Book reviews for "Alta" sorted by average review score:
Blue Guide Venice
Published in Paperback by W.W. Norton & Company (August, 1994)
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Average review score: 
An excellent guide, but it only meets certain travel needs..
So you want to see VeniceIf you want to explore the soul of Venice, if you want to absorb every square centimeter of her charm, if you don't want to miss a thing, if you want to know all about every delightful thing you see, this is your guide book and none other. You'll never find these wonderful places any other way, and you'll never wonder what you're looking at anywhere in Venice.
The Blue Guides are incomparable: the are indispensable for a lover of the visual arts, a history buff, or a committed traveller.
Blue Guide Sicily
Published in Paperback by W.W. Norton & Company (01 May, 1999)
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List price: $22.95 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $13.95
Buy one from zShops for: $14.95
Average review score:
Perfect book for the traveler that likes detail and history.Comprehensive and detailed book that covers it all. Drawings of the greek temples of Agrigento, Selinute and Segesta. Maps of what the sites would have looked like. Explanations of the dozens of layers of history and conquest that is Sicily's legacy. 319 pages of well layed out information in a region by region basis. Good overview of transporation options and how to get to the more remote sites. Minimal hotel information. Good color map section in the back. Did not need to buy the local english guides with this one along on the trip.
Perfect book for the in-depth traveler!Comprehensive and detailed this 319 page book covers it all. Sicily is a gold mine of history and with this book you can follow along at the most involved historic site. We used it during all 14 days we spent in Sicily and found that we did not need to buy the english site guides while there. A lot of drawings that show how the greek sites would have been layed out and the structure of the temples. Of great use in Segesta, Selinute and Agrigento historic sites. Highly recommend for the traveler that likes detail!
The Medicine Line: Life and Death on a North American Borderland
Published in Hardcover by Routledge (October, 2000)
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interesting if a bit academicinteresting account if a bit dry and academic. led me to Wallace Stegner's "Wolf Willow" which is richer with anecdotes and better writing. also led me to "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" which is a must-read for any Jefferson-loving American. all three titles made me interested in the lives of the Indians before 1800: was their life as brutal when the enemy was other tribes rather than white goldseekers, homesteaders et al? or were they at peace with the earth and each other?
Imaginatively Written Western HistoryThis is a lyrical, vividly written narrative history in a style which will appeal to a general audience. The author has closely studied an area along the Montana-Saskathewan border beginning with Sitting Bull's surrender to the U.S. Cavalry in 1881 and ending with the post World War I influenza pandemic. Although largely empty now, in the early 20th Century this vast dry-land prairie was home to many thousands of small-scale homesteaders struggling to wrest a living from an unforgiving landscape. The author includes interviews and correspondence with the late author Wallace Stegner, whose family attempted to make a living on both sides of this borderland. The numerous photos and illustrations are great, and along with the text give the reader an evocative sense of the hard life on the high western plains.
Banff National Park : how nature carved its splendour
Published in Unknown Binding by Hurtig Publishers ()
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Banff National ParkFor anyone who sees earth's beauty, and wonders what made it so, this is a wonderful book. Weave your way through Banff National Park, using geological formations as guideposts to the history of earth. Imagine the tremendous forces that created the scenery before your eyes; glaciers, huge thrusted mountain belts, glacial valleys and lakes, waterfalls, and hot springs. Also look at the minutia, the marine fossils that are held within the mountain rock. Issued by the Geological Survey of Canada, it is a guide to understanding, and in that a revering of one of nature's most beautiful places. It is easy to read for the non-geologist, and contains many pictures, a fold out map, and an index. It is also small enough to be easily carried in a backpack.
Blue Guide Florence (Blue Guide)
Published in Paperback by W.W. Norton & Company (September, 1995)
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Average review score:
What sort of guide do you need?If you are looking for a guide that will help you "narrow down" the choices of sights to see in Florence, this one is not for you. If you are looking for extensive lists and reviews of hotels, again this is not for you. Finally, if you're looking for detailed restauraunt information, you won't find it here. Basically, this guide is not a planning guide. I have used the Internet for most of my planning (e-mail me if you need some help finding some great sites MarySorens@yahoo.com).
What this guide does have to offer is an amazing amount of cultural, historic, and artistic information in a very packable sized guide. This will be the guide to read when you are doing your own tours of Florence. It will tell you far more than any tour guide would.
This guide also has map pages included. At first they are difficult to read and understand. But once you get the hang of them, you will love them. They are very detailed, and who wants to be seen walking around a city with a two foot map in front of their face??
The blue guide also gets you oriented to the city. Even if you don't use the Blue Guide's walks, they will show you which attractions are grouped together and will help you plan your routes (this is the one sense in which this guide works for planning). I haven't left yet,and my guide looks worn!
In conclusion, I am putting together my own itinerary that will contain details like restaurant and hotel addresses. And then this will be the only guidebook that I take with me to Florence. And I am looking forward to reading it and absorbing as much of the city as possible! If you are remotely interested in history and art and more, you will not regret purchasing this guide. I have used many guidebooks for trips, and this one is the most informative and educated.
Calgary Architecture: The Boom Years (1972-1982)
Published in Hardcover by Detselig Enterprises (August, 1984)
Amazon base price: $23.95
Average review score:
Calgary Architecture : The Boom Years (1972-1982)Well what can i say, this book is a great addition if you are really in to architecture. During the 70's and 80's calgary saw one of the largest economic booms, which was due to the oil boom. but cam to a halt when oil prices fell. The book itself is packed with renderings, pictures, and paragraphs of information relating to a particular building. as you near the end of the book, you will find a section of proposed projects, whcih never left the drawing board. I highly reccomend this book as a must to calgarian architectural enthusiasts. Or any for that matter.
Dinosaur Country: Unearthing the Alberta Badlands
Published in Paperback by Badlands Books (20 May, 1998)
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History and paleontology of Alberta badlandsExcellent discussion in counterpoint of the natural history, human history and prehistory/paleontology of the Alberta badlands. Strongly recommended for those who are interested in the history of paleontology as a discipline as it was advanced by amateurs and professionals alike in a specific geographic region. Also entertaining for the general reader planning a visit to the area.
The first Metis : a new nation
Published in Unknown Binding by UVISCO Press ()
Amazon base price: $25.00
Average review score:
Early Alberta Metis HistoryThis book is a potpourri of interviews and other contributions depicting Metis family life and culture. There is extensive material about the St. Albert Settlement and its people. This is where the author, Dr. Anderson grew up. There is also information on the origins of the Iroquois people in Alberta and the communities of Lac St. Anne and Fishing Lake. The content is woven around and interspersed with family stories. Elders reminiscences short vignettes, and family geneologies are accompanied by photographs of people, places, and activities. The author, Dr. Anne Anderson is a recipient of the Order of Canada.
Blue Guide Northern Italy: From the Alps to Bologna (Blue Guides)
Published in Paperback by W.W. Norton & Company (September, 1997)
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Average review score: 
A Wealth Of Information .This lists interesting sites in many towns and cities. This has more detail than is needed for the rushed tourist with only a couple of days to do the "highlights" of Italy, but is great for the more serious visitor with more time. Info on both the famous sites and many possibilities for going off the beaten path.
Only if you are interested in Art, Arch., History, etc.I miss these books most when I am in a country for which they are out of print (recently Spain) as other guidebooks provide little information on these topics. However, I also buy a standard guidebook for general (hotel, etc.) information as the Blue Guides are useless for that. If you are not that interested in more details on these topics (there is no reason you should or shouldn't be), then you'd probably be wasting your money buying this book. In that case I would give this book one star.
I think the previous review expresses the same point but in a different way. Perhaps it is partly in reaction to this type of review that recently there seems to have been a dumbing-down of the books, which is a shame. Now that is a snotty comment.
Art and Architecture guide, not travelThe book is for the art and architecture historian/student. Not meant for the casual traveler to Europe. This book is an authorative on the subjects it involves. The perfect book to have when you want to know what the archtecture in the region is about and wish not to carry a huge "textbook". Not some lame book that tells you of hotels and restaurants to visit with lots of pretty pictures.
The Alta Vendita
Published in Paperback by Tan Books & Publishers (December, 1999)
Amazon base price: $2.50
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If you are looking for a guide that will help you "narrow down" the choices of sights to see in Venice, this one is not for you. If you are looking for extensive lists and reviews of hotels, again this is not for you. Finally, if you're looking for detailed restauraunt information, you won't find it here. Basically, this guide is not a planning guide. I have used the Internet for most of my planning (e-mail me if you need some help finding some great sites MarySorens@hotmail.com).
What this guide does have to offer is an amazing amount of cultural, historic, and artistic information in a very packable sized guide. This will be the guide to read when you are doing your own tours of Venice. It will tell you far more than any tour guide would.
This guide also has map pages included. At first they are difficult to read and understand. But once you get the hang of them, you will love them. They are very detailed, and who wants to be seen walking around a city with a two foot map in their face??
The blue guide also gets you oriented to the city. Even if you don't use the Blue Guide's walks, they will show you which attractions are grouped together and will help you plan your routes (this is the one sense in which this guide works for planning). I haven't left yet,and my guide looks worn!
In conclusion, I am putting together my own itinerary that will contain details like restaurant and hotel addresses. And then this will be the only guidebook that I take with me to Venice. And I am looking forward to reading it and absorbing as much of the city as possible! If you are remotely interested in history and art and more, you will not regret purchasing this guide. I have used many guidebooks for trips, and the Blue Guides are the most informative and educated.