We planned our honeymoon out of this book, and boy am I glad that we did. The places in here are all splurges, but it's money well spent. Jacuzzis, balconies, and all sorts of romantic touches. This book never steered us wrong. Plus it's a delight just to look at the photos, and dream of trying more spots.

Olson's use of sensory description is a powerful tool in his writing, particularly Ghost Camps of the North (an essay in Ruins of the North). Olson takes the reader on a fantastic adventure in each and every one of his essays. Not only does he take the reader to various geographical locations, but he also takes the reader back to the days of the French/ Canadian Voyageurs, and trappers. Ruins of the North contains work that traces the path the voyagers took from Montreal to Grand Portage, and into the far North The careful description of the Hunting Moon rising has a majical quality about it. Olson is a master nature/ wilderness interpreter that has given the canoeist/ camper a wealth of stories to tell. Reading an essay from Ruins of the North just before one retires at night insures a night filled with vivid dreams, and sound sleep. This can best be illistrated by the Essay The Dream Net.

I found this book in the small gift shop attached to the New Camoldolese Hermitage high above the town of Lucia on California's Big Sur Coast. For those looking for a place to retreat from the interruptions of everyday life, a monastery, hermitage, abbey, retreat center or sanctuary can't be beat. Whether you're seeking a quiet place to finish The Great American Novel or a place to find spiritual renewal, you'll surely find many good suggestions in this book. More than 200 centers are listed within Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington, including location, history, prices, accommodations, and spiritual activities.

This is a most valuable piece of scholarship for anyone who has an interest in ancient Semitic scripts.

This volume began as a doctoral dissertation given to the eminent Frank Moore Cross. When it was published in 1978 it had become a collection of almost 2200 ancient Northwest Semitic seals. Herr organized these seals according to their chronology (from 900 to 500 BCE) and according to their national script tradition as well. Herr includes chapters on Aramaic, Ammonite, Hebrew, Moabite, Edomite, Phoenician, and undistinguishable and forged seals.

While I can not say enough about Herr's book, I would like to add a digressive note. Most scholars are familiar with the theory of diffusionism made famous by Barry Fell and others. Fell claimed that many scripts such as the Los Lunas Decalogue were examples of paleo Semitic scripts and so he claimed that Semitic people had come to the Americas even thousands of years ago. Unfortunately Fell must not have had access to Larry Herr's book. Had Fell had access to it, he would have seen that his claimed Semitic scripts did not compare with the scripts found on Northwest Semitic seals.

Ksey is as stunning a children's writer as he is a novelist. His words coupled with Neil Waldman's stunning watercolors will take you and your child on an immaginative flight through this amazing folk tale.

If you are looking for an affordable book that is a perfect fit for your backpocket while exploring the tidal pools and beaches of the Pacific Northwest, this is it. It starts with a handy eight page illustrated reference guide and then continues with excellent color drawings and descriptions of the various flora and fauna that inhabit the shoreline and tidal areas. The final touch that makes this a truly useful tool for field work is the glossary at the guides conclusion. The short definitions are a great help for beginner and "expert" alike. I have used it on several field trips, exploring for lab sites to be used by my Oceanography class. It has proven to be easy to use, well illustrated, humorous and factual. I am recommending this guide for my Oceanography class to be used as a convenient reference and guide for both lab and field work.

This history of Drake's voyage around the world in 1577 is a rare delight. It has the narrative force of one of the world's great adventure stories but only because Bawlf clearly and economically provides all of the political and economic context necessary to intrpet the context, the true purpose and the consequences of the voyage. Of the many accounts of Drake's voyage that I've read, this is by far the most comprehensive and enjoyable. The prose is clear, unassuming and well-crafted.

It is also a very surprising book. Even though the voyage is very well known, many of the events are not. The book is serious scholarship and as compelling as Patrick O'Brian's fiction.

When it comes to Western history, and narrative history, this is the absolute best book I have ever read. If you like your cavalry and Indian stories in the best "John Ford/John Wayne" tradition, with the advantage of intensive and even-handed research, you simply have to buy this book. It reads like a novel, captures all the pathos of the era, and plays fair with both sides. In Hamilton's west, there are no good guys, and no bugles and guidons glory; there is only survival, and the understanding that, in the end, might does really make right, and the strongest do indeed survive. A fantastic read, and with the footnotes and bibliography, a must for the general reader and the specialist too. AND, the best treatment of the Warren Wagon Train Raid, one of the most important events in the history of the Southern Plains, ever done. FOUR STARS!

This book is a great resource for learning about the history of the S'Klallam tribes and their struggles and triumphs. It goes into detail about their way of life before European contact, and on through the first known European sighting of the S'Klallams, the Treaty of 1855, and continues into later times. It displays the ways in which S'Klallams and non-natives interacted with one another in early times.

Thanks to Lionel Youst, Annie Miner Peterson's life story has been preserved. One of the last of the Coos Indians, she lived for 79 years in western Oregon and witnessed the demise of her culture. This remarkable narrative captures some of who she was and how she lived, enabling Annie to pass along some of the accumulated experiences of generations of her ancestors.