This book is a must have for any library on Appalachia or the Great Smoky Mountains. Michael Frome does an admirable job balancing sensitivity for the mountain people, their customs, attitudes, and anomalies with historical research and insightful commentary about the creation of the Park and its future. Being a native of the region, from a long line of Appalachian families, I felt that I understood my home more after reading this book than I ever would have otherwise. With equal nods to conservationists and tourists alike, this book will educate, entertain, and enlighten anyone who cares about this most beautiful and mysterious of regions. Additionally, Frome implores the reader to know the Park intimately, to abandon the car and strike out on foot, to rejoice fully with Mother Nature in Her playground. The addition of Strangers In High Places to your collection will be one of the best decisions to be made.

This book is a must for all who love the Smoky Mountains. In it you meet those players who made this magical place what it is today, including the wind and rain, early pioneers and geologists, loggers, whisky distillers, woodsmen and rangers. If you want to get beyond the slide shows and park brochures, read this book and learn what the Smokies are really all about.

In his first effort as a full-length work, Tom Peace has succeeded where others have failed. Finally, a resource for those of us who have longed for a lesson in hot-weather gardening! Rather than a book of charts and lists of what to plant when, the author provides us with the tools to make informed decisions. Resplendent with pages and pages of color photographs of the author's work, real-life examples of hot-weather gardens, this book is not to be missed. I can't wait to get started on my garden!

Gardeners in zones 7, 8 and 9 often endure drought and extremely hot and humid temperatures. Our plants often suffer as a result. This book, divided by sections of the southeast and the southwest, shows what plants will do well in these climates. The author also discusses winter gardening and how the sunbelt gardener can successfully have color in their gardens year round. The book is well organized and the photographs are spectacular. It will serve as a valuable reference to gardeners in this region.

I enjoy reading history books. This has to be one of my all time favorite history books. The fact that many years after its publication, it is still in print speaks to its continuing popularity.

If you are interested in presidential history, this is the book for you. Dr. Williams has done a lot of intense research about the U.S. presidents who hail from Tennessee.

This is a must have book for all history lovers. Dr. Williams does a great job of bringing the Tennessee presidents to life. I learned so much I did not know about the presidents and their lives.

Kay Cattarulla edits Texas Bound Book 3, which provides a further meaningful set of stories about people who come to terms with love, race, myths and time in towns across Texas. Promises special appeal to Texas listeners and readers.

I've always known Southern writing to have its own flavor, its own texture, its own flow. Like the speech that labels a southern with the dropped 'g' so does Southern writing take on a tone that is distinctive and different. Despite my background in literature, however, until now I've neglected Texan writing, with its infinite differences that strike at the common elements of the human spirit. Indeed, I've now learned that Southern writing, Texas style, is a genre all its own. With the fluid grace of a hot summer day and iced tea, TEXAS BOUND: BOOK III reveals the people and the land make Texas writing its own sub-genre.

From cowboys to common experience, these authors capture disdain for social fripperies and Wal-Mart sex appeal. Ordinary experiences take on freshness with distinctive language that becomes trademark for Texas style, as does the capturing of flow of conversation, and the flavors of pepper and pickled okra. Ordinary struggles become extraordinary when facing pregnancy or death. Indeed, as William J. Cobb says as he captures the movement of time and tragedy, "things get boring without trouble." And trouble comes extra large in Texas.

TEXAS BOUND moves with the perfection and grace of masterful storytelling. The words on the page hold the rhythm and cadence of speech, lending each story a sense of immediacy and importance. The simplest elements of life take on richer meaning through the act of observance and recounting. While the stories move from passionate to poignant, from humorous to tragic, each will capture the heart and imagination. Very highly recommended.

For those of us who are avid gardeners but unfamiliar with Texas gardening conditions, this book is as much an invaluable tool as a spade and a trowel.

I did not know that Dale Groom was well-known to Texas gardeners as "The Plant Groom," or anything else about this beloved Texan plant guru. I came across this book by recommendation, and I'm so glad I did! In an easy-to-use, easy-to-read format, Groom divides his book into logical sequences, from Annuals through Native Trees to Perennials, Roses, Shrubs and more. For this impatient gardener, the book format couldn't be more perfect. Every question I have has an answer, and every answer is readily available.

The nice, sturdy thickness of this paperback is a plus as well. I can see propping it up in my Texas friend's Houston garden as I struggle to turn a pig's ear (his over-run, sadly neglected, crying-out-for-attention flowerbeds) into a silk purse (Oh I have so many ideas!!!!)

As a Pennsylvanian, I recommend this book to anybody and everybody who has ever gardened in Texas, from the seasoned gardener to the amateur. There is something in here for everybody, and the only thing missing is a big smear of Texas mud on the cover. I plan to see it gets there soon!

I am new to Texas as well as gardening. This book is a great reference as well as a great book to spark new ideas. I place this publication in the "must have" catagory for any Texas gardner that wishes to succeed.

I read somewhere that more movies have been made about Wyatt Earp than all the U.S. presidents combined! There's something about the gunfight at the O.K. Corral that touches the mainspring of American imagination. Tombstone is the book that made Wyatt Earp famous and shaped forever our perception of him. I read Tombstone first when I was in high school back in the 1950s and I've since dipped into it countless times. Some might object to the author's purple prose and made-up dialogue and newer scholarly studies of the Earps and Tombstone may be more accurate and balanced. But Burns drew his material from interviews with old-timers and Tombstone newspapers and I'm confident that he comes about as close to fact as you can get. This is a magical tale and nobody could tell it any better than Burns.

tombstone the Iliad of the Southwest was a very informative book that keep me entertained as well as learning about the history of the people that shaped the southwest.I was very impressed how the author was able to interview many of the characters or speak to people that lived through that era.The book being writted in 1927 really brought out alot of history that would otherwise be lost.

A beautifully illustrated book - a must have for those whocollect books on the twelve days of Christmas. For those who don't,you will still enjoy the artwork, and the fresh look at this traditional theme.

My four year old son loves to count the objects on each page and sing the last verse on every page. It's kind of a memory game, counting, singing, cultural and Christmas book all in one.

"Josefina's World" is an excellent supplement to the Josefina chapter books and short stories. Although each chapter book and short story has a section in the back with historical information that is relevant to the story in the book, "Josefina's World" is a colorful, informative historical overview with the kinds of information that readers will most want to know. There are wonderful cut-away pictures of Josefina's rancho and of a pueblo, which many children will find appealing. The experiences of birth, childhood, and marriage are covered along with fashion, cleanliness, faith, health and medicine, and the importance of the role of the community. Stories of real people of the time and the retelling of the folk tale of "La Llorona" supplement the text. Historical information slips in with the coming of the Spanish, the blending of Pueblo and Spanish cultures, the significance of trade from Mexico City and the Santa Fe Trail, and the coming of the Americans in the mid-nineteenth century. The text is divided into short sections that are easy to read and full of accurate, important historical information. The pictures show delightful representations of colonial New Mexico and even someone who does not read the text will get a comprehensive view of Josefina's World.

Great book full of wonderful pictures and great historic information. My daughter can spend hours exploring the book time and time again.

Frederick Nolan is, by far, one of the top-notch writers living today dealing with the subject of William Bonney (Billy the Kid). Even though Nolan makes his home in England you wouldn't know it by reading his material; he's a man of the west and that west is Lincoln County, New Mexico.

I've studied the Kid's life since my first visit to Lincoln in 1969. As a young boy standing at the foot of the stairs in the Lincoln County Courthouse, I saw firsthand evidence of the Kid's desperation to live; a bullet hole in the wall. This resulted from the Kid's dramatic escape, while being held prisoner in the Courthouse, on April 28, 1881. He shot at deputy James W. Bell and missed, hence the bullet hole in the wall. The Kid's next shot found its mark and Bell stumbled out the back door before he died. The Kid's next act is pure Hollywood except it's true. Still shackled by ankle, the Kid made his way to the Sheriff's armory, grabbed a shotgun and moved toward the window facing northeast on the second floor. There he waited for Deputy Bob Olinger. I'll have Nolan tell the rest of the story.

Nolan's book is filled with many fascinating photos of the places and people during the Kid's life. Many photos are comparison shots of the places then and now. Nolan has dedicated many years researching this story and tells it with passion. I highly recommend THE WEST OF BILLY THE KID.

A pencil drawing of my great, great, great uncle is in this book. My family knew Billy and Pat Garrett. Both spent nights at my great, great grandfather's ranch prior to the killing of Billy. My family was present during the drama, the Lincoln County Wars, and the governorship of Lew Wallace. Maybe I am not an expert on Billy the Kid, but I feel I have right to a few opinions via ancestry and old family stories. One opinion is that good solid research on the Kid is hard to come by. I have been hardily disappointed by many books that portray him either as a complete socio-path or as a half-wit misled by circumstance. This book does the best of any I have encountered in placing Billy in a mileau, a time, a place. The resultant sense of having been there and having seen the interaction of real people with complex motives is the reward. This volume has many photos and inset personals on the people whose lives surrounded Billy's. It is a study of a man in context, and therefore, is a study, too, of the time. Thank you, Frederick Nolan, thanks for giving me and my family the Billy we always knew existed, the Real Billy.

When Clay Sings, tells the story of Indian pottery lying in the sands of the desert of the American Southwest. This pottery cries out with stories from the lives, customs, and thoughts of the people. The legacy of their lives are wrapped up in the art. The beautiful Indian artwork on each page matches the lyrical, imagery effect of the text. A great book for introducing children to Indian heritage or pottery in general.

This is a book I would give to my grownup friends who are potters, or graphic artisits, or parents of budding artists.... I was drawn in by the title and the cover art, and enchanted by what I found...truly a treasure! It is about the centuries-old tradition of pottery and the stillness necessary to hear the small voice in the clay as it sings to the potter. A wonderful book to give as a gift during these holidays so filled with noise and technology and BUY ME! Enjoy.