There are several books of photographs of Central Park on the store shelves. This one stands out. The photos in 212 Views are stunning. You feel as if you are standing right there, you imagine you will feel the fresh air on your face as you turn the page! The text is like a well-informed friend who accompanies you, the reader, through Central Park, sharing select details about the history and design of the Park and adding layers of depth to your immediate sensory appreciation of the Park. Whether you are a frequent user of Central Park, an occasional visitor, or an arm chair stroller, experiencing the park only through the pages of the book, I highly recommend 212 Views. It's a great gift for the holidays, too. (I bought copies for my exercise partner who loves fast-walking in the Park and for my mother!)

New York residents and visitors will treasure these vivid photos and charming essays infused by a love of the city and its showcase park. "Views" will entertain and educate readers, and encourage their explorations. Enjoy!

Our Texas Hill Country is indeed a little-known source of beauty to outsiders. Because of its depressed condition for decades in the past it was overlook even by Texans. Today, however, we are able to see this area for what it is: rolling hills, tumbling streams and rivers, and a great view around so many curves in its small secondary roads. Though West Texas is well-known for Big Bend, the sheer area of this part of our State, combined with sparse population, means all of us can enjoy peace and solitude--this is where the South turns into the Southwest.

Mr. Ford's book reflects a love of the area, combined with excellent directions and documentation of sights. The book is divided into geographic areas, and within those areas, into tours of a day or longer. He has also done an excellent job of rating the difficulty of the tours, and why he has come to those conclusions.

Though I have only cycled a small amount of this area, I would also recommend this book for those who would like to tour by car. I've traveled almost this entire area by car and wish I'd had this guide then. Additionally, I found the photography very well-done--particularly in view of the price of the book.

This book is a valuable resource, and a terrific buy for the price!

I have cycled only a few of the book's listed road rides in the Hill Country but I am familiar with portions of several other roads in the Hill Country and West Texas via automobile. These are truly great rides with well-thought directions and information. It's so good that when Mr. Ford says you will have to "shoo" sheep and livestock from the road, it really must be done! I eagerly await even more rides with the next edition of the book.

This book is a terrific guide to the real Florida. The directions (both to the trailheads and on the trails) are easy to follow and accurate. The descriptions include interesting bits about flora, fauna, and geography as well as the occasional snippet of Florida history. It's an outstanding book for someone wondering how to get into the woods in central Florida; even those who hike central Florida regularly will find some new gems to explore. This is a great guidebook!

This is a hiking guide that has it all. Not only does it give clear directions on how to find the trails and precise information such as length and degree of difficulty, it includes lyrical narratives of the beautiful and interesting sights you will see as you hike.
For those who think of Central Florida as a land of theme parks and T-shirt shops, this book will open their eyes to the natural beauty that still exists, just minutes away from the tourist attractions.

Has excellent photos, maps, directions and places that I was not able to find on other books for this part of the state.

We've been exploring this area for 20 yrs, but this book has led us to some new places. Directions and descriptions are very good. So far, Dusty Lake is my favorite- see it online.

Having read lots of "guidebooks" about cities both in the states and in other countries, I can confidently recommend this book as one of the most comprehensive and usable! As residents of the Twin Cities, our household brings out this book everytime we want to know more about a building we've seen, when we want to know how late the zoo is open, or when we can't decide where to have a great dinner out. It is fun to read, very well organized by areas of the cities, and includes great information, such as history of neighborhoods and buildings, menu recommendations for restaurants, and where to find "hidden" locales. Excellent!

Unlike all the other Minneapolis guide books i saw. this one has an entire chapter about the mall of america (which is the whole reason for our trip to minneapolis), but it lists and describes many of the stores (especially the unusual and unique ones), and it has interesting facts about the mall. The book also has great maps. And the best part is, it color codes it's entries. Parks and outdoor activities are printed in green, hotels are in blue, resturaunts in red, etc. This book was a huge help in planning what to do and how long to stay.

The ACCESS guides are so smartly organized by neighborhoods that you'll be lurking like a local in no time. The color coding for attractions, restaurants, hotels and shopping make skimming for your favorites a breeze. More often than not, their sly 'insider' comments are right on the money. I used ACCESS Washington, DC to acclimate myself to my new home, and I still use it whenever company comes to town. Like any travel guide, the latest edition is a must (but even that won't compensate for fickle diners and undercapitalized restauranteurs) and it's certainly time for a newer version than the 2000 edition. But having said that, I still purchase an ACCESS guide if I'm going to spend any time in a city I haven't fully explored.

Once again a jewel of a guide. Comprehensive, lively, logical and coherent. Like so many other city guides by Richard Saul Wurman, this book combines an architectural overview with historical, anecdotal and practical aspects of the city in such a way that makes it a great companion to have before during and after the visit. As a matter of fact even if you don't go, you get the pleasure of intimate knowledge of the place.

An excellent job of narrating the recovery of lost material from existing documentation. The footnotes are well researched. The topic is fascinating, and the insights of the editors very useful. However, I would have liked to see an additional index with entry using English terms as well as the existing index of Taino words.

In addition, in analysis of a culture so intimately linked and so knowledgeable of nature as the Tainos, one should also take into account biological reality. For instance, it seems clear to a biologist that Mácocael, "he of the lidless eyes:' page 6 of the text may well be the great rainbow boa, Epicrates spp., Ma-ja, the great snake, since this serpent, like most boas, has lidless eyes.

An excellent job of narrating the recovery of lost material from existing documentation. The footnotes are well researched. The topic is fascinating, and the insights of the editors very useful. However, I would have liked to see an additional index with entry using English terms as well as the existing index of Taino words.

In addition, in analysis of a culture so intimately linked and so knowledgeable of nature as the Tainos, one should also take into account biological reality. For instance, it seems clear to a biologist that Mácocael, "he of the lidless eyes:' page 6 of the text may well be the great rainbow boa, Epicrates spp., Ma-ja, the great snake, since this serpent, like most boas, has lidless eyes.

Belize holds three of the four coral atolls in the Caribbean, hosts the world's only jaguar reserve, and has the highest waterfall in Central America. The author's updated book is a tour guide helping the adventure-oriented traveler take advantage of these rare visions as she tells how to make the most of Belize, from locating a local tour to visiting backroads and less traveled areas of the country. A must for any traveler who wants to experience the outdoors of the country.
Library Bookwatch

Belize holds three of the four coral atolls in the Caribbean, hosts the world's only jaguar reserve, and has the highest waterfall in Central America. The author's updated Adventure Guide To Belize is a tour guide helping the adventure-oriented traveler take advantage of these rare visions as she tells how to make the most of Belize, from locating a local tour to visiting backroads and less traveled areas of the country. A 'must' for any destination traveler who wants to experience the outdoors of the country.

I have read this book both before and after Sept. 11... It is well written and moves along at a good clip, but it really does not seem to present a true or valid picture of the Mujahadeen or the situation in Afghanistan, even at the time it was written.

Assuming Palmer actually was in Afghanistan and actually met some of the people he talks about, all the book can be viewed as is a well meaning fairy tail about the brave and chivalrous fighters against the Soviets. One doubts that any of the incidents in the book really took place, or if they did, that they were described acurately.

Reading other books about the war in Afghanistan makes it pretty clear that the anti-soviet fighters were formidable, but hardly chivalrous or even civilized in any sense that we in the west would understand.

If read as a Sufi allegory, it is quite valuable and illuminating, hence the 5 stars. But anyone wanting a true view of the fighting in Afghanistan would be better served with any of a number of books written by authors such as Larry P. Goodson, Jason Elliot, Eric Newby, Artem Borovik or a host of others.

A must-read for anyone who seeks exposure to deep insights into the culture, as well as aspects that go beyond culture. Another, related, book that comes to mind is Kara Kush by Idries Shah.

John Ranelagh's book, The Agency: The Rise and Decline of the CIA, is the definitive text on the CIA. It is comprehensive yet concise; moreover, Mr. Ranelagh took on a major project in creating this masterpiece, with so much information, and so much history, it would be nearly impossible to write an accurate history of the CIA. Yet Ranelagh accomplishes this feat marvelously. I, personally, would liked to have seen more on the scientific branch of the CIA in this book; however, it would have made the text to long and cumbersome. A much needed third edition would be relative, seeing as that the book does end with the Iran-Contra scandal, and the CIA's history has grown and transformed over the last decade with the appointment of George Tenet as its Director.

Ranelagh, in a massive and engaging tome, brings alive the characters and story of the CIA in a fair and balanced way. My graduate class on National Security Affairs and the Intelligence Community used this book as one of the primary texts. From Julia Childs to James Jesus Angelton to Richard Colby to William Casey, this wonderful story tells the history of the Agency, its people and their interaction with presidents, Congress, the Soviet Union (KGB) and the foreign policy process. It covers the assasination attempts of Castro and various other figures as well as such bizarre episodes such as the attempt to rig up a cat as an assasin. I couldn't put the book down once I got started, however, because of the depth and breadth of its coverage. Make no mistake, this is a serious, meticulously researched and encompassing historical work. The book is as good a history of the Cold War as it is of the CIA, and covers high level decisionmaking at the presidential and Congressional level from WWII through the Reagan Administration. Not a diatribe for or against the CIA or US foreign poilicy, Agency is a first rate account of the actual events and people behind them at all the critical moments in the CIA's history. Ranelagh does a superb job at explaining the context behind the decsions that were made. For example, he gives the reader an awesome sense of the fear of Communism that lead to extreme measures being taken at various junctures without being an apologist. This book is absolutely essential reading for those in the intelligence, foreign policy and defense communities, and highly recommended for anyone interested in Cold War history. Perhaps more importantly, its a terrific read!