This book was very useful in my trip around south central Alaska. The content was up to date and specific and his reviews of the restaurants/lodging held true. As radio connections were sporadic, we took turns in reading the guide out loud as we traveled from one place to another. Not only was it very informative, but also Don's humor was a pleasant addition. Use other books for research, but bring this one along.

I'm the original author of this book, having researched and written the 1st edition in 1983. After that, I got very involved in writing about the South Pacific islands and had to bow out, so I'm happy to see the way Deke and Don have developed the book through five subsequent editions. Last summer my wife and I returned to the area and tried following my old edition. It was striking how little had changed and we enjoyed our trip immensely. We pitched our tent on some of the same sites I'd used nearly two decades earlier! I suggest you use the far superior new edition of Alaska-Yukon - it's a wonderful part of the world, and you're in for a real adventure.

This book has been truely invaluable in preparing for a trip. It is not written in the normal dry style of many travel planners, but with wit and humor. As I read through the tidbits on the communities the author's dry humor and research come through. He is not afraid to tell you where the tourist traps are and when those self-same traps are worth a look because of the tacky items in them. The commentaries are honest and straight forward. Well worth the read if you are planning a trip to Alaska.

Those who know Mary Kingsley probably never thought there would be a children's book about her, but why not? Her classic "Travels in West Africa" is still in print after over 100 years, and deservedly so (please see my review). This is a fine book for children, especially because its true-life Victorian heroine did something that most modern people wouldn't do, i.e., she traveled, on her own, though mostly unexplored Africa (Gabon to be precise), and afterwards became a very popular writer and speaker. Hopefully children who read this will someday go on to read Kingsley in her own words. [One small note: terminology has changed a bit, by "West Africa" Kingsley refers to what we would today call the Atlantic coast region of Central Africa.]

In 1892, at the age of thirty, Mary Kingsley's parents died, and for the first time in her life Mary was free to do whatever she wanted. Her childhood had been bleak and solitary. She was completely housebound. Mary never went to school or played with other children. Her father traveled all over the world and was rarely home, and she spent all her time keeping house and nursing her sick and bedridden mother. But this spirited girl made a life for herself in her father's library. "Books were her companions and teachers." So, after her parent's death, and inspired by the travel and adventure books she loved, Mary did what was considered unthinkable for a proper lady of Victorian England, she set off alone to visit mysterious and dangerous West Africa..... Don Brown has chronicled the life and wonderful adventures of Mary Kingsley in his introductory picture-book biography. His straightforward and engaging text is full of history, drama, humor, and Mary's own words, and complemented by charming, evocative watercolor artwork. Together word and art tell a fascinating and entertaining story of a remarkable and clever woman who took charge of her life and never looked back. Mr Brown includes an author's note at the end to enhance and complete the story, and a bibliography of additional books about Ms Kingsley and her amazing African excursions. Perfect for youngsters 5-9, Uncommon Traveler is a simple, yet spellbinding masterpiece you don't want to miss.

Don Brown, author and illustrator of "Uncommon Traveler," excels at the non-fiction picture book. In his newest, he's told and illustrated the tale of Mary Kingsley, a single woman who traveled Africa alone in the late 18OO's. He makes good use of lively quotes from her journals, and keeps the tale to just the liveliest parts--Mary swimming with hippos, canoing with crocodiles, and falling into animal traps. He also lets kids know about her lonely childhood, how she took care of her invalid mother, and of her freedom at 30 from family responsibilities--the time when her adventures began. This book is good for everyone, but would be particularly useful for teachers and libraries, interested in sharing non-fiction stories about adventurous girls. The art in the book is distinctive and the prose style clean and lively. I also enjoyed Don Brown's"Rare Treasure: Mary Anning and Her Remarkable Discoveries," about a girl-fossil hunter, one of the best fossil-hunters ever.

This is a guide to 21 road trips in California and 4 in Nevada. I've now taken a number of the backroads described in this book. There are some excellent suggestions for getting away from the interstates and finding the true character of these two states. The Martin's have a folksy style that I enjoyed. They didn't include much info about the scenery in between but mainly rundowns of the main cities along the way and places to eat and sleep. They really keep to the basics here. For example the section on "The Silver Trail" from Las Vegas to Virginia city is only 14 pages for a trip covering 443 miles. This book is a good starting point to get ideas for road excursions, but if you're going to spend any length of time on one of these trips I'd recommend getting further material before setting out.

I never thought a book could have so much information about how to get around to different places. The authors know what they are talking. They have researched all information that is in the book and now I can travel and see that I have been missing. Thank you for a great book.

Baxter Black has a wonderful mastery of the English language, to hilarious effect. This book has classics such as "Ugly for Hire", "The Cowboy and His Date" and of course, "Croutons on a Cow Pie". Bax puts the cowboy life into lyrical, perfectly crafted snapshots for people to see the heart of the West and the people who live and work there. Get it, read it, love it.

Great book -- the kind that you like to sit in front of a fire and enjoy slowly... Baxter Black is tremendous -- first heard him on National Public Radio and didn't have a clue that he wrote Cowboy Poetry.. Note, if your'e a real cowboy -- someone who's done Rodeo in the chutes (not spectating), ranched, roped then you'll REALLY enjoy the book cause the humor is sharp and dead on target... Good poems about Roping, hiring onto an outfit, you-name-it... Black calls himself a "cattle feeder" and a 'sorry team roper' -- if you know what either of these mean, then do yourself a favor an order the book now... My favorite is the $35 rope poem about team roping -- how you get started with a $35 rope and end up spending $15,000 on your 'team roping' hobby...

If I am correct, L. Barkkarie is Lynn Barkkarie, and if i'm not mistaken she is from Eugene,Ore. I have a pencil drawing by L.Barkkarie i procured in 1990. It is one of 20 artist proofs(if my memory serves me)and the only one with a bit of color contrasting the shades of grey from pencil. It's of an appaloosa with feather and trade cloth.

I loved the first version of this book, "Don't Squat With Yer Spurs On". This book is as fresh as the first book, with the funny one-liners from a cowboy's point of view. This book outshines the first version in the visual department. The cover and illustrations are wonderful! The illustrations are the icing on the cake of quotes, directly related to each quip by an artist I suspect has a sense of humor equal to that of the author.

The author wrote this book like an adventure story. There was a boy named Ty who lived in a town where everyone had moved away except his family. His friends came to visit and brought along their grandfather's diary. The author used the diary to give clues on how to find gold in Gold Rock. The children had many adventures trying to find the treasure. The writer wrote about things that boys like me would enjoy. This made the book very interesting to me.

This was one of my favorite books from childhood. Clyde Robert Bulla writes great adventure stories. For years, my sister and I fantasized about looking for "gold in the cave" in our neighborhood....Truly an exciting, memorable tale.

The author peforms an admirable job of condensing 100 years of Western European socialist history into a readable narrative. He describes the conditions that led to the triumph and then the fall of socialist movements in Europe. The author fails in his attempts at refuting the intellectual attacks on socialism levied by Mises, Hayek, and others, dismissing them as reactionary hacks rather than addressing the validity of their arguements. As socialism becomes even more untenable in a global economy, the author's work reads like an epitaph for a dead ideology advanced by a dying political movement.

Communism was an invention of Lenin. It was based on the notion of a small conspiratorial political party seizing power and achieving radical social transformation often flying in the face of popular will.

Socialism was an invention of the Bernstien, Bebel and others. It involved the achievement of a democratic franchise, the use of trade unions to achieve worker rights and state intervention to achieve social equality. This book is a history of West European socialism in the twentieth century.

After the war socialism or the mixed economy was accepted by even conservative and centre parties. From the 1950's to the early 80's the doctrines of John Meynard Keynes and a belief that the state should intervene to iron out the problems of the free enterprise state dominated government.

From the 1970's to the 1990's things began to change. In retrospect the basis of the consensus over how to manage the economies in the 50's and 60's was not based on a successful economic doctrine but on a long boom. The oil crisis led to stagflation a phenomena thought impossible by Keynsians. By the late 1970's all governments began to jettison what had been central aspects of economic certainty. The fist to go was the governmental responsibility for demand management and the maintenance of full employment. By the end of the 1990's most governments had dismantled exchange controls and were allowing the free movement of capital in and out of their countries. Public utilities were being sold off and more and more traditional areas of government were being handled by contracting out.

This book is a history of the rise, decline and fall of socialism in Europe. The author appears to be a committed socialist but the book is dispassionate and objective. It contains thousands of facts and figures including voting trends, taxation rates and material on economic performance. It is a serious analytical analysis of a hundred years of practical pragmatic politics. As such it might lack the populist flair of some more stringent ideological tracts but is a fascinating account of real history.

It would seem that despite the current ascendancy of "Economic Rationalism" the old polices had positive outcomes. Most European countries have less poverty than the United States a country that has always been resistant to liberal ideas. Further European countries appear to have better working education and health systems. Further some of the core policies of Bernstien such as a free and open franchise and the importance of education have become firmly established by all segments of society.

This book will not doubt become a classic and should be read by all interested in either history or politics.

I was hoping there would be options for river floating. The book is mainly about open water canoeing and some small stretches of rivers that connect two lakes. But it is a National Park, so lots of land/river management is expected to protect the rivers and habitat. Don Nelson does an excellent job with his descriptions, day or extended trip itineraries and maps. However, the crowds and fees would make me think again about choosing Yellowstone as a canoe trip destination (only a personal decision). One more thing, there are grizzlies there if you didn't already know!

I have traveled extensively by canoe in the Yellowstone/Grand Teton area and was happy to finally see a book devoted to the often overlooked waters of this area. The author has particularly good information on Yellowstone Lake, which has a reputation for being a nasty bit of water with very unpredictable weather. Nelson explains the risks and rewards of traveling on these high altitude lakes. This book is a must read for anyone wishing to bring a canoe or kayak to Yellowstone or Grand Teton.

When I ordered this guide, I was expecting a format that was similar to the other Petersen bird guides. Unfortunately, this book is nowhere near as well organized. The plates are small, the artwork is not as good, and not all the species are illustrated. The text was also rather thin in life history information. If you are traveling to the Caribbean in winter and aren't up to speed on North American migratory singbirds, you will need to take an Eastern U.S. bird guide with you as well, as the numerous migrants that comprise the wintertime fauna are merely mentioned. I managed to identify most birds that I saw while using this guide, but it was a frustrating process.

Yea, The book could definently use some improvements, but overall the pictures did depict the birds pretty well. The only species illustrated {in color} are those endemic ONLY to the Carib islands. Any birds that are seen in the continental US are only given black and white drawings, and small descriptions. So a field guide and familiarity to eastern migratory birds are a plus! I am VERY dissapointed with the quality of the pages in the book. After a week in the Islands, mine looks worse than any of my regular guides! Bring a water-proof sleeve or something, because it's going to get wet! Not a bad book though, I had a lot of fun, and pretty much every bird you see tends to be a new species! Have fun!

Hard core 007 afficianados will notice a pile of 007 in-jokes that are scattered throught the latest Bond film, "Die Another Day". Among them: While in a Cuban office, Pierce Brosnan casually picks up a first edition of this book, which, as others have noted, is where Ian Fleming came up with 007's name. Better than available alternatives I suppose ("My name is Audobon - - John James Audobon..."

It's hard to look at these beautiful photographs and not read the captions, since the captions take up a whole page opposite the photo. I like both Don and Fred, think they're amusing fellows. I can't imagine why they didn't make the captions more entertaining or enlightening, instead of sophomoric or irrelevant. Who cares that Don went back to the truck for a pack of cigarettes while Fred took a photo? Does this enhance your enjoyment one iota? Bless the Wee One, this is a major disappointment. Almost but not quite worth it for the pictures, you won't want to leave this lying around on the coffee table when your in-laws or children are around. (Or anyone with an ounce of intelligence.) All the shilling in the world won't make this a memorable experience. Pick up another photographer's book and enjoy it more

Beautiful photography, lithography and (commentary?). A delight to pick-up and read and/or look at. Great insight to the background of the I-bros. This is really more than a "picture" book. The research done to enable the"boys" to snap the cameras is above and beyond the call of duty. Should be a 5 Star but need to know where the "tree" really is located, ie:page 25 and page 105, they are either twins in opposite states or cloned and cropped. Just would like to know. The book is still a "must".

Okay, so I bought it because I heard about it on the radio show and was sort of stumped for some birthday gifts. However, WOW! Fantastic photography makes me want to go back and visit an area I just left two months ago. Fans of photography, the southwest, natural beauty and "The I-Man" all have good reason to buy this book. You won't get tired of picking it up and looking at it over and over again (although the pictures obviously have better legs than the captions)