I am planning to visit South Dakota this summer and since I manage to turn everything I do into an educational project I have been reading up and writing chambers of commerce for information. This book is written in the neutral public relations politically correct style of a guidebook. (Heaven forbid we ever say anything critical about the Indians or why we're still paying $1.5 billion a year for Indian health care.)In fact I believe the author has a PR background. He conveys a lot of information but he could have made the book much more interesting. For example, the story of the trapper Hugh Glass is one of the best stories ever. Glass was mauled by a grizzly and left for dead by his companions. He vowed revenge on those who left him and literally crawls back to civilization to kill the men who left him. However, the author here really does not get into the revenge theme. I had to get that from a Chamber publication. The pictures in the book are great and I would rate the pictures five stars. However, there just aren't that many books about South Dakota. So if you are going to South Dakota it probably is worth picking up. For an interesting book about the entire Great Plains which includes South Dakota read Great Plains by Ian Frazier, which is a five star book.

At first , I didn't think this book was of much help in planning my trip but the more I read it, the more great information I found. I would advise you to read it like a novel and not just skim through it looking for specific information.

An ideal book for those intending to visit South Dakota. As well as giving places to visit and stay it provides an interesting insight into the history of the state. A few more photographs would be even better.

The authors attempt to portray financial strategies that many CPA's and financial planners agree are questionable if not illegal.

One of the easiest to read estate planning books that I have read. I recommend this book for anyone with a taxable estate that needs to understand the issues/concepts of estate planning.

I was looking for financial planning advice that was not intimidating and easy for someone not in a "money & numbers" profession to understand. I found just what I needed in this book. The authors provided information in a common-sense, conversational manner. It was arranged so I could find exactly the topics that apply to me and my family. I found good advice, answers I was looking for and learned alot along the way. I was pleasantly surprised that a subject I had always veered away from could really be presented in such a "user-friendly" format.

Although this book certainly has artistic merit, I would not have called it the "Best of". We have visited the area many times and are well aware of the various terrains. In some cases, the photographer seemed to choose the "ugliest of" and in even more cases, the photos could have been taken anywhere - there was nothing to indicate a particular location. Examples would be an animal running across an empty field. Fine if you're looking for nature, not very useful if you are trying to identify "Best of"/beautiful spots to visit. This was a gift for my husband and he was not very impressed...

This book has very enchanting photography. If you love nature, but are locked up in city life; This is a very nice book to have just to linger in and daydream of the wide open spaces. Of course it may get addictive and make you leave the city in search of a peaceful homestead to call home...

The book gives a good overview of the areas with many addresses. Anyhow I found it a bit too black and white. It gives useful maps, but no coloured pictures from the areas, which would make it a bit more pleasant to read.

I highly recommend this guide to anyone who will be traveling in the Northeast as well as Canada. This guide gives you everything from upcoming events for the year to where to stay & eat. The maps are easy to read and follow. I have been a reader of the Mobil Guide for many years and it is continuing to give the most accurate, up-to-date travel information. This is the MUST-HAVE for the Northeast traveler.

Adams is not widely available in my native UK and I cannot say I am experiencing any sense of cultural deprivation if this entry in the Carl Wilcox series is typical of its quality.
Wilcox has had a colourful past--veteran of WW1,former convict and now an itinerant sign painter in the Mid West in the Great Depression and a man who has established a reputation as a sskilled investigator Why then does he come across as so dull in the book?
He is asked by a relative in North Dakota to dig up evidence that will exonerate a friend who is suspected of murdering her husband.Suspects are not exactly scarce--there is the nubile neighbour and her mildly retarded daughter;his partner in a clothing store known to be resentful of the deceased's less than hands on approach to business,and members of a dance band he once lead some of whom feel they are being held back by his less than dynamic leadership
Wilcox questions suspects,sleeps around with several female charcters and teaches his nephew to fight and bored me into a light coma in the process
Turgid,Unexciting .No sense of place or period.
Its boring and no condemnation can be more damning

It's a good time for Harold Adams, whose novels about itinerent sign painter ex-cop Carl Wilcox had been languishing, garnering critical raves but little in the way of sales. Walker & Company, a publishing house becoming known for literate, sometimes off-beat mysteries, has released four books so far in trade paperback and published new ones in hardback. This is a series well worth investigating.

Wilcox reminds me of every boy's favorite uncle, the one who's a black sheep to the women of the family for not settling down, who stops by when he needs a bed and a few square meals, bringing with him a whiff of sin and a few great stories. He travels the small towns of the Dakotas and Minnesota during the Depression, taking on sign-painting jobs for grocery stores and law offices when they're available, and camping by the side of the road in his modified Model T. When the jobs are few on the ground, he'll take on a murder investigation.

In "A Way with Widows," his sister asks him to come to Red Ford, North Dakota, to help clear a neighbor of killing her husband, who was found on the stairs of another woman's house. In "No Badge, No Gun," a minister who has heard of Wilcox's reputation as an investigator asks him to solve the murder of his niece, found dead in the basement of a church. Wilcox's investigating style consists of wandering around town, talking to people, gathering threads of facts and weaving them into a plausible story. He's suspicious, but not cynical. Told about the perfect character of a churchgoing man, he observes, "Nothing in this world raises more doubts in my mind than apparently perfect young men."

Yet Wilcox is also a flawed man. He makes mistakes and is perfectly capable of being turned by a pretty widow with something to hide. His attempts at seduction sometimes succeed, but more often fail, which makes sense at a time when a woman's reputation could be affected by who she's seen with.

One hopes for better things for Adams and Wilcox, but if it doesn't happen, it won't be the fault of the publisher. Like most of Walker's books, these are beautiful to look at -- details from Edward Hopper's paintings appear on most of them, which is a nice change from the usual blood and skulls that passes for art on most mystery covers -- and the $8.95 price tag is more than reasonable for these absorbing tales of small-town crimes of passion.

I have been fascinated by the incident for many years. The incident IS fascinating. The book is a joke. Poorly written. Poorly edited. It reads like a conversation over coffee at some hole in the wall pancake house deep in the bowels of North Dakota. I feel for the ex-cops that experienced the shoot-out. I am sorry, but leave the writing for the professionals - so the two guys who unfortunately had to deal with the poorly planned attempt at apprehending Kahl - can have their memories for their kids, grandkids, etc.... I am sorry but the book is just plain BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a former law enforcement officer from a small North Dakota town. After reading this book, I felt as if both authors just told me their stories face-to-face. The diagrams and photos really put me "at the scene". It is obvious that the authors of this book are not writers by trade, which actually made it a refreshing change from the same old, same old. I can relate to these officers having to wear many "hats" at their job. Graf shows the world, through this book, what being a Peace Officer is all about--trying to keep the peace. Unlike other authors of books on this subject, Graf actually met with and talked to the murderer on several occasions prior to the shoot-out, making informed decisions on first-hand knowledge. Others chose to ignore this knowledge when it was brought to their attention. Unlike a previous reader review, I've actually had a chance to meet with and talk to the authors after I read this book. I've seen the documentation they have to back up everything they write about in this book. Read the others first if you like, but save this book for last. It is the only true and accurate account you will read!

I lived in North Dakota at the time of these events. The author's first-hand account is consistent with, but fills in a lot of the blanks that have been written and reported about the confrontation at Medina ever since.

Critics of the book may point to minor flaws such as allegations of ...covering by the authors. I do not find such flaws nearly as credible as the book. Both Graf and Schnabel were professionals who were cooperative and did more than they were asked. Yes, their small-town police departments was organized like (surprise!) a small-town police department. And, yes, their account is factual, direct and down-to-earth, not full of socialogical [stuff] like Bitter Harvest, the first major book on the incident.

Neither author is apt to get rich on the book as it tells neither side exactly what they want to hear. Accordingly, the only fans of the book are likely to be those interested in just the unvarnishied, unfiltered facts from two police officers who did the best job they could with the tools available and are probably the only ones who conducted themselves properly thoughout all the events leading up to this incident and the aftermath thereof.

In short, if you believe your government is always right and never lies, skip this book because it will shatter your dreams. Skip it also if you believe the tax protest fringe is always the unfortunate victims of a government conspiracy. However, if you believe the truth lies somewhere between, you owe it to yourself to get and read this book.

Who likes being adopted nobody does especially Tall bear when his kola White hawk abanded him at a butte that had a eagles nest on a little tree.His kola who lied to the village that Tall bear was killed by the eagles.

I like this book because it reminds me of two buddies in my class.The part I dont like is when Tall bear kola abandens him at the butte.My opinion about this book is that its a good book it talks about friendship. I'll recomend this book to anybody who likes reading books by the athur PAUL GOBLE.And to people who likes reading novals from Tomie Depola.

A friend loaned me The Checkered Years, and after reading it, I purchased two copies, one to give away and another to lend and ultimately to keep in my library. From the day-to-day writings of Mary Dodge Woodward, the reader begins to understand the central role of weather in the life of the early Dakota settlers - the awesome cold, wind, and heat; the blizzards, drought, and flood - all matter-of-factly but beautifully described in an unpretentious diary. The diary entries give a hint of the tremendous effort it took on Mary's part and that of her family to build up a large wheat farm, and along with that, the uncertainties she faced as a widow growing old. I wish the book had more background information in its introduction and more diary entries that, even though they probably would have seemed repetitive, may have given more focus to the people mentioned in the selections.

I regard Janet Dailey's Americana series as modern-historical comic books. No insult intended. There are many of them (one for each state) in this series of somewhat short novels which reflect the good old non pc days --- interesting for a change, sometimes.

Kit Bonner runs the Flying Eagle Ranch for her grandfather who is getting on in years and has never really recovered from the death of his wife. Generations of Bonners have run the ranch for the absent owner, an English Baron. Now the current Baron, Reese Talbot, has come to look over the ranch and clashes with Kit right from the start. Kit, who dresses, talks, and acts like a man is extremely hostile toward the charming Reese, though he can't quite figure out why.

Kit is hiding a secret which is the cause of her attitude towards life and Reese and, although they are attracted to each other, Kit finally succeeds in driving Reese away. Having got her wish, Kit comes to regret her decisons and starts to grow up a little and overcome the bitterness of her past. When Reese finally shows up a while later (as you knew he would) there is a entirely new Kit waiting for him.

A charming story that somehow worked despite the almost feudal theme that would have been more natural in a historic rather than modern setting. Taking place in an isolated small town somehow made it more believable. At times I wanted to shake Kit for her childishness but seeing Kit learn to love and find happiness with good-guy Reese was just an awshucks feel-good ending.

I can only comment on the Kansas section of this book, but that leaves a little to be desired. It seems that Knapp found the most popular trails but didn't dig too deep. Another problem is his tendency to list utterly boring rides on semi-maintained doubletrack. If someone buys a mountain biking guide book, it means they are looking for the real thing, not some flat access roads. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of alternatives to this book for cyclists in the midwest so I still have to recommend it as part of your collection, if for nothing else but the states you do not live in.