The scope of this work is astonishing. Originally published in 13 volumes, Parkman's magnum opus is here distilled to a mere 800 pages.

Beginning with Cartier's forays into the Canadian wilderness, Parkman recounts the gradual European settlement of the continent. Along the way, the giants of pre-1776 North America -- Champlain, Brebeuf, La Salle, Amherst, Montcalm, Wolfe and the powerful nations of the Iroquois -- are presented in all their humanity, by turns heroic and flawed. Throughout, Parkman's style is highly readable and entertaining.

Especially wonderful are his occasional lapses into the high-toned style of the late 19th century. The reader is invited to "embark in the canoe of some Montagnais Indian" and cross the St Lawrence to Quebec, to climb the cliffs and, "pausing for breath," behold the tenants of this wilderness outpost in 1635: "a soldier of the fort; an officer in slouched hat and plume; a party of indians; a trader from the upper country, one of the precursors of that hardy race of coureurs de bois;" -- and of course, a Black Robed Jesuit -- none other than Father Le Jeune himself -- the vanguard of European exploration into the interior.

By contrast, the reader is invited to become indignant -- as the colonists were -- at the latter half of the reign of George II, "the unwashed and unsavory England of Hogarth, Fielding, Smollett, and Sterne; of Tom Jones, Squire Western, Lady Bellaston, and Parson Adams; of 'Rake's Progress' and 'Marriage a la Mode'; of lords and ladies who yet live in the undying gossip of Horace Walpole, be-powdered, be-patched and be-rouged, flirting at masked balls, playing cards till daylight, retailing scandal, and exchanging double meanings." Great stuff.

Throughout, you'll get plenty of history and plenty of Parkman, with all that entails. I've seldom enjoyed reading so much as with this book, and I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the subject matter.

CAVEAT: This book was written over 100 years ago. That means there is no new historicism, no Marxist theory, no psychoanalytic criticism, no semiotics, no neoformalism (or, for that matter, plain old formalism), no structuralism or post-structualism, no analysis of perceptual processes, no modes of discourse or discourse on modes. So beware.

As the author, I wanted to take the opportunity to describe the contents of The Pioneer Valley Reader. The Pioneer Valley is the Connecticut River Valley in Massachusetts. Its rich history and distinct culture is told through 100 prose and poetry selections. Read such Pioneer Valley writers as Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Sylvia Plath, Henry James, Leo Durocher, Timothy Leary, Pulitzer Prize winners Tracy Kidder and Madeleine Blais, John McPhee, Larry O'Brien, Joseph Brodsky, Calvin Coolidge, and Frederick Douglass. This book is a key to understanding the "Heartland" of New England.

This is one of the greatest women's adventures of all time, and for sure, one of the greatest womens memoirs of the gold rush era. Anna de Graf is a favorite of all our readers of Gold Rush Women.

I treasured this book as a child. My allowance was usually spent on books, stuffed animals or candy. I don't really have anything left from my childhood spending sprees except a worn, fragile copy of Piping Down the Valleys Wild that I spent 95 cents for in the early 70s. This is the most wonderful collection of children's poems that I have ever come across. Both adults and children are brought to laughter at the antics of "Eat it Alll Elaine", "Catherine"s sharing of her mud cake, or the little boy in "Missing" asking Aunt Rose if she's seen his mouse. The poems are wonderfully visual and instilled in me a love of poetry that I still have today. This remains my all time favorite book of poetry and I'm glad it was re-issued so that I might share this gift with my son and give him his own copy to take with him.

Keep this book on your coffee table, or better yet, your kitchen table, where you can snatch it up when your spirits need a lift. Dorothy Prell's poetic celebration of rural life depicts accurately the experiences of living on a farm. The poems brought to my mind many of the pleasures of growing up on a farm in the twenties and thirties. Very enjoyable reading. (Shirley I. Baker)

For me this is still the essential C. K. Williams collection, because it shows the evolution of his style from rather "standard" versification through the long line he has only lately begun to abandon. The books is worth the price if only for one poem: "In The Heart of the Beast," a furious elegy on the massacres and Kent and Jackson State Universities in May 1970. I don't think Williams wrote anything like it before or after, but it's a staggering piece of political invective.

I have read other books from this author Robert L. Maril. This book is not only informative and grounded in social fact; which makes it a great text book for students, but it is also a good read. Dr Maril has the ability to write in such a way that it challanges the academic mind, and at the same time the book is relatively easy to read for the none academic. I happen to live in the Lower Rio Grande River Valley of South Texas and really did not realize many things about the Valley, as we call it, until I read this book. I did not realize just how poor this area is becaue you have to get off the beaten path to see it. It is a great book and will leave you wanting more.

Port And The Douro is the fascinating story of Port over the centuries and surveys the remarkable physical conditions of the wine growing region of Portugal, the grape varieties, and the vineyards that make the Douro valley so special. Richard Mayson draws upon his many years of experience in the wine trade in general and his remarkable expertise in Port wines and how they are made. Port And The Douro is definitive, comprehensive, informative, articulate, and greatly rewarding reading for connoisseurs, dealers, and the nonspecialist general reader seeking to select just the right Port for the occasion.

As a long-time resident of the Philadelphia area, I have found that this region played such an important role in the American Revolution, that sometimes fascinating history from the 19th & 20th century often gets overlooked. One example of this is in the book "Port Kennedy: Village in the Shadow of Valley Forge." As the title suggests, because of its more famous neighbor, this village's history had almost been forgotten until now. I have lived in this area for over 40 years & having a degree in American history I thought I knew everything there was about this area, until I read this book! Port Kennedy has such a fascinating history, that I am surprised that it was overlooked for so long. I have always been fascinated with the turn of the century & I found this book an absolute delight to read. As a big fan of silent movies, I was especially delighted to learn that there was once a movie studio here that was established by Siegmund Lubin, a pioneer of motion pictures, before the movie industry moved to California! I was so impressed with this book, that I bought an extra copy & donated it to the library of my college alma mater, St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia! I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in 19th & early 20th century history & especially to people thinking of visiting Valley Forge National Historical Park or residents of the Philadelphia or Valley Forge area, who would like to learn more about our local history.

I discovered this wonderful book while researching the Potomac for a graduate school project. Stanton (a former Executive Director of the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin) has captured both the river's history and its cultural essence in a concise, enjoyable work.

As a long-time resident of the Mid-Atlantic area, I thought I had a fine appreciation of the Potomac's many gifts. Through Richard Stanton's words I learned just how much more there is to behold. Read this and learn of a wonderful world gone by; dream the dream of a beautiful river which is again flourishing after human neglect.