I have had this book in my architectural library since its publication. I refer to it frequently as the primary source for information on the early 19th century architecture of Boston. We are fortunate that the authors are literate and the photographers sensitive and that this piece of architectural and social history has been recorded.

I am the author of Becoming Cape Cod: The Creation of a Seaside Resort, which is the first book to tell the history of Cape Cod's development as a vacation mecca. This book traces Cape Cod's resort history from its discovery by Henry David Thoreau before the Civil War to the present day. It is lavishly illustrated with rare historical postcards.

Becoming Cape Cod has three main sections: 1870-1920, on the early years of the resort; 1920-1950, on the impact of the automobile on creating a tourist region with common marketing, a plethora of attractions, and a strong heritage appeal; 1950-2000, on measures taken to preserve the Cape in the face of overdevelopment.

The decisive moment for the Cape's development was the coming of the automobile during the 1920s. For the first time, tourists were able to explore the entire region. As a result a plethora of cottage colonies, restaurants, antique shops, and historical landmarks appeared. After World War II, a boom ensued that continues to the present day. Cape Cod's greatest challenge has been preserving the natural environment, historic buildings, and cultural traditions that have shaped the Cape's sense of place. Becoming Cape Cod drew upon my experiences working at the Cape Cod Commission, a regional planning agency, in writing this book. Part social history, part cautionary tale, Becoming Cape Cod meditates upon how to preserve authentic places against continuing growth pressures.

The Cape Cod Voice has called Becoming Cape Cod "an intriguing combination of historical research, overview and statistics, with a fun visual hook." The Cape Codder said the book is "a welcome and important addition to the Cape Cod history library."

My other publications include three books and numerous articles on Boston, Western Massachusetts, and urban history.

Now in an thoroughly updated and expanded, The Berkshire Book: A Complete Guide by hiker, newspaper publisher, and travel writer Lauren R. Stevens, is an informed and informative travel resource ideal for anyone vacationing in the Berkshire county of Massachusetts. After providing a history of the area, individual chapters are filled with information on transportation, lodgings, dining, fine arts, recreation, shopping, and much, much more in this packed, tell-all, detail-laden guide. If you are going to find yourself in Berkshire country, Lauren Steven's The Berkshire Book is the travel guide for you!

It is hard to imagine another region that can boast more consistently interesting writers per square foot than the beautiful Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts.
The present volume has gathered many, from the 1600's to our own time, always with an eye for local color and the good read. Along the way we meet some interesting residents and visitors (Francis Parkman, Charles Dickens), sample some old favorites, Hawthorne, Melville, and Wharton, among others, and are pleased to become acquainted with the fine writing of Paul Metcalf and Don Gifford.
Altogether a delight for anyone who cherishes good reading, and especially of course for those who love the area.

(The "score" rating is an unfortunately ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

One of the great charms of Massachusetts is the abundance of bike paths that were put in during the 1970s and 1980s. Whether you like to bike, use in-line skates, walk, or run, these paths will provide you with much healthy pleasure that you could not easily get otherwise. This guide is remarkably complete and accurate in describing your choices for a fun afternoon in the sun.

I first became interested in bike paths from riding on the famous path in Provincetown as a young man of 20. Having rented a bike there one day, the lady who helped me said that it was one of the things she was proudest of that she could ride the whole cicuit without stopping when she turned 50. I vowed to remember that and be sure to try the path again when I turned 50.

I was fascinated to learn that this route is still considered the state's "most spectacular bike path." Knowing that course well, I was hooked by the book when I realized that it contained good, if brief, descriptions of that wonderful and famous route.

The book opens with a statewide map that locates the 34 paths that are described in the book, so you can see where each one is. Five are on Cape Cod, four in central Massachusetts, one each in Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, and the bulk are in the greater Boston area. The Berkshires are bereft.

A lot of these paths follow old railroad lines, and extend for quite a distance. Others circulate within a state park. Some local bike paths are included. The MDC reservations in Boston provide many wonderful routes. My older son favors the long-distance routes on the reservations, and he frequently takes the routes along the Charles River on his in-line skates. One of the joys of these paths throughout the state are the views that are unavailable from other sites.

The book describes the laws about bike riding and the rules of the road on the paths. Children under 12 must wear a helmet, and those under 1 are not permitted on bikes. On a bike path, you need to remember to stay on the right except to pass. When you pass on the left, you need to make an audible sound to alert the person ahead. Also, these are not places for fast bike riding or in-line skating. You need to go to closed courses for those purposes. These paths are for recreation by large numbers of people.

Each path contains information about its length, the difficulty of the slopes, neighborhood you pass through, condition, background of its founding, rules and regulations, orientation of how to find the starting point, a detailed map, well detailed descriptioons of the trail segments, driving and parking directions, the names and relevant information about bike and skate shops that are local (including whether they rent bikes or not), sources of additional information, and a photo of the path.

Considering that some of these paths can be ridden in only a few minutes for one circuit, the material is quite extensive.

This is the revised and expanded second edition of this work. When the third edition comes out, I suggest that it include more specific information about the steepness of the most significant slopes, the elevation of the path, and how it is affected by the spring snow melt. If you are like me, you'd like to get out of the house after this very snowy winter we've just had in Massachusetts.

I suggest that you expand the benefit from your travels by also getting a nature guide for whatever you like to observe, whether plants or animals. That will provide more interesting diversions while you bike. I also find it valuable to set my mind on some important question when I start the ride. Usually, I have many good answers by the time I finish, as well as a healthy feeling of having stretched my legs and lungs.

Get rolling!

Sarah and Max go on vacation at Ireson Landing. They find a valuable Bilbao Looking Glass in the house. Sarah insists it does not belong to the Kellings. Then a neighbor is murdered and then her friend. Are they related or coincidence. Great ending for Sarah and Max.

Over the past thirty years Black or African-American history has been on the cutting edge of research, and a popular offering in secondary schools and especially in colleges and universities. Not unexpectedly, many have sought to capitalize on this new-found interest in what educators call "multiculturalism" by "rushing-to-judgment," by making available to students, specialists,and the general public,works catering to this interest. Many (nearly all) of these works, written by "celebrity scholars" like Cornell West, bell hooks, Angela Davis, Roger Wilkins, Beverly D. Tatum--the list is seemilngly endless--are devoid of dispassionate scholarship. Indeed, it is not too much to say these "works" are opportunistic ramblings of race hustlers who are incapable of distinguishing blatant racial advocacy from serious, evidentiary-based, scholarship.
How refreshing, then, to come upon a work like that of Professor George Levesque's. This beautifully written, meticulously researched book, while it focuses on a single state and its capital city (Boston Massachusetts)informs about the origins of Black life and culture of non-slave Blacks in general in the crucial years before the general emancipation brought about by the Civil War. As the late William G. McLoughliln of Brown University wrote on the dust jacket, "Boston has had many interpreters but few have written about this quintessential American city as has Levesque in this incomparable book; by far the best we have on black life in urban America before the Civil War. Solidly grounded in primary sources, brilliant in its multifaceted analysis, this Big Book returns black history to the forefront of historical achievement."
Perhaps most revealing about this big book (it is more than 500 pages in length,)is the author's erudition on such a wide range of topics. The work on the demographic landscape alone is remarkable. We learn not only about the origins and growth of Boston's black community, including its age and sex ratios, statistics on reported crime, pauperism and insanity; emploument figures, school and church membership rolls, but on a host of associational and institutional aspects as well as the band of incomparable leaders, men and women both, who led this community in the pivotal transition years between the Revolution and the Civil War. One cannot capture in a brief review the rich tapestry woven by this author, a tapestry which enlightens on every subject examined; an example of social history at its very best, and one which informs on a subject which should be of interest to us all: the origns of our enduring and perplexing racial dilemma.

John Feely has written the thinking person's guide to Boston. This could substitute easily for a history or architecture textbook about the city. It is very accessible because of an excellent index. The text is quite detailed and organized nicely giving first the history, geography and then current status of monuments, buildings, museums, geographic features and neighborhoods. There are some cautions for the buyer. The print is small and the directions for walkers both inside and outside of buildings might be confusing. This is not a guide for hotels, restaurants or entertainment. The book could use some more detailed street maps within each section, similar to the Michelin green guides. Overall a good choice at a good price.

Palestinian-American detective Ben Kamal and former Israeli police official Danielle Barnea work in America for Security Concepts. A powerful Arab businessman hires the duo to extract his kidnapped son from the People's Brigade. The mission goes terribly wrong and to save Ben's life, Danielle is forced to kill a number of men including a FBI agent. Unable to stay in the country after that debacle, she accepts the post of Commander of Israel's National Police.

Leading a raid on a terrorist enclave in Gaza, she discovers a document written in Arabic that she faxes to Ben in America for translation. They learn that it is a plan to bring about the bible prophecy to cause the end of all things. meaning the destruction of America. A supply of small pox is stolen from a military fort and ends up in the hands of the leader of the People's Brigade. Layla Aziz Rahani who is the daughter of a Saudi Arabian billionaire is the mastermind behind the plot to destroy America. Her plan is even more diabolical than what it first seems because she plans to unleash a biological weapons a million times worse than smallpox. When Ben and Danielle realize what her fiendish ploy is, they vow to stop her or die trying.

Jon Land is an insightful, creative and colorful storyteller who has a grasp of the politics and the divisiveness that exist in the Middle East. Readers also gain a fascinating glimpse into the culture of Saudi Arabia as seen from the perspective of the women. THE BLUE WIDOWS is an action-packed provocative tale that has more curves than a twisted pretzel. The plot is action-pack and the two protagonists are easv to admire.

Harriet Klausner