Well researched yes! Boring - yes! What can be more frustrating than reading a book which is so obsessed with minor, irrelevant details as to render the readability an incredible chore. Surely there must be a better, more accessible and entertaining detailed account of the lives of Butch and Sundance than this!!!

Not so good for telling an interesting story in an interesting way. The author gives a tremendous amount of information on the life of Butch Cassidy, as well as on his sources for that information, and does an admirable job of admitting that we really don't know how that life ended; he gives a detailed account of the standard version of Butch & Sundance's deaths (shot in Bolivia) as well as detailed accounts of the various alleged sightings of Butch after that, and the pros and cons of those alleged sightings. He admits that he just isn't sure what the truth is, and leaves it at that. But if you expect a biography of as exciting a person as Butch Cassidy to be itself exciting, this book will be a disappointment; it is not told in a narrative style, but in the style of a researcher, and very little of the character of Butch comes through. It teaches facts, but does not really give much of a feel for the person it is about.

If you are interested in the life of Butch Cassidy, this is the book to buy. Patterson has successfully written an objective book trying to sort out the myths from the truth. He writes about all the different rumours and documented materials that exists, thus allowing you to draw your own conclusions. Intriguing as well as funny!

What a disappointment, and what amateur uninteresting photos from the author's porch in the Oakland Hills (I presume). All you need is a wide angle lens, a tripod and some 35mm film. Take a picture every week or so, vary the time of day and then publish a book. Ca ching! He must be a layed-off dot.commer.

Being born, raised and schooled in San Francisco, I feel cheated. Hopefully no tourists will see it. They may stay home.

I've lived in Marin County for about two years and still get excited going over the Golden Gate Bridge. I was thrilled to receive this book for Christmas and am in awe over the pictures. It's incredible to see photos of the varying weather patterns we get in the bay area and Misrach's time-lapse photos are incredible. What's even more amazing is that Misrach is lucky enough to have this phenominal view from his front porch!

I live on the ocean south of San Francisco(and I'm into photography), so I appreciate the ever-changing weather
and light in this wild region. I was fascinated by this book of
photos the author took from his front porch, especially
since I have taken photos of the sunset and weather formations
from my porch during the same time frame ('97-'00). Having
said that, I wouldn't recommend this for everyone. It's the
exact same view over and over, so if you live outside the Bay Area you'd be better off with a book showcasing a larger portion of the region. This tome is for fanatics of the Golden Gate,
and Bay Area photography.

From the title, one would think this a type of travel journal, a panorama of episodes along the way, a sequence of stations between the starting off point and the destination. Instead, the overall weight of the book is given to glaciers, their descriptions, their influence on the landscape, their geological record, the discovery of new glaciers, and other characteristics of these moving rivers of ice. While Muir offers descriptive powers unequaled among authors on nature, never repeating himself though constantly repeating his subject, the sheer repetition tends to bog the work down. Two whole pages might contribute to our view of a particular glacier, and suddenly Muir reports that he's finished a 200-mile leg of his journey on foot. He tells us when he's climbed a glacier, and along the way we've missed an entire week. Time and space almost have no medium in this publication, utterly lost when gazing upon a glacier. For nature lovers who will never go to Alaska, the descriptions in this book make the ranges and glaciers come alive in print, but as a dramatic journey, a travelogue, or a field manual for the Alaskan bush, this book forms only a vague shadow.

Nature is a beautiful and highly complicated phenomena of this world. Many have sought to understand it and capture its essence in writing. The nature writings of John Muir succeed in capturing the beauty of nature as well as the scientific aspect. I have to be honest, I wasn't that enthused about reading a book about science. I expected Muir's book to be identical to a science textbook, definitely not my idea of enjoyment. However, his book was actually full of detailed descriptions and creative uses of similes, metaphors, and analogies. In fact, it completely changed my perception of a scientific novel.

In his book, "Travels in Alaska", Muir brings alive the magnificence of the vast expanses of unexplored Alaskan territory. His prose reveals his enthusiasm for nature, and he weaves clear and distinct pictures through his words. Muir's writing is very personal. His favorable feelings toward the land are very apparent, and reading the book is like reading his diary or journal. He avoids using scientific jargon that would confuse and frustrate the average reader; his words are easily understood.

Muir also uses very detailed descriptions throughout "Travels in Alaska". Although at times his painstaking description is a plus, at others, he seems to take it a little too far. Numerous times throughout the book, Muir spent a paragraph or two talking about something slightly insignificant. He would go off on a tangent of enthusiasm for something as simple as a sunrise or the rain. While his careful observances make the book enjoyable, the sometimes excessive detail tends to detract from the point he was trying to make. The description also reveals that his heart and soul was in his research; this became very evident upon reading the long and thoughtful descriptions.

"Travels in Alaska" can be appreciated by a wide audience. Muir shines light upon the Alaskan territory, and he is detailed in his account of the many people he meets. Anyone could read the book and find enjoyment learning about Alaska when it was for the most part unsettled. Muir shares with the readers his keen insight upon the various Indian tribes that lived in Alaska. At one point in the book, he gives a very detailed description of one tribe's feasting and dancing. His observances capture exactly what he saw and the feelings these observances evoked in him.

John Muir's writing is of high quality. He incorporates beautiful and creative similes, metaphors, and analogies. His prose is very poetic, which makes it an enjoyable read. For example, Muir says that "when we contemplate the world as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty." His work is also very organized. The book is divided into 3 sections, or parts of his trip, as well as separate chapters devoted to specific subjects. Muir spends one chapter describing his trip to Puget Sound, another on Wrangell Island, etc. The book follows a specific format that ensures that everything is easily followed and understood.

Truthfully, I was impressed with the writing, and the fact that it was nothing like a textbook. It incorporated the literary aspect so well, that the book held my interest whereas a textbook would not have. I had the wrong impression of a scientific novel, and I urge anyone unfamiliar with the genre, to give "Travels in Alaska" a fair try. It may just change your mind about scientific writing.

I confess up front, it's been a few years since I read Muir's Travels in Alaska. Yet significant aspects I remember well. Given Muir's exuberance for life and almost everything he encounters in his travels, one almost looses view of Muir the botanist and geologist. But not quite. Here we find the author contemplating the activity of glaciers and documenting the flora of southeast Alaska. Muir (who tended strongly toward vegetarianism) gleefully entertaining himself by foiling duck hunters. Baffling the locals by happily wandering out into major storms.
The book is a journal of Muir's 1879, 1880, and 1890 trips (he wouldn't mind if we called them adventures) to SE Alaska's glaciers, rivers, and temperate rain forests. He died while preparing this volume for publication.
I remind myself, and anyone reading this, that Muir isn't for every reader. And, as other reviewers have stated, this may not be the volume in which to introduce oneself to the one-of-a-kind John Muir. One reviewer doesn't think that Muir is entirely credible in these accounts. I won't say whether or not this is wrong, but I tend to a different view. For some of us -- and certainly for Muir -- wilderness is a medicine, a spiritual tonic, so to speak. For the individual effected in this way, physical impediments and frailties rather dissolve away when he is alone in wildness. I once heard Graham Mackintosh (author of Into a Desert Place) speak of this. In all of his travels alone in the desert, he doesn't recall having ever been sick. This may not sound credible to some, but I strongly suspect it is true.
If you like Muir's writings, read this book. If you like the stuff of Best Sellers, perhaps you should look elsewhere.

The book is well-written in a lively, engrossing style, but... Oh, dear... I found several factual errors within the first 22 pages. This was the part of the story I knew and had researched, so knew there were mistakes in fact. When I came to the part I wanted to learn about the previous errors cast doubts over what I was then reading. Even if the rest of the story is flawlessly accurate, I couldn't trust it. Truly a pity as the book is, otherwise, very well done.

--since originally writing that, I've done more research on the subject and have gone back to the book... only to find more errors! Some are trivial (but would have been easy enough to get right) and some are significant.

What a great read! Frank James, outlaw, enters the office of the governor of Missouri and lays down his pistol. His trial was set in a opera house, since the courtroom could not accomodate the large crowd gathered. Fourteen flamboyant trial lawyers and colorful cast of witnesses head up the supporting cast. If you thought the OJ Simpson trial was interesting, check this book out!

I recently appeared on NBC's the "Today" show regarding my latest scholarly discovery of four new photographs of Jesse James, Cole Younger, Jim Younger and Belle Starr. I assisted Gerrard Petrone in writing, what I believe to be the finest book written about Frank James. The book is steeped in scholarly content and full of specific details that relate the true story of Frank James, not a 19th or 20th century reconstruction of the truth. Petrone's writing style and original newspaper source material from the period, make for exciting reading. The story of Frank James leaps off the page, so boldly, that one feels the excitement associated with reading a newspaper headline of the information for the first time. The story of the trial of Frank James and the resulting verdict speaks strongly about the era of reconstruction in Missouri. The war was over, however many still held strong feelings against the North. The trial brought out some of the South's finest generals and decorated survivors. The jury was in awe of the those called to testify and the courtroom presence of Frank James was very impressive. Petrone also includes true tales of the James Gang that are found in the testimony of many witnesses. These stories, which were told in court, were recorded, but have not seen the light of day for decades. The exciting story told by a teenage boy, hiding in a small post office, at night is a fine example. Clutching and aiming a loaded shotgun, he is anticipating being robbed by a shadowy figure on the other side of a glass door.....who is about to try the door knob. The frightened boy almost stopped Jesse James in his tracks and rewrote the history of the West. Astonishingly, he lives to tell the tale in court, to Frank James himself. I would reccomend the book to anyone interested in the authentic history of the American West or criminal law. I am sure that Petrone's book will become invaluable to any further research about Frank James: the man, the myth , the acquitted.

Unreadable! Unreadable! Unreadable! Unreadable

Well written and easy to "fall" in to. Sure everyone will find a character that reminds them of a loved Aunt, Uncle or Grandparent. Besides being a great murder mystery it also opens up your thinking on the aged - brings home the fact that old people are people too!

I thought this was a good murder mystery book to really relax to. The characters (Benny, Alice, Eleanor, Peter - to name a few) were well written and the dialogue and humor had me giggling out loud throughout the book. It had me cheering at the end. It was a delight to read and is a great book to bring along on a vacation or trip.

This book was assigned in my history course last semester. I wish it were more lively and that it made its points better.

(...)compared to many other college History texts, this one triumphs....)

I'll say this at least: It is no accident that the local university has stocked up on Greave's CIVILIZATIONS OF THE WEST. This is an outstanding volume in terms of breadth of information, coverage of social and cultural life, illustrations and organization of material. A distinguishing feature of the volume, adding to the aesthetically pleasing layout and quality of information, are inset boxes. With literary excerpts and writings from intellectuals and ordinary people of the times these boxes add vividness and immediacy to History studies, bringing one a little closer to people and events. Overall, this is an excellent book, to be used in conjunction with J.M.G ROBERTS, TRIUMPH OF THE WEST (or, HISTORY OF THE WORLD, by the same author, published by Penguin books).

This book is not for the beginner, in fact you wonder whom it's aimed towards. His Holiness The Dalai Lama did a wonderful job with this book and many of the things are well thought and well explained, but it's hard to understand. The book does not have a beginner's touch at all. I wouldn't recommend this one unless you have had some basic Dzogchen education. Again, who is this book aimed towards? beginner? or expert?

Recently His Holiness the Dalai Lama published highly edited transcripts of four empowerments he gave into the traditional Nyingma teaching of Dzogchen or Great Perfection. Both Dzogchen and Mahamudra represent important indigenous developments of Tantric teachings in Tibet. Like all wisdom traditions, Buddhism rests upon the transmission of heart-essence realization and dharma from one generation to the next. Dzogchen, literally "great perfection," is the primary teaching of the Nyingmapa school of Tibetan Buddhism, having been carried to Tibet in the eighth century by Padmasambhava, who is recognized as a "second Buddha." This actualization of what Dzogchen is is sent out through this collection of empowerments given from 1982-1989 by the 14th Dalai Lama. Sogyal Rinpoche (The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying) requested these teachings, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama obliged with emphasis on the 5th Dalai Lama's visionary receipt of Dzogchen teaching, which is summarized simply by the verse: "Ema! Phenomena are, without exception, Perfect within the continuum of self-arising rigpa." Ema is an expression of wonder and astonishment. Whereas rigpa is a technical term for root single awareness that illuminates all; whereas ordinary awareness is that but as refracted into various experiences of subject and object, so that the unity becomes a secret, except for those who are aware of the nature of the root awareness then everything is the root awareness. To attempt to understand enough so that one can cut through the veils of separations that is usually the habit mind. Of course the development of habitual indwelling in non-divisive bliss might be more fun than reading hundreds of books. But as the verse say there is no difference at the root or in the stem and branch or such preferences seeming important. Empowerments are a principle way the Tibetans are bringing Buddha dharma to the west. An empowerment is the oral recitation of the teaching with impromptu commentary for the audience. It is done with a ritual format so that there can be prayers, chants and other meditation aids going on but the most important aspect of the empowerment is that the teacher and his assistants as well as the whole audience is speaking at the time from within the nondual realization of what is being taught. In other words the Dalai Lama and his retinue are all within a state of actualization of the reality to which the teaching refers. As the audience is also so attuned the psychic contagion can be intense and experiences can quickly and deeply cut through the fog of our surface consciousness. Now this volume is likely to be popular among students of Buddhism, but, except for the Appendix: Compassion, the Heart of Enlightenment; the texts would confuse the novice. Because of this I recommend several other texts that provide more systematic accounts of the Dzogchen traditions and how they fit in with the wider traditions of Buddhist practice. The Golden Letters: The Three Statements of Garab Dorje, the First Teacher of Dzogchen, Together With a Commentary by Garab Dorje, edited and translated with a commentary by John Myrdhin Reynolds (Snow Lion Press) In many ways the best guide to Dzogchen teachings. Includes explanations that were previously thought too secret to publish. Mipham's Beacon of Certainty: Illuminating the View of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection by Mi-Pham-Rgya-Mtsho Nes Ses Rin Po Chei Sgron Me edited and translated with commentary by John W. Pettit (Wisdom Publications) offers the necessary links between Madhyamika and Dzogchen. And as a relatively easy introduction the The Crystal and the Way of Light: Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, edited by John Shane (Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy: Snow Lion Press) provides a useful introduction.

Richard Griswold Del Castillo's work is beneficial for a probing and well rounded study into the Mexican War and the Treaty that followed. This book has great content. Castillo knows the Treaty and the debates surrounding the Treaty inside and out. Also, he is able to inform the reader of unresolved issues still relevant today for a treaty that was signed over 150 years ago. Nevertheless, he is looking for a specific outcome for his analysis. Castillo condemns the United States for it's unfair treatment of Mexico and former Mexicans. However, much of his argument is based on Article X of the Treaty and the Protocol of Queretaro. Neither document was endorsed, nor supported, by the United States. He aknowledges that, yet still attacks the United States for not abiding by both of them. It's an angry look at the United States which portrays Mexico as an innocent victim in the conflict in 1846, and the United States as a selfish, evil empire forever after.

This useful book offers more than its title implies. Instead of being a dry legal analysis of a treaty, it offers a different way of looking at the history of Mexican-American relations. The author provides a compact review of events before, during, and after the Mexican-American war. In addition, the book provides a capsule review of attempts by Chicanos to seek the reversal of past injustices through the courts and by means of political action. The clearly written text is supplemented with five maps and four figures. Michael Michaud, Vienna, Austria

I haven't read this calculus text, but based on the quality of the last review (and in consideration of who the reviewer claims to be), I've got two words for ya: "STAY AWAY!"

We are currently using this text in a graduate course in Mathematics & Modeling. We are completing the first chapter in Modeling Change. Some of the definitions are vague. The examples are good; although, I would like to have seen more. Exercises are good--prehaps add more "warm-up" exercises. The sidebar items relating to the corresponding use of the TI-89 is good, but the cooresponding variables between this and the text is confusing to some degree.

This is a new calculus text that incorporates: - computer algebra (TI-89/92/92+), - cooperative learning, - group work, - reading mathematics, (I'm one of the author's so I'm biased.)

Having read the orginal version of Helldorado 20 years ago, anticipation of again reading this first hand account of Tombstone days quickly lead to disappoint due to the blatant revisions in this book. For example, the chapter about John Ringo has been completely omitted and substitutions based on author Jack Burrows's derogatory comments from the Gunfighter Who Never Was have been substituted. Orignal photographs have also been omitted. Since William Breakenridge was actually acquainted with the people and times he wrote about, why should a modern revisionist feel compelled to correct his original observations and opinions and thus distort history? If an author has a different viewpoint, then let him/her write their own version, not use the title of another's work.

If you would like to read about how the non Wyatt Earp supporters felt about "Tombstone" back then read this book.

The only truly first hand account of the vendetta between Earp and the Cowboys. Breakenridge is obviously sympathetic to the Cowboys therefore his work has constantly been belittled by the Earp worshippers. Of course what does he know? He was only there. The Earp Idolators can't stand that he has left a first hand account of what really happened. They'd rather see the events through the filter of Burns and Lake. But this book is the real deal. Read it and understand.