Everyone must read this book. It is unique in every way. Believe me you have never read anything like this!

I have to admit, at first i thought i would never finish it. For me a book that was that long was impossible. this book was incredible, it broadened my view of possibilities. It is a very touching story. It is very unique and anyone can enjoy it. You must read it!

This is a great story based on a powerful character, Ulysses, who tries to get away from Buenos Aires and from his miserable life.

Well written and with an edgy sense of humor, you don't just read "Beer cans..." You get nicely drunk with it! Enjoy it!

I am the author, and LaPlata County Series, Book Two is the culmination of years of study about an era and part of the South my people helped develop. Both novels in this series are a tribute to both the Black and White people of Amite County Mississippi. After considerable research into Black English, I have made an attempt to write the dialogue of slaves and former slaves somewhat close to the way they spoke the language; this is not to ridicule but to preserve a way of life that needs preserved. (Book Cover) Luther Butler continues his LaPlata County Series. James Butler's (alias James Wilkerson) descendents find themselves caught up in a conflict that tears him and his Black comrade, Charles Ray, from the Amite County farm to a dangerous Yankee prisoner of war camp. MISSISSIPPI WOMAN continues the series after the Civil War. Nat Wilkerson's wife, Sally Ann, loses the Amite County farm and moves to Fort Worth, Texas where, for health reasons, two of her sons leave for LaPlata County, Colorado where the mountains touch the sky. A section of Fort Worth is called, "Hell's Half Acre." Here Bret Sloan took the exslaves from Mississippi and opened a house of prostitution. Like the characters in GONE WITH THE WIND, AMITE COUNTY'S people adjust to a South that is lost in gun smoke and fancy mirrors.

Despite knowing "how it ends" (this is history, after all) Pope kept me riveted with his excellent writing and wealth of detail about the men, the ships, and the places. Buy this book if you can find it! I highly recommend this and anything else Pope has written.

LaPlata County Series will contain five books with ten novels. The Series records the westward march of James Butler, alias, James Wilkerson, and his descendants from Dublin, Ireland to LaPlata County, Colorado where the mountains meet the sky. County Dublin starts the series with blinded Son Wilkerson of LaPlata County narrating the story. James Butler (alias James Wilkerson) starts in a castle in Ireland. Born to rule, James is kidnapped before he flees Ireland on a slaver headed to Africa to take slaves to Barbados. A sea captain, he marries Mary Beckweth of Louisa County, Virginia. A bloody tragedy erupts before James brings his black son from Barbados to be raised with his legitimate son, William Wilkerson. BLOOD ON THE MOON continues the saga. General William Wilkerson and his half brother, James, and the Black, Warrior goes to Texas to bring horses for the Mississippi farmers. William and his companions fight with bootleggers, Indians, Spaniards, and other of the West's worse outlaws before they return to Wilkes County, Georgia to take their new brides to Amite County, Mississippi. The reader will not find a dull moment!

The Fourth Book in the LaPlata County Series by Luther Butler contains Homesteader and Sheepherders and the second novel, DH. This novel means the most to me of the Series. After an accident in 1984 I started this novel by using the farm my family owned in LaPlata County, Colorado. The holding at one time consisted of ten sections of land which was on sagebrush land twenty miles from the Laplata Mountains. The average rainfall is less than twenty inches which is not enough for most crops. My father started buying sheep in 1933 when I was four years old. Neither of these two novels are auto- biographical, but I let my main character, Son Wilkerson, walk many of the trails I did - and I did walk seven miles to Rockdale School in the snow! God, I wish I could do it over again.

There are two novels in BOOK 5 of the LaPlata County Series. Each novel is complete in itself, but the novels build on the one before it. BOOK 1 contains COUNTY DUBLIN, the starting of the Wilkerson Dynasty and BLOOD ON THE MOON when William Wilkerson and his Black half brother and their full blooded beloved Black friend go to Texas after wild horses for the Mississippi farmers. They share many adventures among the Indians and Mexican. BOOK 2 has AMITE COUNTY, a Civil War story told by an eleven year old boy. MISSISSIPPI WOMAN tells an exciting story about the Wilkerson's move to Fort Worth and then the two sons going to LaPlata County Colorado. BOOK 3, INDIANS AND SOLDIERS gives an account of the cavalry moving the Ute tribe out of LaPlata County. RANCHERS AND RUSTLERS is about two of the soldiers who have ranches in LaPlata County. D.H. Wilkerson starts homesteading land the homesteaders abandon. BOOK 4, HOMESTEADERS AND SHEEPHERDERS, the Wilkerson adventures are told by five-year-old, Son Wilkerson. D.H. is the continuation of the growing up of Son Wilkerson and his exile in Arizona and New Mexico. BOOK 5 has I KNEW A MAN WHO HAD SIX SONS. D.H. goes insane and burns to death while Son Wilkerson is almost killed in a plane in Korea. Son comes home blind and writes LaPlata County Series to find out why the Wilkersons and the other people of LaPlata County are so hell bent on going to war. SQUASH BLOSSOM, the final novel in the series is about a Ute woman and her son who escape the exile in Utah only to be taken by a cruel Navaho to Shiprock, New Mexico. Squash Blossom's great grandson comes back to LaPlata County and buys a piece of land. Words can't describe the adventures, the characters, and the fun the author had in writing LaPlata County. I started LaPlata County as a story a small boy tells about living on a homestead between Hay Gulch and Alkali in LaPlata County, Colorado during the depression of the '30s. From this original story, Homesteaders and Sheepherders, I went backward to the little boy's ancestor coming from Dublin to Virginia in the early 1700's. James Wilkerson died in Norfolk, Virginia but his descendents went to Mississippi, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, the Atlantic, Pacific, and to Korea - and to hell and back. My family owned the land in LaPlata County, Colorado that is the basis for this story. This is not an autobiography or a true confession, but at the of age of seventy years I still keep the LaPlata Mountains and the land on Alkali alive in my mind and heart! And I remember helping drive our sheep into the mountains.

The two Robertson brothers, from Scotland, managed to witness the main events of southern South America, from the British invasions (1807) to the economical crisis of 1830. And somehow they were always in the right place when things happened. They are invaluable first hand sources. They wrote six books on their experience, three "letters from South America" (from present day Argentina, really, but few people would have recognized the name at the time), two "letters from Paraguay", and one more on Paraguay's dictator, Gaspar Francia. They promised more, but unluckily didn't keep up. They were into commerce, to make money. And they made bundles, daring to go were nobody else had the courage to, in dangerous times. Enough money to advance in the twenties a share of a national loan to the government of Rivadavia. And then they lost almost everything in the downturn that ensued the war with Brazil over present day Uruguay. The reader must be advised that the Robertsons were businessmen, uncritically on the side of free unrestricted trade, with no simpathy for the "lower classes" or for political movements with a social content, such as those of Artigas or Francia. But bias apart, their books are a unique glimpse into fascinating but little known times and places.

I liked all of the history and natural information. This book would be good for anyone, not just mountain bikers. A great place to vacation and better than Durango, though it's just over the hill from Durango. Mines, Indian ruins, mountains, aspen forests, what more could you want?

The Mystery of the Silver Spider is in many ways the quintessential Three Investigators book in my mind, mainly because this title stands out the most from my childhood memories. It really is a good, exciting story, full of political intrigue, international espionage, a dastardly conspiracy, very real danger, a mad flight to safety, and other thrills along the way. After a chance meeting with the young prince of Varania, the boys find themselves invited to the prince's coronation in his home country. They are ostensibly contracted by the U.S. government to serve as secret junior agents--while the feds know some type of trouble is brewing in the small yet important European nation, they have been unable to ferret out the information they need themselves and thus turn to our intrepid young heroes for help. Once in Varania, the prince confides in them the fact that the invaluable silver spider, the symbol of Prince Paul, the most important leader in their history, and the symbol of the very nation, has been stolen and replaced with a fake; without the true silver spider, the prince will be disgraced and his coronation will be postponed--perhaps permanently. Much to the boys' surprise, Bob finds the precious spider stashed among his handkerchiefs. Realizing that the evil plotters mean to blame them--the young prince's friends--for the theft, Jupe, Pete, and Bob are forced to make a run for safety; fortunately, they are aided by some Varanians loyal to the young prince. Poor Bob bangs his head during the escape and cannot remember where he stashed the real spider. As events build to a climax, the boys race to free themselves from capture and somehow alert the Varanian people to the prince's danger. With Bob still suffering partial amnesia, it is up to Jupiter to find the silver spider and thus save not only the prince but the entire nation of Varania.

This one is action-packed from front to back and may well be the best book in the series. If you have not yet been introduced to the Three Investigators and are wondering which book to try reading first, I would recommend this book. You might as well buy the other available titles, though, because you are surely going to want to keep reading these adventures. For the life of me, I can't figure out why there has never been a Three Investigators movie--this story in particular would be terrific on the big screen.

The Three Investigators and Mystery of The Silver Spider is great. It has full of suspense and plot twists. It is my favorite Three Investigators book. The book is written by Robert Arthur, the origanal Three Investigators author. His three investigator books are better than the ones written by the later ones.

This was an excellent novel by Arthur and one of the best in the series. It details the exploits of the three sleuths as a chance encounter with royalty leads them to another nation where they become embroiled in an attempted governmental coup. Everything hinges on the Silver Spider--the key to the throne--and the suspense is immense when the only one who knows where it is can't remember! Mystery,suspense,and more action than in most of the books, The MYstery of the silver SPider takes you on a rollicking ride that culminates in an explosive climax.It will keep you glued to your seat and sweating with the characters!

Absolutely reccomended.

Maverick

This was a very interesting book about the events leading up to the battle at the river plate. It was kinda slow at first but pick up when the actual battle started and was good from then on.

thi