From the 'opening' of the Adirondacks in the 18th Century to the present, Harvey Kaiser delivers a premier photographic history of the Great Camps of the Adirondacks. Exploring the architectural history from an owner's whinsey to the details of a porch railing, Kaiser guides the reader through a history of gorgeous excess and an age of bountiful richness that few knew. Camp Uncas (owner J.P. Morgan), Topridge (Marjorie Merriweather Post) and Nehasane (Dr. William Seward Webb) are just a few of the detailed highlights showcased in this volume. Many of the larger hotels and lesser known camps (and castles) are photographed and discussed here at length. This book is not just for the architect, builder or historian. It is a display of architectural beauty build into a unique and mysterious landscape. It is a history never to be repeated and never to be forgotten.

The discovery of this book made me set aside all the others on rustic architecture. The author does a marvelous job in explaining the beginnings of rustic architecture and why it has a permanent place in our culture. The mix of social background and the history of the early Adirondack camps with superb photographs provides a designers guidebook. The arguments for historic preservation are skillfully written and should be read by anyone in the field.

I'm giving this the best review - but, I admit, I am the son of one of the owners of a house mentioned in the book! The house is Kildare Club. However, I'm unbiast! (SORT OF)
Anyway, I think it is an interesting book that is certainly worth reading and it revealed alot to me that I hadn't discovered about the Great Camps of the Adirondacks. (NOTE HOW I CLEVERLY INSERTED THE TITLE IN ORDER TO DELIVER A SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE. HEHE!

Wish I had this book several years ago to help me plan the prototype layout and what engines to acquire. Highly recommend this book for NYC fans.

The book is well done, and the photos are super.
My five year old can't put the book down. It really shows the NYC in a way that was never seen before, unless you worked for the railroad. If you love trains, you must add this book to your collection.

This is a great short history of the New York Central System. Chapters 1 to 4 deal with the makeup of the system and history. Chapter 5 deals with Grand Central Terminal and New York electrification. Chapter 6 is the steam locomotive fleet. Chapter 7 is the diesel locomotives. Chapter 8 is the electric locomotives. Chapters 9 & 10 are about the freight and passenger service. The pictures used in the book are great. The amount of information is remarkable. If I were to purchase only one book on the New York Central System, this would be the book.

York, Pennsylvania was a town of less than 3,000 when Congress made its home here in 1777 and 1778. The Articles of Confederation were adopted here and France backed the struggling nation with a big infusion of silver. But the story does not stop there. During the Civil War this town that straddles the Mason-Dixon Line became a hotbed on the Underground Railroad; as a primary industrial center, the Confederates raided the place in 1863...distracted by unexpected action just to the west--in a little town called Gettysburg!
The author tells a whirlwind story of York County's contribution to the agricultural, industrial and cultural spirit of America and the hundreds of crisp illustrations and color photographs make it a delightful addition to the library of anyone who loves American history.

This book is a delight for collectors of Americana.With over 350 photographs, it tells the story of how this frontier town became the seat of Congress and how it contributed to the American spirit through its production of food, clothing and rifles, to mention a few. It's the story of one of the earliest communities in William Penn's "Holy Experiment" and how that town became dominated by the "Pennsylvania Dutch (or German)" culture and then rose as a major leader in military, industrial and agricultural pursuits. It features a well thought-out index and a good bibliography--a must for libraries that want to fully tell the American story--and a good read for those who want a better feel for colonial, Civil War and World War days. Throw in York Barbells, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, York air conditioners and York Peppermint Patties and you have quite a smorgasbord of history. I recommend it for people doing genealogy throughout the eastern seaboard since this town's development affected all surrounding areas.

This 288 page book tells the story of an American community that served as the nation's capital from September 1777 to June 1778 and helps readers understand regional, Pennsylvania and American history through lively text and more than 350 photographs, some in full color. York County, Pennsylvania has served as breadbasket and arsenal for the United States throughout its long and colorful history. Here we are present when the Articles of Confederation are drafted, when the Confederates take over th e town on the eve of Gettysburg...and when the so-called York Plan helped the allies win the two World Wars. York's role in the Underground Railroad unfolds with amazing clarity and a famous witch murder, steeped in Pennsylvania Dutch "powwowing" traditions are recounted with candor and wit.
The amazing production of the community includes York Barbells, York Air Conditioners, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, artificial teeth, and enough snacks, both sweet and salted, to feed half the nation. Factory tours have become a mainstay of York tourism, and along the way, we visit one of the largest interstate fairs in existence, a really big Halloween Parade, a smorgasbord of antique dealers and the enchanting folklore of the "Pennsylvania Dutch" still very much alive in farmers markets, street fairs and church suppers, to mention a few venues. Of all the books I've seen on York, this is the most colorful and balanced...and also the newest one since it has been updated, revised and enlarged from a similar book which appeared i 1981.

I believe Gary Urbanowicz in his new book Badges of the Bravest set out to do one thing and accomplished another. Ostensibly the story of insignia, Gary succeeds in sharing what the insignia stands for: bravery, pride, the diversity of the people and institutions that all fire departments protect. Like a Freudian slip, where you say one thing but mean your mother, Gary's book
is more about 'the bravest' than 'the badges.' The respect and admiration and fascination with firefighters shows through. A job well done.

If you have the slightest interest in the history of the FDNY, this is the book for you. Yes, there are other good books on the FDNY, but the niche occupied by this book (i.e, badges) is unique. But, it would be a mistake to think the book deals only with badges. Rather, the book uses FDNY badges as the focal point for describing the development of the FDNY as we know it today. The writing is clear, details abound, and the photos are wonderful. In real life, I - like the author of this book - am a health care professional. However, I am a fire buff (originally from Brooklyn, NY), a member of our local Citizens Fire Academy, and have been collecting a variety of fire department memorabilia, including FDNY badges, for some time. For the first time, I have a reference on my shelf that affords me the ability to more vividly appreciate the history, art, lore and romance of fire department antiques.

I have alot of first hand experince with this subject matter and can tell you that this book will give a reader the best idea of what working on the NYPD is like. I read the book in one sitting it was that good. I don't normaly read cop books, but I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in what they do. The author pulls no punches when he describes the job and he lays out the nature of the beast in an unheroic and truthful manner. The book is the best education a person can get on being a NYC cop without actually having to wear the uniform. Joe Poss and Henry Schlesinger have really put together an exceptional book. Well done! A review from one of the finest.

The best non-fiction book about police work!

My Granddaughter received this book for Christmas two years ago when she was two. She still enjoys hearing the stories about Budgie. It is a throughly enjoyable book for children. The video is great too. Wish there were more of them.

Budgie: The Little Helicopter is wonderfully illustrated and catches the child's eye with all it's bright colors. The story is intriguing and my two children, 5 & 6 at the time (now 7 & 8) were totally absorbed by it. My son slept with the book for weeks.

This walking tour has so much information that I never knew. It's nice and convenient and I've really enjoyed it a lot. I've seen books on Coney Island but none of them have as much information as this little walking tour.

This is the best description of Coney Island that I've ever seen. It's historical and yet current. The maps and information are so interesting and it has great pictures. The walking tour is very clearly described. I lived in Coney Island for years but I never really knew the history of it. I think it's a marvelous reference item for anyone. Obviously it was written by someone with a love and a lot of knowledge of Coney Island.

...so praised Lawrence Ferlinghetti of "I am Thinking of My Darling", adding "to read it is a little like having a 1940's New York City taxicab in your living room." Why this book hasn't become a popular classic is a mystery to me.

In his 1943 novel, McHugh draws a vivid portrait of sophisticated, urbane city unraveled by a mysterious disease. This epidemic attacks inhibitions: Friends, co-workers, even strangers drop spontaneously hug, celebrate, leave their jobs to pursue long-abandoned fantasies, and have guilt-free and always-safe sex. It's like "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" in reverse--instead of producing automatons, the intruder recovers your humanity, releases the repressed id, and generally induces a madcap euphoria.

So, what's the problem? If you're protagonist Jim Rowan (a minor planning commissioner soon to become Mayor after the latter runs off to a model train convention), the problems are potentially enormous--maybe the trains don't have to run on time, but they do have to run. As do the hospitals, police department, fire stations, transportations systems, and other essential human services. It also doesn't help when your spouse catches the virus and runs amok in the city.

Part of the genius here is McHugh's mixing of the silly and the sexy with the practical and scientific. There are intelligent discussions of psychiatry, epidemiology, city planning, and philosophy placed with discretion amidst the delirium. And, although it inhabits a particular American past, the book's slightly cautionary hedonism has an admirable egalitarian stance: Men and women share in the equal employment of desire.

This would have made a great movie, with the potential to rival the most intelligent of the screwball comedies. So as you read it, I suggest you imagine your own "movie," casting Jimmy Stewart or Fonda or Grant; Lauren Bacall or Eve Arden, Rosalind Russell or Jean Harlow. Set it in the New York of the Ritz, the Colony, and Sardi's, fill it with the sassy repartee of Bogart and Bacall--or Nick and Nora Charles-- and please, film it in sharp, shimmering black and white: Because they don't make books--or movies--like this anymore!

It's not a classic, it's not even well known enough to have a cult following, but Vincent McHugh's "I am Thinking of My Darling" is about as good a comedic novel as ever has been written. Few books achieve the same level of graceful humor that distinguishes the old Hollywood screwball films of the thirties and forties, but this is one of the few that does. A disease infects the population of New York city; it results in the complete loss of one's inhibitions. People go wild in the streets, doing whatever they want. Thousands leave their jobs and spouses; sexual sprees and non-stop partying are the norm. The novel follows the adventures of the hastily installed mayor, who must impose order to the chaos, even while catching the virus himself. He spends the novel trying to track down his wife, at the same time sexual obliging about half a dozen women, including his beautiful black maid (in a novel written in the forties!). McHugh crams his narrative with a wealth of quirky details, and manages to even sneak in some pathos. I read it with a continual smile on my face. Simply a great book.

Ignore the weak title; this is no I LOVE NEW YORK booster club travel guide. Written nearly half a century ago, this chronicle of the city's gutter life and gilded society will offer any new (or not so new) student to Gotham's history an informative and entertaining look back at what is arguably the most explosive 100 years in New York's history. This book deflates the charming gaslight and horse-and-buggy nostalgia that we associate with old New York but doesn't just dwell on the Plug-Ugliness of the slums either. What it does is give New York the contradictory and human voice the city's history deserves, and few books have done that since.

A book for anyone who has lived in, thought about or heard of New York. Wonderful details combine with solid prose to give the reader a real feel for New York as it grew up. Lots of pictures, too. I'll always think of Broadway and 14th Street as "Dead Man's Curve" now...

Leave it to Charlie to find even more Pennsylvania streams! He even includes notable waters in NJ and Ny. This book gives you the opportunity to fish streams that don't get the pressure of some of the more famous waters. The author's cover waters large and small. The book is a bargain, and at retail price equates to 39 cents per stream! Try to find a guide for that.

One of the most interesting books I've read. It has been great for someone that has "cabin fever" this winter. I read about a different stream every night before bedtime. Great reviews on Pocono, Manada, and McMichael Creeks! J. Edwards