This is an awesome book that is well written and an excellent guidebook for the outdoorsman. The photographs are outstanding. The trail maps are very helpful.

This book is one of the best books ever written. It is very easy to read and there are many illustrations to help understand. I really enjoyed this book then I'm planning to give a present to my nephew. If you think you are a biker, Hiram's book is a must. Thanks.

Great reference for someone new to BH. Includes topo maps and clear directions on how to get to the trails. Also has good writeups on each area, with details on the specific trail to follow. When checking ratings, keep in mind these are experienced hikers... you may have a hard time if you're new or out of shape. I take it with me every time I head out.

Needing guidance on how to lead an artist's community, I discovered this rare and remarkable book. It takes you inside an intentional community, one better known for its mythology than for its reality, and shows you the birth, growth and death of an ideal. Unlike other books on similar subjects, it is never trivial or purely ancedotal -- every paragraph reveals something fundamental about the struggles, passions, successes and failures that are part of inventing a community. There are moments in this book that are so profoundly true -- I know this because I recognize them from my own similar experiences. I respect Duberman's perceptions and his deep emotional attachment to the subject (someday I hope to thank the author personally as this book has made a positive difference in my life and the development of my community). I recommend this as a textbook for those thinking of starting an artist's community.

Duberman's classic "Black Mountain" is the definitive work of scholarship on the school that gave America its most pivotal and influential artists of the 20th century.
A sheer joy to read, this account of the rise and fall of Black Mountain engages the reader into a world of ideas, community and art that is all too rare in today's considerations. Teachers can learn how to Teach and Do at the same time. Students can learn the meaning of involvement, responsibility and creativity. Parents might learn a thing or two about choices. And administrators will see where they've gone wrong. Something for nearly everyone in this erudite, and poignant dissertation.

If there was one idea that pervades the book, and, indeed, pervaded the college it was that "living" and "learning" should be intertwined, and a favorite slogan at Black Mountain was that "as much real education took place over the coffee cups as in the classrooms."
There is much that we all can learn from this account. But read it for the adventure! Think of it as a sort of Intellectual Indiana Jones where the treasure is that harmonious mix of education, art, community and life -- in other words, the very gem that these brave and gifted women and men of eminence sought at Black Mountain.
We owe these pioneers a great deal.
Honor them with your mind, and read this wondrous account by one of Black Mountain's own.

Dave Beckwith
Founder/President
Charlotte Internet Society

Deep Black: An Adventure Through The Black Canyon by travel and nature writer Robb Magley is both an extensively researched history and a thrilling saga of personal challenge. Magley recounts the history of Colorado's Black Canyon, a part of the Colorado country whose dangerous rapids were not conquered until 1901. In addition to thorough archival research, the author's own journey on foot through all thirty-three miles of a canyon that is steeper and narrower than the more famous Grand Canyon, the reader is deftly introduced to seventy-six river crossings, and informed of a brush with death that forcefully illustrates the power, majesty, and danger of this great natural resource and wonder.

Told from a refreshingly honest and unjaded viewpoint - unlike many adventure travel writers, this author does not try to impress us mere readers by mentioning other trips he may have taken in exotic foreign countries. The book explores Magley's relationship with the Black Canyon in Colorado and the research he undertakes to find out more about the first explorers there, but Magley takes the reader on many other side adventures - what do we (the paying public) really expect from National Parks? How does that differ from what our ancesters expected from the same area 200 years ago? And, what do the author and his friend do when exploring the river turns life threatening? This is a great read.

This book is a story of a number of lives that come together in late nineteenth-century Colorado. Although, It is a novel, there are characters in this book who are real and most others seem to be based on real people. Most notable is "Old Mose", the last grizzly bear in Colorado. This book is thouroughly enjoyable and is a must for anyone interested in South Park History. Be careful about the condition if you are considering buying this book. It was only printed once in 1975, so copies with the dust jacket are very rare. Most of the copies around are used library books in poor condition.

A magnificent blend of fantasy, medieval, hints of technology, and magic, this is Saberhagen at his best. The Black Mountains is the second section in Empire of the East, (related to the Swords novels).
The plot details an assault by freedom fighters on a mountain citadel, held by a dark lord who has become something less than human, and a great demon, whose mere passing weighs heavy on human minds and makes bones feel like jelly. Another great being of unknown allegiance uses his power to heal whatever men come to him. The plot is gripping and detailed, yet simple, and the stories of the characters are well-told, inspiring, and necessary to the whole. It features characters from The Broken Lands: Rolf, and Chup.
I've read many fantasy and Sci-fi works, this, along with its sequel Changling Earth, just might be the best.

If you are interested in learning about HOW to become a Buckskinner, trap beavers, live in a tipi, go to Rendezvous, then this is the book for you. It proclaims to be the beginners guide to shooting black powder firearms, and it does do that, but it is so much more with fine pictures, diagrams, and the history is right on target. A good read if historical black powder firearms are your thing! In the words of a Mountain Man, "It shines, it really does!" Beaver Belly, Free Trapper.

What a terrific book Timothy Silver has crafted! Anyone interested in mountains, hiking, fishing, environmental issues, natural history, or the local history of North Carolina's mountains will enjoy this wonderful account. Professor Silver, a historian in western North Carolina, has written a book in which Mount Mitchell stars at the center of his narrative--and both general readers and professional historians can find meaning and pleasure in his tale.

Like many environmental historians, Silver sees in the reciprocal interaction between nature and culture a larger story of a region. And he brings us this compelling story from a variety of intriguing angles. He offers his own assessments, ones generated on his extensive hiking and fishing trips in the Black Mountains of western North Carolina. He provides insight into the steamy 19th century historical controversy between rivals each seeking to determine which was the highest peak in the region--and to see who could do it first and most authoritatively. (And as a New Englander, I found the tale inviting even if our White Mountains fall short in elevation to North Carolina's peaks!) Professor Silver also examines logging practices and regional boosterism, the antecedent of eco-tourism.

The book has something that will be compelling for a wide audience of readers interested in the natural world and local history--and the style is accessible and enjoyable. Whether you've hiked a lot, love North Carolina, want to investigate stormy political and personal feuds, or wish to know more about regional environmental history, "Mount Mitchell" is a fine read. I commend it to you!

This is a jewel. When I first read it thirty years ago, more than a decade after I'd discovered Tolkien and fantasy fiction, it did not particularly touch me. While it remained in my bookcase, I never revisited it as I have so many other books of that era. How fortunate, then, this rereading.
What Red Moon/Black Mountain gives up to Tolkien in, say, scope and history, it recoups in anthropological richness. Ms Chant thoroughly understands the culture of her peoples and their day-to-day lives in the way that Tolkien knows their languages. At the same time, she gives up nothing at all to C. S. Lewis in the realm of religion and allegory. And she surpasses all fantasy writers I have read in character development. Oliver's journey from child to warrior to something beyond, though stilted at first, takes on the heartbreaking beauty of the best of Cormac McCarthy.
I was puzzled when the great confrontation with the evil one came with 60 pages remaining. But it is those last 60 pages that takes this book from fine fantasy into the realm of fine literature.
Not to be missed!

My father owned this book in hardcover, and it was one of the first fantasy books I ever read, and still one of my favorites. No one I know has heard of it, and I always recommend it to them. It is thrillingly well-crafted, the characters have real depth and the mythology of the world Joy Chant created is rich, fulfilling, and believable. This book is a definite must-read for anyone who considers themself to be a fantasy fan. Trust me, you will not be disappointed!

I have been reading science fiction for many years. Most of the time, I do not enjoy pure "fantasy" novels, Tolkien being a major exception. This novel is the other major exception. While not as "deep" in some ways as Tolkien's work, the mythic and archetypal qualities of the characters are just as moving. The writing is superb, as well. This is more than a book for children! Even if you don't usually like fantasy novels, try this one!