This is a terrific book--fascinating, charming, insightful--about a chapter in American history most people know little about. We're wasting time and money on bad Pearl Harbor movies, but this is a story that begs to be filmed. It has everything.

My third day in San Francisco, I left the National Trust Guide to San Francisco in my room. It is not the architectural guide book I expected it to be. Dry and talky, the book is long on background and short on facts about individual buildings. Dozens of intriguing buildings are omitted and there is almost nothing about engineering. Peter Wiley's book may be a decent introduction to the city, but reading it did not heighten my anticipation before flying west, or strengthen my appreciation after arriving.

The weaknesses of this guide stand in contrast to the strengths of the AIA guides to major cities. These architect-written guides are exhaustive. The Boston, Chicago and New York books in particular make excellent travel guides as well as desk references. They mix building descriptions with history, and delightful nuggets of information that deepen your appreciation of the place and its builders. There's nothing dry about these books. When it comes to criticism, the editors can be delightfully bitchy.

Between politics and earthquakes, San Francisco is not an easy place to build. But SF AIA members, please find the time to draft a guide your craft and your city deserve. One that is worth schlepping up and down the hills.

This thorough history of San Francisco combined with several walking tours makes the past palpable to those here today. His vivid descriptions of San Francisco from the frontier days to the present significantly illuminate the many walking tours through the city. I have recommended the book to others curious about why this city has its unique look and feel.

Peter Wiley takes the reader on a great tour of San Francisco. A perfect gift for a friends who's visiting or those of us who live here in San Francisco. I found a number of hidden treasures that I honestly didn't know about before reading this book.

I picked up this book at my library because I am interested in the history of public libraries in the United States. This book offers a general history of libraries, from ancient cultures up through the origins of American public libraries. I found this book is very informative and I think the editors did a very good job on compiling the photos and illustrations. I like this book. However I found there is a mistake on Page 40. On this page there is an illustration about papermaking in Far East in the ancient time. The caption indicates that it is an illustration of early Chinese papermaking. Unfortunatle it is completely wrong. The characters/languages in the illustration are NOT wriiten in Chinese, but in Japanese. Also the clothing of the man in the illustration apparently is not in Chinese style--he is wearing a men's style kimono. I am not very disappointed when I notice the mistake. I believe that one incorrect illustration won't degrade the value of the book. And, I really enjoy this book. It is not only a "coffee-table" book, but also a very good reference book!