"Chasing Rickshaws" documents the long and colorful history of the rickshaw. From the early rickshaws to the more recent pedicabs, Wheeler remarks on the humble beginnings and changes surrounding this most common form of transportation. The surprising variations and ingenuity of the rickshaw designs combined with the hard work and hardship endured by the drivers or pullers makes for an interesting mixture of culture and history. The photos are vivid and portray more than an image of a somewhat outmoded vehicle, they show a unique insight into what makes this very common people-hauler, grocery-getter such an integral part of many countries daily routines. With rising interest in tourist pedicabs, this book is a must read for anyone about to embark on a rickshaw adventure.

As one who is devoted to seeing pedicabs everywhere, this book was a great inspiration. This study of pedicab businesses in many major Asian cities gives insights into the vital economic niche that this enterprise fills. Great reading for those interested in sustainable enterprises and economies.

I titled this book The Worth of a Man, which goes to the heart of my story, but the publishers changed it. It is a study of the power and beauty of conscience, and how two people transformed their lives by doing what they had to do to make themselves whole.

The hero, Truman Jackson, is a former bank robber who, with his wife Gracie, has lived an exemplary life for many years. And yet, they both know that their secret past keeps them from the happiness and peace they yearn for. So they decide to make their past known to the small frontier community which has embraced them, and begin the process of repaying everyone they can find who had suffered loss because of the robberies. The results are shocking. Far from welcoming the reformed pair, most of the citizens shun and condemn them, and suddenly Truman and Gracie's lives are torn apart.

The book explores goodness and evil, forgiveness and hardness of heart. It is also about how the vision and courage of one sterling man and one sterling woman can transform the world.

Some might say I shouldn't be allowed to write this review, because Dick Wheeler is a friend of mine. We met through Western Writers of America, and if you consider WWA like one big family then I guess Dick is my brother. And I would be honored to call him brother.

I love Westerns. I grew up on Louis L'Amour and Luke Short, Elmer Kelton, Ernest Haycox, Zane Grey, Max Brand. Each of those authors has their place on the throne of Western writing history, though I consider Kelton to be the best of them.

But I would be literally sick to my stomach of a list of the best Western writers came out and it did not include Richard Wheeler. Not only is he a man among men, virtuous, kind, humble, and intelligent, but he writes a Western novel that no one can beat. I would love to have my own Westerns compared to his. I have had one novel rated number one selling Western in the country, and it puffed me up until I read Dick Wheeler. Talk about a humbling experience!

Now, finally to this book, Restitution. What a wonderful, beautiful work of art! Dick Wheeler is a master. Not once was there a gun shot, not once did two (or three or ten) men face down in the street and shoot it out. Not once did an Indian arrow find some man's heart, and not once was an Indian village raided and destroyed.

Yet I was on the edge of my seat almost from the first. Wheeler masterfully created this book with no violence and no sex and no cursing and made you feel like it was real and like you were there and like the whole world depended on what happend to Truman. I would not have believed someone could pull off this feat. The publisher deserves praise for publishing it, and criticism for not letting Wheeler continue writing books like it. The West wasn't THAT violent of a place. Let's let someone like Wheeler tell a suspenseful, tense story, without the bloodshed and foul language for once.

Bravo, Richard! You're the best.

Richard Paul Evans is a gifted and talented author of inspirational and insightful tales. This book fulfills those goals. This is a story of two people in need of trust, faith, hope and love. A man who has lost so much in his life discovers a young woman who never had much to loose. Hunter is a preacher turned gambler. He has turned his back on God due to the death of his wife and child. Hunter is accused of a murder that he didn't commit. Quaye is a young girl from a starving Irish family, whose father "sold" her to a man, Jack, on his way to America. The husband turns out to be an extremely abusive man interested only in gold and money. Quaye accepts her life as the only possibility, no matter how horrible. hunter and Quaye are thrown together in a blizzard. They learn and discover things about themselves when viewed through the others eyes. The story was well written. The details of place and time were wonderful. The only disappointment was... this was the first novel of Richard Paul Evans that did not move me tears with it's lessons on life.

I have read every one of Mr. Evans' books, and find that he only gets better! The Looking Glass, as well as The Locket and the Christmas Box trilogy have helped me to heal differences between myself and my children and mother. I know that each book will require at least 3 hankies or 1 box of tissues, but that is okay, because tears heal. I believe that part of the message he is trying to send is that "it is okay to cry", and cry I do, when I read his books.

This is the first book I have read by Richard Paul Evans and can not wait to get my hands on his other books. You can feel deep down in your heart the agony and then love between Quaye and Hunter as described by R.P.Evans. I would love to see this come out as a movie and plan on buying the audio version of this book!

Montana. Rancher with alcoholic wife. Environmentalists. Wolves.
Billionaire with a dream to turn replace failing ranches
with a vast buffalo-covered prairie.

All the ingredients for a great and stirring novel, right? Maybe
so, but Richard Wheeler's _The Buffalo Commons_ isn't it.

I really *wanted* to like it, honest. Unfortunately, there's
something to dislike on almost every page.

The title is stolen from a real-life proposal by Professors Frank and
Deborah Popper. But if you hoped to learn something about that proposal,
you won't find much here: the Poppers aren't even mentioned once.

Instead you find insipid characters that are given to saying things
like "Alcoholism is a demon each person fights alone, even when there
are friends and counselors around" and "It's an instinct I have that
leaps beyond my very limited powers of thought."

The portrayal of native Americans borders on racism, with the main
Indian character described as having "some primordial way of
recognizing other peoples".

But the worst aspect of the book is its nasty slant on the Buffalo
Commons controversy. It's so one-sided it could have come directly out
of a Rush Limbaugh radio program. In Wheeler's portrayal, the
ranchers are all noble and long-suffering, while the environmentalists
are all evil, soulless hypocrites --- even more so if they happen to
work for the government. We learn that the Environmental Protection
Agency has a "penchant for abusing citizens" (p. 193) and "the
protection of civil rights of citizens" is of little concern to Greens
(p. 302). Wheeler's kindly old Professor Kazin says things like "The
very concept of wilderness touted by the Sierra Club and the Greens is
essentially racist" (p. 29) and "The government's bought most of the
university environmental sciences departments in the country".
Vegetarians by their very nature are suspect; one character is only
redeemed when he "[takes] beef into his mouth"!

The author hasn't done his homework very carefully, either. He
mistakenly calls the Wood Bison or wood buffalo (Bison bison
athabascae) the "woods buffalo", and he gets the name of Canada's Wood
Buffalo National Park wrong. The decline in the Wood Bison population
in the park isn't, as claimed by one character in the book, "all
because of wolf depredation". As Mark Bradley, the conservation
biologist for the Park told me, the decline isn't fully understood,
but is certainly due to many factors, including the cessation of winter
feeding.

The lowest point in the book was when one of the characters buys "a
Skye's West novel, and thus spent the day amiably." Guess who the
author of the "Skye's West" series is? That's right, Richard Wheeler.
This self-congratulatory ploy is par for the course.

If you're interested in the Buffalo Commons proposal, avoid this
cynical propaganda exercise, and pick up a copy of Anne Matthews'
splendid nonfiction book, _Where the Buffalo Roam_, instead.

What can I add to the praise from readers and professional reviewers? Mostly that I was surprised that this story could be so gripping when there is almost no violence, no profanity or uncouthness, just lots of drama. These are real people, undergoing changes that could be happening today. The last time I encountered a book that read like non-fiction but had the kick of a good story was "House" by Tracy Kidder. Most slick novels will roll out of your consciousness like yesterday's newspaper, but the effects of this one will stay with me for a long time to come.

Oh yes, if you've ever been to Montana, this book will greet you like an old friend. If you've never been there, you'll find out why you should go--now.

As a homesick former Montanan, I loved this book. Wheeler does such a great job of an even-handed presentation of the pros and cons of ranchers versus restorers. I sort of resented the "feds' being cast as the villains, since I know many of them and they are sincere, caring people who want the best for the land and its inhabitants, but I am also aware that the individuals who work for the agencies are often the victims themselves of political agendas. Kind of an old-fashioned novel--heros were flawed, but good-villains were BAD--made it fun to read.Wheeler obviously had done his homework--lots of fascinating information presented in a readable, entertaining manner. Well worth the read,

It is definitely a good overview, but I think it's understandable why you might wind up wishing you'd bought the individual countries instead. My previous experience with Lonely Planet publications has been excellent; therefore, I may have set my expectations a little too high. There were a lot of major cities of interest and note missing from the France section and corresponding maps. This book is best for anyone who tries the "21 countries in 30 days or less" style of travelling. Personally, I depend on the Lonely Planet guides to help me stay a little off the beaten track at a leisurely pace and within my budget. I certainly credit their Costa Rica guide with keeping me safe, well-fed, and satisfied for a month! Do note, that I've come across accomodations listed which are no longer in existence or closed for longterm renovations, so phone ahead!

Lonely Planet is definitely the guidebook to beat, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it ahead of the others.

However, buyers should be aware of a few problems. The first is the popularity of the Lonely Planet guides...since they're so popular, following the guides too closely steers you entirely to the same well-recommended hostels, restaurants, and so forth, that every other LP reader goes to. These institutions start specifically aiming themselves at the LP crowd. Definitely loses some of the cultural experience, and well-reviewed hostels are something like an American/Australian frat party. I'd view the Lonely Planet guide as a necessary evil. It's very convenient, but their recommendations are self-defeating, especially in the more heavily-touristed areas.

Secondly, most people visiting Europe seem to be doing massive every-big-city-in-three-week tours. This guide is suited for that, but for those spending more time in the indivisual countries, definitely buy the single-country guide.

The Lonely Planet guide book series is by far the best set of books I have found for travel. Let's Go, Rough Guide, Frommer's, etc do not live up to these books. LP offers a great blend of interesting facts (history, etc) with the travel information that we all really want.

I am a student who spent the summer of 1999 traveling through Europe - poor, but free. I did read a number of other books before and durring the trip, and will always buy Lonely Planet as they have impressed me as being the best, hands down. If you want to go on a drunken tour, buy Let's Go and end up in the same run down American hostels and American bars as the rest of the American students, but take my word, you will have enough ability to do that with LP, but you will not be forced to either. LP will help you to actually experience the culture, and take in a more European version of Europe than Let's Go, and still give you the opportunity to party like a rock star when you want - its up to you.

It is the most complete and most versitile book I have found. It will cater to budget and intermediate travelers of all ages and groups. I will buy the same series even when I can afford nice resturants and hotels, because LP tells it all.

The same experience is true for my trip this last spring to Ireland. Lonely Planet Ireland is as good as Western Europe, but more detailed.

Richard Bach has written some wonderful books. I highly recommend Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Illusions for the soul-seekers among us, The Bridge Across Forever for the romantics, and his earlier autobiographies for those of us who have always wanted to fly.

But this time he's gone overboard. I've tried a few times to get through Running From Safety, but I've never made it all the way through. In this quasi-autobiographical book, Richard Bach sets up all sorts of straw-man 'learning experiences' to show how he's learning to let go of the complications and the rationalizations of an adult mind and be true to the hopes and dreams he had as a young boy. The message is good enough, but he goes about it heavy-handedly, setting himself up repeatedly then taking himself down with the morals he's trying to get across. The result is that he doesn't portray himself realistically, and he certainly doesn't come across as the same person who the Illusions / Bridge Across Forever / One trilogy set himself up to be. This new Richard Bach is less graceful and more sappy.

But the real problem, the reason why I actively recommend against this book, is that the author's own life invalidates it. The principal message of the book is to stop being a dull, boring, un-fun adult rationalizing away all your hopes, and to remain true to what you once dreamed as a child, right? Well, The Bridge Across Forever beautifully showed Richard Bach's hopes for someday finding his soulmate, his 'other half,' without whom he's just not whole... but recent rumors, confirmed by a story on Bach's web site, are that he has divorced his soulmate because his hobbies and his career were more important to him than she was. It's very hard to accept that the person who would do that is the same person who wrote this book.

Don't get me wrong -- I don't fault the man for making choices in his own life, but I feel that Richard Bach has in recent years gone from being a brave and unusual thinker to becoming a New Age mystic, and in doing so, he's lost touch with at least this reader.

I think this is Richard Bach's best book. The book makes you realize a lot many things which we usually bury deep inside us. The conversations between Dickie and Richard are too fantastic! The way Richard explians him the fundamentals of life is very simple and at the same time very profound.Moreover, the concept used by the author is very innovative and wonderful.The book really helps the reader to explore his inner self. I have loved every line of the book and would like to thank Richard Bach for such a lovely creation.

This title suggests quite a boring novel on some physical plane, but it takes you on a journey way back to your childhood, makes you face upto your fears, brings the innocence & joy back into stale middle age & helps you to set free a mind & a joy that has remained trapped for many years. The author,Richard Bach, is a particular favourite of mine as all of his novels are intrinsicly spiritual put into such an acceptable & easily understood fashion that even the hardest of hardened sceptics will be left crying for it to be true. Such convincing dialogue leaves us believing that not only is this story actually relating a real experience, but that this type of wonderful experience is available to us all, whatever our place in the vast spectrum of humanity. Running from safety has to be the most objective & awe inspiring book available on the subject of " connecting" with your inner child & I would heartily recommend it to anyone wishing to understand themselves on a deeper level.

Wheeler assumes Masterson's identity and writes a first-person account of a 1919 trip the old lawman, gambler and businessman might have taken out west to make sense of his life and legend.
The author seems to care very much about getting historical details right, which is important to me as I like to learn something about history when I read historical novels.
Masterson was, by 1919, a newspaper columnist living in New York City with his wife Emma. Wheeler has Masterson uneasy about the dichotomy between his legend and his real life and sends him back into the American West to reach some conclusion about how he would like to be remembered.
It's a fact-filled odyssey that takes Masterson to Dodge City, Trinidad, Los Angeles, Leadville and Denver (among other places). Along the way he reminisces about his life in the West, talks to Wyatt Earp, gets a bit part in a William S. Hart movie, discovers the result of a forgotten act of kindness in Denver and formally marries Emma (a rite they had somehow neglected oh those many years).
There's a touching scene when he visites the grave of Doc Holliday and hears that the long-dead dentist's widow has been paying to have flowers put on the grave every week for years. "God bless you, Big Nose Kate," he says to no one.
It's a masterful book, no pun intended, and I'm glad I read it. But it suffers from lack of a plot, which is why I'm giving it just three stars. I won't fault the author for that, however, as the whole premise mitigates against the use of a plot in the meaning that the term is generally accepted to have.
"Masterson" does exactly what historical fiction is supposed to do. It entertains and instructs simultaneously. I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in the reality of the American West but has trouble digesting non-fiction history books.

As far as Western's go this book by Richard Wheeler is not half bad. His historical fiction of Bat Masterson is for the most part a well written book. The only exception is his treatment of Wyatt Earp. It was the one low spot in an other wise fine book about a true Western Lawman "Bat" Masterson.

Richard Wheeler does creditable research on his main subject Masteson in the waining days of his life as a New York Reporter. He peoples his novel with very real people such as Louella Parsons. I found his charaters were fleshed out rather well for the most part, but found his charicature of Wyatt Earp who was very much a real friend of Bat Masterson less than honest. Wyatt was far better educated than portrayed. That aside, enjoy the book.

It's a rare treat to walk through an actual person's mind in such a convincing book as "Masterson". I only knew of Bat Masterson as the foppish crime-solver from the TV series, and this Masterson is a much more human and plausible man. This is a Western hero I could believe in. It's a grand, sad journey he and his lady take in this book. His life, "past" and "present", and the historic settings through which he travels were obviously well researched. Are there any missteps here? Only Bat could tell us. I think it happened just as Wheeler says.

The use of actual witness accounts is an interesting technique but it creates a read which is not vey focused. Each witness, telling their own part of the grand story, takes it in their own direction. The result is a lot of tangents that make it difficult to focus on the details of the battle. This should be the fourth or fifth book on Gettysburg you read, not the first.

This book offers an interesting account of the Battle of Gettysburg as seen through the eyes of participants, both North & South, and civilian witnesses like towns folk and such. Not a detailed account of the battle but certianly a very easy to read and enjoyable (if you can say such about a terrible battle) story about this period of history. The use of first person accounts/recollections fits in with the historical narrative of the author which makes this book a pleasure to read.

So I was in the 2nd book of Shelby Foote's 3 book narrative history of the Civil War when the battle of Gettysburg occurred. As happens with so many readers I became fascinated with the topic and had to temporarily postpone further reading of Shelby Foote's trilogy to drill-down into the battle of Gettysburg.

For me this drill-down into Gettysburg amounted to reading a biography of Joshua Chamberlain of 20th Maine and Little Round Top fame and this book on the Civil War. This book provides excellent elaboration of this topic. It is filled with 1st hand quotations of a wide variety of people from generals, to privates, to cavalry, to citizens. The book provides balanced coverage of both Union and Confederate sides. And the book does a decent job of placing the battle in context of the larger war, although of course not nearly a deep and extensive lead-in as provided by Shelby Foote. I enjoyed this book. If I was reading just one book about the Civil War, this book is of course too narrow in scope. But if one is reading many books on the topic, then this book provides excellent detail and insight into one of the most important and interesting battles of the Civil War.

This is a narrative account of the 1864 campaigning in Virginia from the Wilderness to the Crater. It's almost completely made up of quotes from primary sources, which means of course that it reads well. I was a little disturbed to see that the quotes are not footnoted, although there is a bibliography. Wheeler offers very little analysis of his own, which makes the book less useful. However, it is still a far superior book to his Gettysburg: Campaign of Endless Echoes and was a pleasant surprise in that respect. I have only one severe criticism, which is that Wheeler occasionally interposes his own comments into quotes with brackets: not only is that format distracting, but on at least one occasion his comment seems erroneous. Still, this is a pretty decent book.

I picked up this book and I was like, whoa man, totally radical. It's a great winter read! That Lee dude, he was, like, so totally bodacious. And Hancock, totally. And that one dude with the elephant and the wierd arms, man, I was like, totally. And, aaaahhhhhhhhhhh, yeah man! Anyways, so I says to Mabel I says, whoa dude, what a totally jawsome sivil war experience. This book kicks serious derrier, man. Whoa!

Intriguing tale of travelers on the Bozeman trail in 1869 who are thrown by their own needs to reach white settlements. Hannah headed back East to spend the gentile life her wit has made in real estate in Virginia City, Mt, Linc, 12-yr old whose parents were killed by the Souix, ane Wiley Smart, a "used horse" salesman, are taken under the wing of the less-than-friendly Absarkees. The gradual transformation of Linc and Hannah under the protection of the Indians and the blaggardy of Wiley make for an exciting and informative tale.