My only real complaint about this book is that I wish it were longer and had more photos. The style is a combination of the authors' personal diaries they kept while on their month-long voyage down the wild Thelon River in far northern Canada where the open tundra dominates. Their writing was very honest, and I felt intrigued to be reading a firsthand account instead of a recollection that you feel was written and embellished after their trip. At the end of the book, one of the authors describes a portage in great detail and provides a play-by-play of the physical rigors and also the emotional state during this long and arduous portage. This is a wonderful and memorable piece of writing, and I wish that they had given that level of detail to the entire trip. Nonetheless, highly recommended for those who love true adventure stories and who have any interest in a long wilderness canoe trip.

I anticipated that this book might be just another canoe guidebook about a northern Canadian river since its size and layout indicated that it wasn't a coffee table photo collection - except for the striking cover photograph. The contents were, therefore, an unexpected and pleasant surprise. Yes - the book does describe a canoe journey - but it seems to me that this is primarily a narrative of personal development. The effective use of their diaries to evoke the experience of the landscape, and the insights of this husband and wife partnership about their experiences and feelings make the book far more than a story about canoeing. The story uses their experience to give the reader some direct insight into the personal development of two apparently ordinary people who undertake what to many of us would be an unthinkable challenge. In our modern, urbanized society, there is little opportunity to experience the spirit of the early North American explorers - the Pitts manage to deliver that sense of discovery (both personal and geographic) in the telling of their journey through their respective diaries. This is not a "canoe book" - it is tale of two people confronting the challenges of life - who just happened to be canoeing at the time. One was left wishing the river had been longer so that we could share their experience for a few more pages.

This book succeeds through its unpretentious and honest description of a journey well taken. The concurrent use of diary entries from both of the Pitts gives the narrative a nice balanced feel. The details of how to prepare and do what is required by a trip such as this are very clearly explained without bogging down the story. The canoe seems to represent chiefly a means, rather than an end, because the authors are best at defining why they did this in the first place. Their story provides inspiration particularly to those of us who have not been there before.

This author is developing into a rival for the Paretskys and Cornwells of the genre. Jeri is an engaging, courageous and honest protagonist and, along with secondary characters, is well-drawn by the author. The plotting here is compelling and frighteningly topical. Jeri and her exploits rank highly on my must-read list.

I was so excited to see another Jeri Howard adventure by Janet Dawson as I've read all her previous ones and thoroughly enjoyed them as bits of fluff that held your interest for a plane ride or a w/end at the beach...thought that this would go in more deeply about the "hidden children" but she whet one's appetite for more but barely skimmed the surface....didn't pay for that trip to Paris...and as previous reviewer stated, the two stories never really got together to make one really good story...I still liked the one set in Monterey the best..."Never turn your back on the ocean"....It still was like spending time with an old friend...keep on writing, Janet Dawson...this one showed a definite change in your writing...more depth...thanx for a good read...anyone who read her previous books, will enjoy this one as well...

Private detective Jeri Howard is excited over her latest assignment. She is to travel to Paris to bring home a runaway, teenager Darcy Stefano, the daughter of wealthy parents. When Jeri arrives in France, she learns that Darcy is paying homage to her beloved grandmother, who, as a French Jew, was hidden away from the Nazis during the WW II occupation. Jeri accompanies Darcy as she visits various holocaust memorials and other Jewish sites. Upon completing her quest, Darcy and Jeri return to California.

A few months later, The Stefanos hire Jeri to once again track down their errant daughter, who has vanished from her school. Jeri begins her investigation with the school. She quickly uncovers a Neo-Nazi movement that apparently Darcy previously discovered. Jeri knows that it will take all of her skill to keep Darcy alive from the Nazis who are not ready to divulge their existence.

WITNESS TO EVIL is a strange novel in that both parts are well written and fun to read, but the two halves fail to blend together into a credible novel. This is one time where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. Jeri remains a very good female sleuth and the story line is well designed and written, but Paris and California never connect.

Harriet Klausner

Recently I took a trip from Perth to Cairns by rail and this book was my primary source of information that helped me prepare my itinerary. I spent a few days in all major aussie cities on my way to Cairns. This guide helped me in two ways, first it helped me to quickly gather general information about particular place where I took a break and it's surroundings. Second, it helped me to narrow down day trips, sightseeings and walks (which are *plenty* to choose from local tourist kiosks in hotels, YHA...).
One thing that I didn't find in this book was enough tips for budget accomodation - if I didn't by an accident find the official YHA Australia web site I would never know how good this organization is in this country (at least compared with YHA in most part of Europe). So, if you need budget accomodation then certainly checkout YHA web site before booking any 'budget' places mentioned in this book.
Otherwise I can't say anything bad about the book, it does a good job covering all aussie states and I beleieve that the content will satisfy the adventurers as well as tourists.

I saw the book in the hands of one of your US tourists and at the quick look I had, I liked what I could see HOWEVER!!! the information on the area south of Hobart in Tasmania was sadly not only not good, it was in fact not there. As a tourist operator at Cygnet in S Tas I was disappointed - for me and the fact that some of your people would be possibly missing out on one of the nicest corners of our state.

At as few pages as this book is written, you could expect a lot less, but "Celtic Way of Life" delivers the facts plainly, in a very middle-school text-book manner. Not to say it would bore any other reader with its simplicity -it keeps a steady pace and stays in focus. It only scratches the surface, and that very lightly, but I still see it as a valuable book for someone who wishes to look at the archaeological evidence in the ways of living and every day Celtic life -rather than derrive it from folklore and mythology.

This small (72 pp.)book contains an incredible amount of information about life in Ireland 2500 years ago. The daily life of the Celts -- housing, work, play, social rules, and more -- are clearly explained. Black and white illustrations (drawings and photographs)supplement the text, as does the occasional quotation from a contemporary source or translated poem.A good resource for teachers and independently usable by middle schoolers and strong elementary readers. An important addition to a generally expensive list of books about the Celts. (This edition is reprinted from a 1976 publication of the Curriculum Development Unit in Dublin.)

This history of the Irish in the army of Robert E. Lee is valuable, if only because the topic has been so little explored. In fact, the ambiguous loyalties of the Irish during the Civil War were covered up in the past by Irish Americans keen on garnering support for Irish independence by playing up Irish participation in the Union Army.

Irish in the South were staunch supporters of the Confederacy, for a variety of reasons. Catholics and Jews were more accepted in the South than the North, probably because their common whiteness was more important than any denominational differences from their Protestant neighbors. The Catholic Church was soft on slavery in general, and prominent bishops and lay Catholics in the South were vocal supporters of the peculiar institution. For example, Supreme Court Justice Roger Taney, author of the loathsome Dred Scott decision, was a good Maryland Catholic. The average Irish labourer, North and South, dreaded the potential competition for low wage jobs that would arise from emancipation. Irish intellectuals, such as the rebel John Mitchel, sympathisized with the South as a weak, agrarian underdog trying to free itself from the domination of a ruthless, capitalistic, imperialistic Yankee/Puritan juggernaut, thereby recasting the war as a variation of the ancient Anglo-Irish struggle. Mitchel also rationalized the institution of slavery as humane, compared to the prevailing feudal system in Ireland which had allowed the starvation of millions.

The lot of the Irish soldier in Lee's army was as bad as his Northern counterpart. Confederate officers seem to have been as profligate of the lives of their Irish soldiery as their Northern counterparts, although the grim butchery of the Civil War knew no ethnic boundaries.

O'Grady is particularly insightful on the battle of Fredericksburg, debunking the many myths which have arisen regarding the Union Irish Brigade and its less than heroic commander, General Thomas Meagher.

Despite its many strengths, O'Grady's book does have serious flaws. The narrative tends to break down into a somewhat dull retelling of the individual careers of Irish Confederates. There are a few odd digressions. Notably, O'Grady gushes at length in praise of the narcoleptic, semi-sane Stonewall Jackson in tones more suited to an infatuated schoolgirl than a dispassionate historian, for no particular reason, except perhaps for Jackson's distant Ulster ancestry.

This is bound to be a controversial book, because it says what a lot of today's Americans of Irish descent would like to brush under the rug: That yes, there *were* Irish Confederates, and that they were committed officers and soldiers, passionate in their reasons for fighting for the South.

This book puts Irish participation in the Civil War in its proper historic context. At the time, the Irish who lived in the North were the victims of the worst kind of bigotry--they were systematically cut out of employment opportunities and otherwise damaged by a nasty, nativist, "Know Nothing" campaign against immigrants. In the South, many Irish were also near the bottom of the socioeconomic scale, but they were not loathed just for their Irishness, and there they had a chance to better themselves.

The book also makes the point that for the Irish on both sides, the war was not about slavery or racial bigotry. Irish Union soldiers weren't abolitionist liberators. Many were swept into the Irish Brigade by the charming harangues of their homeland hero Thomas F. Meagher. Others were simply trying to assimilate into their new country or were fighting because they couldn't get out of it. Irish Confederate soldiers were mostly non-slaveholders who fought *not* to support the peculiar institution but because they believed the mostly agrarian South (like agrarian Ireland at the time) should be self-governed, not dominated by puritanical Northern industrialists (who seemed an awful lot like the puritanical English industrialists).

The author convincingly builds these points and then tells the rest of the Confederate Irish story, battle by battle and officer by officer. This book is a thoroughly researched, interesting and well-written work of Civil War scholarship that actually finds something new to say about a much-rehashed war.

Tom Stienstra has written many excellent outdoor guidebooks, and my favorite is "California Camping" which I use all the time. It's fantastic! But just so you know, he didn't write the book, "Easy Biking in Northern California," though I wish he did because his writing style is one-of-a-kind, and his books are always award winners.

Ann Marie Brown has written a one-of-a-kind biking guide, one that's really useful to beginners and intermediates. I love taking my 12-year-old daughter on the rides in this book, because I know they'll be able to handle the trails. Some are mountain bike rides and some are pavement rides, but all of them are very scenic and free from car traffic. We really enjoy reading her trail descriptions!

A notably raunchy, sometimes downright grotesque, translation of the Old Irish text. I wearied of the constant mentions of women's bodies -- there's only so many times an author can use terms like "bouncing buddies" (sic) without getting stupid, and Eickhoff uses them repetitively. Granted, the original text is not G-rated, but in the course of fictionalizing the author has exaggerated the nastier elements as much as humanly possible--the women as objects is bad enough, the fart jokes are *really* uninteresting.
Eickhoff's introduction shows that he does have scholarly credentials, and when he's not being a 12-year-old boy, he does have a good sense of comedic timing. But too much is too much.

This is a remarkable translation that gives the reader insight into the cultural background of modern day Ireland. Eickhoff is a gifted individual who has an uncanny insight into the life of pre-Christian Ireland.

The book consists of three major sections:

1) The genocide of the aboriginial inhabitants of Humboldt & Mendocino Counties. 2) The rise & fall of the Asbill brothers; two early settlers in the area. 3) The story of the infamous George E. White. Cattle King of Round Valley & the Yolla Bolly country in northwestern California from the 1850's to 1902.

The first section is difficult to read. Partly because of the content, & partly because of the format. Appears to be written in the format used for a Master's thesis. Does contain a wealth of information. Some of it repeated from various sources. Gives an overview of the Indian population decline as well as graphic descriptions of some of the murderous incidents. Horrific. Bosnia today has nothing on what a few pitiless men did in the Yolla Bolly country during the 1850's & 1860's. Easier reading covering some of the same material are "The Story of the Stolen Valley," by Rena Lynn, and "The Saga of Round Valley The Last of the West," by John E. Keller.

The second section is easier reading because it is based largely on the narrative of Frank Asbil. Son of Pierce Asbill & nephew of Frank Asbil. Follows their story from their arrival in the Yolla Bolly country as hide hunters through the rise & fall of their livestock operations. Colorful & entertaining. My favorite part of the book. If you like this section, look for the "Last of the West" by Frank Asbill & Argle Shawley

The third section relates the story of George White's livestock empire. Includes examples of the brutal methods used by his henchmen to control the rich grazing land of the Yolla Bolly country. These included threats, theft, arson, perjury, false accusations, corrupt officers of the law, & murder by various cowardly means: poisoning, shooting in the back from ambush. Over a twenty year period in a population of only a few hundred people, over fifty murders occurred FOR WHICH NO SUSPECTS WERE EVER ARRESTED. Because of the large number of crimes, the authors present selected incidents to illustrate typical methods used by these organized outlaws to keep out homesteaders for nearly fifty years. This section reaches it's climax in the murderous vendetta against the two men that ultimately stood up to George White's outlaw buckaroos, and in the accounts of the killers' trials in Weaverville. It has lighter portions too. These cover cattle ranching methods of the day as well as anecdotes illuminating the character of some individuals involved. For fictionalized adventures in the Yolla Bolly country from this era look for the book "Wylackie Jake of Covelo."

Contains an epilogue and an extensive bibliography. Compliments to Lynwood Carranco & the late Estle Beard on their thorough telling of this chilling history. Should be made into a movie by someone like Robert Redford

please find me the book above

The Osprey Order of Battle series presents the military enthusiast with a microanalysis of famous battles, in this case devoting six volumes to the pivotal Civil War Battle of Gettysburg. The first volume is devoted to the deployment of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia on July 1, 1863, while the second volume in the series does the same for the Army of the Potomac. The chief utility of this volume is for war gamming enthusiasts, who want to be able to position troops accurately for recreating the situation and trying to achieve a different objective; I have used the information to generate a brigade level version of the Battle of Gettysburg with the Civil War 2 computer game. The first day of the Battle of Gettysburg hinged on the absence of Stuart's cavalry for reconnaissance purposes and the critical failure of the Confederates to take Culp's Hill, thereby securing the high ground overlooking the city. This book provides comprehensive organization diagrams, an analysis of operational objectives, and most importantly where each unit was at what point during the first day of the battle. This includes the "tooth" combat elements and the vital "tail" support troops. Certainly, the Order of Battle books meet their objective in providing the most detailed information ever published about the great battles of history. In addition to Gettysburg this series has also covered the 1759 Battle of Quebec and the WWII Battle of the Ardennes in 1944.

This book is a superb addition to students of the Gettysburg Campaign as well as those of Lee's army. It details the Confederate order of battle on the first day of the great Pennsylvania battle. If one is seeking a more dramatic,enlarged account of the first day they might look elswhere. This book however is best suited for those of us that seek sterile details such as unit strengths, and individual company names of individual units(although not complete).The text is well written and informative. There are photos of the brigade commanders,color drawings of many of the unit flags and good maps. A minor mistake was in identifying a photo of Brig.General McGowan as that of Brig.General Iverson. This however is tiny flaw in a book filled with the minute detail many of us hunger for when it comes to that vaunted American Army..the Army of Northern Virginia.

I must admit this book disappointed me. Elizabeth Shannon interviewed several women in Northern Ireland and the only conclusion she seems to draw from them is that the armed struggle waged by the IRA is ethically wrong and completely useless. The author does not even try to analyze reasons for violence in Northern Ireland, she only stresses again and again that violence is wrong and there must be a peaceful solution to centuries old grievances and hatred. Plus, she seems to accept and reinforce British propaganda about Irish Republicans as thugs, sociopaths and racketeers, who are only in it for power, money and excitement. She thinks that hundreds of young lads, generation after generation, have willingly suffered through life on the run, torture, imprisonment, and ultimately death only to prove their masculinity. Some of her comments are simply ludicrous: introducing an Unionist woman politician (and a former Mayor of Derry, mind you)she underlines that Ireland would be a better place if there were more people like her. In the interview the same enlightened politician advocates the return to hanging to do away with all Republican "terrorists". Yes, Elizabeth, you are right, this is what Ireland really needs, that's the way forward for sure! And by the way, is this kind of violence justified in your peace-loving mind? The interviews are interesting though, biased comments and questions notwithstanding. In the end, I recommend this book only to people who already have some knowledge of Irish history and politics. This is definitely not the book to start with if you want to understand the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Over the past few years, I've been fortunate to learn about "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland. One of the first things I learned is that very few sources of information are unbiased. Elizabeth Shannon defies that tenet with "I am of Ireland."

While her husband served as the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, Shannon took the opportunity to explore women's roles, or the lack thereof, in the political spectrum in Northern Ireland. She did this by interviewing women from all walks of life in the North, from paramilitary members to politicians' wives. These interviews culminated in Shannon's superb study.

In "I am of Ireland," Shannon shows the reader there is no cut and dried solution to bring an equitable and just peace to Northern Ireland. She accomplishes this through the interviews. No matter religion, economical stature, or political stance, the women Shannon interviewed all had valid concerns regarding their circumstances.

Through these women's voices, Shannon respectfully reveals the human price all the citizens of Northern Ireland have paid: anguish over lost loved ones, pain from their own injuries, constant terror, apathy to the terror.

This book came highly recommended to me, and I can't recommend it highly enough to others who wish to gain an even insight into the human side of "The Troubles."