I found the book to be comprehensive in explaining the nuances of negotiating the public transit system! I especially enjoyed the humorous anidotes by the author and his apparent awareness of the biases his reading audience may have toward the use of public transportation. During this time of the economic down turn in the bay area this book helps to open up the potential for tremendous cost savings not only in terms of cash out lay in car ownership but supports the need to save our environment! This is truely a courageous effort that goes to the heart of the environmental question. There needs to be more books of this nature!

This coffee-table sized book has over 400 full color pages. The stories are fascinating, the art and photographs are breath-taking. You'll go back to it again and again. It really is a great gift for anyone in any part of the country because so much ground-breaking history happened in the Hudson Valley. I especially appreciate the index for research purposes. Every library should have one. I thought $60 was a bit high at first, but as soon as you handle it and see the quality of the content you will realize it is worth much more. A good value.

This is the best volume on South Texas history ever. Full of first-hand quotes, the lives of the people of this region from 1750 through the early 1900's is witnessed. It should interest people who don't even live in Texas, so much American history is intertwined with this region. Especially great is the civil war section.

"The high gabled houses of upstate New York shelter the characters in this superb collection of ten stories set in the 1950's. Steely, hard and gritty as the dark streets of an upstate winter, these men and women struggle in isolation...

"Buechler, whose stories have been reprinted in the O.Henry Awards, has created stories that are flawlessly constructed, spare and delicate in the telling...

"Buechler's talent for creating a sense of place, even a place we might not want to visit, is profound, and his characters, not necessarily people we'd like to know, are unforgettable."

(Starred review, indicates a book "of unusual interest and merit.")

Randy-Michael Testa's In the Valley of the Shadow is a sad tale of political manipulation and the commercial development of some of our nation's most historic farmland. At issue in his account are several farms in a previously undeveloped portion of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which give way to a retirement community that, in one fell swoop, is expected to increase the population of a bucolic farming community by 40%.

Mr. Testa's account should be of great interest to at least three different groups. Advocates of rural land preservation will read this book as a sort of morality tale, an account of failed grass-roots opposition to the narrow-minded business interests of a few powerful men. Residents of Lancaster County should be keenly interested in Mr. Testa's recounting of the operations of the zoning system at the hands of an elected but thoroughly undemocratic board of township supervisors. Persons of Mennonite faith or upbringing (such as this reader) will find much food for thought and reflection in this account, for Mennonite business leaders function as the central protagonists of this story, blithely oblivious to the contrast between their grasping, monetaristic goals and the egalitarian values of simplicity and service to others on which their Anabaptist culture is based.

The familiar tensions of the wider development debate are present here - in particular, the conflict between the rights of the individual to derive maximum pecuniary benefit from his or her property, on one hand, and the right of a community to establish land-use standards aimed at preserving its aesthetic and historical integrity, on the other hand. Several additional elements throw the tensions of this debate into higher relief in Mr. Testa's account. First is the sheer beauty of the rural farmland being developed. Second, the fact that this community is principally inhabited by Amish and Old Order Mennonite farmers - who do not vote as a matter of religious conscience and whose ancestors were those who initially cleared this land and established these farms, many generations ago - adds special poignancy to the sense of loss and makes the tale of political machination even more troubling. Third is the wide latitude of any resident of the region has witnessed several times how quickly pristine farmland can be converted into consumerist monstrosities worthy of the less elegant parts of Houston and Los Angeles.

This second book of Mr. Testa is more focused and tightly written than his first book, After the Fire, an exuberant and compelling account of life with an Amish family. In this second book, Mr. Testa shows a more mature understanding of the Lancaster County community, but also a greater sense of sadness and resignation. One hopes that Mr. Testa will not give up too easily. In particular, one hopes that Mr. Testa will seek to build further bridges to the politically influential Mennonite community on a grass-roots level, exploring the points of commonality between his ideals and the historical convictions of the Mennonite peoples. One hopes, too, that Mennonite readers will not be too quick to dismiss Mr. Testa's concerns without giving them careful and reasoned consideration, despite statements about certain Mennonite business leaders that some may consider inflammatory. (It is troubling that some Mennonite booksellers refuse to stock this book, which touches on themes so central to their lives.) As Mr. Testa suggests, it is in the hands of the Mennonite community, with their religious ideals or lack thereof, that the fate of the County lies

I love this book. Of the many "layman geology" books about the Sierras that I've read, Matthes's is my favorite. I think I understand why. The book was published around 1950 by the University of California Press, shortly after Matthes's untimely death. Plate tectonics was not universally accepted at that time, so conspicuously absent from this book is the 20 pages of basic Plate Tectonics that distract the other books. Matthes instead focuses on the fascinating glacial morphology of the Yosemite region. In my mind, the book's biggest treats are the 30+ black-and-white photographic plates, including 25 by Ansel Adams. I love to see Matthes place some Adams classics in their geologic context.

In summary, this book is easy-flowing, highly informative, and visually pleasing.

I want to know all about Mississipi City Histor

This book is an excellent source for understanding North American Indian customs and life style prior to the appearance of European settlers. It is very well documented with good authenticity. The journals by Nicholas Perrot are vivid and interesting.

THIS WAS A VERY GOOD BOOK ESPECIALLY FOR ME B/C I NEEDED IT TO DO RESEARCH WITH AND IT HELPED ME OUT A LOT!

One of the most important books of the American 20th century. Set in the class conflict of the Akron, Ohio, strike of 1936 against the rubber industry. "Sit down" and give it a read!