Bears fans beware: this book takes a somewhat pro-Packer perspective on the greatest rivalry in professional sports. While there are a number of great stories in this book, it struck me as largely the stringing together of a number of interviews, without a lot else contributed by the authors. It that sense, it's primarily an oral history of the rivalry. I also would have liked more photos. Those flaws aside, it is still worthwhile reading for fans of either team. Especially those most interested in the earliest years of the rivarly.

I have two major problems with this book. One, its poor structure. What starts off as a thoughtful examination of sports rivalries and some truly informative and exciting writing on the early Bears and Packers later degenerates into a mish-mash of anecdotes and facts which range from fascinating to utterly pointless. It seems as though the authors somehow ran out of things to say even though there is clearly masses of material in the intertwined history of these teams. Surely a more chronological approach would have given a better idea of the series' ebbs and flows. Also the section concentrating on certain players 'representative' of the hardnosed nature of the rivalry like Trafton, Nagurski, Butkus was overdone. Only a brief mention of Jim Taylor? I'm a Bears fan but surely he deserved FAR more attention in such a history. Walter Payton was also criminally underrepresented. Secondly, the concentration on old-timers, unbalanced the book. The stories of George Halas' techniques are excellent but even after having it rammed down my throat for much of the book I still don't believe Bronko Nagurski or Clarke Hinkle are the toughest men who ever lived. Yes these guys played with very little padding or protection but if that was the nature of the game now so would today's players. Such casual mythologizing of the past should be handled with much more care. However there are some fantastic stories in here, its just a pity the book's undoubted brilliance is only displayed in patches.

I bought this book for my Dad for Christmas - & I just had to read it before passing it on! I approached it with some trepidation, though, as it is written by "Award-winning Wisconsin sportswriters," and published in Madison, Wisconsin. But the foreward is written by a nice man from the Chicago Tribune and I found the book to be fairly evenly balanced. The style is easily readable - not in chronological order but arranged by interesting topics. For the chronically chronologically-oriented, there is an appended game-by-game synopsis from the first meeting of the Staleys (who soon became Da Bears) and the Packers on November 27, 1921 to the 152nd meeting at the end of the 1996 season. There are many clever turns of phrase - for instance, the rivalry as "uncivil war," or "Once again, Ditka had added insult on top of victory."

These meetings are not just games, they are "events." As the authors tell us, "The Catholic churches in Green Bay recognized in short time what kind of impact the rivalry had on people's lives. By 1928, St. Mary's parish had scheduled a special mass at 5:15 Sunday morning, so fans could catch the early train to Chicago."

Chapter 5 is entitled "Hard-Edged Names in Hard-Nosed Games" and begins: "The seven men to which this chapter is devoted had two things in common. One was that their names didn't roll off the tongue, but rattled around in the mouth and forced their way through the teeth. Hard-edged names, full of consonants and resonance." Names that were uttered in hushed reverential or loud cursing tones at family gatherings. (My family straddles both sides of the Illinois-Wisconsin line so it depends on which part of the family was talking ;-). Names like Nagurski, Nitschke, Butkus and Ditka. The chapter tells inquiring minds "what ever happened to" these guys too.

Bear/Packer "games" are not genteel affairs. Here's a recap of the November 4, 1945 encounter (before mouthgaurds and sturdy helmets.) "Packers halfback Roy McKay suffered a broken nose and had several teeth knocked lose. Halfback Irv Comp suffered a knee injury, and tackle Baby Ray sustained a one-inch cut on his upper lip. Guard Pete Tinsley was thrown out of the game for punching Bears quarterback Sid Luckman, and Goodnight also was sent to the showers for punching Hoptowit. The Bears casualty list included rookie halfback John Morton, who visited the Illinois Masonic Hospital to have a cut under his eye stitched, and, of course, Artoe. With one well-placed elbow, in the final two minutes of the game, Keuper broke Artoe's upper and lower jaws, along with his nose, and knocked out 11 teeth." (p. 68) Now, THAT'S smash-mouth football!

The chapter "Twenty Memorable Games" includes "Prelude to a [Bears] Title" - November 17, 1963; Wrigley Field (yes, we played there for a long time before moving over to Soldier Field - there's a whole other chapter on the playing fields: " Sacred Fields Forever.") "No professional football game in Chicago, before or since, has been more eagerly awaited than was the dramatic 1963 showdown between the two-time defending NFL champion Packers and the grimly determined Bears. Both teams entered the game with 8-1 records, and the winner clearly would have the inside track to the Western Conference championship. Green Bay had won eight straight games since the season-opening, 10-3 defeat to the Bears. Chicago had lost only to San Francisco. The Monday before the game, the Bears placed fifteen hundred standing room tickets on sale. The tickets, priced at $2.50 [no - that's not a typo- that's two dollars and fifty cents!] sold out in forty minutes." (pages 133-134)

And stuff you probably never knew: "As Bears running back Brian Piccolo [remember Brian Piccolo? If not, stop reading this review and rush over to Video/DVD to get a copy of "Brian's Song" - not the recent re-make, but the excellent 1970 version with James Caan & Billy Dee Williams. It puts the lie to the myth "real men don't cry."] "As ... Brian Piccolo lay on his deathbed in June, 1970, his body ravaged by cancer, he asked to see Ed McCaskey, the son-in-law of George Halas and a close family friend. McCaskey had been assigned by Halas to take care of Piccolo's every need. He had been there to support the player and his wife, Joy, many times in those terrible final months. So McCaskey caught the first train from Chicago to New York and went straight to the Sloan-Ketterling Cancer Center. He had steeled himself for the inevitable, but the sight of Piccolo, in horrific pain and gasping for breath, was more than he could bear. "I looked at him and tears burst from my eyes, involuntarily," McCaskey said. "Brian saw that and said, 'Don't worry, Big Ed, I'm not afraid of anything - only Nitschke.'" He died that day." (p. 114)

The pictures in this book alone are well worth the price of the book. Sure, more would be better, but they are great just the same. My favorite, the final one, is Coach Ditka wearing his SuperBowl XX championship leather jacket as he "watches from the sidelines during a Bears-Packers game. The Bears won fifteen of twenty games against the Packers during Ditka's stint as head coach from 1982 - 1992."

I could gush on and on about this great book on a great rivalry. But I have to go wrap my Dad's present. So why don't you just buy it and read it all yourself! You betcha I will!

Now in a fully updated fifth edition, Allison Blake's The Chesapeake Bay Book is a comprehensive and thoroughly user friendly: guide to all the great getaway adventures to be found in the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland. Maps, indexes to the best places for lodging and dining, recreation opportunities by locale, and much more, enhance this superbly presented travel guide which is ideal for anyone planning a local day trip or an extended vacation in the Chesapeake Bay environs.

Now in a fully updated fifth edition, Allison Blake's The Chesapeake Bay Book is a comprehensive and thoroughly "user friendly: guide to all the great getaway adventures to be found in the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland. Maps, indexes to the best places for lodging and dining, recreation opportunities by locale, and much more, enhance this superbly presented travel guide which is ideal for anyone planning a local day trip or an extended vacation in the Chesapeake Bay environs.

a college friend invited me to spend a few weeks with her in annapolis, but, when she got a job she couldn't refuse just before i arrived, i had to fend for myself entertainment-wise. thank heavens i wandered into a local bookstore and picked up this book. i didn't know a thing about the area. nor did my friend really. (i'm from texas, and she just moved there from connecticut.) but, with the help of this guidebook and a rental car, i wandered happily throughout the back roads of the chesapeake region. i found great little towns to stop in with its help, deliciously fattening restaurants to eat in and cool things to see. if you're a newbie there, i highly recommend that you pick it up!

Any one who is interested in Cuba, or more specifically why and how the Cuban Revolution continues to survive, anyone interested in the future of humanity, or in the ideas ( unlike the myth )of Che Guevara -- you should start with this book.This book explains why the invasion of " Cuban exile" mercenaries at the Bay Of Pigs was not a "fiasco" : it was a military and political defeat of the Yankee Empire. This book shows vividly that the ordinary Cuban working men and women and farmers who fought and died at the Bay Of Pigs to defend their new-won independence did so for the sake of their own and their children's future : a Cuba free of Yankee domination and plundering for profits.The authors -- Fidel Castro and Che Guevara among them-- explain the ideas of the new socialist Cuba and the fight for new and better humans to change themselves that were the power behind the people behind the guns (and planes )that defeated the invaders at Playa Giro`n/ Bay Of Pigs. The ideas as a guide to action that have helped socialist Cuba survive it's toughest times in the 90s.And survive today as an example of what humans can do to begin to build a human society.

The book also describes how the activities against the invasion by a group of students at a small Midwestern college changed them forever--and convinced them to devote their lives to making a revolution like the Cubans made --here in the belly of the imperial beast.

If you are repelled by the barbaric effects of the "globalization" of the market system and its worship of the Almighty Dollar -- and you want to do something about making an end of it once and for all -- do yourself a favor and read this book.

I first read this book the first day of beach season. Instead of spending time in the water, I just sat there and read this book until it was too dark to read. This account is an activist account of the fight from Cuban and US fighters who see and saw the US invasion and resistance in Cuba and the United States not as history to be deciphered but part of an ongoing struggle against imperialism, against war, and for the power of working people. I never stopped caring; I never stopped seeing what was hidden from me in 1961, I never stopped seeing lessons for the future. A good read.

Playa Giron/Bay Of Pigs: Washington's First Military Defeat In The Americas offers detailed and authoritative information on the historic and ill-fated invasion of Cuba by U.S.-backed forces popularly referred to as the Bay of Pigs. Included are three contemporary speeches by Fidel Castro informing and rallying the Cuban people and describing to the socialist character of the revolution. Jose Ramon Fernandez (today a vice president of Cuba) was at the time of the military incursion, the commander of the main column of Cuban forces which successfully repelled the CIA-organized and American supplied forces at Playa Giron. Highly recommended reading for students of Cuban and American international studies and history, the informative text is enhanced with more than two dozen maps and charts, dozens of photographs, a chronology of events, a glossary, and an index.

I've lived in the Bay Area for 7 years now, and I never thought of it as anything but and urban and suburban mesh. I wanted to start hiking, but I felt that I needed to travel to national parks far away to enjoy it. I was really mistaken. This book is beyond amazing.

I'm not going to say this is the bible of hiking, but whenever I open it, a beacon of light shines upon it and the air is filled with cathedral like chanting.

I was totally unaware of the natural beauty and ambience that was located locally. Some of these places described are amazing. I went on all the strenuous hikes described in this book, and I enjoyed each one. From redwoods, to waterfalls, to beaches, to mountain vistas, it's all there.

The author provides ratings, directions, description, difficulty, approximate times, pricing, and weather information for each hike. If it weren't for these descriptions, I would never have seen the huge redwoods in the peninsula or the amazing beach and postcard views at Point Reyes.

There are only a few minor flaws in this book. The strenuous hikes are pretty easy for anyone is shape, and only take about 3/4ths the time suggested. The directions are sometimes a bit bare, but I never was really lost so it's not too much of a problem.

If you want to enjoy the outdoors, no matter what fitness level, get this book. It's everything you need to have many nice enjoyable day hikes.

Foghorn Outdoors is one of our favorite publishers. Among their authors, we thoroughly enjoy books by Maria Goodavage (The California Dog Lover's Companion), Tom Stienstra (California Hiking), and Ann Marie Brown. Ann Marie Brown writes fantastic hiking guides; especially for folks like us that love to do dog friendly, easy day hikes while on vacation. It's a great way to enjoy an area. All hikes include information as to whether or not they are dog friendly (wonderful for planning purposes). All are from one to a few hours. The hikes are graded as to their difficulty, from easy to strenuous, and, yes!, the hikes are rated with two to four stars for overall quality and scenic beauty. Icons are included to provide additional information on the trail. All these features are great for planning, especially when you're a visitor to the area and want to find those hikes that are most appealing to your interests. The directions to the trailhead and for the hike are clear and easy to understand. Areas covered are the San Francisco Peninsula, the East and South Bay, Marin, Napa, Sonoma, and the Santa Cruz Mountains. We've done some of these hikes and have picked out more for our next trip. They truly are the 101 Great Hikes of the San Francisco Bay Area. If you are heading to the Bay area and like to hike, we highly recommend a copy of this book to accompany you on your travels.

Day hiking is one of my passions and I have been looking for this kind of book ever since I moved to the bay area. I have been dreaming of packing a light day pack and hitting the open trails in this ever so stressful valley. This dream came true a couple of weekends ago when I found this book. Finally I have started to put some miles on my boots again.

What can you expect from this book? Well, you will find a wealth of information on the trails in this area. Each trail comes with a pretty detailed map with short but good directions. The book also rates the level of each trail, elevation change and distance. It also points out things like pet accessibility, parking and times to go. The information is precise and detailed. There are also additional hiker information for the trails. I love this book and would consider it a great price for the freedom it gives you.

As a big fan of the first two Bech collections, I carefully rationed my reading of this one, limiting myself to one story per day. All was well until I reached "Bech Noir" in which our hero takes murderous (yet flippant) revenge on his literary enemies. This was so ludicrously out of character that I kept waiting for the authorial signal that it was just the protagonist's fantasy. Unfortunately, it never came. I don't know whether Updike was being contemptuous or just plain stupid. But not only did his trashing of my suspension-of-disbelief ruin this book for me, it cast a retrospective pall over the previous ones.

Ironically, a new first-rate Bech story appeared in The New Yorker some time later. Presumably, it will be included in the omnibus Bech edition being published in 2001. I only pray that Updike, who is known for his post-publication tinkering, will come to his senses and leave "Bech Noir" out.

Bech at bay consists of five stories about the life of Henry Bech. He ages from mid-sixties to mid-seventies in the course of the book. The first story has Bech visiting Prague before the comunists have been thrown out. He visits Kafka's grave, hangs out with the ambassador, and talks with the local literary celebs who are still intimidated by the Bolshies. This story is aimless, and the weakest of the five entries. The second is Bech Presides.HB is talked into heading a NY literary organization. It's a brilliant study of cultural trends and hidden motives. It's brilliant, the best of the book. Third, Bech is sued in LA for libel. HB's conflicting feelings about himself and his accuser make this story appealing and engaging. Updike releases rage at unappreciative critics in Bech Noir.(JU, I'm praising the book, no need for vengeance with me.) It's wonderful fantasy at getting back at those who have harmed us. Tip! Use a sponge to seal your mail. Bech wins the Nobel prize in story number five. Bech doesn't know what to say, and uses a Giuliani-like technique at the podium. It's a good story, not great. Overall, stories 1 & 5 are very good. 2,3,4 are brilliant. Please read. Thank you.

"Bech at Bay" presents five comic stories about the novelist Henry Bech, starting out with a visit to Communist Czechoslovakia when he is 63 and ending in his acceptance of the Nobel Prize for Literature when he is 76 years old (with his infant daughter held struggling in his arms). Through these Bech stories, Updike takes a satirical look at the the Manhattan literary scene, pokes fun at the absurdities of the big city life and even takes a moment or two to ponder the Eternal Verities (but not too seriously). As his life enters its last phase, Bech finds himself in some interesting new situations: president of the The Forty, an intellectual society hopefully modelled on the French Academy but without its sense of self importance; as a caped avenger "ridding literary Gotham of villains" (read critics); as a septuagenarian father. Through all this absurdist comedy, the old Updike magic is constantly with us. Bravo!

This book should *only* be read by those who are already well educated on all the issues it covers. It is written by a "subject expert" to other "subject experts".

The book was assigned for a class I took, and was roundly hated. If one was already quite conversant on the subject, and was fascinated by it, it would probably be a good read.

Its greatest failing, in my opinion, was Freehling's propensity for referring to things (as if the reader already understands), rather than explaining.

I think all will have to agree that Freehling does not have a fluid prose style, and is hard to read. That being said, after the first hundred pages or so of this book the subject matter takes over and makes this a good read. There is no bibliography as such, but the footnoting is well done and much good comment on sources is found therein. I agree with other reviewers: anyone who can read this book and still claim that slavery was not THE reason for secession has a different reasoning process than I have. If one wants an easier more felicitous account of the road to the Civil War I would recommend the classic study by David M. Potter: The Impending Crisis 1848-1861. It of course covers more than this book. Do I understand correctly that Freehling's Volume II: Secessionists Triumphant, 1854-1861 has not yet been published? I e-mailed the author and he advised that Volume II will be out shortly. I will surely read it when I can, since the period it covers in our history is one of consuming interest to any devotee of US history.

Despite dreadful prose and a clear anti-southern bias that at times borders on hyperbole, Freehling does provide a well researched social and political history of the pre-Civil War south.

Freehling concentrates much of his effort on the social history of the south and shows how the United States was fractured not just north and south, but within the south as well. The social and political divisions between the upper and lower south and then further divisions within these sections are well detailed and illuminating. Freehling does a good job on the political front as well, but is stronger on the social aspects.

Several things are clear after reading Freehling and other pre-Civil War accounts of US politics and society. First, slavery was the root cause of the Civil War. I'm amazed historians continue to cling to the supposed notion that southerners were fighting over states rights. States rights was the political ideology that cloaked their tenacious fight to save slavery. And while there is no doubt they were states rightists, there was no issues that they were truly willing to go to war for (including tariffs where the political rhetoric gets pretty hot.)

Secondly, Southern society was frighteningly dysfunctional. Even had there been no civil war Southern society would have eventually withered away - but exactly how and to what consequence is unclear. It's unlikely such a schizophrenic society could last in perpetuity without imploding - slowly but surely.

Fascinating reading. Educational. But you'll have to slog through some pretty tepid prose and stick with it.

This book is a describes a man's struggle to break from the "creature comforts" world to live and fish in Bristol Bay, Alaska. It told a story that was captivating because when reading, you always wanting to know what was going to happen next. The story tells of a man who achieves having the best of both worlds ands puts the utimate dream to the test. I would highly recommend this book to all adventurists and those who would like to "escape" to the alaska frontier; if not in reality, then through this book.

This is a great little book and a fun read. It takes a lot of guts to do what Bob Durr did. His descriptions of the Alaskan bush and the people who live and work there are wonderful. Everyone should meet a person like Pope at least once in their lives. The philosophical discussions on board the fishing boat were sometimes tedious and less than believable, but somehow it all works. I hope Durr will write another book about the rest of his life in Alaska.

Bob Durr has done what many of us blue blooded males mearly dream of. He actualy takes you on his fishing trips, you feel cold, you feel wet and you feel the emotions that only come with his experiences. Bob Durr is telling his reader "follow your dreams" and have a ball doing it. A great read.

Theodosius the Great was called upon to serve the Empire shortly after the catastrophic Battle of Adrianople, when Emperor Valens (along with a Roman army) was killed by an army of Visigoths. Williams and Friel strategically place the Battle of Valens at the beginning of this narrative, and skilfully proceed to show that, from the outset, the reign of Theodosius was overshadowed by that disaster. His decision to allow barbarian settlement within the Empire's frontiers, for instance, was taken from a position of military weakness and uncertainty. Theodosius is also known as the emperor who, acting under the influence of Saint Ambrose, transformed from the state religion to the universal religion, thus wholly reversing the religious policy of Diocletian. This is a concise and free-flowing biography which also, as something of a coda, has a terrific chapter on the doings of the military leader Stilicho, who (while not being Emperor himself) was able to paper over the cracks left by Theodosius's choices of weak successors.

Stephen Williams and Gerard Friell's work on the emperor Theodosius is not essentially a biography, but rather a survey of the empire from the crushing defeat at Adrianople in AD 378 up to the Vandal's occupation of North Africa in AD 430. Just how Theodosius reacted to these conditions and the subsequent affect they later had on the empire is the basis of this work. His diplomatic feats and failures, his military maneuvers and achievements, and his religious swing from tolerance to universal bigotry are fully covered here with clarity and unified scholarly ingenuity. A very clear account of the complex web of power between the East and the West, the emperors and their ministers, during the reigns of the indolent and feeble emperors Honorius and Arcadius, will be found here as well. To find a more substantial and lucid account elsewhere of the principle policies during Theodosius' reign, of the German migrations and relations with Rome, the ambitions and downfall of Stilicho, and the final disintegration of the Western empire, will be a difficult task to say the least. Detailed illustrations and maps add all the more luster to this well-referenced work, which will be rewarding to scholars and relieving to busy students alike.

Theodosius was the last man to rule over the entire Roman Empire. He was appointed by Gratian, the young Emperor in the West, to rule the eastern half of the empire after the death of Valens at the battle of Adrianople. He became sole ruler the whole Empire after he defeated and executed Maximus, who had deposed and executed Gratian. As the last man to rule the full Empire, an understanding of Theodosius and his reign is crucial in understanding how and why the western Empire collapsed while the eastern Empire was able to survive.

As an undergraduate, I read numerous books and articles, each with their own unique view of why the western Empire failed. Gibbon largely blamed the the advent of Christianity for weakening Rome. Others have blamed everything from depopulation resulting from epidemics of the plague to gradual weakening of the Roman aristocracy due to poisoning from their leaden water pipes. Another theory credits the battle of Adrianople with weakening the Roman military and leading to over-dependence on unreliable Gothic tribesmen to fill the ranks.

Williams and Friell analyse events and the historical evidence, concluding that the military situation after Adrianople was retrievable and that Theodosius and Gratian were able to rebuild the eastern field army and re-establish stability by supporting each other in key situations. After Gratian's death, however, co-operation and mutual support between east and west became increasingly problematical. Theodosius began to pursue policies that weakened the Empire. He prompted internal dis-unity, especially in the west, by abandoning the long-standing policy of toleration towards pagans. Even more damaging, he followed a disastrous dynastic policy, promoting his two inept and untrained sons as his heirs and squandering limited military resources fighting fellow Romans while hordes of barbarians were massing just outside the borders. Further, he allowed unscrupulous ministers in his two capitals to promote the interests of one capital at the expense of the other. Thus, Alaric, instead of being controlled, was repeatedly foisted off on one part of the Empire by the other, causing enormous damage.

The authors make a clear and compelling argument that Theodosius, despite being an able ruler, lacked vision. As his reign wore on, he incresingly put his personal religious concerns and his dynastic interests ahead of the welfare of the Empire as a whole. This was particularly disastrous in the west, where money and manpower were more scarce. After his death, the Empire was left depleted and dis-united, its ablest leaders lacking the power and authority necessary to keep barbarian invaders at bay while his heirs dithered. This is a fascinating and well-reasoned account of the period from 378 to about 430. If you have an interest in the history of the late Roman Empire, or if you're just curious, this short and readable book is well worth the effort.

Poverty Bay is a solid enough mystery wrapped in a depressing ambiance. In this second book in the series, Thomas Black is hired to locate a missing man, Lance. Lance failed to meet his black girlfriend at the marriage license bureau. It turns out that Lance is the sole heir to a 15 million dollar fortune who has lived as a street person for the last few years. Hence, Thomas follows a trail through both the homeless life of Seattle and the black sub-culture as he seeks Lance.

This was a pretty good read. The clues, while sometimes pretty improbable, turn up regularly. Still, there's no glamour in this tale or humor.

Very tiresome reading of this one since it got so many holes from the very beginning without any appropriate logic and explanation. Trying very hard to create a cool p.i. sometimes might only left bad taste for a thinking reader. Gulping up blindly without thinking while reading a detective story would not good for your health, at least not for your brain.

This is the second novel in the Thomas Black series by Earl Emerson. This book has a strong plot and Emerson describes the atmosphere of Seattle to perfection in this book. Lance Tyner is the heir to his grandfather's fortune of $15 million. When Tyner diappears, Black investigates, and goes to some dreary places where the dregs of humanity struggle to stay alive. This is a strong addition to the series which began with "The Rainy City." Black and his friend, Kathy Birchfield, are likeable and believeable characters.