This is a great book for the pictures and the life of a miner as depicted by a miner. Enjoyable reading though a bit short on exact details, facts, or mining explanations. Great pictures though!

This was a good, readable book; and it told a compelling tale of a young hard-rock miner, from his stabs at different jobs to his eventual career as a miner. It takes one through his apprenticeship and various adventures in the silver mines of Idaho, until by the end of the book he is a competent silver miner. I would not call Mr. Dolph a great, or even a very good writer; in fact, I doubt if he would describe himself so. He writes with an honesty and a self-effacing wit that more than makes up for any stylistic shortcomings. This book delves into a lot of the minutiae in terms of tools and techniques that a miner needs to master, but I never found this to detract from the great tale he has to tell. And, in spite of, or perhaps because of, his slight shortcomings as a writer, this is a fascinating book. He writes like someone you might like to meet.

This was a good, readable book; and it told a compelling tale of a young hard-rock miner, from his stabs at different jobs to his eventual career as a miner. It takes one through his apprenticeship and various adventures in the silver mines of Idaho, until by the end of the book he is a competent silver miner. I would not call Mr. Dolph a great, or even a very good writer; in fact, I doubt if he would describe himself so. He writes with an honesty and a self-effacing wit that more than makes up for any stylistic shortcomings. This book delves into a lot of the minutiae in terms of tools and techniques that a miner needs to master, but I never found this to detract from the great tale he has to tell. And, in spite of, or perhaps because of, his slight shortcomings as a writer, this is a fascinating book. He writes like someone you might like to meet.

Unlike the people of the town of Haven, this book is harmless fun for mystery readers. Anyone with a brain will figure out what is going to happen well before it actually does happen yet the book remains interesting through the end. The least enjoyable aspect of this book is the cliche stereotyping of the people.

Haven, by John Peyton Cooke, is the story of a doctor, Cecelia Mak, and her husband, Mike. Cecelia is transferred to a little town in Haven, Idaho. Problems begin the moment they step into their new home. The people of the small town seem to be surprised that Cecelia is married to an Asian. Mysterious phone calls and pranks begin to take place. Mike suspects the Havenites are racists. But as events begin to unfold, a far worse conclusion is drawn that costs the lives of people. The way the story is written steps into the territory of Ira Levin and Stephen King. It is dark and very scary. Haven is a good book for people fascinated by the details of the Holocaust and what happened to some of the Nazis that fled Germany.

A unique mystery that ties right-wing rednecks with nazi germany. Although that sounds a bit strange, the book was actually very enjoyable. I highly recommend it for mystery buffs.

As reviewer Joe Pickett said, this book is well-written and enjoyable. My personal preference is for single state travel books, because they are more exhaustive in their coverage, and thus more useful when traveling. The reason for this review is my amusement at finding an earlier review of this book from 2000 written by Joe Pickett. Joe Pickett is the name of the fictional hero of author C.J. Box's excellent mystery series set in Wyoming, and these books started appearing in 2001, after this review, with the award winning Open Season. I love these books, a perfect blend of mystery and western. So what say you, Mr. Box? Did you write the 2000 review for this book? I also can't help but wonder if C.J. Box is your real name. Perhaps you are a relative of Edgar Box, Gore Vidal's famous pseudonym.

i thought this book was an excellent primer...i was able to gain an understanding of each area of the states covered: what each has to offer sporting-wise, weather-wise, lodging- and food-wise. of course it is not as in depth as a single state guide book would be, but for those of us looking to explore all three, it provided a solid foundation from which to begin charting our course. enjoyable writing, as well. i had never read 'travel smart' books...getting another today because i was so pleased.

This book is not exhaustive...and isn't intended to be. It's the lowdown on the best places to go and stay and visit. It's written in a breezy, informed style that is fun to read and, from what I can tell, extremely accurate. Judging from the places I've been able to visit recently (Jackson Hole, Bozeman, Yellowstone) the author is right on. I'd recommend this book highly to anyone traveling into this region.

Although this book certainly has artistic merit, I would not have called it the "Best of". We have visited the area many times and are well aware of the various terrains. In some cases, the photographer seemed to choose the "ugliest of" and in even more cases, the photos could have been taken anywhere - there was nothing to indicate a particular location. Examples would be an animal running across an empty field. Fine if you're looking for nature, not very useful if you are trying to identify "Best of"/beautiful spots to visit. This was a gift for my husband and he was not very impressed...

This book has very enchanting photography. If you love nature, but are locked up in city life; This is a very nice book to have just to linger in and daydream of the wide open spaces. Of course it may get addictive and make you leave the city in search of a peaceful homestead to call home...

The book gives a good overview of the areas with many addresses. Anyhow I found it a bit too black and white. It gives useful maps, but no coloured pictures from the areas, which would make it a bit more pleasant to read.

I highly recommend this guide to anyone who will be traveling in the Northeast as well as Canada. This guide gives you everything from upcoming events for the year to where to stay & eat. The maps are easy to read and follow. I have been a reader of the Mobil Guide for many years and it is continuing to give the most accurate, up-to-date travel information. This is the MUST-HAVE for the Northeast traveler.

Perhaps the worst camping reference I own (make that owned). The book is full of repeated text. A half-hearted effort at best. Only the most basic information is provided for each campground. Not near enough for an out-of-towner or out-of-stater to confidently plan a trip. I ended up tossing it out in favor of multiple web sites (for detailed campground info) combined with the Montana Atlas and Gazeteer (for accurate mileage, elevation, etc.). There is absolutely zero information about the surroundings, forestation, landscape, or scenery at each campsite -- only general comments about the larger area or national forest in which each campground is located.

Readers who had prior editions of this series will be disappointed. The new author has very little commentary. It's now just a listing of campgrounds with facts. Is there shade, are the campsites private, how's the access road, is it busy ... who knows? Many of the campground notes are literally cut-and-pasted from the prior entry. Unfortunately Idaho wasn't covered in the older edition by Tom Stienstra. Very disappointing!

This book is ideal for anyone who has ever had trouble finding a camping spot. More than 1,200 campgrounds in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho are listed along with detailed information, as well as phone numbers and directions to get there. This is one book you will want to keep in your camper and use again and again. Perfect for planning that trip and hitting the road!

Having read most of the books that covered the REAL mountain men of the early 1900's, this book was terribly disappointing and the title is misleading. Sylvan Hart took his engineering degree and moved to a remote location that his family owned and lived more as an eccentric than a true mountain man. He died in 1980 and had been giving tours of his Five Mile "wilderness" before that. I give him credit for being a naturalist, innovator and someone who could live off the land. However, this book is not talking about any true mountain man who dealt with the early history of the West. He certainly didn't have to face obstacles that Fitzpatrick, Smith, Bridger and other true Mountain Men of the 1810-1850's did. It belongs in some other category. My pick would be "Boring". It is told in a descriptive narrative that makes you feel you are in a classroom listening to someone decribe how someone lived LIKE someone else. I give this one a Major Thumbs Down. If Sylvan Hart was the "Last Mountain Man". then there was 1 too many!

Sylvan hart lived as remote and pure a life as any man in the last half of this century. He was supremely skilled in survival, yet his skills were art. Perhaps his knowledge of natures resources and techniques of self sufficiency encouraged his retreat from society, but he must have also have been drawn by ancestral voices. This book delivers the reader to pristine, soon to be rediscovered Salmon River wilderness in Idaho. Looking over the shoulder of this man's calm, deliberate and happy practices of early skills may be your only insight to the price you are paying for societal safety.

It was an okay book but baby island was much better.

The Politics of Rightousness: Idaho Christian Patriotism by James Aho is certainly a well researched and well written book about an issue of supreme concern in our country. There are times, however, particularly in the first 150 pages of the book, during which Aho's subjects and points seem to be forgotten and/or spread too thin. In other parts of his book, he seems to base some of his premises on farfetched ideas and foundations. Albeit the foundations of many of the Identity ideals are farfetched within themselves. Regardless of these lulls in Aho's focus, I would strongly recommend this book to anybody who is interested in learning about these dark and mysterious cultural misfits.

I found this book through a newspaper review and eagerly bought it. I was very disappointed. It is overly academic, dull, poorly organized and excessively wordy. As a journalist, I understand the powers of brevity and clarity, but the author does not. Even the organization, by month, leaves a lot to be desired as the author still skips between months. The political background becomes so laborious that it is impossible to follow a chain of events or personalities. I would definitely skip reading this book, even though I forced my way through all of it, hoping that it would get better. It did not.

This book could be some much more readable with, perhaps, an editor and another draft. The author has to juggle a lot of details - historical, political, social, biographical and statistical - but does so in an ungraceful confusing manner. The writing at times is distractingly florid. I compare this to Big Trouble by J. Anthony Lukas that handles a wealth of period detail with grace and a simplicity and directness of language that sweeps you along. I was very disappointed given the natural drama of the story.

Although some of the other reviewers disagree, Pyne has done a fantastic job of pulling together many diverse strands of primary materials to make a compelling narrative. Not only does Pyne tell the stories of individual firefighters on the line, but he interweaves larger political and environmental issues as well. Really, this is a model work as far as coordinating the "big picture" with the details. Readers of this work will learn about bureaucratic infighting in the early 1900's, competing forestry theories, the physics of how fires actually work, as well as slices of social history here and there. Pyne's greatest weakness in this book is that he tends to be too wordy and a bit too flamboyant with imagery. If you can overlook that and can see the big picture Pyne is painting, the book will draw you in.