I found this book by accident in my school library, and up till now, i have been borrowing it to read. This story describes all about the life of the Sockeye Salmon, told by a Qualik man, on how they tried very hard to return to the old ocean when it was being divided. They spent many years to get to the old ocean, but there was a waterfall obstructing their path. On the other hand, a mother and 2 children came to this part of Alaska to throw their grandmother's ashes into the river in which the Sockeye salmon came to breed. They met the Qualik man, and he began to tell the tale of the Sockeye Salmon. Both parts of the stories meet at the near end of the story, to form a very touching ending. First-time readers may find it very difficult to comprehend the whole story, but with patient reading and analysing, you will realise that this story is a one-of-a-time classic. A beautiful story written by Ed Gray, and i recommend it to all readers. Thumbs up for Lake of the Beginning!

Primarily through pictures, this book depicts the history of the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri and the surrounding towns. I was fascinated by the over 200 high-quality pictures of the area, including many from before the Lake was flooded. Anyone interested in this area of Missouri will enjoy this book immensely.

A must have for anyone who collects Lake Placid or Adirondack books, postcards or photos. This is a wonderful account of Lake Placid's history with photos of buildings, people, and Sports. The book is well written with detailed captions, and laid out well with unique, high quality images.

The Lake Placid CLub was a great place in a great town. The book gives you all of the interesting facts with loads of fantastic pics.It is really too bad that they took the old buildings down. Great book.

The book is a detailed chronological account of nearly three years of difficult travel between Zanzibar and Lake Tanganyika, circa the late 1850's. Nothing escapes Burton's observation. He writes of everything from the local hairstyles to the price of pombe (African beer). He gives detailed descriptions of the landscape, geography, flora, and fauna. He writes of Arabs and the Eastern slave trade. He depicts safari life in the days of human porters and mules. He tells of the people he encounters, though his descriptions of Africans may be offensive to some. There is a wealth of information here, something for everyone with an interest in Eastern Africa, or exploration, or imperialism. The place names have sometimes changed from Burton's time to ours, as have the English spelling conventions of Swahili words. Anyone with any interest in Eastern Africa, especially the precolonial period, should arm themselves with a good atlas and reference book and read Burton.

Burton led an amazing life of exploration and scholarship [he wrote "The Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Meccah" after disguising himself as an Arab to travel to the sacred city; he visited Salt Lake City and wrote "City of the Saints"; after exploring in South America he wrote "Explorations of the Highlands of Brazil"; and he translated the "Arabian Nights" and poetry of Luís de Camões], still he may not be an easy writer to come to terms with for many contemporary readers. He is far from what we would call "politically correct". But he wrote so much and so well, and is practically the only writer to travel in Eastern Africa in the 1850's that is in print today (except for John Hanning Speke who was with him on this trip, and who wrote "Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile").

To put this book in context it is wise to read something about Burton, particulary Burton and Speke in Africa; know why in "Lake Regions" Burton never refers to Speke by name. (There are a few Burton biographies, and books about Burton and Speke; or see the movie: "Mountains of the Moon")

Any lake-home owner would be a moron if they did not buy this book. Chock full of common sense advice and great illustrations. Mr. McComas is witty and fun to read as well in providing all sorts of useless tidbits of interesting information. I especially enjoy listening to him on KSTP as the "Lake Detective".

I live and worth at the terminus of the Great Lakes and besides the fact that it is too cold to go swimming (chunks of ice are seen floating at a time when most of the country is observing the season called "Spring") and that it holds more fresh water than the rest of the Great Lakes combined I know nothing that would help anybody doing a report about Lake Superior for school. So it would be a good thing that Harry Beckett has provided this informative little volume as part of the Great Lakes of North America series (which does all five of the Great Lakes with an additional volume on the Waterways to the Great Lakes; there does not seem to be a series about Great Lakes of places other than North America). Before you get to the first page of actual text Beckett provides facts and figures about Lake Superior that cover everything from its length (350 miles) and width (160 miles) to its retention time (191 years for a molecule of water to enter and leave the lake). Young readers will learn about the location of Lake Superior, the native tribes that lived in the area and the European explorers who first visited, the key economies of the region, some of the interesting places to visit, and, of course, the stories of shipwrecks like that of the "Edmund Fitzgerald." There is a wide range of information provided in this little book, which makes it ideal for students assigned Lake Superior as a research project, even if they have not lived on its shores and gone out walking on the big water when it ices over each witner. Oh, and in the picture of the entrance to Duluth Harbor you can see both where I work and where I live. But you will need a magnifying glass.

A "must own" volume for anyone who pursues - or has an interest in - lake trout (which Shickler and Eveland term "North America's Greatest Gamefish").
Chapters trace the history of trout and trout fishing. Methodology, tackle, and locations are covered. Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of the book is the authors' style of interweaving tales of trout fishing and the great outdoors. Merely reading the account of Lloyd Bull's record 72 pound moster will have you booking your next trip!
Reading LAKE TROUT is like taking a mini fly-in trip for yourself: You'll become absorbed in the material, insulated from your everyday world, and yearning to head out and wet a line...