Wonderful history that helps you reach into the rich past of a typical Northwest "lumber town". While the photos and art work of the present show you a city full of life and promise.

Wing Young Huie has done a beautiful job of showing the people of Minneapolis to themselves and the world. Much of Lake Street in Minneapolis is regarded as a problem area, ripe for urban redevelopment. But to see it that way is to miss out on a million fascinating details -- the headwrap of a young Somali girl, elderly women giving each other manicures, the eighth grade class of the Montessori middle school. It has people seeking attention and people minding their own business. Elegant churches and sad storefronts. Many of the subjects could easily lend themselves to cliche, but the photographer doesn't let it happen. My only quibble is that the text could be more focused and edited -- but he is a photographer, not primarily a writer. A fun book, for fans of this city or any other.

Although I have the original book, I'm sure the reprint is very similar, same author, same title. It has wonderful illustrations and stories that historians would enjoy! An entire American Lake Series included other authors with each great lake as a title.

THis is not the best book ever, need I say more.

Wolff's book is a chronological documentary and listing of every shipping accident and disaster known to have happened on Lake Superior between 1816 and 1989. [Since then, the advent of both precise, digital navigation technology and better storm forecasting by the National Weather Service have probably made major disasters like the Edmund Fitzgerald a thing of the past, the possible exceptions still being sabotage or devastating mechanical malfunction.] Wolff's book is, as advertised, a "complete reference," with roughly 12 pages of thorough Fitzgerald event coverage dwarfed by the remaining 270 pages of material. Yes, the cold, dark waters of Superior have entombed many a fine vessel before 1975! The reading got rather dry at times, since the writer takes a rather formulaic approach to documenting each incident. This didn't bother me enough to quit reading; and in a way such consistency does aid in looking for specific details common to more than one shipping accident. But I recommend that you not buy this book unless you are: 1) Very interested in the maritime history of Lake Superior or shipwrecks in general, or 2) Seeking well-organized decriptive information on Superior shipping disasters other than the Fitzgerald (about which so much has been written in other forums). If either, then this book is very well worth the cost.

WE ARE NEW BOATERS TO LAKE MICHIGAN AND THIS HELPED US FIND PLACES TO BOAT TO. THE PICTURES ARE GREAT, REAL LIFE PHOTOS, RESTURANT INFO AT PORTS ETC. THE ONLY THING I DONT LIKE IS THE PRICE, BUT JUST GET OVER IT AND BUY IT.

I bought this book as a gift for my mom because she loves to cook. I saw an ad for it inside a land o lakes butter package and decided to buy it for her. There are only a few recipies in this book, but we have used many of them. They are simple recipies that are great to prepare for family gatherings and holidays. I would recommend this book for the beginner cook.

This book is a very good book. It tells you how Laura's Ma, Caroline raises her family,and copes with moving, and never having a stable home. I enjoyed this book, but I think it would be better to read the real books, the Caroline years. (Little house at the Crossroads, Little house in Brookfield...)

Dr. Slovick has written a useful chronicle of Michigan's oldest military unit. As a former member of A Company, the original Light Guard unit, I enjoyed the book. The history is at it's most exciting in the 19th century, when the Light Guard was among the Michigan units that were first to answer Lincoln's call for volunteers from the west. From the first Bull Run, where more Light Guard bodies were found around Stonewall Jackson's position than from any other unit, to the end of hostilities, they were in the thick of the fight. The Spanish-American War, the expedition to catch Pancho Villa, and World War I (the mobilization came two days after returning from Mexico) provide interesting chapters. The rest of the book is anticlimax, as the Light Guard, used as a training unit after being called up, originally for one year in 1940, saw no action in World War II. Detroit natives will find the intertwining of city history with the story to be of interest, from pictures of the old armory on Brush near downtown to the call-up for the '67 riots. There is some irony in the fact that this book was written a couple of years before the Light Guard, after not being called up for Desert Storm, was reorganized. Instead of infantry, the unit, with it's battle streamers dating back to the Mexican War, is now a forward support unit. -Lloyd A. Conway

A fast read and old-fashioned sounding written account of the Vermilion lighthouse and the replica in 1991 that finally replaced it.

There are also some local Vermilion, Ohio tales at the end of the book that make an interesting read, although they were probably added since information on the original lighthouse is quite scarce.

A sure add to your Great Lakes and lighthouse book shelf.