Mr. Tolles has reached a perfect balance of scholarly research and easy reading in a "coffee-table book" format. As someone who lives in the area with a strong interest in Tolles' subject matter (I own the annex building to the Sunset Hill House hotel) I can also vouch for the accuracy of what he has written.
A wonderful book, beautifully presented, highly readable and visually involving. Anyone with a love of history, architecture, romance, travel, or their ancestors is sure to enjoy it as much as I and my guests do.

This well-researched and informative book about the grand resort hotels of the White Mountains is simply one of those books which you add with pride to your library collection. It shows the hotel's importance in the architectural and social historical realm of New England and American history. It is full of andedotes on the hotel industry and is a vastly entertaining social picture. The book is full of many illustrations of present and long-gone hotels, 200 b&w and a number of color plates. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the hospitality history of this country, and the importance in the realm of things that the hotel places. Dr. Tolles have expertly brought this subject to life and I commend him for it.

These paintings truly capture the beauty of the White Mountains and "Incomparable Scenery" does an amazing job of presenting these works. The quality of the images of paintings is excellent. I love being able to compare different artists' rendering of similar scenes/views/ranges. Highly recommend for those interested in New England scenery.

This book of 25 paintings from the 19th century of New Hampshire's White Mountains is unique in how it compares two or more paintings of the same exact scene by different artists side by side. It shows all the popular NH scenery "icons" in well reproduced color. Also includes a very nice biography of the artists complemented by rare photographs of the artists themselves. It includes prominent as well as lesser known artists of the period. This is a must have book for anyone interested in White Mountain Art, White Mountain scenery, or the Hudson River School artists. Very well done, and great images!!

This is an excellent book for a young person because it teaches some great lessons about history, personal responsibility and cause-and-effect. The characters are incredibly life-like and the writing is spell-binding. This book is a "pager-turner". However, don't be shy of picking up this book if you are an adult, either. It's a great read. A belated "Thank You" for this book, Mr. White!

A great tale of the early west. A brave young man goes west with the early fur trappers. The long Rifle saves his bacon many times. He meets and traps with many of the famous old trappers and they share many wonderful adventures. Fiction at its best for youngsters. I read it first in 1953 and I still love it.

I always knew this area of the Southwest was beautiful, based on my limited firsthand experience. Reading this guidebook makes me want to go back and explore more of the places I missed. Mr. White's use of the language evokes not only the beauty of the area but offers fascinating bits of information about the geology and origins of the places described. Guidebooks are used to guide, obviously, but this one, thanks to Mr. White, also illuminates and entertains. Mr. Huey's photography is first-rate. Highly recommended.

This is one of a series of books provided by National Geographic featuring the famous and lesser-known, less traveled parks in the United States. The series is divided into regions and provides invaluable information about accommodations, trails, activities, optimal times of travel, etc. Don't plan a trip without perusing these books!

Now in an updated and revised second edition, Robert Buchsbaum's Nature Hikes In The White Mountains continues to be the premier guide to New England's White Mountain waterfalls, mountain ponds, blueberry patches, and outdoor adventures for the hiker, backpacker, and nature enthusiast. Mixing trail descriptions with natural history, Buchsbaum provides a series of hiking opportunities including a map, distance, estimated hiking time, elevation change, and level of difficulty. Nature Hikes In The White Mountains offers natural sites and activities for children; sidebars on natural features along the trail; detailed driving instructions to reach each trail; and a quick reference chart for selecting the perfect hike. Whether for a day hike, a weekend excursion, or to plan an outdoor vacation, Nature Hikes In The White Mountains will prove a much appreciated, practical, and even inspirational guide!

Went to the White Mountains with another adult friend and picked this book because the walks looked about our speed. The directions are great, descriptions and nature discussions also very informative and entertaining. I particularly liked the "what the kids get out of it" feature for each walk. I particularly recommend the walk to Diana's Baths, a waterful near North Conway, NH.

Anyone who has been hiking the White Mountains of New England since the 1970s, is likely to have kept their orange hardcover AMC "White Mounain Guide," like a family heirloom. Since its inception, the Guide has provided detailed, largely editorial-free, descriptions of all the many trails of the white mountains. For novice hikers, it is absoulutely indispensable for its advice on practical hiking pleasures and perils - it should not leave the pack. For experienced hikers, the Guide provides all information needed to plan White Mountain excursions ranging from half-day beginner hikes to multi-day backpacks. The trail descriptions should be viewed as overviews, not all-telling. At times, a trail seemingly modest from the book description, will be rocky and arduously steep. Other times, an innocuous-sounding trial will provide breathtaking views. Some curse this as a short-coming, while others, this reviewer included, appreciate the fact that reading the book does not diminish the surprises of the trail. The directions to the trailheads are remarkably accurate, as are the essential descriptions of major trail junctions, as well as trails and peaks on which extra care should be taken. The maps, while not minute topographical maps, are extremely useful, more so with compass skills, but quite practical even without them. The organization is improved over the 26th version - especially the recommended easy and moderate hikes at the end of each mountain region's trail descriptions. Worthwhile to complete one's White Mountain hiking library, are the AMC Southern New Hampshire Trail Guide and AMC Maine Mountain Guide.

This is a compilation of stories written by George Washington Sears (a.k.a. Nessmuk) for Forest and Stream Magazine in the years 1880-1883. He paddled different custom built ultralight Rushton canoes each year, starting south of present day Old Forge, through the Fulton Chain to Raquette and reaching as far as Long Lake, Little Tupper Lake and beyond. His chronicles are enjoyable, easily readable tales of life and travel in the wilderness of the 1880's Adirondacks. It is full of details which are interesting to the student of Adirondack history. For instance, he allowed me to pinpoint the year of construction of the Grove Hotel (later known as the Deerland Hotel) on Long Lake, and to give me background on it's original owner.

This compilation of exceptionally well-written excerpts is a wonderfully varied introduction to, or refresher of, longer works from some of the best authors of books about the Colorado River and its environs. The works range from the predictable, e.g., the writings of John Wesley Powell, Edward Abbey, and Ann Zwinger, to the unexpectedly insightful, e.g., the Paiute Indian Legend and a chapter about the Datura plant by Linda Hogan. Author Richard F. Fleck has carefully chosen writings that portray a variety of perspectives, each an invitation to a longer, more developed work of comparable quality. This is not the only collection of writings about the Colorado River, but it is one of the best edited. If you are looking for a listing of masterworks as recommendations for further reading you have to look no further than the Table of Contents of A Colorado River Reader. But beware, this introduction to the mythology, history, sport, philosophy, ecology, geology, and biology of the Colorado River may cause you to spend additional money on the books from which these passages were excerpted. Of course, and I know from personal experience, money spent on any of these books will be money well spent.

What a lovely book! The setting is 1949 in the mountains of Tennessee, and I especially liked the connections made with the novel, Gone With the Wind. The main character of CNS believes in happy endings; her friend does not. That leads to many arguments about Rhett and Scarlett...with a surprising end.

My father got this book as a gift from my grandmother for his birthday. She usually gets religious-type books, so I didn't bother to even pick it up for a long time. One day, dad brought it to me and said "here son, read this real quick." Then I realized that I'd been ignoring one of the funniest books with some of the catchiest stories and anecdotes I've ever seen. I recommend this book to anyone, especially as bedside material, or as bathroom reading material. The quips are short enough as not to hinder your daily activities, but are funny enough to justify taking a few extra seconds to read. My opinion, in two words- BUY IT!