This book is a collection of old pictures and drawings related (mostly) to the Boston harbor islands, with some text (mainly captions). It's obvious to me that the author has no first-hand familiarity with the harbor, nor has he edited his book with any care. In addition, many of the pictures are quite fuzzy. If it were possible to award no stars to this book, I would. (Review written by a sailor who spends as much time as possible in and around the Boston Harbor islands.)

Example: Page 6 shows a portion of a 1732 chart of Boston Harbor labelled (on the chart) "A new and accurate chart of (Boston Harbor)". This chart is actually quite interesting, showing names of the harbor islands which differ in several instances from those used today. Unfortunately, when the author on page 24 lists (without qualification) "The Islands of Boston Harbor", he uses the 1732 names. No current chart or map of the islands will show "Apthorp's Island", nor "Half Moon" nor "Egg", nor does the author ever explain why they are listed.

Previously, on page 8, the author had discussed the disappearance of some islands shown on the 1732 chart. Some were filled over to create Logan Airport. These include Apple, Governors, and Bird, not, as he states, "Apple, Winthrop, and Bird". Winthrop never was an island and is still a thriving town, close to the airport but certainly not under it.

On page 35, he repeats as fact the fanciful story that the erosion of Nixes Mate island was foretold by a man (Nix's mate) who was hanged for a crime he didn't commit. As far as I know, no research has ever validated this story. On page 41, he shows a picture of a monument marking the site of Nixes Mate, now a dangerous rocky sandbar. His caption describes the current marker, a black and white pyramid, but his picture shows, without explanation, an earlier, unstriped pyramid. For some reason, the material on Nixes Mate is included in the "Boston Light" chapter, although it is miles away. The intervening islands, Gallops and Lovells, are not covered, nor are Peddocks, Bumpkin, and Grape, all of which have colorful histories.

Chapter Four is devoted to Minot's Light, including a picture of a swimmer diving "into Boston Harbor from Minot's Ledge Lighthouse". This would be quite a trick, since Minot's Light is located off the town of Cohasset, seven miles from the nearest entrance to Boston Harbor!

On page 80, we learn that Thompson's Island was "Named for David Thompson, who acquired the island in 1626"; on the next page, that "the island was named for David Thompson, who was deeded the island from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1622."

The Boston Harbor Islands, now included in Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area, have interesting, well-documented histories. Perhaps someday someone will publish an accurate, and comprehensive picture history book covering them. This book is not it.

I thought that Boston's Harbor Islands was very insightful. It has beutiful pictures of the islands and tells a few great tales. Don't let others opinions sway you into not buying this great book. Who cares if a caption on page 32 is wrong. It just prooves there are people who have too much time on their hands and that you can't make everyone happy

If you're going to Washington, D.C. with kids, this is not the book to buy. Everything we looked up in the book before and during our D.C. trip was accurate or misleading. We made reservations at a hotel listed as "economical" only to find the real price was $40 more than listed. When we entered the restaurant listed as one that welcomed children, our brood of three was scowled at , mutterings ensued and we were then led to a back table. There was no room to put down food (obviously cocktails were what the establishment had in mind) and the closest thing to food children would like was a plate of fish and chips for an exorbitant price. Every other time we consulted the book, it turned out badly, one way or another. So don't spend $16 on this book because it not only isn't helpful, but it's actually a hindrance. You end up in unsuitable places with unsuitable prices because you think they'll be good for kids.Wrong! So, after our trip, here's what I recommend for 3 days in D.C. with kids: The Smithsonian--as many as you can stand in a day The White House Tour A tour of the Capitol--write to your congressperson beforehand and get a private tour--an aide of Tammy Baldwin's gave us a crackerjack tour and we got to watch Tammy and others vote on the flag ammendment. Buy food and souvenirs from the street vendors--every age can find something cheap to take home that would cost twice, or three times, as much in a store. And it's fun to sit in parks or benches and eat and watch all the different people.

We bring this book every time we go to Washington! It really lays out all that's available to do and gives the information you need about each place or activity. The Smithsonian section is especially helpful.

So little is written about the Nagas - Tangkhuls, Maos, Kabius etc living in the Manipur State, or elsewhere in the north-eastern states of India. So this book doesn't represent 'all of the Nagas'. The modern-day Nagas are warm, friendly, very hospitable and peaceful folks. Music runs in their soul and they've got the voice to match! Yes, they are indeed, beautiful people.

The photographs were amazing . I wondered how they got all that stuff together. I sat for hours going over each one of them,trying to imagine how eachone of them must have been taken by the various individuals in their own time and space. Ok Ok so I got carried away a little, they are just pictures taken by people who had come to the Naga area either as tourist or as administrators but since there are such few photographs depicting the life of the naga people in the begining of the 20th century it was an amazing experience going through the photographs. So much has changed since then, both good and bad and like all tribal society that came into contact with the outside world only in the later half of the 19th century the Nagas also had to go through the usual problems symptomatic ofsocieties going through changes that came too fast at times. And in that process of getting educated and westernized and christianized somewhere along the way we lost touch with certain aspects of our tradition and culture. Lets just say the Nagas were victims of a histirical process demanding too much change. This loss was not just spiritual or intelectual but also material.In fact, to give a small example there was a shawl in one of the photograph worn by the Tangkhul tribe which is now no longer weaved because nobody knows how to anymore.I think it is important to know our roots because only then can we define ourselves and move ahead as a` people' in the ever changing dot com world we live in. This book is about how the world saw the nagasand also an attempt to undestand our way of life(the chapter on Fertility is interesting ) Of course only the Nagas can really know who they really are as people and as a nation but it is enlightening to be defined and analyzed by others especially if it has lots of pictures taken by them and all the good ones are brought together in one such book.(oh! so this is how my great granpa dressedup for the big hunt....) I think now that i have written about it I should buy a copy for my mom. She loves old photographs.

This book is out of date and has inadequate directions. The walk to Dudleytown is not open to the public, but the book does not mention anything about it. Upon arriving to Dudleytown, (one of the recommended walks) we were harassed by a local resident who came after us to ensure our car would be towed if we dared. Upon trying to find other nearby walks, we learned the driving directions were incorrect. More importantly, the walks we did find were wonderful and not even mentioned. This book is not much more useful than a map.

Q: What are we going to do today?

A: Let's go for a Hike

Q: Where?

A: Pull out "Nature Walks In Connecticut" so we can decide.

That's a common Saturday morning conversation at our home. This book has provided us with numerous outdoor plans to fill those Saturdays. Whether you're an experienced hiker or enthusiastic novice, "Nature Walks In Connecticut" will be a valued addition to your outdoors library. The suggested hikes are organized by region; western, middle and eastern Connecticut. Additionally, each hike is evaluated based on length, difficulty and little gems of nature you can expect to see (waterfalls, mountain vistas, shoreline views, etc.).

The authors have managed quite well to make this read like a guidebook rather than a geology text/roadmap. The trail descriptions include discourse on wildlife, flora, fauna and local history. Most of the suggested hikes are intentionally laid out as loop trails, so that you won't spend valuable time retracing your steps. I've found the maps, evaluations and descriptions to be fairly accurate, considering the changing face of nature. The maps are small, but useful for general purpose routefinding. I'd recommend backing them up with USGS topographic maps of the areas where you're planning to visit.

All in all, if you want to get outside in Connecticut but don't know where to go, "Nature Walks In Connecticut" will get you pointed in the right direction.

This book has very little substance behind the nice cover! I found it not particularly helpful or useful in any way, except as a extremely basic list of hotels/inns etc. that may accept pets... the book includes extremely generic information like you might find on a hotel flyer or brochure. There is no specific information about the inn/hotel's environment for pets and why in the world you would want to take your pet there in the first place! There are some lists of various parks, but no descriptions or reviews. It almost feels as if the author looked on a map for green areas and then listed a few of them in the book to make it longer... A similar and much better book is "On the Road Again with Man's Best Friend-New England" by Dawn and Robert Habgoo. (Now that's a book worth every penny and more!)

A great book for the dog or cat lover who would like to take their pet on vacation with them. It gives tips on car & plane trips. With over 200 pages of hotels, and inns, phone #'s,e-mails,prices. There are very informative descriptions of the accommodations as well as the surrounding areas. 4 paws!

This book could not have been very well researched. It looks more like an attempt to take your money from the money grubbing Zagats. How could this posible be published for New Yorkers.....

Did they just steal their own restaurant reviews? MOst of the places in here are not really bars, they are restaurants. They must have been in a hurry to put this out. Zagat's top choices are pretty bad if you want go out and drink. Great if you want to eat at a top 10 restaurant though. Stick to what they know. Food surveys.

I happened to visit their top bar -- Angel's Share-- and if that's the top bar, I'm afraid what they thought of the other bars. It makes me wonder how they compiled the ratings.

I have used several of "The Off The Beaten Path" books over the years and have found them for the most part to be accurate. However, I was greatly dissapointed in the Vermont one. I tried for hours to find several locations only to be told by the "locals" that there was no such place or that the structure had been moved several years ago. Some locations were found right off but I found that I have been spoiled but the authors of the New Hampshire book and their accuracy. I have noted that the Rogers are doing the updates. GREAT, now I'll find the places I want to see.

I bought this book hoping it would tell me things I didn't know or at least things I knew presented in a new light. At the time I was doing a lot of Vermont travel. I found this book quite useless, and was put off by its dismissive tone. Vermont is a complex place, but you would not know that by reading this.

Only someone with a personal vendetta against th eauthor would go to such lengths to trash someone's work. If you don't like it, just say so and move on. And by the way, bitter folks like you should be vacationing in Detroit, not Vermont!

I wouldn't bother spending money on this book. It reads too much like a brochure. The author spent the majority of her time talking about the Innkeepers and not the Inns. Not only that, but she didn't rate the Inns, so it was hard to tell which Inns were good and which were bad. I wound up returning this book and purchasing "The Unofficial Guide to Bed and Breakfasts in New England" by Lea Lane. It's a much better book. The author visited each Inn personally and then gave a thorough review. She also rated the Inns. She did not accept any payment from the Inns for inclusion in the book which meant she was able to write an unbiased review.

The author seemed to devote far too much of each review on describing the innkeepers rather than the inn itself. Although the information about the innkeepers may be interesting, it does not help me choose which inn to stay at. So instead of devoting 40% of the review on the innkeepers, I would much rather have the inn described in more detail so that I can make an informed decision. Frustrated by the lack of detail, I returned this book for a refund.

An amazing resource with everything you could ever need to know about B&Bs in New England. It includes everything from the most basic like the amenities to the most specific such as what they serve for breakfast and which dog or cat in residence will climb up in bed with you if given the chance. My fiance and I wanted to have our wedding in either Vermont or New Hampshire at the height of foliage season and with this book we were able to narrow our choices down from our home in New York by the number of rooms, location, and other important things we had to take into consideration. Bernice Chesler made the search for our dream location so much easier! Thank you!

The locations are wonderful, and there is some very interesting historical background about the towns, but the maps are very vague and confusing. I have gone on four of the hikes, and have managed to get through most of them without getting too lost, mainly because of using supplementary maps.

There are several errors in directions (go left instead of right, for example!) and they tend to be a little vague. I would recommend trying the trips only with a good map, and perhaps some help from another book such as the New York Walk Book. However, it is helpful to have information on public transportation, and overall the trips are very interesting.

We followed this book to Cold Spring for a day-trip but ended up lost in the woods. It took 8 firefighters to rescure us from the mountain. According to the firefighters, we were the third group that got lost this year because of this book.

While this book provides a well-designed day-trip routes, it lacks a detailed map for inexperienced travelers to follow.

Only use this book to plan your trip but ***DO*** use a comprensive map from NYNJTC(New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, for each locale.

Outside of being rather dry and boring from a presentation perspective, the information provided is at best okay. I read the other reviews and bought the book anyway since I figured it was the NYT staff. Well the other reviews were right.

I bought this book thinking that it would give me in-depth New Yorkers' view of New York City--like the neat neighborhood to shop, mom & pop's restaurants to eat, or some off-the-wall places to stay. Instead, it's just a typical generic guidebook that tells you same old thing, such as Louis Vuitton is the place to buy leather wallet. Well duh, I knew that! I could go to a local mall in my area and find a Louis Vuitton store. I wanna know the little hidden place that the experienced NY Times staff would know since, you guess it, they live in NYC.