I read this book in hardback more than 20 years ago, when I was a wee tot (comparatively speaking). I had spent one day in New York, and I brought the book back as a souvenir. It immediately gave me ideas for what to see when I returned. The book is especially poignant after 9/11, but the city is as great as ever. A great way to taste the excitement of New York--and not just its big public spaces, but its smaller, more intimate ones too.

Great book about my favorite city! Makes you want to hop the next plane! A fun, non-traditional approach to a tour book to be read even if you're not on the walking tour. Makes you crave a...the "Big Apple"!

The paper back cover colours and of course authors name leapt out at me instantly and as it was on the bargain counter I had to have. It proved to be a great favourite of mine and many others in the few months of owning it. It was only a few months as the last borrower has never returned it ! This was four and a half years ago and I still greave for that book. That is the impact that one short but extreemly well written guide book has had on me . The wit and beautifully descriptive chapters giving an alternative side for the would- be tourist in New York shines through. She loved her city "warts an all". and the lovely 'asides' such as the characters that live around and/or frequent the Central Park region (whom we are never likely to meet) makes it all the more attractive and appealing to the readers. Helen wrote a tourist guide for the city hoping that her perception of this vibrant and often exotic Metropolis would attract and impress the visitor. It has in this readers 'eye' for I hope to spend a few days there shortly while holidaying in the States later this summer.

Although I did find the book somewhat useful in giving an overview of what people might do for a weekend at the Shore, I was a little disappointed in how briefly the author described many of the attractions. The book didn't really seem to give a sense of what the places were really . Would especially have liked to know more about good places to eat, like mini-reviews, not just a few short listings. Also wuld have liked more general stuff to read and more detail on activities for children in preschool to middle school range. Just didn't seem to be a really serious effort to help first-time visitors or people in need of real information.

Never could I have imagined a writer so eloquently describing the New Jersey Shore. I look forward to reading Mr. Edelstein's next product. Where in the world has this guy been? Buy it you'll love it!

This book is quite enjoyable. Mr. Edelstein's prose is both witty and informative. A true gem for anyone who vacations, or plans to vacation, at the Jersey shore.

This is one of the finest guides to New York City that it has been my pleasure to use and peruse. It is strong, unique, and essentially "nonpariel." There is really nothing on the market that has such natural down-home photography. In other words...none of the "faux-monumentalism" and deceptive proprtioning of space and matter which is the downfall of most guides. Ms. Greene accomplishes a Baedeker-style simplicity,with her perfectly concise and edited text. The size,format and substantiality of this book, as well as the ease in carrying it in a tote or rucksack make this guide a complete success. After the tragic events of September 11th, 2001...this book takes on an added poignancy, because so many of the treasured that Ms. Greene has unearthed, collated, collected, and memorialized are not directly connected with specifically "The Ground Zero" area of the Island of Manhattan...she helps to illuminate the complete diversity, universality, timelessness, and the raw raging dynamic power that shall forever be Manhattan"s legacy to the World, and future generations. This book is one of the strongest entries in its class since the Post-World War Two Era bagan. A thoughtful,encouraging,and Ms. Greene never puts herself above or between the wonders that she is illuminaring. She gets the information to you without the boredom of its conveyance. A remarkable job all the way around.

I purchased Liza Greene's book last Spring at my local bookstore and I have been very pleased with it. I have bought dozens of books and guides to New York City over the years. I am a married housewife with four daughters with a workaholic husband and my particular reward and gift from my family is that I get to go to New York City about four times per year for a little shopping, The Pierre, some nice dinners, the Met, Lincoln Center, and a few shows. I am originally from Dallas, Texas and I was just raised that way, and of course I realize that I am just an old dinosaur from a bye-gone time, but that was my generation. I have always thought and known that I was missing alot of New York City by being tethered to such a limited agenda. Last year I decided to broaden my horizons. Well, I couldn't be more pleased with Liza Greene's book, and I have used it as a blueprint, and a guide to some very exciting visual experiences that are just not to be found in any other guidebook. I just think that this book is a peach, an absolute peach. I am very glad that Liza Greene wrote it, and I am very pleased with its very nicely proprtioned size and portibility while it also gives a feeling of heft and substance. I don't think that the writer or the publisher could have done any better of a job of it. This is just a perfect little source and it has improved my feeling of grasping New York City a thousandfold. Thank you Ms. Greene for helping an old woman to get out of her rut.

Liza Greene's book is quite unique, and in many ways is one of the best books on the subject of New York's fabled architecture in the annals of the city. It is very obvious that this book was a labor of love and personal commitment on Ms. Greene's part. There is nothing cliched or by rote in this book. She has captured a number, a very large number of very fresh takes on the city "in situ." This book is so very New York in the fact that it is D.I.Y. She did not use twenty-five thousand dollars of expensive equipment, and lighting with a small horde of assistants and gofers. This book is the work of a single woman's very singular vision of what I think is the ultimate Metropolitan dream in the history of mankind. The labor of single-mindedness is reflected in pictures that are not dollied or craned or overly artificialized by city permits and special access. This is the work of an almost guerrilla sensibility. I only wish that PBS would give Ms. Green a full camera crew and 110 minutes to present her vision in context with her own voice-over so that more and more people would have access to her unique vision and singular passion. This book eloquently proves that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Bravo, Ms. Greene, bravo indeed.

The subtitle here says it all -- this is truly a history of the Falls, beginning back with the Ice Age, although that pre-history is dispensed with quickly. Berton is an easy, if not compelling read. I learned a whole lot more than necessary about the machinations of the power players in the early hydroelectric industry in Niagara. Amidst all that detail, however, Berton properly highlights the importance of the Falls to industrial development in both the United States and Canada, a fact easily overlooked in the popular image of Niagara. My own Falls memories include being thirteen and reading in 1960 the next day's Buffalo newspapers about the boy who accidentally went over the Falls in his bathing suit and survived, the only person ever to do so. The history Berton draws of the man's life after that miracle made interesting reading, as did the reasons the first person to survive going over in a barrel had for doing so. There is a full panoply here of fools, stoic rescuers (and body retrievers), and shysters, but I found Berton's efforts to be exhaustive sometimes obscured the lure and power that makes Niagara the popular fascination it has always been. That said, I know much more about Niagara than I did before and would recommend this as a quick summer read to anyone with curiosity about this natural, and -- Berton makes clear -- ever-changing wonder.

"Niagara" is a nice little book, stringing together a series of anecdotes about Niagara Falls and its immediate region, especially from the mid 19th century to the mid 20th century. As histories go, it is fairly light (the author does not cite his facts, although he does include an extensive bibliography), but Pierre Berton is adept at telling stories, especially human stories.

The stories mostly develop along one of two themes - daredevil encounters with the Falls, and human manipulation, either for the purpose of exploitation or protection of the Falls. Berton is best with the small stories of explorers, tightrope walkers, barrel riders, a family of "rivermen" (the Hills), and their ilk. The small becomes large with what is perhaps the best-crafted story, that of Lois Gibbs and the toxic tragedy of Love Canal, with which Berton ends the book.

Although the story of the Falls did not end in 1980, Love Canal is a fitting final story. Despite the occasional preservationist triumphs, the story of the Falls really culminates in Love Canal. The natural wonder of the Falls became framed by hucksters, factories, power stations, tacky museums, homes, roads, manicured parks and everything else unnatural. Engineers even managed to stop the falls in an attempt to clear out fallen rocks (they wisely chose not to once they realized that the rocks propped up the rock face behind the falls). A visit to the Falls today is a jarring reminder of what a mess we humans have made of the natural world. It is an obscene juxtaposition of nature's best and humanity's chintziest.

Berton is less skilled at relaying scientific stories about the formation of the falls, and the energy and chemical industries. He also seems less than passionate when writing about big business deals - his treatment of power-mavens Adam Beck and Robert Moses palls beside his treatment of activist Lois Gibbs or "riverman" Red Hill. As a result, the book is somewhat inconsistent and (ironically, considering the subject matter) does not always flow.

Conspicuously missing from "Niagara" is ancient Native American history and the eventful history of the last 20 years. The former may not be possible to write for lack of information, but the latter (which includes the establishment of a gambling casino overlooking the Falls) warrants an update. Also lacking is some of the political history surrounding the Falls. For all these reasons, this is more a three-and-a-half star book than a full four star book. But I'm givivng it four because it was fun to read and provided me, as a native of Western New York, with some history of my home region. I'm not sure how interesting all this will be for those with no personal experience of the Falls, but for those of us who do, its worth reading.

If you're curious about Niagara Falls, and want to know more about its geological and social history told in an highly engaging narrative style, this book is highly recommended. All aspects of the area and the natural phenomenon known as Niagara Falls is covered, with detailed stories about both the New York and Canadian sides. Interesting illustrations complement the text. Included are a wide range of topics, including the stories of the daredevils who tried to conquer the Falls to the more serious subject of Love Canal.

In addition to telling you where facilities, anchorages, and other interesting local points of interest are, he supplies invaluable lessons only learned in the school of hard knocks. Valuable mariner lessons were included on weather prediction, inlet navigation, and other techniques tailored to use in the Chesapeake bay. The book was very well done, and I hope to set off on a cruise in the very near future.

This is a very comprehensive and informative book for anyone interested in finding those hidden away spots in the coves. the author has obviously been in every nook and cranny and has done a fine job of accomplishing what he has set out to do in authoring this book. The maps contained within should be used as a general reference only, as they do not provide the detail needed to navigate adequately. This is not a pictoral book and, as a result, has very few pictures.

If you cruise the Chesapeake, you must have this book. I have read non better.

The local tourist authority has better hiking tips than the old fare the Zatzes warm over. The chipper tone hurts one's teeth and makes Kathie Lee Gifford seem pensive and profound.

This book is very well laid out from the initial NJ map showing the location of all the sites to the pertinent information given at the beginning of each hike, the excellent site maps and the handy signs in the margins. The writing is clear, interesting, filled with geological and historical background information, points of interest, helpful suggestions and cautionary notes. I have ventured out on several of the hikes and they've been great. Would recommend to anyone interested in hiking in The Garden State, with or without children.

I don't live in New Jersey, but I have visited several times. After reading Ms. Zatz's book, I'm ready to pack my hiking boots, borrow my nieces and nephew, and introduce them to what sounds like some terrific places. I highly recommend this well written, well researched guide. Ms. Zatz knows her stuff.

This book seems to have it all. The characters are rich and detailed, and the requisite thriller-style macho hero seems missing in action (a relief if you ask me). The two main characters -- Drs. Benjamin Meade and Marjorie Glynn -- are human and interesting. To explain what I mean in the second sentence, let me mention that Dr. Meade is a recovering alcoholic. The plot is intriguing -- a mid-Atlantic volcano erupts, plunging the Northern Hemisphere into a new ice age, while leaving the Southern half of the globe alone. There's only one problem: at page 200, Mr. Moran must have suddenly noticed the looming deadline and said, "Oh my gosh, I've got to finish this ---!" Benjamin Mead pulls a rabbit out of his geyser (er, hat) and stops the invading Irish army. Whoops. Moral of the story: If you like this book, you'll love Earth Winter. If you haven't read it, you probably shouldn't bother.

what we have here is an interesting scenario, what if a volcanoe erupted and caused volcanic winter throughout the northern hemisphere. and to top it off there is some severe tensions between england and ireland. pretty good book.

The Empire of Ice is non-stop, providing vivid thrills that will make your teeth chatter. When Mother Nature isn't throwing cataclysm after cataclysm at our heros, they have to deal with the increasing tensions between Ireland and Britain, fascist politicans, and a pack of starving, man-eating wolves. I found the book taut, terse, scary, and immensely readable.

a compilation of photos from the daily news photographers
incredible collection here. my only disappoitment, which is a slight one, is that the 90's section does not seem to have the same feel as the other decades do

As the grandson of NY Daily News photographer Charles Hoff, this book offered much insight in to family (as well as New York) history. Only a hint at the tremendous photographic contribution of the NYDN can be addressed in one book, even in a volume this large. Still, it reveals fascinating insight in to the last eighty years of New York visual history through stunningly beautiful photographs. The quality is only enhanced by the fact that the book was published just prior to the tragic events of September, 2001 -- the book closes with a wonderfful photograph of the World Trade Center, as well as text by Shawn O'Sullivan that in retrospect is perfectly appropriate -- that the picture press remains vigilant in a constantly changing city.

The New York Daily News was always the largest circulation tabloid in America and as Pete Hamill says in his excellent twenty page essay 'The Daily News was possessed of a quality derived from the city itself: energy. The tone was brash, sarcastic, irreverent.' All successful tabloid papers have two things in common, the headlines and the photos and this beautifuuly produced book has hundreds of the latter.

To get great photos the paper had always invested in its photo department, which by the fifties had two planes, ten radio cars, a brigade of motorcycle couriers and a staff of sixty-three to insure no story was missed. This book shows the benefits of this investment. Eight chapters are devoted to a photo record of the decades from the twenties thru the nineties and as the News was a tabloid, the rough and tumble of daily is revealed, politicians, celebrities, sport, crime (some of these predictably stark) the everyday and when appropriate, the weather. Each photo has very detailed captions and thankfully, the photographer's name.

Shawn O'Sullivan, who works on the paper, writes in a short essay titled 'Photography at the Daily News' 'In making this book, we sought to show the images in all of their original beauty, as the photographer originally witnessed the scene....' I think this was a mistake, newspaper photographers don't know how a photo is going to be used on the page and they try to take plenty of shots, so that Photo Editors will have lots of choice. I have a book published in 1979 celebrating fifty years of the News and it has many of the same photos as this latest book but in the earlier book the photos are handled in a much tighter way and sensibly trimmed to get the best from the image.

Apart from some of the photo trimming I enjoyed New York Exposed, a photographic book that captures the dailiness of New York life. If you lived in the city it will be a stimulating reminder of the last eighty years.

I was glad to find this book, since I was looking to explore some of the hiking trails in the area. The trails are good, but I'll admit that some of them are hard for an older person like myself to accomplish. Still, I would have been completely unaware of many of the trails without this guide. Like many self-published books, the writing and "look and feel" of the book leave much to be desired, but the basic information is there, should you care to sift through the "prose and poetry" to get to it! My wife, who teaches English at a local university described the writing as "quaint and rambling" and typical for non-authors. I skipped it and tried to follow the routes.

This book is a dream to us, beginner hikers. I find the descriptions delightful and her tips helpful. It will be a valuable resource when my husband and I travel through the state this summer.

I loved this book. Easy to follow, lots of details. perfect for anyone visiting State College, PA for a Penn State game with some extra time. Excellent job.

The author, a sociology professor at City University of New York, was raised in the Big Apple and has lived most of his life in the area. In 1979 he bought a 24-foot New England catboat, built on Cape Cod in 1910, and proceeded to fix it and sail it around the New York area.

With this book he presents a portrait -- and sketchy history -- of the city from an angle few people know it. Structuring the story as a fairly continuous though interrupted sail from his home in Long Beach, around the southern tip of Rockaway and into Jamaica Bay, then into Upper New York Bay and the East River, and ultimately to Long Island Sound, Kornblum offers both close-up looks at the water and shoreline, and their past history.

The approach is light and pleasant: Few stories -- whether of the freezing disaster of the privateer "Castel Del Rey" in New York harbor in 1704, knowledgeable black sailors impressed by the British Navy in the War of 1812 and jailed in England for refusing to serve against the US, various ferry disasters, or the vagaries of Robert Moses -- last more than a page or three. The only sections where Kornblum lingers are in Jamaica Bay (its environmental degradation and return), and the dockside concrete industry that built New York's towers and for which the author worked as a kid. Manhattan itself is quickly bypassed though given a loving nod, and there is no venturing into the Hudson side.

In the typo sweepstakes, the book does all right, although it says "mechanical break" on p. 156 when "brake" was meant, and I believe I saw an unintended sentence fragment on p. 143. Most egregious, the great A.J. Liebling is identified on p. 103 as "Libeling" (though the name is correct in the bibliography)! A pity there apparently are youthful editors (I don't suppose there is such a thing as a proofreader in publishing anymore) who do not know this great journalist's work backward and forward.

Another ominous development -- to this reader, anyway -- is that the lovely cover photograph is an unreal composite. Different photographers are credited for different portions of it. I find this vaguely disturbing.

The writing is definitely four-star quality or better. Here's my favorite passage: "Up another shadowy bend stood two snowy egrets, with their outrageous yellow boots and platinum punk haircuts. How chic, these mudbank sushi bars. The egrets were spearing for sand bugs, moving along the edge of the marsh with the herky giant steps of students at a party stepping over empty beer cans."

I give the book only three stars because it is slight. Probably an excellent gift for the average non-reader who happens to love sailing or New York City, or the casual reader who knows little about either, but I would have liked to know more.

This is the account of a sailboat cruise, but rather than crossing an ocean the author travels maybe 40 miles from home, into the maelstrom that is NY harbor. It's an interesting book, sort of, but I expected more history of the harbor, more about what the place is, and less of the author's personal experience.

I expected the former thanks to a review in the NY Times, I think -- some newspaper, anyway -- that suggested it was less an ecological than an historical journey. Without this preconception, I probably would have liked the book more. If you're from NYC, it's worth a read, but there are many better sailing accounts if you want hairy-chested adventure, or to learn something about sailing in general. There are also better books about ecology of the shoreline.

But the style is pleasant and the author seems like a man who would be an enjoyable sailing companion. That's worth three stars.

This is a delightful view of some of the Big Apple's waterfront. William Kornblum writes well, and I am pleased to meet the family, friends, and acquaintances of his journey. Having explored much of our city, and having studied many of the coasts from opposite shorelines, I nevertheless learned much from Kornblum's views from his catboat. I also enjoyed his flash-backs, particularly his days as a youth working at the Transit Mix dock. As another reader noted, the book has a few errors that should have been caught. The A train travels neither through The Bronx nor over Williamsburg Bridge (p. 91). In Red Hook, the parish school is within the Brooklyn diocese, not archdiocese (p. 122). When I find errors on topics I know well, I begin to worry that the publishing industry has a problem with fact-checking in non-fiction. Yet, I must say that this book is a thoroughly enjoyable meeting of humans, views, and story. I recommend this book as a gift.