...Then buy this book! A keeper

The best book on Idaho since Vardis Fisher's classic over fifty years ago, and quite possibly the best travel guide ever written.. A blend of coloful history with unusual current places to see, stay, eat, and visit. Includes great color maps by cartoonist Don Gill.

This book title is misleading. What it doesn't say in the title is Volume I:Central Idaho. The book itself is great and really goes into detail, beautiful pictures, nice maps of the highways, but it only covers Central Idaho. So.....if you are looking for a book that covers all of Idaho this is not a good choice.
Debbie Hardy

This is quite simply the most informative, comprehensive, descriptive, and fascinating educational tour guide for the motorist I have ever seen. The subtitle is correct...nearly every mile is documnented in detail discussing the geology, history, and uniqueness of some of the most beautiful scenic by-ways in the nation. It'll have you pulling over to the side of the road at every mile marker. Also included; side trips, dirt roads, more comprehensive sections on popular destinations and a very clear outline of routes and highways one should take to get the most of you journey. Seeing the mountains and rivers of central Idaho with this book in hand was truly a thrill. I came away from this trip not only enriched by the spectacular beauty of the region but more informed about the processes and people that helped shape and form this dramatic region of our country.

Oh , his voice is SO dreamy ! Buy the audio,girls !

Our family read this book together. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. It touched us all deep inside. It has a wonderful message of love, sacrifice, judgement and forgiveness. I would highly recommend this book. Don't miss it!

The reader follows the author and her biologist husband on a fall to spring stay in the wilds of Idaho. The vivid descriptions of their encounters with such wildlife as cougars and elk in the beautiful back country take you along on their special adventure. The story of their survival in the cold, frigid winter environment remind all of us that without our modern conveniences life becomes much more difficult. This is an exciting first-person story and well worth reading. An excellent book, that I strongly recommend to all lovers of the out-of-doors, and to those who want to learn more about our natural world.

This book was written from a women's point of view. I enjoyed the diary style writing. I am an outdoor person and don't know if I could stay for a whole winter in the wilderness. The author wrote about the hardships of life in the wilderness, the difficulty in traveling during the winter. She brought out some of the difficulties that most of us take for granted. A real pioneer adventure.

Being a fan of books about the area I live in and especilly the part of the state that I love to roam around in This book was a real read. A lot of familiar names both people and places made it even more intresting.

This book tells it all in regards to a part of the west that is not generaly known. The early pioneer days of south eastern Oregon and south western Idaho have all the richness and real west excitment of any place you could name. Complete with mining booms & busts, Indian Wars and hardy sagas of pioneer homesteaders and ranchers...Owyhee Tales tells it all! A great companion to any western history buffs collection or to the new crop of whitewater river runners who journey to the areas namesake river, the Owyhee.

A river guide essential! This is the definitive history of the Main Salmon River from North Fork to the confluence of the Snake River. Don't float without it!

Have you ever been on the Salmon River and wondered about the history behind all those beautiful sights everyone takes for granted? Well, now is your chance to find out. River of No Return is a detailed description of the history, dating back to the 1800's, along the entire Idaho Salmon River and its tributaries. The stories of explorers, miners, homesteaders along with their trial & tribulation brings the entire river drainage to life. The actual history behind the river is truly increadible. Being a local Idahoan I had heard some stories of the past, but this book tells of them all and answers many questions. Rafters and hikers who travel down or along the river will be able to truly appreciate the trip because of the detailed mapping and fact gathering done by the authors. I strongly feel that this book is a must for anyone about to travel into that part of God's Country.

Though K. Deinhardt's main focus in writing Spirits of the Salmon River may have been to give respect to those who lived there, her book offered something different to me, someone not as interested in history as the present. It interested me because I know the author, I know Idaho and I have experienced the Salmon River from taking rafting trips on it. Spirits of the Salmon River deepened my feelings for the River, as it recounted story after story of persons who lead adventurous, brave, hardworking and often short lives there. I was drawn to the stories of the women on the river. Reho Wolfe's story was especially impressive with it's combination of tradegy and success and a spirit that would not be defeated. Ms. Deinhardt offers detailed desciptions of not only what has happened to the people living on the River, but also easy to visualize pictures of the weather, the surroundings, the cabins lived in, the work that was done, family dynamics and challenges. I appreciated the simple, straightforward and well-researched writing that allowed me to experience this part of Idaho history in such an enjoyable way.

Deinhardt writes as a person who has personally climbed, reached, dug and slid through water and mud to uncover not only the graves but the lives of those who came before. Her careful research is apparent as she shares some discrepancies found in various other publications. Whether read cover to cover, or about one individual at a time, it's an interesting take on the brave and somewhat eccentric individuals who chose the Salmon River as their home. Enjoyable and relaxing. It would be a terrific book to take along on a river trip on the Salmon or for all who may have visited the river in the past.

This book will be of interest to natives of the Northwest, as an outsider assesses what it is about their culture that is worth embracing. It will be interesting to city folk to watch one of their own forsake the freeways and the smog of California for a green and peaceful place. During her ten-year indoctrination into the ways of the West, Freeman-Toole faces physical and emotional hardships with heroism and common sense. A first book by the author.

Many of the current books written about the West are by natives of the area that have typically lived on a family farm or ranch. They provide intimate details about working the land and lament the daily changes occurring in what many consider the last, best place to live in the United States.
Freemna-Toole is different. She is a sixth-generation Californian and comes to the last free-flowing stretch of the Snake River in Idaho not knowing the impact it would have on her life.
In lyrical, poignant prose she provides an intimate portrait into her search for her own place in the world. It has a profound effect on her life when she finds it in the new, and old, West. Little did she know that her friendship with the owner of the last homestead ranch on the middle Snake River would lead her to encounter the dilemmas facing both natives and newcomers alike in the West.
Her account of having to re-examine her views on environmentalism in light of rural traditions and values is worthy not only for its sensitivity but for its examination of an issue that is at the heart of one of the monunmental changes taking place in the West.
The unavoidable impact of tourism and recreation growth in a pristime and spectacular landscape is noted along with a recognition that is rarely seen in print from a lover of the area, namely that it may be than such tourism will serve to preserve some of the landscape that otherwise might be sacrificed on the altar of economic development.
I heard such an argument made by river guides on a recent trip down the Grand Canyon. They argued that while increased tourism unquestionably places great stresses on the environment, the same tourists, once exposed to such grandeur, are more likely to oppose proposals to develop, dam or clear cut such treasures. Thus, tourists may be the lesser of evils and easier to contain than the alternatives.
There are also chapters on the author's struggle between leaving her family roots in Los Angeles, with all the guilt and uncertainty that predictably creates, and struggling to understand the almost magical pull of the rural West. She writes about her introduction to traditions and a culture that view private property rights, politics, animal treatment, family loyalties and death in a manner that is radically different than the ones with which she is familiar.
Throughout the book are wonderful scenes and descriptions of her young son's introduction to a rural environment and the impact it has on his life.
The book is an excellent memoir about one woman's journey into an enviroment that is harsh, controversial, spectacular and, for an increasing number of people, the end of a long search for a special place that is as much about spirit as geography. A moving, honest, well-written book.

Sun Valley remains the preeminent destination ski resort in the United States. Holland's book documents the importance and the glamour this small town in Idaho has contributed to our society. Anyone who has been to Sun Valley, or anyone who is fascinated by skiing ought to check out this beautiful book. Great Photos.

The history of Sun Valley epitomizes a large aspect of the history of the 20th century American West -- eastern and western pioneers in the natural, mountain environment; the omnipresence of the railroad; skiing as a liesure activity and an industry (including the world history of skiing); even a strong touch of Hollywood. Using her well-researched doctoral dissertation in history as a starting point for the very readable and lively text, Ms. Holland has added a very impressive collection of excellent black & white historical photographs and 1940s color photographs of the people and the landscape that made Sun Valley the first premier skiing resort in the West. Included are color reproductions of maps, promotional posters and brochures. All in all, the book is an excellent record of the "people" stories and the "material culture" of Sun Valley. Ms. Holland has done an excellent job of telling us a fascinating story with very impressive visuals.

Brock's Sunshine Mine Disaster is a fantastic series of poems mingled with other life documents--a truly original and exciting reading experience. With this collection, Brock drags poetry out of the darkness of MFA-approved academic boredom and into the light of life, death and transcendence. The poems themselves remind me of DH Lawrence in subject and scope. A major addition to contemporary poetry and literature.

Brock combines original poetry with various historical documents to depict events, real and imagined, surrounding the 1972 Idaho silver mine explosion, which killed 91 men. The result is an exciting tour de force, which the author modestly calls "an example of life-writing" rather than a book-length poem with epic tendencies. Brock invents the persona of the miner Dan Taylor through which to view the disaster, even to the extent of creating a fourth grade report Taylor wrote-"The Rainbow Trout in Idaho." Other perspectives, real and imagined, unfold as the poem moves toward its final section, a moving prayer uttered by the entombed Taylor. Along the way the reader encounters tragedy, irony, even comedy, in the actions of the mine owners, various authorities, victims, and their families. Brock's knowledge of mines and their technical vocabulary is extensive and superbly woven into the poem. American poetry could use a lot more of what The Sunshine Mine Disaster has. Highest recommendation for all readership levels. --from Choice Magazine, June 1996