This book might better have been titled "52 Romantic EATINGS," because all of the food-obsessed author's recommended dates are primarily about chowing down. None of these activities will spark or enhance romance--people who truly love each other don't need themed activities in order to enjoy being together. Only the truly desperate or romantically challenged would resort to the ridiculous "romantic recipes" in this book.

I think this is a great resource for people new to the city or who may be unfamiliar with the diverse possibilities in their search for spaces condusive to time together.

No guy should be without this book. I bought it on a lark and couldn't put the book down. The author gives us guys so many no-brainer ways to put a little romance into our lives. I recently began dating a wonderful woman and, thanks to this book, she thinks I'm a Cassanova! I like the way the author Miriam Carey gives *specific* places to go and things to do. Believe it or not, when I try to think of where to take my lady, my mind goes blank. Movies are about all I can think about. Now, with this book, I've already taken her swing dancing, and on a romantic lunch break picnic near where she works. I highly recommend this book to guys and girls too.

Pinkerton Biography

The story of Allan Pinkerton, a poor Scottish immigrant and former working-class radical who rose through the ranks of society to become the protector and confidant of presidents and tycoons is a quintessential American story that deserves such a thorough telling. This book was a fascinating read, and left me wishing that the author had delved more into the numerous early cases that were only hinted at in the text.

The only serious criticism of this biography is the author appears to have gotten a little too close to his subject, which in several points has clouded his objectivity. This is apparent in the book's tendency to rush to Pinkerton's defense, particularly regarding the handling of the Molly Maguires and other labor disturbances of the late 19th century. A sweeping condemnation of the labor activists as "terrorists," or stressing the fact that they greatly outnumbered the Pinkerton operatives during violent strikes, are intended to make Pinkerton and his agents "the good guys" in the eyes of readers. This stance is questionable, however, considering the book's general lack of background information on the U.S. labor situation at this time. The author also neglects to explore how Pinkerton, a well-known Glasgow labor radical in his own youth, so readily sided with "other side" -- the titans of American industry -- later on in life.

But overall this book is a good read and well-researched, especially the chapters concerning Pinkerton's early life in Scotland and his association with President Lincoln during the Civil War.

I had always heard of the Pinkertons or Pinkerton Detective Agency, but had never really thought about who this "Pinkerton" might be. James Mackay's Alan Pinkerton: The First Private Eye is a useful biography of both the man and the firm. In his introduction, Mackay makes clear that his most original scholarship - and of which he is most proud - is in tracing Pinkerton to his youth in Scotland as a Chartist leader. Unfortunately, this is the dullest part of the book, I think because Mackay is focused wholly on doing scholarship rather than telling a story. Once his subject moves to America, however, Mackay's book gains in interest and becomes an interesting read. Here, he shows how Pinkerton, by trade a cooper, essentially stumbled onto his career as investigator through his extreme powers of observation and sheer doggedness. Though these attributes, his honesty and business acumen, Pinkerton built a business which remains in existence today. A particularly interesting section of this book deals with Pinkerton's actions during the Civil War, and the allegations that he had become a puppet of General McLellan and disloyal to Lincoln. Mackay explores and justifies Pinkerton's loyalty to "Little Mac", but argues - convincingly for me - that he did not stray from the Union (In the process Mackay argues that McLellan has been unfairly maligned and was a "great" general; this argument, however, is undeveloped, and perhaps will form another book). This is a useful and interesting book for readers interested in real-life "private eyes" and the Civil War.

This books encompasses all of Allan's PI's work. I had an enjoyable time reading it. It is a fasination subjet for me. I am considering of changing careers and going into the PI business.

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.

I was eager to read this mystery set in the southwest. However, on the first page there is a reference to our heroine in a small plane crossing the Utah-New Mexico border. The only place where Utah and New Mexico even touch is at Four Corners. Hardly a border. I was ready to overlook that goof and went on with the mystery. It was only mildly exciting, relying too much on this author's concept of magic realism. I was also disappointed in the many errors when Spanish words were used. I don't know if this is the fault of the author or poor editing, but the errors could easily have been checked in a dictionary. Let's hope the next book by Norma Lehr shows a bit more care with details and drama.

This book was extreamly fast paced and is almost soley based for the younger audience. Norma Lehr Writes of a girl who can see ghosts and hear them when others cannot. When Kathy-the girl- goes on a vacation to New Mexico. She starts to see visions of a crystal skull and things start to happen. The story itself kept my intrest as a reader and I thought the character a little blunt but it was a characteristic you don't really see in other books.I would recomend this to kids and to the adult who wants a couple hours worth of reading and an exciting story.

I picked this book up at the library for some easy reading because some friends told me it was good. I checked the ratings here on Amazon and found out that the spanish was wrong and that there really was no Utah/New Mexico border. That didn't help me much and I read the story. It was a good story and since I don't know spanish the language was no problem to me and I wasn't bothered. The story itself was good. I easily went through it in three hours and I found the difference of the story from anything else was good. I found the character a little rude though but it is rarly that the protaganist is so I went on. I thought the mix of the ghost and the sliver of magic involved was very interesting and since I had not read any of the other books it made me want to go back and read them.

While Motoviloff's book promised to offer insight and wisdom on the unique natural beauty of the Driftless region, it ended up failing in the end. The author claims to understand the area's inhabitants, both human and animal, and the ecosystem they share. However, he also feels the region's natural resources are at his disposal. The entire book, which perhaps might have discussed the delicate balance of plants and animals, consists entirely of hunting and fishing stories, and poorly written ones at that. The book lacks a plot, or even a hint of excitement. It stirred only disgust at his total lack of respect for the land. Motoviloff, who only vacations in the Driftless region, lacks the experience and knowledge that only years of living in the region can give. The region doesn't need another man to harvest its fish or kill its wild game. It needs a conservationist who understands the land and respects it.

Billed as a collection of hunting and fishing essays, Motoviloff brings the sights, sounds and smells of the driftless region to life with his vivid prose. While some are straight hunting and fishing tales, most are splendid little vignettes which reveal a telling, almost religious, bond between the author and the places of which he writes. A wonderful little book.

a great book for father's day a. Any outdoors person concerned with nature and balance will love this book.

This is a very thorough and well organized study of one of the most important and ghastly events in human history. In the century following the European discovery of the Americas, approximately 90% of the native population perished. The agents of this demographic and cultural catastrophe were an apparently unceasing series of epidemics transmitted by European and African immigrants to the Western Hemisphere. Isolated for millenia from the Western Hemisphere, the native peoples of the Americas were virgin soil for smallpox, plague, influenza, measles, and a wide range of other serious infections. Native American susceptibility to epidemic disease and not any technological or cultural advantage was the key factor allowing Europeans to conquer the Americas. The conquest of Western Hemisphere and European dominance of its resources resulted in a huge economic and ecological windfall for European states. This windfall was a key factor propelling the global dominance of European culture and states.
Cook does an excellent job of systematically surveying the various epidemics and their demographic impacts. This is difficult because of the need to cover an extended period of time, a broad variety of regions, and the fragmentary nature of the data. This book is an excellent summary of available knowledge on this important topic. Very organized and written competently, this book will be the standard reference on this topic.

The collapse of the native population of the western hemisphere, where some 90 percent of the inhabitants perished within a century, was one of the greatest demographic disasters in history. In this well-detailed analysis, Cook lays the effect of Old World epidemics on a virgin soil population. Completely free of the impassioned polemical tones which so often characterized many of the books on the Columbian exchange,Cook presents a the framework needed for students of 16th century America. While not ignoring cruelty and war as a factor in the decline of certain groups, Cook points out that the number of Spaniards present during the 16th century was too small(less than 250,000)to have killed or worked to death the tens of millions already present in the Western Hemisphere. Smallpox,measles, and influenza ripped through the natives like a hurricane,preparing the way for European conquest and settlement.

An excellent account of the history of the Americas, it focuses on the diseases while keeping in touch with both the cruelty suffered by the natives and the culture shock. It goes deeper into the less dramatic side (where less writers dwell in) and makes this a must read for anyone interested in the period.

The cover lists "Everyday Travel." Common sense and experience with other atlases led me to believe I would see cities mapped as well as parks, lakes and swamps. NOT SO. I was better-off squinting at Mapquest.com.

First of all I absolutely love this atlas!! I look at it all the time. Its great for taking a trip through the state because it doesn't leave out a detail (or so it seems until you look harder). It features parks, forests, tourist attractions, natural features, fishing spots and more... The ONLY reason that I give this otherwise 5+ star atlas four stars, is that it has a good amount of missing information. I own the 1989 edition of this book and recently looked at the newest edition (2001) to find that there was NO added information from the old edition. I couldn't find a single difference between the two versions. The problem is, there is probably a couple DOZEN roads within 10 miles of my home that are not listed! I've also found one of their phone numbers for a state park to be the wrong one. Well, they do say to contact them "if you should find conditions other than what is listed in this atlas". So that's what I'll do and I hope to help other people by stepping in and making the right changes. (The changes will be listed in the next edition).

check out Topo USA 4.0. It features up-to-date data for the ENTIRE U.S....

The Wisconsin Atlas and Gazetteer is a very fine atlas with very detailed road maps for the whole state. One drawback of the atlas format though is that the maps of adjacent areas that are on different pages do not overlap. It would be nice if there was a least a few miles of overlap between maps on different pages so you wouldn't have to flip between pages so much when you're driving into the next map.

Maybe this book is good for people who already live in the area who don't have to worry about lodging or meals, but for someone plannig a vacation, it is not very useful. I would recommend The Acorn Guide to Door County instead.

I am a bit disappointed with this book. It provides excellent descriptions of the Door county area parks and towns but it offers no suggestions on lodging or food. It also talks a lot about bikes and kayaks and yet does not mention where one can rent either one. The book has a lot of historical information and descriptions of what is available in all the parks, but it is not a real "vacation guide." After reading the book I am going to have to buy another one to get the complete picture so I can plan my vacation.

As a frequent traveller to the Door County area, I was very surprised to find information in this book that I did not already know. This book offers comprehensive information on all of the outdoor activities in Door County. The information is so detailed that it even maps out specific hiking trails within the parks. For those persons looking to explore the many wonders of Door County, grab a copy of this book before you go. It is a great reference tool for first time and seasoned visitors.

Well I just woke up from a long nap after trying yet again to *yawn* read a chapter of this *yawn* book. Definitely not nearly enough bananas or geese in it for me. If you want to hear long drawn-out stories about getting files from government agencies....well all I'm saying is I guess my primary interest in Lennon has always been his music and I just don't give a hoot about this stuff-- not enough entertainment value. I thought the book "The day Elvis Met Nixon" was much better. Oh go ahead write me a negative response.

Chronicling the bizarre FBI/CIA fear & obsession with ex-Beatle rock legend John Lennon during the 70's,Jon Wiener gathers up the dossier files & informant reports(etc) that have been released under the Freedom of Information Act by both intelligence agencies concerning their interests & worries with the "dangerous extremist" Mr.Lennon & his THEN struggle for acceptance & a 'Green-Card' in the U.S.-(And all this manifesting from a minor marijuana conviction in 1968)-. Weiner pushed & leaned on the agencies for years to get the documents published(as had other biographers)& quite a number of them are blanked out for purposes of "National Security". It's a great book for "hard-core" Beatle fans & it's a comprehensive study on Govt. paranoia for future generations to bewilder at. Thumbs up!

First a simple test. To whom was FBI Director, J. Edgar Hoover referring when he wrote to President Nixon's Chief of Staff, H.R. Haldeman, "[He is]...a paradox because he is difficult to judge by the normal standards of civilized life....His main reason for being is to destroy, blindly and indiscriminately, to tear down and provoke chaos...."? Adolf Hitler maybe, or some seminal Osama bin-Laden? Of course not, as you already know it was none other than our friendly, pudgy-faced, mop-headed, evil genius, that heinous John Lennon, composer of such bellicose anthems as "Imagine" and "Give Peace a Chance." Reason enough to warrant the FBI's surveillance of the man for 24 hours a day, for years on end? Well, not really, but they did it anyway. This book details the efforts by the author, Jon Wiener, and two ACLU attorneys, Mark Rosenbaum and Dan Marmalefsky, to obtain the 200 odd pages of documents held by the FBI on Mr. Lennon, that the agency had refused to release, (typically on grounds of either national security or ostensibly to protect confidential sources). To this end the attorneys employed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) as their basis to obtain these documents. The run-around that they were given by the government should be nothing new to students of previous such encounters, and the fact that it took 15 years to achieve it should not prove too surprising either. But without doubt the central point of this book, and one that cannot be overemphasized, is that it was the FBI (acting outside of its own charter and the explicit instructions contained in the FOIA) that violated the law, while finding no criminal activity on the part of Mr. Lennon. Possibly I'm too old, too jaded or just plain too cynical to be surprised to find out that the government, or its representatives, are capable of lying, placing illegal wire-taps, harassment, obfuscation and underhandedness. Certainly all of that happened here, and it is hats off to Rosenbaum and Marmalefsky for uncovering much of the skullduggery. Although most of the information on Mr. Lennon that was unearthed as a result of this effort was largely already known to any diligent reader of, for example, "Rolling Stone" magazine, following the trail of the hearings and legal arguments is a fascinating and worthwhile one, and the book's final chapter was (for me, at least) an eye-opener.

I'm from Michigan and I'm truly offended at this book...there are a lot of things to see in Michigan, everything from renting a cottage at one of Michigan's countless beautiful lakes both large and small, to hiking the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes, to visiting it's many lighthouses. And that's just in the lower peninsula, I'm not too familiar with the U.P. Yet, the author mentions the attractions worth visiting as the 'bicycle spokes museum?', or the 'Be kind to your mother-in-law bridge?' I've never heard of either one and I've lived here all of my life? They make the state of Michigan and those who live here look foolish and backwards... If this is a book about locations that can be found 'off the beaten path', there is much to be said about Michigan. Some of the most beautiful attractions are located here, which do not appear to be in this book. If the sites described are the featured locations in the book, thanks but I'll pass. One would be better off picking up a free brochure from a travel agency...

As a native Michigander, and now a nearby Chicagoan, I found this book both amusing and helpful. I had no idea of some of the little sites and attractions of my native state and used the book on some car trips back home. Of course, the book assumes you are aware of the big tourist attractions so it concentrates on the hidden treasures. I have shared this with fellow Michigan natives and they loved it also.

Michigan is more than corn fields and auto factories. It has a rich heritage of literature, art, and frontier wildness that makes the wild west pale by comparison. Mr. Dufresne has collected the definitive book of must-see sights along the byways of the most beautiful state in the nation.