I have had the opportunity to hear Dave Edwards speak. He has a wonderful, sincere heart for the Lord. His book has the most encouraging scripture and prayers then any other book I have read. He uses wonderful stories and real life documents to help us better understand the Lords awesome love. I recommend this book to any one who is struggling with their daily walk with God or anyone who wants to develop a closer relationship with God. I hope that you will read this book and realize that it is just "One Step Closer" to God's awesome, uncondition love!!! THANK YOU DAVE FOR YOUR DEDICATION TO THE LORD!

Just read this book, after getting it at the National Gen-X Conference. I found it Biblical, truthful, intreaging, comical, honest, thought provoking, and truly REAL. Just what this generation needs. You will not want to put it down.

This book is really cool. My college group is using it for small group study. It is easy to read, but great fun as well. I have learned so much. It is COOL.

I just got back from a month in Europe and covered Venice, Florence, Rome, Paris, London, and Amsterdam. I used 90% of the book and could not have had a better trip. Rick Steves book made touring cities, museums, palaces, and churches an enjoyable and funny learning experience. You will never need a tour guide. And I am serious when I say, DO NOT GO TO EUROPE WITHOUT MONA WINKS!

When my parents and I went to Europe for the first time, we wanted to visit all the top museums but didn't know how to get started. I got Mona Winks because I love Rick Steves' guide books. I followed the instruction, ripped up the book, and carried only the chapters we needed. My parents (they only speak Chinese) were a little suspicious about it. Our first stop was the National Gallery in London. We went there at the hour that the guide recommended and the museum was almost empty. We went through all the important paintings in two hours, and learned a great deal of art and art history. In the museum, we met a couple holding the same ripped pages from the same guide!

With the help of this book, we visited five other museums including the British Museum, the Louvre and Versailles. We avoided the crowded hours and the expensive local guided tours. This book saved us a lot of time and money, and helped us gain a lot of basic knowledge of history and art of Europe.

After the trip, I mailed back all the pieces from the book and $5.00 to Europe Through the Back Door, and they sent me a new copy! Next time when I visit Europe, I will take the book with me again. If you are a art dummy, this is really the only book you need to tour Europe's top museums. That's all I have to say about this book.

From our background in travelling, we knew that museums could make or break a vacation (especially in Europe) so we bet on Mona Winks. It paid off big time. We saw many of the world's greatest museums (British Museum, Louvre, Vatican Museums, etc.) all in a simple uncomplicated tour. By reading different parts of it, you could see when and where to get a snack and how to avoid to crowds and the long lines. It saved our vacation, and when we go back we will use it again. The good thing is it is updated every year, and it covers the museums from the Prado in Madrid to the British Museum in London. This is a MUST for anyone who wants to know a little about art, travel to the great museums and survive, and overall have a great trip.

Foremost are the photographs. I would call Annerino's canyon portraits the best of a really good lot, even over big-time large-format photographers. While the large-format works are stunning artistic studies of light and color shot with impossibly huge f-stops, Annerino's canyon photographs give expression to the phrase "wearing one's heart on the sleeve." His photos have an active passion that others lack. Anyone who knows him will say he is among the "hardmen' to tackle the Southwestern mountains and canyons, but that he is definitely the most sincere in his passion for place. Perhaps, because of this he lacks a calculated commercial view of the places he photographs. His images also record his own passion, creating compelling and unique photographs. More than any other contemporary outdoor photographer, Annerino's photos mirror his love of the land's people. In the text, Annerino portrays canyonlands people as part of what makes the places special. He has a deep affection for past and present native peoples, but unlike some Anglo North Americans, Annerino isn't a lost 20th century soul. Rather, he seems to have a straightfoward and genuine admiration for native people, and has learned a great deal about them. His research on each canyon's history is impressive. Annerino writes with an immensity commensurate with his subject. His style is old-fashioned, evoking an older, more grandiose era of writing of explorers like Powell and Pattie. While many modern writers seem bent on infusing themselves into as much of the story as possible, Annerino's style is not so full of himself as full of the intensity of his canyon experiences...Annerino is at his best when he writes about Mexico, especially the Big Bend passage where he talks about the injustices served the Mexican across the river at the hands of our national park there. An optimist who sees great things in the canyons, Annerino neither ignores nor dwells on the obvious problems facing the West like pollution and development. And fortunately, CANYONS OF THE SOUTHWEST is not a treasure map guidebook to these areas. -Desert Skies

Everyone knows about the Grand Canyon, but what many of us don't know is that the Southwest is laced with canyons less traveled but no less spectacular. Lucky for us, Annerino spills a few secrets in this book, describing in words and fine photographs such places...an encticement to visit or revisit, in person, this stunning terrain. -Outside Magazine

John Annerino's pictorial celebration of the canyons of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico is a handsome momento for those who have heard the wind whistling in these haunting canyons, and a beckoning invitation for those who have not yet made the journey. Annerino has spent much of his adult life exploring this territory -- as a wilderness runner, adventurer, and photojournalist -- and here combines his firsthand knowledge with his expertise as a nature photographer and author to create an intimate portrait of some of the most dramatic landscapes in the world. Scores of stunning full-color photographs make plain the basis for the region's appeal. From the centuries-old Anasazi ruins to the breathtaking buttes of Monument Valley, from the Narrows of Zion National Park to the barrancas (canyons) of the frontier of Mexico, CANYONS OF THE SOUTHWEST is a memorable record of one of the earth's most spectacular bioregions.

What an amazing number of gardens we have! Such beautiful and varied gardens across our country. This book makes me proud of yet another American accomplishment. Readers will be surprised and entertained.

Now that gardening has become a major hobby of many Americans,Mary Zuazua Jenkins' beautifully photographed National Geographic Guide to America's Public Gardens is a must. How delightful when traveling in the U.S. or Canada to use this guide and spend an afternoon enjoying one of our finest garden spots. A great Xmas gift.

This is a great book, even for those of us who are not traditional garden-lovers. It tempts you to plan your weekends and vacations to see the glorious and diverse gardens displayed with lush photography. Now that winter is upon us, this is a great book to read. When it is cold outside, the glorious photos and informative descriptions will color my evenings at home. Congratulations on a wonderful book.

Hats off to publisher Johnson Books for making this wonderful ... book available to serious travelers headed for Machu Picchu. The book is accurate and reliable besides being easy to read and understand. Wright and Valencia have provided an insight to Machu Picchu that far exceeds what the best local guides can explain and without their lore and myths aimed at foreign tourists. The 8 pages of glorious colored photographs complement the 160 black and white pictures and sketches. The fold-out colored map is a reduction of the map already hanging on the Fourth Floor of the Denver Art Museum. This book is a must for tourists, architects, engineers and archaeologists wanting to visit Machu Picchu someday. Those who have already visited the lost city of the Inca will appreciate it even more. Upon finishing the book, you will appreciate the pre-Columbian Inca people who created this masterpiece royal estate of Emperor Pachacuti.

Late one July afternoon in 1982, I found myself perched on a ledge overlooking the Machu Picchu archaeological site some 500 feet below. Having probed the bushes near the site's so-called guard tower, I had found some overgrown stepping stones and had begun hiking upward. One half-buried step led to the next, and within an hour I had reached this ledge. Along the way I had discovered a remarkable semi-circular stone staircase -- and managed to avoid the bushmasters said to be slithering nearby.

As an anthropologist myself, I wish that I had had a copy of a guidebook even half as good as that authored by Ruth Wright and Alfredo Valencia Zegarra. Combining a clearly written text with intriguing photos and practical diagrams, The Machu Picchu Guidebook is the single best publication on this site that I have seen. While written primarily for the astute traveler, it will be of use to professionals as well.

My own work with indigenous water systems in places like Guyana and Indonesia led to my cursory examination in 1982 of the system at Machu Picchu. It proved fascinating, but I had little time for study. To their credit, Ruth Wright and her husband, Ken Wright (in conjunction with a number of their colleagues from the U.S. and Peru) instituted a remarkably thorough archaeological/engineering investigation of this Incan system in the 1990s. This same degree of care and attention to detail is seen in the guidebook, which had its genesis in their archaeological research.

In conclusion, it should be noted that Ruth Wright is a former chair of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of The Explorers Club. Her book brings an explorer's enthusiasm to Machu Picchu, while maintaining high standards of authorship.

Built in the mid-fifteenth century by Inca royalty and found by Hiram Bingham in 1911, Machu Picchu has become one of South America's premier travel destinations, experienced by more than 300,000 tourists every year. Ruth Wright and her husband Ken Wright of Wright Water Engineers were granted a permit in 1994 from the Instituto Nacional de Cultura de Peru to study this famous site and teamed up with resident Machu Picchu archaeologist Alfredo Valencia Zegarra to create the most authoritative, detailed, and up-to-date guide currently available to the general public. The Machu Picchu Guidebook is specifically designed to be used as a do-it-yourself tour book enhanced with a full-color fold-out map and 150 illustrations. Whether as an armchair traveler with an interest in Incan culture and artifacts, or an on-site visitor seeking to explore the marvelous wonder of this ancient Incan city, The Machu Picchu Guidebook is a rewarding, "reader friendly" guide to this grandly designed archaeological treasure.

If this book had met only 1/2 of my expectations, I would have been pleased. It exceeded them. Every page is a series of surprises and delights. Whether you're interested in Architecture, or just love classy gadgets, this is your book. I cannot imagine anyone who, getting this book as a gift, would not be delighted. Read the product description, and add 50%. The only down sides are the long delivery time, and the book's delicacy. One is torn between wanting to look at its contents repeatedly, and the fear that the book might be damaged by too much handling. Order two!!

What a gorgeous book!! A historical overview of architecture, with exquisite and intricate pop-ups to illustrate the text. I can't even imagine the work that went into designing this book. It's a treat for the mind, as well as for the eyes. Well worth the (full) price!!

I have seen 100's of thousands of books, and this one is near the top of the list. Not only is it one of the best pop up books I have seen, it is very informative and educational. It is a great learning tool for most ages and it's alot of fun too. The price is worth the effort the publishers have put in. It also sub.'s as a great coffee table book as well.

This book is a great way to plan your Disney trip! It has helpful tips and time saving ideas! I love the way it is all laid out and they give their opinions on all the rides plus their reader's opinions. A very comprehensive guide for even the vetran Disney-goer. I have been to Walt Disney World more than 15 times and I just got this book and I love everything about it. A Must buy for anyone planning a Disney trip!!

This is a wonderful guidebook with tons of information! Much more info than you will find in other WDW guidebooks - and I've read them all! It is especially helpful in choosing a Disney resort and has tips on which buildings/areas to request. The book has reviews of each attraction and restaurant that are very helpful. If you're planning a trip to WDW, you must purchase this book. You won't be able to put it down!

I've been to Disney multiple times in the past, and thought that I had a good handle on what to expect, and where to go. After reading this book (cover to cover, it's a rare interesting read for a travel book!) I discovered hints, tips, tricks, and just information I'd never known about the whole of the Walt Disney World Resort! It's a must have for pre-travel, and even though I'm not to Disney yet with it, I can't imagine going now without it!

The hotel section is excellent, complete with travel times to each park, outlining each way you can get there and more. I don't think I could have even picked a place to stay and had confidence about it without this book. The ride reviewes are indepth, and the Kid-Tips from Allison provide a great view on how kids will like the rides, and a few chuckles for those of us without kids.

Overall, I can't say enough about how valuable this book already is, as a pre-trip planner, a trip guide during the visit, and even as a post-trip memory book/aide for your next Disney trip!

The one thing that ties all humans together, rich or poor, famous or unknown, powerful or helpless is death. To many Americans our Presidents are either marble figures (Washington, Jefferson...) or are little known familar names (Tyler, Harding...). This book does a great job of making ALL of our Presidents into human beings. The pictures, the writing, even the index pages are outstanding.

What better way to really understand a person than to know their final words. Or better yet to see their final resting places many of which were picked out by the individuals themselves. One can learn a lot about the true character of a person if you see monuments they designed for themselves.

I have visited many Presidential homes and several gravesites but after reading this book I have decided to make visiting all of the gravesites one of my goals in life.

It is strange that a book about death should bring history so alive. BUY THIS BOOK!

Who's buried in Grant's tomb is an interesting guide filled with small histories on each American president. The book contains accurate directions to help you find presidential gravesites, museums and libraries. Furthermore, the book contains addresses where you can write for additional information on each site and even includes website addresses when applicable. I have toured a few of these historical locations myself and have found the information in this book to be especially helpful in providing hours of operation as well as admission prices to some of these places. The book might appear a little morbid when you consider that it focuses on presidential burial sites but once you read it, you quickly find out that it provides a doorway for you to study the human side of these men. By visiting their homes graves and museums, you realize that they are not merely cold icons that you read about in history. They were very real with interesting lives and this book invites you to study their legacies.

For years I have wanted to tour World War One battlefields, and finally I came upon Before Endeavours Fade: A Guide to Battlefields of the First World War, by Rose E. B. Coombs. I read it cover to cover and felt doing so was the next best thing to touring those sites. When I finished reading this book, cover to cover, I thought this is better than going to each birthplace! It is certainly a lot easier, and I found it extremely satisfying to see each gravesite, all in the course of a couple hours, and to learn so many interesting things, like: What state has the most Presidential graves? Why is there a picture of David Rice Atchison's gravestone in this book? What President lived the shortest time after leaving office? If these sort of questions intrigue you, as they do me, get this book and revel in all the fascinating things you can learn from it.