The intriguing story of a woman who came to Oregon in a covered wagon in 1851 and lived long enough to see hundreds of automobiles passing by her home in the last year of her life. Here we have the West as it truly was, from the primitive era of the Oregon Trail to modern times of World War I. Dr. Richard M. Brown, History Dept. University of Oregon

"...gritty, marvelous portrait of life in mid-19th century America. I like the mix of the detail of everyday life and the tense and hair-raising moments."loisb@efn.org

Mr. Friedman's book is fun. Using it is like going on a treasure hunt. Browse through the different regions in Oregon and discover things you didn't know were there, but because of his book you " . . . just have to see."

Oregon is my chosen state to live in and I really want to get to know it intimately. "Oregon For The Curious" is the perfect guide for me to take along on my travels.

Places are easy to find with directions to each listed down to the tenth of a mile. Enough detail on the highlighted places to visit is given to get you curious, but not to give the surprise away.

I'm curious and this book has made me "curiouser and curiouser."

This book has been a part of our family since childhood. I remember my Mother taking it along on family vacations, and we'd stop at all of these cool spots that were recomended by Ralph Freidman. Now that all six of us are grown, we all have our own editions of this book. Whenever I take an Oregon getaway, this book always comes along. Whether it's geology, history, architecture, or anything in between that you're interested in, this book will be a great companion to your explorations.

I have been living in the Bay area for almost 3 years and have had numerous books, most of which stink in comparison to this one. The vast amount of area that this book covers is great for doing just about anything in or around the Bay Area. I've probably utilized this book for more than 30 different activities (biking, hiking, camping, etc.) and I'd have to say that just about EVERYTHING that I've done was great and went smoothly because of the detail the book provides. The only bad thing I'd have to say is that the layout of the information is a bit confusing, but there are so many good "activities" in it that you get over that part quickly.

If you like the outdoors and spend time in Northern California like I do, this book is indespensible! I use it to find all kinds of cool things to do when I travel. I used it on my last trip and it guided me on fun things to do in and around San Francisco, up through Napa and Sonoma valley, great hikes in less populated regions further North around Mt. Shasta, down to Yosemite, the greatest park in the world, to Sea Kayaking in Monterey Bay and finally down to fun coastal stuff around Big Sur. Needless to say I'm very psyched that author Andrew Rice is researching a book on outdoor adventures in Southern California!

An outstanding book on what has become a not so well known battle at the beginning of WWII. The author did a great job of research in bringing this book to life.All of the men who fought and died on those 3 islands and the ones who lived we owe a never ending debt of gratitude.What they endured during their capitivity and how each man delt with the punishment and cruel conditions makes this book a must read for anyone interested in history,especially World War II buffs.Great book!

"Those guys are legendary in the Navy and Marines for what they did, and whenever one is around you pay him the highest respect." - a fellow Marine describes a Wake Island defender.

Author John Wukovits has selected the perfect title for his new book, "Pacific Alamo." Like the famous stand of Colonel Travis and Jim Bowie that helped win Texan independence, the battle of Wake Island in December 1941 was a hopeless cause that turned into a tactical victory as the gallant and vastly outnumbered defenders managed to buy enough time for their comrades-in-arms to organize for eventual victory. In the process, the defenders of Wake gave America a much-needed rallying cry as it regrouped from the initial disaster at Pearl Harbor.

Wukovits's outstanding military history is a fitting tribute to the military and civilian personnel who fought and died on Wake Island in the dark days immediately following the Japanese attack on Hawaii. The author sets the stage by introducing key figures who fought there and describing the political situation that led to the Japanese first strike. The accounts of the battle itself are particularly well rendered, mostly told through the recollections of the defenders themselves. The accounts several Japanese soldiers are also included, helping to provide balance to the battle descriptions.

Equally important, Wukovits doesn't end the book with the American surrender, but instead goes on to describe the experiences of the survivors in Japanese captivity. The description of their three-plus year ordeal of beatings, starvation and appalling living conditions are as harrowing as the accounts of the battle. In the final chapter, Wukovits describes the fates of the survivors of the battle after the war. In the end, the picture that emerges is of a group of reluctant heroes who did their duty when their country called.

Overall, "Pacific Alamo" is a compelling work of narrative military history that should appeal both to history buffs as well as to general readers.

My first experience with the PCL was in 1955 when my father took me to an Oakland Oaks vs. L.A. Angels game at the old Oaks ballpark in Emeryville. I was immediately "hooked" on Coast League ball and I spent the rest of the summer with my buddies attending as many games as possible. Unfortunately not too many other fans went to the games so at the end of the season the Oaks moved to Vancouver. My team moved away before I really got to know them but the memories of that one summer still spark an interest in the old Coast League to this very day. Bill O'Neal's book is well written as it chronicles the history of the Coast League decade by decade. For someone like myself who was exposed to Coast League ball for such a short period of time, Mr. O'Neal's book fills in a lot of the history that I missed out on. The statistics throughout the book are impressive and in my opinion the most complete of any book I have read on the PCL. One other area of the book that I found to be unique was the section that discusses all of the cities that had PCL franchises. I didn't realize there were so many. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about the history of the PCL and our baseball heritage on the West Coast.

There are now several excellent books out that document the history of this league. This book, which was among the first is no exception. The PCL during its first half century signed and "farmed out" its own players and sometimes made money by "selling" the contracts of some players to interested major league teams.

This book describes the league's history decade by decade through the late 1980's. It also discusses the PCL's attempt to become the "third major league" in the early 1950's, only to have that dream dashed forever when major league baseball "moved" to California in 1958, and how the league eventually "rebounded" in the 1980's.

The book also talks about some of the PCL's greatest teams, including the 1934 Los Angeles Angels (who some claim was the best minor league team ever), some of the great San Francisco Seals teams, the 1948 Oakland Oaks team, etc.

The book finishes with an extensive section of individual PCL yearly leaders. This book is a fascinating read. Any baseball history and or minor league fans will find it enjoyable.

One HECK of a Casefiles stories. The action never stops, and the Assassins are as evil as ever in the final book of the Ring of Evil mini-series. One side-point: most casefiles covers dont show EXACTLY wut happens in the story. Oh well, who cares? EXCELLENT BOOK, if i could rate more than 5 stars i would:^)!

Can Frank and Joe bring down the Assassins? They've been trying to since the beginning of the Hardy Boys Casefiles series, and now they might be able to do it. That's why this book is so good.

Great book. Who says we have to travel to far away places for adventure? Tim Palmer had what for most of us would be a lifetime of adventures on this 9 month journey. At the same time the people he introduces us to and the observations he shares about all that he sees will make any reader think harder about our place on and responsibilities to this world.

Pacific High is a wonderful blend of adventure, travel, natural history, personal reflection, and investigation of environmental issues that the author discovers as he makes his way from Baja to Alaska on a 9 month journey. The book offers a great way to become acquainted with the familiar-though little known Coast Range mountains that Palmer points out are in view of the west coast's biggest cities. And it is refreshingly well-written! The book has certainly inspired me to get to know the coast mountains in my own part of the range better.

I finished reading this book a few days ago, and I quickly realized that next summer I will have to read it again. The book is an overflowing fountain of information about Polynesian, Austronesian, and Papauan languages. It is written in a similar style to the Cambridge Language Survey books, though it is shorter and written in a colloquial style designed for those with only a basic knowledge of linguistics. (This is not to say the information is simplistic. Lynch starts with rather basic explanations, and then jumps into a massive amount of comparative linguistic data.)

The book also goes beyond the scope of grammar sketches. It starts with a history of the Pacific region. It then discusses commonalities of the Pacific languages. Next come chapters dealing specifically with each of the three languages families (above). He then discusses the development and current use of pidgins, including Tok Pisin, Bislama, and Hiri Motu (including where the name "Hiri Motu" comes from). Following this is material on cultural use of language: politeness registers, gender registers, kinship terms, areas of social importance, etc. Lastly, he discusses language shift, death, and revival.

Overall, this is an excellent work for anyone who has any interest in Polynesian languages. As I said, I will probably read it again next year so more information can sink in.

Lynch goes where no one has gone before in attempting to cover, however briefly, the salient characteristics and historical development of something like fourteen hundred Oceanic and Polynesian languages. Most readers will never have heard of any of them, but they occupy a far-flung territory from Easter Island to Australia. Many are dying out; Lynch gives figures for the number of speakers of some languages, and these are a real revelation to those of us who speak English. Fifty speakers? Astonishing. Six speakers? How can this be? Lynch lives in Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides), and his dicussion of Bislama-the creole that the native French and English speakers of those islands use with each other in preference to either English or French-is particularly interesting. In general the linguistic diversity of the region is mind-boggling. As the only book ever to attempt such a survey, this must rate five stars, and I doubt that anyone would ever be able to do a better job.

Long after new first person books about World War II have been written, Bob Hamilton has written one that will inspire and inform the families of those who served in the Air Force during World War II, especially those who served in the Pacific.

Bob Hamilton was a navigator aboard a B24 bomber, known as the Flying Fortress. His 13th Air Force squadron flew bombing runs against targets throughout the Pacific. And many times the planes didn't come back. The mission was to destroy the Japanese installations and prepare the islands for invasion by the Allies. His ability to take one there as if it were yesterday is incredible. The book is written about real experiences by real people but it reads like a novel. Those who lived through those times will be moved by his details. Those who are younger may know why this generation has been called "The Greatest Generation".

How did Bob Hamilton recall such detail? Through the years he collected personal letters and letters written by his crewmen, logs kept at the time and research done at the Historical Research Agency at Maxwell Air Force base, Montgomery, Alabama where the author copied over 500 pages of relevant records. This material was declassified in 1983.

I would highly recommend this book not only for World War II veterans but for their families who would like to understand what that war was like and what it was like to fly when one navigated by the stars. Bob Hamilton is a gifted writer and this book is a gift to his generation...a generation fast passing from the scene

I was to young to serve in WWII, and but I have always enjoyed reading the history of the war. Hamilton's book was extremely interesting, as it presented a first person account of the air war in the Pacific, and at the same time told the experiences of young men forced to grow up too fast and far from home, while being shot at on an almost daily basis. I would highly recommend the book.

Mary Jo Churchwell's history of Palm Springs touches on the familiar Palm Springs of old ....a Palm Springs populated by the beautiful people like Bob Hope and Gig Young, Lucy and Desi, and yes, the lovely Miss Dinah Shore. BUT, Churchwell's Palm Springs is so much more: The canyons, the desert wildflowers, corny street and condo names, and above all, the sunshine that just won't quit.

All I can say is WOW! I want all my friends to read it - very moving. This reads as if I'm chatting with an old friend that grew up in Palm Springs as I did. I remembered things I thought I had forgotten. Let's hear more from Mary Jo Churchwell!

If you've dismissed Palm Springs as a soulless wasteland fit only for golfers, gamblers and creaky celebrities, this book will change your mind. With Mary Jo Churchwell as your good-natured guide, you'll discover the things that truly make Palm Springs unique in the world. This is the first book to focus on the area's awesome natural wonders and its bold past populated with writers, eccentrics and explorers. Whether you're a visitor or a lifelong resident, this book will quadruple your enjoyment of this desert town.