This book is an excellent resource to take on the road with you to Massachusetts.! Great pictures with easy to follow directions. I personally used it on a trip last summer and saw most of the lights in the book! Highly recommended.

This book contains lots of color pictures as well as histories and travel directions. I found it extremely useful as a guidebook and it has made a nice souvenier of a recent trip to some of the lights featured.

I worked for a Divorce Attorney who used to recommend this book to her clients - I give the book to my friends, both female & male, to read before they act on Divorce and during their Divorce. Atty Jancourtz says it like it is and the book has a neutral tone, not favoring either male or female. I strongly recommend to anyone contemplating Divorce - read this book!!

The title of Ms Jancourtz's book is a bit misleading. The book is a concise and accurate guide to divorce law and procedures in Massachusetts. If both husband and wife are talking and anywhere near rational, the book can serve as a step by step guide to a self help divorce.

-Items covered include: -What are each parties rights in most cases. -How would a judge rule. -Where to go for protection or assistance. -Templates and sample forms..how to fill them out..where to file them. -Formulas and worksheets for calculating child support that conforms with state guidelines.

I used the book, and I'm a guy. When my ex-wife and I used this book with the assistance of a mediator, I took a draft of the separation/divorce agreement we put together to a lawyer for review. The lawyer was incredibly confrontational in his approach and I could see the dollar signs in his eyes. When I asked him up front what the letter of the law said about each issue he brought up, it turned out that Jancoutz (and the terms of our agreement)conformed with what a judge would probably have ruled. I consulted another, more rational lawyer and made only minor changes to our agreement. My impression is that if paid lawyers start butting heads its just the lawyers who come out ahead. Jancourtz gives a couple the tools they need to understand the law.

If your using mediation, hiring a lawyer, or want to do it by yourselves, Jancourtz provides an excellent tool.

As a reader who is not well versed in medicine or in American history (don't tell my mother!) I found this to be thoroughly enjoyable and a fast read. Walter Channing lived a rich and long life, and Kass wonderfully captures the medical, social, family and spiritual life of this man and 19th century America. Channing was one of the great men (and belonged to one of the great families)of early Boston, and his accomplishments and efforts to improve the lives of women and newborns were great. And yet here is also a wonderful story (often sad though sometimes with touching humor)of a very real and inspiring person.

I have read a number of biographies recently--Gallileo's Daughter, A Clearing in the Distance(Frederick Law Olmsted) and this belongs in that group of complelling and thoroughly researched stories.

Anyone with an interest in history, medicine, women's studies, or childbirth (mothers, fathers, doctors, etc) should read this book. Kass does an outstanding job of synthesizing the perils of one man who was standing on the cusp of medicine as we know it today. Walter Channing was a prominent physician in Boston during the 19th century who was a pioneer in the use of anaesthesia during childbirth.

I found this book interesting not only because Kass brought an influential (and often forgotten) figure into the limelight, but also because she tied together threads of the social world in Boston and in medicine. Once you finish this book, you almost feel as though you understand what life was like and how difficult it was to provide "high quality" care to patients, particularly women in the 19th century.

This book would be an excellent addition to any course in the history of medicine, but I would also highly recommend it to the lay reader as well as it is accessible to a broad audience.

We travel all over the world and use local guides for each region or city we visit. This guide covers the most visited sites as one expects. It also introduces the reader to Boston as the locals see it. We find the best memories of a visit to a new city are the small, colorful exciting places found amoung the well known landmarks. A small farmers market behind the Museum of Art where the neighborhood shops. A pub with authentic Irish music but without the tourist crowd. These flavor a visit and make it special. The author searches for these and helps make our visit better. If you can't see all the places in the book, he writes in a style that makes the book a good read in the hotel room or airplane.

Last year, anticipating the arrival of out of town family, I bought Jeff Perk's Massachussetts Handbook. I have lived in New England for 15 years but am still, of course, an outsider. I found tons of wonderful information and suggestions in the Mass. Handbook, so when the Boston Handbook came out I snatched that one up too. This is a great book for literate people visiting Boston. It covers the whole historical, literary, and artistic scene better than any of its competitors, and it is wonderfully well written as well. Beside highbrow information, he also includes wonderful material on Boston parks, as well as doing a great job with moderately priced eating places and hang-outs. The book assumes, it seems to me, that the reader is well-educated, interested in history and culture, without a lot of money to spend. If that fits your profile, you couldn't buy a better guide book. My only real gripe with the book is that he doesn't do the restaurants in East Boston where some of the most interesting cheap food is to be had.

I remember the stories about these murders and of unexplained disappearances, in Fall River's Herald News, in 1979 and the early 80's. The novel displays photos and is complete with text containing amazing and horrific details of the crimes committed. There is still a case, which may be connected to Carl Drew, regarding the murdered bodies of a number of New Bedford prostitutes discovered along the highway between Fall River and New Bedford. But there hasn't been any evidence, to date, to support that theory by the police investigators in the case. You couldn't have grown up in Bristol County, MA without hearing the about the Borden Murders of 1892. And then this happened only 88 years later. This novel chillingly accounts the details of how each of these victims were help captive in life and their brutal demise.

After living in the city of Fall River, Massachusettes, for a few years, I became very interested in the city's rich history of murder. Ghost stories that came true in the very place that you are standing. Those stories began with Lizy Borden. Then I found out about Carl Drew through this book. The darkness had once again returned to disrupt the lives of the denizens of a sea side New England town. The city has been bathed in blood and I can only imagine, what will happen next. After all, doesn't history repeat itself?

...already did a good job of describing what to expect from this fascinating book. I would just like to add a few small points.

A reader might have trouble finding Kathleen Bragdon's other, related publication, based on the way the earlier reviewer described it. The correct title of that book is "Native People of Southern New England, 1500-1650." It is very interesting, and it greatly expands the information given in the volume that I'm primarily discussing here.

Another point, which I feel prospective buyers might wish to be aware of, is that "Native Writings in Massachusett" is composed almost entirely of historical minutiae. What I mean by this is that most of the documents here are of extremely slight historical import. Don't expect major treaties, or folk literature. The writings here are fascinating precisely because of their pedestrian, mundane, quotidian nature. They include marriage vows, marginalia from old bibles, personal wills, or land deeds (an issue of overwhelming significance, to be sure, but the actual documents here tend to be of very small transactions). There are about 150 of these short documents. In every case, we first see a xerox of the original, almost always handwritten document, which is usually very faded and difficult to read. There follows a transcription of the Massachusett text. Next, there is a translation into English, or an effort to translate. Sometimes there are words that no one understands anymore...

Volume two is basically a guide to the grammar of the language. Be warned, volume two is written for trained linguists, so it can be difficult to make your way through the pages. There's a lot of linguistics jargon. It isn't like a Berlitz book. Still, I think you should give it a shot -- it's more than worth it. If you need help with the linguistics terminology, try using "A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics," by David Crystal

Beyond these issues, the other reviewer has already made all the salient points, in my opinion. I would just like to add that it really is an amazing experience to leaf through this book. If you live in Eastern Massachusetts, or went to school there, this book has serious potential to enrich your library, and your mind. I grew up mostly in Massachusetts, and I remember always being curious about some of the odd names of places I would hear. Places like Lake Hocomoc, Mount Wachusett, Lake Quinebequin, Lake Quinsigamond, the place called Mishawum... As a child I used to wonder if maybe some of these odd words were perhaps Irish in origin, at least the names of the lakes, as I had friends with the last name Quinn and knew this word to be Irish. Of course, the Irish came to Massachusetts far too late to play a major role in the naming of places. The words that so many of us find to be enthralling are, in fact, of the ancient Massachusett tongue. Today, this tongue is very difficult to find examples of.

It may seem odd to devote attention to the tongue that was spoken in Massachusetts for so long, before the arrival of English. I hope you try to confront this feeling of oddness, and face it down. This book evokes a certain wrenching of one's customary paradigm, when one thinks of the copper-colored folk who lived in Massachusetts for innumerable cycles of years, fishing and hunting, working and playing, living and loving, before the arrival of the English. This book helps you to feel that once Massachusetts was just a place like any other, with no broader significance in the worlds of politics, science, or education. Today the ancient Massachusett tribe exists only in the Ponkapoag band, spread out across many neighborhoods in towns to the south of Boston. Their language is preserved in these magical pages. In fact, this very book has helped a member of the nearby, more populous Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, Jessie "Little Doe" Fermino, to revitalize the almost identical lost Wampanoag tongue.

If you'd like to show some interest and respect for the people who walked the paths, fished the rivers, and knew the forests of Eastern Massachusetts for unknown centuries before our current civilization came into being, you could do worse than to purchase these books. I'd also like to strongly recommend that you alert your local library to its existence.

Goddard and Bragdon did a great service in the compilation of this work, containing "an edition of all known manuscript writings in the Massachusett language by Native speakers." Published in two parts, this book includes photographs of historical manuscript texts with verbatim transcription and English translation. Includes an historical, anthropological, and linguistic introduction to these rare and precious documents, grammatical sketch, and separate indices for Massachusett and English words. Not only for the specialist, this book provides a fascinating glimpse into Native literacy, culture, politics, and worldview in 17th through 19th century Massachusetts. Bragdon's wonderful book, Native Peoples of New England, is well-paired with Native Writings in Massachusetts.

Morton is readable and approachable...until you come upon his allegorical poetry. Dr. Jack Dempsey has unlocked the dense stanzas of Morton. I first encountered Morton years ago and dismissed him as did almost every major New England historian. Not Dempsey. Through his scholarship 'mine eyes have been opened'. Morton loved New England in a very modern sense. His relationship to the Indians and the environment are worth studying. Morton was trained in Latin and understood the mythological figures. Morton related those ancient figures to the circumstances of the 1620's and 1630's. Morton stands in stark contrast to his neighbors twenty five miles away: the Pilgrims at New Plimoth. Adventure, Compassion, Courage...it is all there. Bravo Jack Dempsey!

Thomas Morton's life and influence on early America is under appreciated.In a very entertaining section of the book Dempsey reveals how Morton has been received during the course of our history.Dempsey brings to life the ebullient,prickly,roguish character that Morton was.I learned a great deal about the politics of colonial religious life especially as it effected Native Americans. Of course this influence is still with us today and Dempsey's exegesis on this subject is powerful and persuasive.This book is scholarly but also lots of naughty fun.

I lived on Martha's Vineyard for several years year-round, during the bustling summers and what is known as the "off season." Philip R. Craig's novel captures perfectly the sense of community that year-round Islanders enjoy. He also gives a realistic account about how everyone knows everyone else's business in a closely-knit environment. His characters Mimi and Nash are true to life. His descriptions about how people eke out a living scallopping and fishing in the off-season are also quite accurate. Craig also mixes into his cast of characters a few professional and business people, and their interaction with the native Islanders is key to his story. The suspense in "Off Season" is great, and I could not guess the outcome until the final pages of the book. I also love this book because it contains so many evocative passages about Martha's Vineyard. I feel like I am living there again when I read Craig's (a/k/a J.W. Jackson's) descriptions of my beloved Island. I know every secluded beach and back road about which he writes. When he writes about Wasque Point, I can almost see the sun setting westward over the beach in the late afternoon and feel the salty spray on my face from the crashing waves. Reading this book was like taking another vacation on the Vineyard!

L LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE THESE BOOKS!!!!! A very dear friend introduced me to this marvelous series a couple of months ago and i'm completely, totalllllly addicted!!! i think it would be great to have a recipe section at the end of each book...i'd love to try j.w.'s bluefish pate! as i was reading the earlier fantabulous books, i wondered how martha's vineyard would be 'off season' and lo and behold, that was the very next book in the pile to read....never, ever stop writing about j.w. and zee and their crazy adventures....i'd love to have this great couple as next door neighbors!!!! thanx for so many wonderful hours savoring the incredible descriptions of places and recipes!!!!! i'm simply thrilled that i have 3 more books of this fun series in order to catch up to the present!!!! and when i'm reading something else, i actuallly miss j.w. and zee....crazy, huh???

There are hundreds of books out there about the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving and all that goes with the subject. But the majority of these books are written either in a stodgy, encyclopedic (read: Boring!) format, or they are written for children. Well, now I have one that is actually written for adults, as well as in an easy to read manner. Written mainly from a genealogical stance, the author, Eugene Aubrey Stratton, did his "putting flesh on the bones" research; that is, he sought out how the pilgrims lived their daily lives in all aspects of their time and place. Instead of the cartoonish figures we all see come November, Mr. Stratton actually gives an authentic look to these early Americans. He makes the reader feel that they now know the pilgrims, not only through their historical prominence in our early history, but by name, and we feel their hardships, especially of their first winter here. After the first time reading this book, I re-read it, only this time I read the 'Biographical Sketches' section, located toward the back of the book, first, THEN I went to the beginning. My advice to the first time reader is to do the same. You will then know who you are reading about as names are mentioned.
This book is, simply put, the best of its kind. Maybe more genealogists should write our history books! At least they bring history to life!

In doing research on my own ancestor who was a passanger on the Mayflower and one of the original Pilgrims, I have used over 50 books. This one is by far the best. Very readable, this book provides an excellent narative of many of the events of the first 70 years at Plymouth, and detailed descriptions of many of the Pilgrims. For anyone interested in this era, this book is a must.

Portrait of a Port is a remarkable collection of photographs covering the Boston waterfront in the days of sail. Whether you are a model maker, historian, or sailor, you will appreciate this amazing collection of photographs. A minimal, but entirely sufficient text explains the photographs, but the real content lies within the photos. There are coasting schooners, clippers, catboats and barges. There are fishermen and fishcarts, docks and shipyards, riggers and sailors. Get a magnifying glass because the detail locked within these lovely old black and white photos is stunning. The collection captures a time long gone.

I met Mr Bunting in Jaffrey, NH during the time he was compiling Old photos. Any lover of the nautical scene will love this book.It covers the port of Boston from 1852 to 1914 .A wonderful picture every other page with very knowlegeble discourse on the facing page. From the Thomas W Lawson the only 7 masted scooner ever built to the masts named sfter the days of the week to the lowly but wonderful narrow gauge ferry from East Boston to Boston. I rode this ferry many times as a child.

This is a book you will never toss out.