This book really shows the majesty of the Grand Teton area. When I view the pictures in the book it takes me back to the week that we spent in this georgeous area of America. The book is a great souvenir of our trip. If you can't visit this area of the country then the book will give you a great idea of what it is really like.

Fortunately for us, the creators of 'RCMP: The March West' have captured the magic and historical significance of the RCMP and a country now called Canada.

A fine contribution to Canadian history.

Lynn-Philip Hodgson, author of 'Inside - Camp X'. lhodgson@idirect.com

This book was very interesting and well written, the pictures are good but limited in size and number. The overall book is good but I have read better, this one is good, but I need more than this book to take me to Cuba for a visit, so there are other books beside this one, but this one is very good on some categories

Every year more and more Americans are visiting Cuba for family, tourist, business, and humanitarian purposes. Fodor's Exploring Cuba is an ideal guide to this island nation and offers a wealth of practical, up-to-date, reliable information on what to see, where to stay, where to eat, and all the basics of getting there, getting around, when to go, and what to pack. Concise, wonderfully illustrated throughout, completely "user friendly", Fodor's Exploring Cuba is an essential, highly recommended tour guide for anyone planning a trip to Cuba.

Fodor's has done a wonderful job with Cuba. In particular, the author, Mawer, is a terrific writer and his lucid, precise language is a treat after reading the much touted "Cuba Handbook," which I found far too wordy and unorganized. While others say that "Cuba Handbook" has an essential guide to Cuban politics and history, I say that Mawer does the same thing but with prose that is far more readable and intriguing. His opinion of the politics is very much what I experienced -- a mixture of both good and the bad. I agree with all of his recommendations and touts. While I visited more attractions than he describes in the book, I concur with Mawer's decisions on what is worthwile (i.e., many of the attractions that I read about in other books and visited were not worth my attention).

Once upon a time, people who wished to identify and learn about birds found few books from which to choose. Today, however, there are many, and the competition between them for birders' purchasing dollars is keen. I tend to buy just about any book that bills itself as a "guide to the birds of North America," however, so I recently picked up Fred J. Alsop III's new Smithsonian Handbook. There is much to appreciate and enjoy here, and I can recommend the book as a welcome supplement to anyone's basic bird guide collection (especially people living the western states). However, by itself it is adequate neither as a guide to bird identification nor as a supplemental source of information about bird habits and natural history.

This book is long (752 pages) and definitely hefty. No one but a true masochist would consider carrying it into the field. Consequently, in terms of helping with bird identification, this guide at best can serve as a supplement to other current field guides. In this capacity, the book will indeed be useful with respect to many birds. Each full-page treatment of a species includes lots of useful information, including key field marks, range, vocalizations, distinctive behavioral habits, nesting habits, and even flight patterns.

The key to whether or not this works for particular types of birds lies in Alsop's approach to bird illustration. Here, he relies mainly upon high-quality photographs. For most birds, particularly songbirds, this works adequately. However, as is just about always the case with bird guides illustrated with photos, the results are uneven. Some of the photos are spectacular, but a few are so-so. What's more important, however, is that Alsop's reliance upon a single large photo for each bird precludes adequate illustration of species for which inclusion of more than one picture is essential. This mainly includes species for which flight patterns are important, including gulls, terns, pelagics, hawks, shorebirds, waterfowl, swifts and swallows, and nightjars. This adds up to a lot of species.

Traditional field guides also provide additional illustrations to show immature or fall plumages. Alsop does try to include additional illustrations for some of these plumages, but these extra drawings mostly are so tiny as to be virtually useless. For some species, at least, he would have done better to limit some of the verbal information to accommodate more space for these additional illustrations.

One of the strengths of the book is Alsop's obvious commitment to providing the reader with information pertaining to each bird's behavior, nesting habits, and population/conservation. Because the author is combining this effort with identification material, however, the book doesn't measure up to certain others in terms of being a complete "natural history guide."

To his credit, Alsop includes some extra materials that are welcome and well-done. There is a section on extinct species (including the Ivory-billed woodpecker, which apparently may not be extinct after all), and also some "how to's" on birding as a pastime.

Overall, however, I can recommend this book mainly to people who really enjoy owning lots of bird books. A good strategy for birders generally is to purchase one (or more) good field guides for identification purposes, and then to supplement these with another good book that provides natural historical information. This volume certainly has its uses and contains lots of excellent information, but in trying to be both identification guide and natural history guide, it doesn't truly succeed in either function.

While looking for a gift for an elderly relative who likes to watch birds but is not an avid birder, I happened upon this gorgeous book and was so impressed with it.

It is beautifully organized and illustrated. Birds are described by song, breeding habits, nesting, behavior, migration, population, flight pattern, conservation, as well as by the more obvious characteristics used for identification such as size, head, plummage, tail, markings, trill, and behavior.

Each page is laid out so nicely and with great clarity, and has space for notes on where and when the bird was sighted.

The silhouettes of the birds in flight was an interesting addition to the identification process.

The author(s) also included the variations within each species (variations due to sex, juvenile status, seasonal characteristics, and genetic differences).

One section contained the anatomy of a bird and another the orthinological terms, illustrated. Both were most interesting and added to making birds easier to identify.

This is a wonderful book; each page has a single bird on it with all related information to the bird i.e. migrations (map showing in color what time of year the bird is found where), feeders, identifacation with clear pictures, song of the bird, behavior, breeding, nesting, population, conservation, size, wingspan, family, species, nest identification tips and chart, and habitat locations. In my opinion this book would be classified as a "must have" for a lover of birds and especially for a novice just getting into birds it is a excellent identification tool.

This was one of those rare instances when I felt that the film worked better than the book on which it was based. Maybe this was because John Wayne was, in a sense, acting out his own life. Somehow, though, the characters were more convincing in the film and worked together better. Oh, and the book was surprisingly light. I sat down with it, expecting a good read, and was finished in a couple of hours. Not that it was bad - but it should have been a lot better.

If you think about it, its hard to make a western very intriguing and original, but some authors have an awesome way of putting words together for the enjoyment of the reader. The story itself is good but not extraordinary, but the way its put together and that characterization is what makes it special. It is a very good book !!

I would put this book up there with "Lonesome Dove" and "The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales" as one of the best westerns I've ever read. I have owned several copies of this book since I was in high school (1977) and have always enjoyed reading it. The book has a sad air to it, considering the circumstances of its hero, J.B. Books. I have almost come to tears several times while reading it, when I put myself in Books' shoes.

Some of the best lines in Western fiction are in this book:

"..I would not die a death such as I have described." "No?" "I would not. Not if I had your courage. I would not. And especially your skill with weapons." (conversation between Dr. Hostetler and J.B. Books)

"Day after tomorrow," he said. "When you see me then, in my Sunday duds, there will be no tears." (J.B. Books to Bond Rogers)

To overuse a cliche, if you read one western, "The Shootist" should be it.

I've traveled throughout Baja the last 2 years and found the book is very out of date. Many of the campgrounds mentioned have closed and some of the sites are no longer suitable for camping, for others, the nature/quality of site has changed. This can be a big problem if you've traveled to some out-of-the-way location expecting a certain level of accommodation and find it less than sub-par. HOWEVER, being a person who normally avoids the 'organized, Americanized' campgrounds the book is very useful and it is book worth having.

This book was purchased while i was in baja. I traveled with walt petersons adventure book, but it lacked the info i was looking for, and this book did a great job of filling in the blanks. Having only traveled to Baja once, and hitch hiked for three weeks, this was the book i was looking for. It is a cut to the chase book with good recommendation, and good reviews of the camps in baja...happy travels, i wouldn't leave to baja without this one again!!!

My kids find the Fandex format easy to use, and the information on them accessible. We have several, and they're fun for all of us to use together.

This Fandex is a little different than some others, as it's not a field guide or atlas, but rather a sort of timeline or chronology of a period of history in America. It begins with the causes of the war, describes secession, touches on significant events during the war, talks about the political issues behind the war, and has a number of pages featuring important persons as well as significant battles. I am not a Civil War scholar, so I cannot comment on the accuracy of the information presented. But I find this an interesting way to introduce the topic to my children.

The only quibble I have about these decks is that sometimes when they're completely fanned out, the edges of the illustrations get caught up in each other, making it hard to close them properly. But other than that, they're cute, informative, and a nice format for kids.

Mr. Basten is not known for his photographic expertise. Just look at one of his earlier books, Bruin Country, where the photographs are the worst I have ever seen in a book of pictures.

I'm sorry to be negative--I'm a big fan of some of Mr. Basten's other books--but this was a disappointment. I expected more (or at least some) text. Hardcover, but only 127 pages, and many of the photos are blown up so that their pixels or scanner artifacts show. The book's graphic style is "Annoying Fifties," which is appropriate, but the caption text is rendered in brush script. Another reviewer said that the first half was all about the early history of the first casinos--would that this were true.

There are lots of "mood" photos, and Charles Phoenix' collection of matchbooks and swizzle sticks are amply presented, but the text is filled with "mid-fifties" and "late 1940s." Call me obsessive, but I like a bit more precision in my history. The book starts with a mention of "Helldorado Day," a tradition that evolved into a four-day annual celebration. Wonder what time of year it occured or whether or not it is still occurring? Me, too.

So, if you'd like to see several dozen historical photos with reasonably good captions, here's your book. Keely Smith's introduction is entertaining. But as another reviewer mentioned, Alan Hess' Viva Las Vegas is better for a real history with actual, um, facts.

I've been to Vegas a dozen times, but the stores are always sold out of this fabulous book. So I was glad to get it here. It's a great, visual tour of old Las Vegas--the place my mom and dad used to go and bring me souvenirs. I like the pictures very much, as well as the artwork from the period, and the brief captions were enough to whet my appetite for more. I want to collect poker chips now! The fabulous shot of Elvis and Liberace, as well as the shots of Sinatra and Mae West are all unbelievable treasures. I don't know how these guys found all this stuff, but my hat is off to them. And actually reading Keely Smith's words after listening to her music for years was a great honor. I recommend this book whole heartedly

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)