If you are a Victorian novel aficianado as I am, you should thoroughly enjoy Sarah Grand's sprawling, strange story. The eponymous twins are bizarrely, intriguingly atypical as far as nineteenth-century characters go. Grand gives a picture of feminism in its embryonic stage--the woman was certainly before her time, as are most of her female characters. Fear not, however; this is no simple "men-bad-women-good" tale. Nastiness and nurture are fairly evenly distributed between the sexes. Although the story meanders at times between its main branches, it is well-written and worth resurrecting for the 1990s. My main quibble is that Grand's voice tends to take over at certain moments (especially when she's getting angry about her society). But please read this book anyway, especially for its shockingly non-Victorian ending.

Having read this book and just spent a week using it in hiking in the Tetons, I found it generally useful and accurate. The maps and directions for finding trailheads are good, and the mileage counter provided gives a good indication of progress on the walks. I would make several recommendations for changes, however. First, I disagree with the level of difficulty ranking for some of the trails. For instance, the Amphitheater Lake trail is clearly more strenuous and difficult than the Holly Lake trail. Second, there should be numerical figure giving the actual elevation gain in addition to the useful elevation profile graph. Finally, the book did not include the excellent Hanging Canyon trail, which though unmaintained, is still a great climb. I found the book Day Hiking Grand Teton National Park by Tom Carter to be equally useful and much more packable based on its small size.

Who has not been at least somewhat "awestruck" by their first view, either in person or in a photograph, of the Grand Teton mountains, the rare view of majestic mountain peaks unobscured by intervening foothills? This "grand view", of course, should make you want to see more, and this map, while perhaps not perfect, is an excellent way to explore this National Park.

First of all, it should be durable, since it is printed on latex-coated stock, much better than the usual paper maps to take to the "field" with you. And, even though it is based on USGS Topo maps from the 1950's & 60's, "shrunk" from scales of 1:24000 and 1:62500 to 1:75000 (a nice scale for a hiking map), "cultural" features have been updated to 2001. Also, labels were replaced for legibility from the quad maps, and the contour interval was "standardized" at 80', whereas it was at 20, 40 & 80' on the original quads (kept at 40' on the upper tier of 15' quads).

On the opposite side of the map are contained "location" maps of each area of the park, and detailed descriptions of 33 different trails, ranging from less than a mile and level, to 20 miles and better than a 3700' elevation gain, and a little bit of everything in between. Included are accessibility by horse, skis, or boats, trail length, possible wildlife sightings, and plants and trees to be found in the area. Plus, some nice black & white photos are included. All in all, a lot of information, that should keep you busy through a long visit. There is also a list of precautions for this high mountain area, such as unpredictable weather, bear encounters, etc. It might be added that since most of us aren't used to hiking at an elevation of 6500' and up, that the easier trails be attempted first, until you have a chance to acclimate.

Even though most of the trails are shown on both the topo and location maps, apparently some were not around in the 60's, and consequently are not shown on the topo map, such as Flagg Canyon and Sheep Mountain trails, and most of Signal Mountain and Blacktail Butte trails. Also, only the beginning and end are shown of the Blue Miner Lake trail (on the area and topo map, respectively), and the first part of the Grizzly Lake/Blue Miner Lake trail, from Red Hills Campground, is missing. Another "oddity" is that the first trail shown under "Moose - Teton Village", Blacktail Butte, is actually found on the location map for "Gros Ventre". Still, these "glitches" notwithstanding, this is a fine map and guide to seeing some great country.

Designed as an "outline for most of the major canyons in the Grand," this volume is a treasure trove of scarce (and otherwise impossible to locate) information on not only the seldom explored western reaches of Grand Canyon, but also on the more frequently traveled heart of the Canyon. Its author, J.D. Green, and editor, Jim Ohlman, have together and separately logged many thousands of miles in the Canyon, describing new routes and accomplishing technical climbs. Ohlman is credited with over a dozen first ascents in John Annerino's 1986 guide (see references). Green's expertise is clear from the pages of this book.

While non-climbers may find its sometimes-terse descriptions lacking in comforting detail ("From the Tonto you can climb down Serpentine Canon to the River and routes go to the river in Copper Canyon and across from Hakatai Canyon." "Ruby has a cairned bypass to the right of the fall."), I found these tantalizing comments more useful than the replies from the BRO on the question of Tonto-to-River routes in Serpentine and Ruby-"Wouldn't even try it."-"Maybe if you used ropes."

To a climber, a "ropeless" route offers encouragement. A non-climbing backpacker, however, will balk at the mere presence of the word "rope" in a trail description. Green frequently offers more hiker-friendly information, such as, "...Travertine Canyon provides a not-too-difficult access for hikers wanting to reach the Colorado River." Green's limited descriptions of little-traveled routes must be contrasted to Butchart (who ignores Travertine, and says of Ruby and Serpentine, "...there are routes...almost surely in Ruby, and certainly in Serpentine..." though Butchart's marked map of the area shows none) and Annerino (regarding emergency hiking to the river from the Tonto between Hermit and Bass, "hike to the river...using either Boucher Creek, Ruby Canyon, Serpentine Canyon or South Bass Trail."). Green's guide gives us Tonto-to-River routes at Travertine, Boucher, Sapphire, Turquoise, Ruby, Serpentine and of course Bass.

The narrative makes enjoyable reading, laced with the mythology of some of the Canyon's unusual place names, historical vignettes and personal experience. Green recounts numerous confrontations with the reclusive Grand Canyon Rattlesnake as well as several near-fatal mishaps and unfortunate turns in the weather.

"Making the summit late in the day, darkness fell during the return series of rappels through the Supai cliffs north of the peak. The storm made me hypothermic and when clouds cleared the temperature dropped sharply. In the darkness my flashlight dropped, going out some forty feet below me. Not having made it past the cliffs I was unable to get back to my sleeping bag that night. It was a very cold December night as the South Rim recorded a temperature of 0 degrees. Unable to continue in darkness for fear of running out of rope the option for a very cold night seemed logical. Without a stove or a sleeping bag and only wearing a wool sweater, the situation was serious. To stay alive that night I burned some of my climbing sling along with every dead bush within reach. NPS frowns on open fires, especially those using native vegetation as fuel, but as the saying goes, "desperate times call for desperate measures!" It was one of the most miserable nights I have ever spent and I learned a great deal from it."

His comments on water sources are a welcome addition to descriptions of less-traveled areas. "This rough trail makes a rapid descent to the saddle below Shiva Temple, where water-filled pot holes remain for a week or more after rainstorms."

Numerous hiker and climber routes are described for Marble Canyon, below the East Rim Drive, below the Walhalla Plateau, Main Corridor, Clear Creek, the threshold trails from Indian Garden west to Hermit, west from Hermit to Havasupai, west of Bright Angel to Kanab, Tuweep to Kelly Point, National to Diamond, and both the south and north sides of the Canyon at Lake Mead. Most of the trail descriptions for the heart of the Canyon include little-known alternate routes, such as hiking up the Redwall and Supai at the head of Hermit to reach Dripping Springs Trail. Some are clearly described as hiker trails, some as climber's routes, and still others as "rugged route."

The volume is well illustrated with topo maps and historical photos. A real treat was the inclusion of sections of Harvey Butchart's hiking map, marked with his wanderings. (This reviewer was stunned by the sheer mileage represented on them. In comparison to Butchart's three tiny volumes, the map is an awesome testament of the 20,000 Canyon miles covered by the legendary hiker.) A ten-page index references all place names, numbered peaks and canyons. An annotated bibliography lists 77 references, as well as Green's comments on their value and where they may be obtained.

This book is not for the novice planning a first hike. But after the second or third Canyon hike, an ambitious hiker or climber will discover in its pages answers to the questions that usually elicit a shrug from many backcountry rangers. [E.g. busy trying to bite J.D. Green and Jim Ohlman.]

This solidly bound paperback is difficult to find in bookstores, and difficult for booksellers to special order, since it is "self-published." to the inner canyon routes, La Siesta Press, Glendale, CA (1970). 72pp. Also G.C. Treks II and III.

Tessa Bielecki is an unusual Carmelite nun, who styles herself a monk. She writes in uncomplicated, but not simplistic, language about her namesake Teresa of Avila and Teresa's experience of God as her spouse. The author opens this experience for the contemporary reader in such a way that one can regard it as a viable spiritual lifestyle for the lay Christian, single or married, male or female.

In a text of little more than 100 pages, the book cannot be called profound and the author sometimes loses focus. But she presents enough material from Teresa herself to support her premise and she gives concrete, healthy guidelines for the spiritual seeker.

This Book is a very entering book for childern. I think that it gives them an idea of how to behave at home and at school. This book makes young and imaginative girls act more like princess. I will give this book 4 stars because I think that boys would not be as found of a princess book. But that only took off one star the other 4 are for the girls in which have dreamed to be princess their entire lives!

A great overview of the history of Grand Prix racing from the perspective of automotive design. There are detailed b/w illustrations on nearly every page and the 16 color plates accurately summarize the evolution of Grand Prix (and later F1) cars.

Alfred Thayer Mahan is one of those oft-referred-to but little read historical figures whose staggering written output has been reduced by name-droppers to a single catch phrase: Naval Consortium. However, like Clausewitz, the man cannot so neatly be summed up without misinterpretation or drastic loss of understanding. Sumida's "reconsidering" of the seminal Navy man attempts to put things right, and mostly succeeds. In Inventing Grand Strategy, Sumida has written a wondrously clear and concise executive summary of Mahan's work, with a focus on the psychologically crushing moral aspects of leadership decision-making during wartime. To this end, there is plenty of talk regarding all the determination, courage, fear, boldness, danger, will, spirit, and indecision inherent in a situation where organized groups of strangers try to kill one another. This nonphysical component of war is often pushed to the wayside, but Sumida chooses to zero in on the men rather than the machines, to startling visceral effect. At the aesthetic level, the words in Inventing Grand Strategy are not beautiful, but they don't need to be. Instead, there is a refreshing directness and force to them, complemented by a palpable feeling of full disclosure. The only really troubling thing concerning the book is the undertone of shining righteousness; Sumida's nearly religious sense of faith that he's on to something big, and if you can't see it, there's a problem on your end. This subtle but steady aggression is extraordinary, and makes Sumida sort of the MC5 of military historians. On a different note, as good and interesting and insightful as the body of the book is, the real prize is the introduction. Here, Sumida manages to harmoniously and elegantly correlate musical improvisation to military improvisation, with a touch of Zen thrown in. A sight to behold.

The most insightful view into investing I have ever read. It is wonderfully written,the author has created a masterpiece which should be the bible for those interested in investing. I would highly recommend it.

This is a delightful story about a little girl who overcomes her stage shyness by helping a relative overcome a more debilitating problem. A happy resolve is reached and a good time is had by all. A good book that shows the importance of putting others before the self. A good read-aloud, albeit busy in illustration. Little ones will enjoy it.