If you don't know much about naturalist John Muir, don't start with this book. First, read one of his own works -- like _My First Summer in the Sierra_ -- and then proceed to a tribute like _The Pathless Way: John Muir and American Wilderness_ by Michael P. Cohen.

Finish those two, and then you'll have the background information needed to appreciate _The Heart of John Muir's World_. The author obviously read a ton of correspondence to and from Muir family members and friends in order to glean insights into the lives of everyone close to John, as well as John himself. You'll find details here not common to other biographies, with a particular focus to the lifestyle the Muirs made for themselves in central Wisconsin. You'll realize how close the Muir brothers and sisters were, in spite of eventually settling in as varied locations as Virginia, Kansas, Nebraska, and California. You'll understand how all of them held an appreciation of nature beginning with the time that they grew up and worked on the family farm -- and that John's ideas about preserving wild areas began right there, too. On three different occasions during his lifetime, John looked into buying and setting aside part of the Wisconsin landscape that he loved, so that it could be enjoyed by others as he had seen it as a child. But either the deals fell through, or the current owners refused to sell. In spite of those setbacks, a small John Muir Memorial Park now stands in Marquette County, Wisconsin, while John's larger contribution to us and to future generations is half a continent away, in Yosemite National Park.

If you're not content with simply knowing that he was a naturalist, the founder of the Sierra Club, and a major instigator for the creation of the U.S. National Parks system, you'll find more about John Muir's day-to-day world in this book. And when you finish, you will understand that the subtitle "Wisconsin, Family, and Wilderness Discovery" refers to the three great loves of his life.

On the whole, Mr. Jackson has written a balanced account of the enigmatic financier of the Gilded Age, but several glaring errors jump out at the reader and leaves one wondering just how reliable the author's research. He mentions in his discussion of the sinking of the Titanic for example, that Captain Edward Smith escaped drowning by paddling away in the same lifeboat as Bruce Ismay, chief executive officer of the White Star Line. Captain Smith, as the most casual observer of history now knows, went down with the great liner. This kind of slip-shod reporting completely destroys an author's credibility, especially when discussing a well-documented and important historical event such as the Titanic sinking. There are other errors of ommission and commission that riddle the text. To his credit, Mr. Jackson presents an evenly balanced account of Morgan, based (I would guess) on previously published books, though some of the personal insights into Morgan's private life are missing. This is not a definitive biography - far from it. It seems that Mr. Jackson put the volume together in great haste, when in fact a definitive study of the life of Morgan, and the House of Morgan, would require years, if not decades to complete.

The DRAW and PHOTO-PAINT parts of this book are good. However, the book must have been written on a beta version of the program. They missed several functions, such as the program will save the image file to the root directory so all URL's are correct. They spend far too much time on the WEB.DRAW module and not enough on WEB.DESIGNER and the WEB.WORLD. If you have never used DRAW this will help. If you are experienced in DRAW, it will be frustrating. When you are working with a beta version, you should warn the reader. PKGibson

I spent quite a bit of time with this book as it was required for a class I was taking. It tends not to go into enough depth or have specific enough examples.

This movie guide covers a lot of ground, unfortunately not very well. While it is better than the first edition (in which Stanley felt compelled to make a bad joke about EVERY SINGLE FILM) and the entries often lack essential information (running time, director, cast), I keep this around because it sometimes lists some REALLY obscure films no one else mentions. If you're an unrepentant movie nut and can find a cheap copy, okay....

With all respect to the author, he needs to expand his views to see the whole picture. He (or anyone interested in socio/political matters) needs a lesson by Noam Chomsky.

This so called "book" is nothing more than anything you can find in the sports pages of the newspapers. It is nothing more than a pamphlet with a hard cover! It is so flat that you can slip it under the door of your home and still have daylight showing above it. As for "inside"information., there is none. Save your money and your time. You can read the whole thing during a commercial of a televised game. BEWARE you have been warned!

Another very old book for the area. Outdated information