Being a Masters student of History in Denver, Rose's work is recommended reading. Unless the processes and politics of technology and industrialization turn you on, the first two and final two chapters will be slow going. But in the middle three chapters Rose hits his stride describing how the utility companies placed appliances and power tools into turn-of-the-century "home ec" and "shop" classes to get an entire generation hooked for later consumption. He also details how the marketers focused pressure on husbands to buy these "labor-saving" devices for their overworked wives. Even if you are not into the techno-politico history, those middle three chapters are worth the price.

I am practically a Denver native and I was very surprised by how much there is to do in Denver! The book gives great insight into all aspects that make Denver unique, as well as giving good tips to make anyone's visit enjoyable. I bought the book to show some friends around town, and now I have used it to keep myself busy on a few weekends as well.

Este libro (y Clifford, ya se ve) son los favoritos de mis dos ninos. Lo leemos todas las noches.

Being a Colorado native and especially a native of Leadville, I found this book fascinating reading. Mr. Voynick does an excellent job of telling the story of the Climax mine from its' earliest days. Even for people who are not natives of Colorado but are interested in the mountains or mining or blue collar life in a company town the book offers many insights.

As usual, David and Marc Muench have published a fairly solid photography book. However, this is by no means their best book, and it's not even David Muench's best book on Colorado. It appears that Marc Muench took the photos for this book over the last few years, whereas David Muench's photos may have been leftovers that weren't included in 'Colorado II' (which was published before 'Colorado'). After seeing this book, I still rank Colorado II as the #1 book in my list of 'Best Colorado Picture Books' (which can be seen by clicking on my name), and I therefore recommend that book over this one.

The book I own is "Colorado Campgrounds: Volume 1, Poudre Canyon & Red Feather Lakes by the same authors (Heasley & Messineo). This leads me to believe that there are more books in this series or at least more to come. The copyright is 1998. This book has been very helpful to our family. It has maps(vicinity maps and campground diagrams)of each of the 21 campgrounds with sites marked for tents/Rvs. GPS technology was used to confirm campground layouts as well as restroom and water hydrants. The vicinity maps are topographical maps showing forested and non forested areas, 100 foot contour lines, streams, lakes, roads, trails, wilderness areas, state land and private land. Each campground has text containing directions, description of the campground and the activities available in the area. Two or three photos are included in each campground map. This book is the best we've found on this particular area of Colorado. The authors do not rate the campgrounds or the sites at the campgrounds. I only wish that each site was rated or at least described whether or not it had available shade. As we campers know, not all campsites are created equal. I'm anxious for the author's next book.

It kept me so interested. I could not put it down. I would love to read it over and over.

I've had the distinct pleasure of working with Chuck in Colorado's child spport and unfortunately his funny and wonderful personality is difficult to see in this book. Child support is serious business and Chuck has brought it down to the layperson. The topics covered are those that a custodial or non-custodial parent would be interested in pursuing. The only significant topic I believe was missed was how the child support money will flow from the non-custodial parent through the state coffers and out to the family.

Child support is regulated by a very complex set of laws and policies constantly changing. Welfare reform has had a significant impact in changing the regulatory environment. Automation continues to improve and expand options and avenues. Legislation now requires what used to take a couple of weeks to be done in a couple of days. Judicial control has been streamlined to be more administrative in nature. In the three short years since publication, the child support work force in Colorado has grown from 400 to 600 workers to handle the additional tasks. The reader should take great heed in the disclaimer on the copyright page and check everything stated with either a child support or private attorney.

Most states could replace the forms with their own and do a mass change of "Colorado" to their own state name and much of the material would be applicable.

When Chuck says, "If you did not understand the rules...the first time, don't feel bad. It can even take months for lawyers to get this straight," he is absolutely correct. However, his writing is quite clear and patience will be rewarded. Quizes and answers every few pages with extensive examples illustrate most any scenario. Chuck achieves his aim to provide the parents with the knowledge needed to do their own child support work. One only wishes the material could be placed on the internet and kept up to date.

This small book provides attractive color pictures of every wildflower that it covers. The first time or sometime enthusiast will enjoy this book much more than the more broadly focused Jaeger and Munz classics that have fewer color plates and devote most of their coverage to the Mohave Desert. 1998 has been an extraordinary spring wildflower year. I have attempted to use all three books and found that my success with this one was such that I was able to find and identify about 3/4 of the flowers in the book just from my trips to Borrego Springs, Mecca Road (Box Canyon), Joshua Tree and the Colorado River.

Colorado Ghost Towns Past and Present had been sitting on my bookshelf for years. It looked interesting when I first picked it up at a book sale, but I never found the time to really look at it until recently. I was very pleased to find that I owned such a wonderful book.

The book includes information on the following ghost towns (although some, like Breckenridge, aren't what I would consider ghost towns):

Ames, Arbourville, Argentine, Arloa, Arrow, Ashcroft, Baldwin, Balfour, Berwind, Black Hawk, Breckenridge, Cache Creek, Cameo, Camp Talcott, Cardinal, Central City, Creede, Eastonville, Elko, Empire, Garland City, Gilman, Granite, Hahns Peak, Haywood Hot Springs, Hessie, Idaho Springs, Ilse, Independence, Iris, Jamestown, Lincoln City, London Junction, Ludlow, Manhattan, Masontown, Monarch, Morley, Ohio City, Pearl, Pictou, Placerville, Primero, Red Cliff, Rexford, Robinson, Rouse, Russell, Segundo, Shavano, Silver Creek, Silver Dale, Springdale, Sunset, Swandyke, Tabasco, Tercio, Tiger, Vulcan, Ward, Webster, Westcliffe, Whitehorn, Winfield, and Yankee Hill. Phew! 65 towns in all.

Each town has it's own chapter chock full of historical information about the town's founding and it's demise. However, the historical information isn't why I enjoy this book; I absolutely love the photographs. Author Robert L. Brown has done a wonderful job of collecting photos from almost every one of the towns during their high points. Below each picture of the past is a picture of the present (1970s due to the age of the book) taken from the same location and angle as the old photograph. The pictures are absolutely amazing to look at, compare, and contrast.

While I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of Colorado's ghost towns, if you are thinking about buying this book you may want to consider Robert Brown's more recent book, Ghost Towns of the Colorado Rockies : Compare the Past and Present.