlandish situations believable.

This is a story on HOW one travels in Africa. Some stories Stevens paints may sound outrageous or outlandish, but that's exactly how it is in Africa. Experienced in traveling and living in this fabolous continent, I can only say "welcome to reality". The author has a very humorous style of telling wild tales of African Bureaucracy and logic as encountered during their misfortunate trip through the Sahara. I smiled my way through the book that I hardly could put down. The tales are so real (as anyone will testify who has been there) that it rocks the reading chair of anyone getting into the book. Don't read the book, if you are planning your first trip to Africa but read it if you want to immerse yourself in real African mentality, shrewdness, and irrationality held together by a humor hard to resist.

This is just the book to read on a long flight in economy class. Any delays and discomforts you have to put up with will fade by comparison with what Stevens experienced. It's a hilarious account of travels in Central and West Africa. (incidentally at that time, the 1980's, Algeria was relatively safe).
Africans might have a legitimate gripe with the way they are portrayed but most comic travel books tend to portray the inhabitants of a country as childish or incompetent. Read Dickens's "American Notes." I would have liked to hear the author's ideas on why things are as they are in Africa. Whose fault is it? What can be done? What will happen in future? This may be complaining that he has not written a different book but I see that he is, according to the jacket a "political consultant" so he must have some opinions.