The primary accomplishment of this book is its 500+ page discussion of the Washington Cascades without mention of The Mountaineers club! The first 140 pages deal with indians, immigrant trails and the Hudson's Bay Company. Nothing new here, a lot of references to Winthrop's Canoe and Saddle and a discription of Ross' trip over Cascade Pass. The next seventy pages are about the first boundry survey fron 1857 - 1862. This is the guts of the book and it is really good - vintage Beckey. It's researched from original sources and well footnoted. The next sixty or seventy pages are basically about the railroads. These stories have been told before in more detai but the recounting is interesting with an attention to the geography that is usually overlooked. (Yakima Pass?) The third part of the book is a superficial presentation of mining in the Northwest, early mountaineering on the volcanoes and the beginnings of the forest service. None of these are done particularly well and none of them have enough detail to complement the first part of the book. This section does have a thirty page section on the USGS topographers and the second boundry survey in 1901 - 1908. It was during this era that many of the first ascents in the cascades were done but the discussion is brief and clearly omits the majority of what Beckey wrote about these efforts in the CAG series. Overall I have to say that I was disappointed. I understand that the Oregon Historical Society lacked the funds to publish and held it up for a long time but I started hearing about this book in the early '90s and saw a mock-up of it's cover at their booth at bookfest in about 1995. I got very excited reading the first part of the book but ended up feeling like Fred got tired about halfway through, or that he lost interest and just glossed over everything after the boundry survey. Read Woodhouse about mining. Read Molenar and Haines or Rusk on mountaineering. Read Beckey's own Challenge of the North Cascades and the introductions and footnotes in the Cascade Alpine Guide series. Read Bates Three Fingers to get a flavor of the early forest service era - and there are probably better sources for people interested in that topic (Even Beckey's CAG intros and notes have more information that this book does.) Read Tabor & Crowder Routes and Rocks about the geology. Read Roe and Praether about the railroads (again, also covered in CAG). Read Miles Kolma Kulshan about Mt. Baker. Finally, read Carlos Schwantes. His railroad discussion and his regional history are a lot better than Beckey's. But read Beckey about the boundry survey. There's nothing else like it.

This book has 120 plates of wildflowers and includes a paragraph for each one describing common as well as scientific names. It highlights regions and specific habitats where the flowers can be found. It is organized by plant families and includes space for readers to put their observations and sightings.

Alt and Hyndman provide an interesting summary of rock types encountered on a good variety of Northern CA highways. In plain language, they partially unravel the complicated, contorted geology of northern CA as seen through the roadcuts and park drives. This book's biggest deficiency, compared to others in the Roadside Geology series, is its failure to provide specific names and formation periods for many roadside rock layers mentioned, especially in the Sierras, Klamaths and Modoc Plateau. This info is a valuable time-saver for an amateur rockhound. For numerous excellent examples of the naming and dating I am talking about, read Roadside Geology of Texas by Darwin Spearing. Despite this important flaw (for the rockhound who catalogs his specimens), I recommend this book for anyone interested in geology who will be travelling across northern CA.

The supposedly 2001 edition is not updated to reflect the current recesion going on in California. The book starts buy saying "The California economy is booming..." Other than that it has lot of infomation- yellow pages style.

This has some good photographs of Scandinavian homes; particularly country homes in Norway and Finland. The styling of the homes is rather rustic so don't expect to see lots of examples of Danish and Finnish design from the 60's. I found the photography to be a little 'claustrophobic' and not really giving a good view of the whole room; too much focus on details.

The book is not bound very well and mine has started to separate from the cover after only a few readings. I'd only buy this if you are really interested in Scandinavian living.

Chepesiuk presents an overview for the general reader which is somewhat novel for focusing to a very great extent on the Scottish as well as Irish origins of the Ulster Scots who became known as the Scotch-Irish in North America. In fact, some two thirds of the book's text, 92 out of 146 pages, is dedicated to these origins. However, there is little new in Chespesiuk's version which cites without replacing in any way the standard accounts such as James Leyburn's THE SCOTCH-IRISH: A SOCIAL HISTORY and Wayland Dunaway's THE SCOTCH IRISH OF COLONIAL PENNSYLVANIA. Chespesiuk does not comment upon the origin and development of the often controversial term 'Scotch-Irish,' which is a very strange omission since the term is at the heart of any definition of who these people were or became in America. On the other hand, there is an entire chapter devoted to the Siege of Derry in 1689 which he argues to some effect is central to understanding the siege mentality and combativeness of the Ulster Scots or Scotch-Irish in both Ireland and the American colonies. Unfortunately, there are some historical errors and many minor mistakes which should have been corrected. For example, on page 11, Chespesiuk mentions that the Romans did not conquer Ireland as they had the British Isles when it is well established that they did not conquer Scotland though they did temporarily occupy parts of the Lowlands. They also did not penetrate parts of Cornwall, Wales, and Cumbria. On page 14, he states that Edward I of England removed the Stone of Scone, the fabled 'Stone of Destiny,' from Scotland in 1296 to London where it now remains. Since this book was published in 2000 he should have been aware the Stone was returned to Scotland in 1997. He mentions that except for some place names nothing of the Picts remains, which is incorrect because many of their carved standing stones still exist. On page 42, he refers to Aberdeen being in the north west of Scotland when it is, in fact, in the north east. On page 51, the Scottish Reformation is misdated as 1660 rather than 1560. On page 68, the first complete sentence lacks a word, probably 'died.' On page 99, he states that early Scotch-Irish migration to America began in 1780 when the date should be 1680. Finally, he spends considerable time mentioning the great impact of the 17th century English leader Oliver Cromwell in Ireland but makes no mention of his equally great impact in Scotland. In conclusion, this is a rather average addition to the bibliography of books on the Scotch-Irish. James Leyburn, who is mentioned above, remains the definitive historian of the Scotch-Irish.

In the Urban Crucible, Nash attempts to demonstrate that the American Revolution was a duel revolution against England and the traditional ruling classes. He shows how the economic effects of the boom and bust cycles following the various wars of the 18th century affected the colonies, specifically the port cities. The result of these increasingly disruptive economic cycles--especially after the French and Indian War--caused the colonists in the port cities to rebel against England and the American elites because of economic concerns. However, Nash offers very little evidence that socioeconomics was indeed the main motivation for revolution or that class warfare really existed.

Several Wilderness Press books were written by the author or his hunting buddies. The latter is the case with "Western Wings". So it goes without saying that is no classic of upland bird hunting, but rather a loosely organized collection of hunting tales and observations of your average Western bird hunter. Williams does do a good job of describing the behavioral patterns of birds throughout the days and the seasons, and dispels some common myths about prairie gamebirds (e.g. "huns always flush wild in the late season"). You get the impression he knows his bird dogs, although he does does not really delve into the subject. I do have to respect him for NOT including a chapter on pheasants---which he says he hunts "reluctantly". This book is really mostly his personal homage to the vast grasslands of the West, and the grouse, prairie chickens, and huns that make the Big Sky country a bird hunter's dream. It is neither great writing nor informative naturalism, but it's a pleasant book to crack open on a winter's night, when you want to reflect on seasons past.

I object to publishing firms to allow books like this to be circulated. I am a Cypriot national and I am not allowed to go and see the land of my ancestors just because I was born on the wrong side of the island.

There were people killed on both sides and that was 27 years ago, so pretending the Turks are still there to protect Turkish-Cypriots from Greek-Cypriots is undemining everyone's intelligence. And if that is in fact true, I would like people to explain to me why exactly most of the Turkish-Cypriots have either fled to the Greek part of the island or have immigrated to other parts of the world? Is it because they appreciate the Turkish protection so much?

It's unfair to say the least, for people to go to MY country I have never seen, as tourists completely ignoring the fact that I, as a citizen of that country, am not allowed to even get close and would be shot at the spot if I even attempted to. This is an illegal republic not recognised by any country in the world and people going on holiday there pretending everything is merry and fine is hypocritical.

An excellent book full of info about this little known country. Phots are good, narrative is easy and very informative. I particularly liked the section dealing with accommodation. It put my mind at rest about "occupied greek hotels". It seems that only 3 or 4 Greek Cypriot owned hotels are available in north Cyprus. All the others have been built since the war in 1974, and therefore I have no irksome thoughts about going there. Excellent read

I bought this book while considering a teaching position on North Cyprus. The book is very readable and interesting. A few more maps could be included. Little was mentioned about the housing, food places, grocery stores, need for a car, and the military presence.

Most of all, I had envisioned North Cyprus to be like other Mediterranean islands with lots of greenery and trees. I found the pictures to be misleading. For, coming from West Palm Beach, Florida and Okinawa, Japan I found North Cyprus to be almost a vast sand land. There were very few trees but lots of sand. There is a major water shortage and water should be boiled. There were no fast food places although I found a nice Shiskebob place by a corner facing the sea that was pleasant to be.

North Cyprus has a marvelous facility that is not mentioned: Eastern Mediterranean University. EMU is a fine school on a picturesque campus with lots of amenities. Parking is a bit hard to find. But, properly prepared a student or teacher would find EMU and North Cyprus pleasant. It gets very hot and dry. There are a few UN camps and borders to cross as well as many military troops. But neither get in the way and North Cyprus is very safe. The drivers are not menaces. Fresh citrus, tomatoes, wines and fish can be purchased or enjoyed at outdoor restaurant cafes. The ruins are worth studying.

I bought this as a guide book. It largely served its purpose. Those seeking western-practice physicians who speak English can find a few who are good. The airport seems like a long ride from Famagusta. However, given the chance and knowing some of the realities, I would return in a moment. Some of the apartments I saw had as light fixtures, electric cords hanging from the ceiling with bare bulbs: No shades. This was depressing. The apartments can be spacious and airy although there isn't much circulation, at least in Famagusta. I visited a few resort places on the ocean that were ideal. For swimming, fishing, snorkeling and boating, North Cyprus is beautiful. The taxi cab drivers do not try to rip people off.

I like North Cyprus. Some of the points that were not mentioned or over-glamorized have been covered in my review. The hotels can use modernization. But, North Cyprus is worth visiting. I used this guide far more than any other, in any travels. The author can write a third edition giving more of a realistic preview. I flew there from the US via NYC to Istanbul and then switching to a local carrier. North Cyprus is in a good location for further travel. I could have reached North Cyprus from South Korea via Seoul to Instanbul. I can see more attention being devoted to tourism and saw lots of new homes an apartment buildings under construction. Those going to North Cyprus must have patience and not expect all the amenities of some other places. Yet the beauty of the sea is almost breathtaking and so are the sunsets. The sounds of people chanting in mosques around the clock add to its intrigue.

Dr. Alan D. Kardoff, Melbourne Florida USA