Burnham's book is a fine history of the slow degeneration of Congress as an institution, from it's beginnings as the heart of our gov't, to it's present state as an irritating side show that mainly serves to siphon public money off to various local interests. That, in fact, is one of the things Burnham defends, and this is the book's primary flaw. While it gives a fine account of the creeping imperialism of the executive branch, it offers nothing but jeremiads. The practical solutions to this problem, such as making Congress larger, are not seriously considered. Worse yet is the author's tendency to defend the more backward aspects of Congressional life, such as special interest politics. It is all well and good to say that Congress defends the rights of the few against the many and stands in the path of mob tyrannny, but it is undeniable that it is all to often a leech that exists only to expropriate the wealth of one segment of society and pass it on to another. Burnham's blind allegience to outworn gov't mechanisms is his great flaw. The first principles he adheres to are as valid as ever, but they need a new embodiement more suited to our own times and troubles. Romantic nostalgia for the days of Webster and Calhoun is counterproductive.

I've used the previous edition of this guide and have found it to be very useful in preparing a trip. The guide appears written from the perspective of a small powerboat, thus encouraging quite a few surprizes if taken too literally. It is not clear how "updated" the new edition is. I've found I got tired before I could find substantial changes or cruising insights.

In general I felt the book was a very patch account of Native American people which was, afterall, its stated subject matter. It fails for one thing, at least within the written text itself, to give proper attention to the extreme diversity of that population. This is in large part due to the fact that the starting point of the work is the North American collections of the British Museum, which are necessarily finite and somewhat random, having more to do with the whims of the early collectors than to the conscious choices of curators, especially in the case of the earliest material. The photo illustrations of this collection, however, are worth the price of the book. Some of the artwork is priceless and irreplaceable. Of interest too is the material on modern Native American artists still working within the cultural contexts, media and traditions of their ancestors.

The Gilded Age by Charles C. Calhoun describes itself as a collection of essays on the origins of modern America. The book offers information on the various categories of people living in America during the so-called Gilded Age, a time of rapid change, a time of accumulation of vast fortunes, a time of growing social discontent. Editor Charles C. Calhoun collects the research of numerous scholars. Therefore the positions of industrialists, laborers, women, African Americans, Native Americans, farmers and politicians are all covered with equal enthusiasm. This is a good way to do it because the focus of the overall book is more inclusive and less narrowly focused. This allows the reader to form his or her own opinions on the data presented. Photographs and illustrations help to shed light upon the landscapes and lives of the characters living during the late 1800's and early 1900's. My favorite pictures are found in the chapter titled "Urbanizing America". There are some great shots of how our cities used to look. Overall the book is informative and you might find yourself saying, "Oh, so that is why things are the way they are today."

This book was written as a companion to an exhibition that opened at the Huntington Library in Los Angeles in October 1998. The illustrations are disappointing, because they are mostly photographs of documents. The text is decent, but provides a very superficial account of Washington's life. A much better general book about Washington's life is James Thomas Flexner's Washington: The Indispensable Man.

Washington's achievements were primarily in three areas: commanding the continental army, being president of the Constitutional Convention, and serving as the country's first President. He practically single-handedly fostered a sense of our being one united country and held it together through the war, the draftig of the Constitution, and the national's early history.

It is difficult to overestimate Washington's contributions. Everything he did set a precedent for the nation. And everything was being done for the first time. There had been no democratic country in the history of the world. No country had had a democratically elected leader; they had all been kings.

Washington was a fascinating man. Unfortunately, this book is not. Still, it is worthwhile as a superficial overview of Washington's life.

I was hoping this would be a more thorough listing of mountain biking areas in the Great Lake States, but it's not. It sticks to only what it considers to be the classic trails.

I moved to DuPage County 3 years ago. Having lived in Alaska, I enjoyed scenic hiking. However, it seems that no one knew anything about hiking or bike trails in the area with the exception of a few forest preserves.

Mr. Hochgesang's book has a thorough list of places to hike and bike in DuPage county. Mr. Hochgesang also gives various other pieces of useful information such as maps, parking areas, facilities, what you might see on a particular hike, area history, etc.

The book has 23 sections, each describing at least one place and the various trails (some sections describe several if they are close to each other). The book is slightly outdated, with the information being from around 1994. Despite this, it is still an excellent book to get acquainted with the various parks, forest preserves, and trailes in DuPage County, Illinois.

Many new trails added in Lake County since this book was published. Needs to be updated with new maps.

I found this atlas useful, but I would be hard pressed to call it a topographical atlas. For a publication of its size, it offers decent detail, but leaves out useful info like road names. I found it difficult to use once I left the US highways and state routes. Also, the map scale is difficult to find.

A pair of professional photographers identified and photographed many of the key places where events mentioned in the Lewis and Clark journals took place. In the text, they recount the journey and use carefully-chosen quotations. This is an attractive book. It may not capture the whole of the journey, but, in part because it is pared down, it would serve as an excellent companion for the many families who will retrace at least parts of the journey in the next few years.