Most of the information on the historical sites mentioned in this book can be found in other travel guides, or on the internet. This book is helpfull, however, since it describes these attractions in much more detail. I would definitely reccomend it for anyone interested in the subject.

this book covers a fair number of small rivers in new jersey. It has lots of background information on the towns they run through, but it seems to be aimed more at people who are "exploring" the rivewrs by driving near them in a car. If you're really interested in canoeng in New Jersey get Edward Gertler's Garden State Canoeing-it's fantastic and covers details about every conoeable stream in the state. This book (Exploring....) is better for sight seeing.

Many of the mammals discussed in this book are common throughout the US, so the book is of interest to more than just people in the central Atlantic states.
The book consists of short essays answering various questions about different mammals, along the lines of "Why are grizzly bears more aggressive than black bears?" Interesting stuff, but not earth-shattering. One good point is that it covers some of the less charismatic animals such as racoons and shrews. Decent book, but it didn't set my world on fire.

This book contains great artistic pictures from the greatest city of the world. I used this book in my first trip to NY and it gives a good image of the city main touristic places. Pictures are, as I said, very good, but some do not have good quality. Pictures are sometimes too artistic. However, it is the perfect book for tourist and people who admire great buildings and big cities. Do not consider this book a complete tour guide, because it's not. If you're a tourist, this book helps you decide what places to visit, but it does not contain a classified list of restaurants, etc. If you buy this book, you'll be happy to see beautiful images of the places you've seen on TV. I hope you enjoy this book.

There are many wonderful things about this book: the maps are beautifully designed and easy to read; the drawings are lovely and truly capture the spirit of the neighborhoods; and the food glossary is very good. But the content vastly oversimplifies the neighborhoods - and thus shortchanges the reader - and in some cases the suggested walking routes seem dubious. Since I also write about food and have led bicycle and walking tours in the neighborhoods since 1983, I am perhaps hypercritical about this type of information, but I feel that readers are entitled to accuracy and, for those intrepid enough to do the tours the author lays out, the best possible experience. Frankly, I had to wonder how thoroughly the author actually cased out the areas she wrote about; she often writes as if she is in a huge hurry! In some instances, she lists a few food items you'll find in a restaurant or market, but I was curious about whether she'd actually tried the items she mentioned! (No, it's not necessary to try everything - but it would be nice to have some anecdotes about the eating experience.) Her portrayal of Astoria, Queens, as a Greek neighborhood overlooks the fact that Astoria is much more ethnically complex (including south Asian, Eastern European and Latin American), and has several blocks of Egyptian cafes and markets - unique in NYC. Her recommended walking tour of Harlem includes two blocks of 124th Street - an ugly stretch in an otherwise landmarked area - and some wrong information, i.e. Apollo Theater is incorrectly marked. I don't know how much editorial oversight the author had on the maps, but these errors are misleading. Books like these are hard to do well - information changes even as the books are being written and are in production. But misinformation or inadequate information reflects less than thorough research.

This is an excellent guide to the best NY restaurants and to some of the more interesting neighborhood restaurants. I wish there were a bit more information about the size and setting, smoking areas and so on. But by far the greatest drawback of this book is its execrable binding. After only limited use, my copy began to disintegrate, not exactly what one desires in a reference book that one hopes to carry around. This is inexcusable. Back to the Michelin Guides for me! I have a 39 Michelin France Guide that is still hanging together. Planned obsolescence!!!

This guide would be fine if you're a Brit or Aussie. But if you're an American and haven't been on the moon for most your life, you'll find lots of advice you don't really need. For example, most Americans pretty much know what constitues an America breakfast or what are restaurants are like in general. Plus, the guide doesn't list many actual restaurants or hotels and there are no maps (which may be because my version was an e-book). Still, the insights are very interesting to read and you'll have a good feel for the City if you've completed the book before you arrive.

The author can't quite decide if this is an account of the Jewish presence in the Catskills or an authoritative history of the area's industry and transportation. This 99 page paperback flits from colonial Jewish settlers,early farmhouses that morphed into mega-resorts, and detailed maps and diagrams and histories of the railroads, canals and bridges that transformed the area --fascinating to a history buff, but off the mark for readers seeking "borcht belt" nostalgia. The book contains useful lists of covered bridges, old stone houses, museums and historic sites --great for a sight-seeing audience; inappropriately paired with many pages of photos of synagogues, lists of Kosher camps and mikvas. This brief guide tries to be everything for everyone. Lots of terrific info--should be the basis for two separate works.

Contains fantastic photos. A little to 'Photoshopped' for my taste but great. The only problem I had with the book is that it contains no actual panoramic images. Many are wide angle but nothing that fits the definiton of panoramic.

This is the foremost guide book to Philadelphia's buildings; unfortunately, anyone who knows the city well will find it woefully incomplete.

The guide covers Center City, University City and its surrounding neighborhoods, Fairmount Park, Germantown, and Chestnut Hill in good detail (over 200 of the 253 entries are in these areas.) Each entry includes considerable text, and most (though not all) have a corresponding photograph; the most significant buildings have longer entries. The touring maps included in the back are clear and easy to read. One of the book's nicest features is a repeated map of the city's current boundaries, with shaded areas showing the spread of development as the city aged, allowing one to quickly understand the patterns of settlement that produced the present-day city.

Oddly, the building entries are ordered not by location, but by date of construction, from oldest to newest. This, combined with an on-going time line and essays on the city's development and architectural styles of the various periods, make the book more of an introduction to American architectural styles, using Philadelphia as an example, rather than a neighborhood-by-neighborhood survey of the city's buildings. The format makes the book more difficult to use as a field guide than would arrangement of entries by location.

The book's two major flaws are interrelated: it is too thin, and it omits far too many areas of the city. Bridesburg, North Broadway, Kensington, Erie Avenue, and many other neighborhoods which contain many historically and architecturally significant buildings are given few, if any, entries. There are a paltry two entries for all of South Philadelphia. Including more thorough surveys of these and other areas of the city would give the book much-needed volume (it is far too short for a city's of Philadelphia's size and stature.)

Interestingly, many of the omitted areas correspond to the city's worst slums, particularly those in north Philadelphia. Perhaps not coincidentally, there is also a lack of any critical tone in the building entries. These two factors combine to give a subtle tone of civic boosterism, something that an architectural guidebook should not have. The authors would do well to look to New York's guidebook, which is not afraid to call bad architecture on the floor, and does not fear to guide travelers into the more unsavory parts of town.

Also lacking are represenative samples of vernacular rowhouse architecture. Philadelphia is defined by the rowhouse -- thousands upon thousands of them, stretching for mile after mile, so many of them that the detached buildings showcased in the guide seem like anomalies. They range from the utterly plain to among the city's finest houses; yet hardly any examples are given. A sampling of rowhouse styles and a few typical histories would definately make the guide more informative.

In short, this guidebook is a strong introduction to Philadelphia's major buildings and most significant neighborhoods. But take it with a grain of salt: it omits vast areas of the city as well.