For those of you who are used to the exacting descriptions of the AMC trail guides, beware. This book has a few shortcomings. No maps except regional ones. Maybe that's asking a lot but the route I selected (Contoocook River in NH) had BAD advice on a spot to take a canoe or kayak out. The recommended location was private property with an very ornery owner. Maybe the rest of the book is better researched, but you'd have to prove it to me before I relied too heavily on some such details.

The book's scattered organization and weak index make it difficult to weed through its often already outdated entries. Some of its listings had been closed for a few years before the book was even published. A guidebook for things to do with kids is needed in NH where you often have to stumble upon things to find out about them, but even in this book you have to stumble upon entries.

I purchased this product because I frequently find myself in Northern Vermont and wanted a way to find a few good trails. This product contains several maps (each map features only one hike) for hikes in Northern Vermont. The maps are done in a neat format where they show the views from mountain summits as well as sharing some good information with you. The maps however are incredibly basic. A serious hiker would be better served by more detailed maps.

I also found the information on mileage and timings to be questionable. I am a fairly experience hiker and have never questioned the distances or the times so much as I did with this product. Also, there is no information on Vermont hiking in general. I went up to do some late season snow shoeing and found myself right in the middle of mud season when many trails were closed. It would have saved me a good 2 hour car trip if I knew about this ahead of time.

All in all, I think this would be a great product for those who are less serious or newer hikers. For those more serious, check out the Green Mountain Club's line of books.

This book has some sweet and mildly interesting characters, but its plot borders on the ridiculous. A rather hip and apparently super-agile and -fit 65-year-old woman gets herself into unlikely situations for even a youngster, let alone an elderly mystery-solver. Add to that the "evil" cult which has moved into a small fictitious Vermont town and the rather silly and far-fetched goings-on leading up to an anticlimactic jumble at the end, and you have a very light, almost comical read that may be suitable for an afternoon at the beach, and I will admit that it kept me at least mildly entertained. However, the shocking number of typos and grammatical errors in the copy of the book I had were thoroughly distracting and disappointing.

I'd been aware of the reputation that the 1st Vermont Brigade had acquired in the Army of the Potomac so when I stumbled across this book I was pleased to give it a try.

Fortunately, the book didn't demand a great investment of time as it had a musty, antiquarian quality which suggested that Mr. Parsons had done his research but wasn't quite able to bring a detailed analysis to bear on his material. The flavor is more that of a scrapbook than a polished work.

This is sad as this is a potentially interesting and relevant story but Parsons doesn't bring his subject to life the way Alan Nolan did in "The Iron Brigade" or Terry Jones in "Lee's Tigers" (two good brigade level studies of the Civil War in Virginia).

Thane fans expecting a biography with the drama and character development of her Williamsburg novels, or the inside scoop on her life with ornithologist William Beebe, will be disappointed. This book is, alas, for the birds -- literally, as by far the most verbiage relates to Thane's pet finch and canaries. We learn far more (and care far more) about the inner life of Petey, a canary murdered by a field mouse after a few days on the farm, than we do about Thane or her family. Readers seeking insight into rural Vermont life in the 1940s would do better to try _Mrs. Appleyard's Year_.

A nice collection of maps and general info, however, this title doesn't supply much more information than the NH Gazetteer. Can't speak as specifically to the VT and ME sections. Little info on when to fish, just general descriptions of how to get there and what may or may not be stocked. Really just a surface survey.

This is the first book that I can remember returning to the library without finishing. I love to read historical fiction, not hysterical fiction. Portrays Ethan Allen as an infantile dolt. Skip this one, and save a few hours for something worthwhile, like picking lint from your belly-button and from between your toes.

I am not inclined to be as hard on Mr. Faine as the 1998 reviewer. I actually enjoyed the book for what it was. He made no pretense of it being anything but a loose biography of Ethan Allen with a lot of fiction thrown in to tie it together. The essential story is mostly correct but I wonder if Mr. Allen was anywhere near as vulgar or hot-headed. The author did not need to go into such graphic detail about Ethan's sexual relations with his cold fish wife. That was a turn-off and I am no prude.

The part that annoyed me the most was his failure to research the culture of the 1700's. They did not use "Lucifers" until the next century. "At Ease" is a modern military term. Salt and pepper shakers were not used in the 1700's and the word "Hello" was invented in the late 1800's, early 1900's when the telephone became a part of our lives. I got tired of marking all the errors caused by the author's laziness. As someone who reads a lot of fiction and non-fiction history books, and someone who studies historical minutia for presentation purposes, this author got under my skin at least once per chapter. One item which really bothered me was his continual reference to "wooden teeth". This concept came from George Washington who supposedly had wooden teeth. Mr. Washington's teeth are in the museum at Mount Vernon for all to see. There is a sign there explaining that the teeth are made from large animal or fish teeth which had been carved to human shape. I have read elsewhere that wooden teeth never existed.

I won't be reading any more of Mr. Faine's books.

This book also recommends The Vermont Inn in Killington, which was infested with fruit flies. When I tried to check out one day earlier, the innkeeper refused to credit my deposit, and I am taking it up with the credit card companies, as well as writing to all the guidebooks about the lousy service.

I am complaining to the guidebook to see if they will update their review.

Robert

My husband used this book to plan a romantic getaway for our wedding anniversary in New England. From this book's description, a place named the 'Water's Edge Inn' sounded like the perfect option. However we arrived to find it a horrid place with tacky decor in the common buildings and were given a dark room with stained bedspread, a tiny window overlooking the parking lot, tacky old furniture, and decor last updated in about 1958.

As with any travel book, the author may only place ads for those that pay for them. However, I am deeply disappointed with how completely misleading the descriptions were.