Colin Fletcher managed to escape civilization with a simple plan. He would walk the length of California, including the Mojave Desert. The Ranger in Death Valley worried a great deal about him, but Fletcher's knowledge and understanding of the environment kept him safe and alive. In fact he enjoyed the "walk". Colin Fletcher is an excellent writer and this book is, in my opinin, is one of his best. I think I have read them all. He notices and describes details in vivid language. The clouds, the wind, the color of the valley, the trout, even the beetles and spiders don't miss his eye or nose.
He also describes the details of his hardships and joys, equipment failures and successes. He makes you feel as if you are with him on the trip, and often you may wish you were there. Some very well composed pictures are included. The trip took exactly 6 months. In the end he says "Then I walked down through the trees toward the road that would take me back to San Francisco and everything the city now offered."

I recommend the book to anyone. It is a good story, great adventure, and written by an unusual person. (He would like being called "unusual", I think.)

This book will change your whole outlook on nature. Are you willing to spend the summer walking, alone, then come along for this journey into your thoughts.

It doesn't take long for the reader to get broken in along Fletcher's trail of adventure from the Mexican border of eastern California to the Oregon border. The author takes us along the Colorado trail following the river for a number of days until we spring for the Mohave desert. Fletcher had placed, before his hike, a number of strategic caches of water along his desert route. We are as anxious as he to get to the next cache, particularly as we approach Death Valley in early spring before the overwhelming heat sets in. His descriptions of desert flowers and rolling mounds of sand stretching to dark and spiney ridges rising from the valley floor compel us to make plans to visit Death Valley in the near future. We are relieved when we hop out of Death Valley into the Panamints and scrub forests of the lower Sierra. When we climb high into snow country, our eyes hurt in the glaring snow. But the chill of fourteen thousand feet is more than welcome after the hot Mohave sands. We walk along with Fletcher in the high Sierra to push our toe across the border and touch Oregon soil. We experience the heat, the rattlers, the desert poppies, the cool downsloping breezes from the high Sierra, and the icy waters of alpine streams by reading THE THOUSAND MILE SUMMER. Such a book is a rare treat for those of us seemingly locked into a time-pressure capsule of corporate work

This book came as a big surprise, as it relays in a unique way, the life of a boy from the valleys who had a lot of cheek and a voice that astounded. The fascinating thing about this book is the insight the author Macfarlane gives when it comes to looking at Tom's manager Gordon Mills who bluffed his way through life and ended up being a millionaire. Engelbert Humperdinck also appears as a sort of cameo actor in the Jones life story. This is a good tale, well written, and it is obvious Macfarlane talked not only the man himself but sources very close to him. This biography is a one off, a true reflection of the man that sticks in the mind months after reading it. Well done Macfarlane, let's see more books from you!

There are performers and then there are great performers like Tom Jones. This book covers everything you ever wanted to know about Thomas John (aka Tom Jones) Woodward from his early days near Pontypridd, Wales to his heart-stopping Las Vegas shows. Author Colin Macfarlane strips away the glitz and glamour so you meet Tommy as a handsome toddler from the Rhondda Valley, then Tom, the rebellious teen "Teddy boy" . . . and finally Tom, the mature, savvy, very sexy man known to many as simply The Voice. His childhood, courtship and marriage, family life, climb to fame, private dreams, even some embarrassing moments that made Tom blush -- all those juicy little details that inquiring minds love to read are here throughout the pages of TOM JONES, THE BOY FROM NOWHERE. A legend from the Land of Song, Tom Jones -- the music, the man -- is captured in this book as a real person, not some cardboard character out of Hollywood. Thanks, Colin M! acfarlane, for letting us glimpse the real man whose star will forever shine.

This book offers a no frills version of Tom from his early days in Pontypridd, South Wales right through to when he made it to the big time in America. It is a fascinating early insight into the Boy From Nowhere's life with genuine interviews with members of his family who were there from the start. Colin Macfarlane tells a good story as he lived in in Tom's home vilage of Treforest when he wrote it. Tom has said it is the best biography of him and there has been talk by Tom Jones, Colin Macfarlane and Welsh film director Karl Francis turning it into a movie.

A very enjoyable book. Finally someone who can put humor back into your reading enjoyment. One of the few books I've read that mad me laugh until my sides hurt. If you would like to sit done for some easy reading AND a lot of laughs, make sure to get this book!!

Trudy & Colin is a book that is easy to relate to. It's obvious the author has a keen eye out in the world for interesting and funny observations. It's rare that the written word will make me laugh out loud, but Trudy & Colin did. If you like authors like Nick Hornby, Kurt Vonnegut or Chuck Palahniuk, check out Parry Docksile. Funny stuff.

When I read on the back of the book that it was "hilarious," I thought it was just some more marketing. Man, was I wrong. I got the book because I like cats, it had a cat on the cover, the description sounded a little weird, but I like to try out new books from people I haven't heard of. What the heck, you know? From the first page, I started chuckling. About page 5 I busted out laughing, and by the middle of the second chapter with Colin's dad, I was in tears. And the relationship rules in this thing! Not only are they, uh, "insightful", they're crazy and a little sick. I'm not a big baseball fan, but even those parts entertained me. A quality, quality effort.

This is an excellent book on the history of Yamaha in GP road racing! I don't think i have ever seen such a comprehensive and detailed account of EVERY aspect and step along the way in the development of Yamaha's 2-stroke racing programs.

Follow every design change from year to year, through the 1990's. This is a great book with no equal. Full of many photos and lots of interesting history, it is without a doubt one of my favorite Motorcycle related books!

This is an excellent book about motorcycle racing during the last 40 years. It is very well researched, accurate and will provide plenty of information to seasoned racing enthusiasts as well as new-comers to the sport. Definitely a must have. O. Rossi /Kaohsiung /Taiwan

This has to be one of the most comprehensive books on Yamaha racing. A few errors have been found in the book, but for the most part it is very well researched and chocked full of great pictures of some of the best riders in the sport. Past, Present and future. If you are into two-strokes, there is no better book.

Me gustaría saber dónde puedo conseguir libros del autor, tales como "The Flights of Icarus" o "Views". Gracias, y espero que se reimpriman pronto. Un saludo

This book is a must. If you only like music or if you love the covers more than the music inside or if you are learning to design covers...Well, this book has it all. The covers are show by elements in commom, so you can judge by yourself about the criativity of the designers. Roger Deam is a famous artist well know by his covers and stages for the rock group Yes. But this does not interfere with the overall result. The guys did a fantastic job compiling all the covers in this book. There are rock covers, jazz covers, latim, dance, disco, and so on. All possible covers are there. Don't hesitate. Buy it now!

Alex Sab

If you own any of the Bear Family label's CD collections, you know why they're worth the expense. Meticulous is an apropos word for the CDs as well as this book. Not as irreverent as some other rock books on 1950s artists, but not too monotone, either. Lots of interesting info that even longtime rock lit readers should appreciate. Check it out and then browse some of BF's CD offerings...

Colin Escott and his compatriots in the great Bear Family family have been bringing the finest and most intriguing American music to light for decades through their persistence in packaging completist retrospectives for serious listeners. Early rock and roll and its precedent musical forms--country, rhythm & blues, even popular vocalists--have never been better served than by their responsible reissues and thoroughgoing, often hilarious, always insightful liner notes. ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROCK is a must-have for anyone who cares about this music--these are the liner notes that helped me fall in love with it years ago, and to this day I look forward to new Bear Family sets with the knowledge that even on the infrequent occasion that the music isn't immediately to my taste, the liner notes will be an entertainment unto themselves.

My husband and I love the books by Stephen Cartwright. The Alphabet book uses alliteration of each letter and each letter gets it's own page. Example- for letter A - "All the animals are asleep on the Apple Tree Farm. Can you find two apples?" - Besides the hidden apples to look for, there are a number of different farm animals in beautiful color for recognization skills and counting. Each page also has a hidden duck which runs through many of the Stephen Cartwright books. Great book, perfect gift for toddlers just learning animals, or older children learning their ABCs.

This book really draws a child into the world of learning letters! The illustrations are fun and amusing.

Close to my favorite book. Gives a thumbnail portrait of each nation's history as it explains their population changes. It puts nations, empires and cultures in crucial relative perspective ("the past is another country") and is obviously the precipitation of immense research. Lucid and succinct like his superb Atlas of (mostly) European History series which map territorial changes and to which it is a great adjunct. (I still await his promised Atlas of City History/Populations with greedy anticipation.)

The book details population changes in every region of the planet from 400 BC to 1978 AD. McEvedy and Jones used seventy line graphs and accompanying commentary text to describe population changes in seventy regions. The only negative aspect of this book is that the authors estimates of pre-European, Native American populations are considerably lower than most other estimates and seem somewhat outdated. While many books describe population changes, few cover such a huge breadth of space and time and few give so much information so directly. This book is much appreciated and other books like this would certainly be welcome. - D. Dean Marisi, Florida, 7/19/98

This text is an excellent resource on the subject of cooling water treatment. It is one of the few books that covers only that subject and not other water-management problems (such as those related to boiler systems and wastewater treatment).

Here, the author incorporates both theory and practical information. The book is highly recommended for use by both the novice needing fundamental information for managing cooling water systems, and for seasoned professionals. It is written for professionals worldwide and it is not specific to the US cooling water market.

The ten chapters in the book cover the essentials of cooling water, which include types of cooling systems, water sources, corrosion, fouling and deposits, chemical-treatment building blocks, and microbiologicl control. Taken together, these chapters cover the fundamental technical aspects of cooling water systems. In addition, there are chapters on buying and selling cooling water programs, surveys and inspections, and managing the cooling water system. The chapter on buying and selling cooling water programs discusses the sale sequence, and interaction with the purchasing agents.

A good discussion on the needs of the customer and the technical approach required to conduct a thorough survey, including a section on selection of the appropriate chemical treatment, is provided in the chapter on surveys, inspections, and cooling water program selection. The chapter on managing cooling water programs discusses Legionella, housekeeping practices, cleaning and passivation of cooling water systems. It also contains a section on chemical-feed systems. The final chapter on monitoring and control discusses the various monitoring techniques for corrosion and deposits, plus biomonitoring.

This text is up-to-date, in that it covers recent consolidation in the water treatment industry, including the purchase of Calgon Corp. and Nalco Chemical by Suez Lyonnaise Des Eaux, in early 2000.

Frayne presents clearly the required calculations for cooling water system with examples. There is a good discussion on the various building blocks used in cooling water treatments, including corrosion and scale inhibitors besides the various polymers used for dispersion. Trade names anad suppliers are also listed. Total chemical treatment formulations are provided. In particular, the chapters on oxidizing and non-oxidizing biocides are excellent.

As for minor complaints, Frayne uses the 6 symbol to indicate an approximate concentration. Once thi is realized, it is no longer a problem. However, these minor shortcomings do not detract from the wealth of information in the text. This book should be in every professional's library who has any responsibility for cooling wate systems.

For my business was very useful because we work with cooling towers and boilers, gave us some guidelines for our enterprise. We highly recommended it.

This book makes you want to run right out and cut a bundle of something to dry so you can make something gorgeous right away.

The fact that this book was first published in 1987 and is still being printed is testimony to the valuable information and beautiful photos contained inside.

When the two authors first penned this book, they had already been in the dried flower business for 17 years. Their expertise and understanding of their craft shows in every word they write.

Chapters include instructions for growing the plants, viewing what the plants look like when dried, choosing your wreath bases or making your own, constructing wreaths, hangings, bouquets, swags, and choosing containers for table arrangements.

One of the best features of this book is the chart at the back of the book that lists a hundred or more plants, their botanic names, which season to harvest the flowers or leaves and which drying method is the preferred for that plant.

There is a short reference to potpourri with several recipes, as well as a couple of pages on pressing flowers.

The section on Seasons and Special Occasions covers, not only the obligatory Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, but gives innovative ideas for weddings.

It is wonderful that the authors actually grow much of what they dry and that they air dry most of what they pick.

Every page has a tip or set of instructions to make your arrangements with dried flowers both successful and fun.

I purchased this book 12 years ago when I developed an interest in making arrangements from dried flowers. Since then I have bought many more books on the topic and have made hundreds of arrangements, simple to elaborate. This is still my favorite book, and I refer to it often. Despite the fact that it was published in 1987, it is not dated. The section identifying dried flowers is comprehensive and well organized, as is the chapter on choosing containers. The instructions for making arrangements, wreaths, swags and specialty pieces are thorough and easy to follow. The floral arrangements are truly inspiring. The concepts are easily adaptable to silk, paper and fresh flowers.