A wonderful collection of stories about american that take place in the West. Stories are included from writers back in the day, and writers of today. I hadn't read any of the stories included in this collection before. Don't miss it if you are a reader of short stories.

The African American West provides a century of short stories from DuBois, Terry McMillan, Walter Mosley and others, depicting Afro-Americans in the western U.S. These portray black Americans seeking new lives in the West and provide a range of authors and approaches covering the region's literary foundations.

This book is just great.
I'm moving to Fairbanks Alaska in just under a year, to attend college and then teach somewhere in the "bush".
Anyways, after just doing a quick glance at Alaska books in the local bookstores, I saw this one.
It's just amazing.
It rises FAR above any other guide book I've ever seen...I had to buy it on the spot.
What sets this book apart is a combination of things.
1. The photos.
this book is FULL, I mean FULL, of very good quality professional/artistic photos.
2. It doesn't skim.
This book is one of the few books on Alaska that I've seen that didn't just skim over the Arctic and Seward Peninsula regions.
These areas all have very detailed descriptions, photos, climate info, sun rise/sunset info.
It delves into even the minor towns such as Kiana, Anaktuvuk Pass...etc.
3. It includes literary ESSAYS written by professional authors about certain areas...and there are at least one or two essays in every regional subgroup detailing everything from culture to climate to history.
4. As mentioned above, this book details the history of Aaska as well. And just like everything else in this book...it doesn't merely gloss it up into a 3 page chapter.
it gets very much into virtually every aspect...and includes historical photos, carvings, etc.

Overall, this book is incredible.
It transcends what is traditionally a guide book and becomes something anyone would read to learn about Alaska.
Very good book, definitely recommended.

~ Will

This is the best guidebook I've seen about Alaska. Its an illustrated introduction that lures you into the wilds of Alaska with amazing, artistic photography. It provides background, history, insight, and discusses things to do that don't fit into the cookie-cutter format of other guidebook series.

The photography is beautiful and artistic, printed in a format just large enough to give you some idea of the grandeur of Alaska without making the book too unwieldy to take along on your trip. Also included are historical drawings, sketches, and high-quality maps. Its humorous in parts (what is a "sourdough"?).

This book goes beyond the normal guidebook which might list town, lodging and restaurants. It starts off with a fascinating history of the entire state, a discussion of the people of Alaska, the wildlife; then discusses four major areas of Alaska (and their history, people, etc.). It helps you get to know the state.

The descriptions of food, lodging and tours are adequate, but you may want to supplement these listing with a AAA guidebook or travel agent.

This is all you need to plan your time while on your Alaska cruise. I wanted a book that would enable me to make decisions about where to go when in port, what to see, what to not bother with, and how to amuse myself and my family. Like everybody taking a cruise, we wanted to get as much out of it as possible! This book is an indispensable guide to what you will see on your Alaska cruise. It describes the various ports of call, has maps of the towns, suggestions for what to do with your free time, what not to miss. Having this book precluded me from lugging around 3 different books and grabbing all those touristy brochures along the way. Have you chosen Alaska for your cruise destination? Then take this book along. Highly recommended.

Anne Vipond's straightforward style, well-conceived organization, and excellent content make this book indispensable for Alaska-bound cruisers. Anne patiently describes all the major cruise ports in Alaska and the Inside Passage. The detailed town maps with keys to the text descriptions are excellent. Descriptions of various attractions meaty, yet brief. The thing that is most attractive about this book is its focus on activities interesting to cruisers, as opposed to the long list of hotels and restaurants common in other guide books. Anyone taking a cruise to Alaska will find this book invaluable. It seems to be the only reference available that provides assistance in planning your trip to make maximum benefit from your time in each port.

Galen Rowell was one of the great outdoor photographers and most of his books are full of spectacular pictures of mountain scenery. But if you are expecting a normal picture book about Alaska, this isn't it. Instead this is a look at a place that is full of ambiguity.

The book is structured around John McPhee's book "Coming into the Country". In that book McPhee gives an insightful description of Alaska as a place, and its inhabitants. The Alaskans seem torn between preserving the wilderness and developing it and the extracts contained in this volume capture that spirit. For example, McPhee provides admiring character studies of a number of people who came to Alaska because they just didn't fit in back in the lower 48 states. Even his descriptions of travels in the wilderness have an overlay of the politics of the state, where the federal government, which once owned most of the land, is distrusted by most citizens.

Rowell decided that he wanted to take McPhee's writing and illustrate it with his own pictures. The preface makes clear that McPhee didn't offer a lot of cooperation. In fact he warned Rowell not to overprint his verbal pictures with Rowell's. The text selection was made by Rowell and the pictures included are not directly related to the words but have a close connection to their spirit.

As I noted, this is not any ordinary Rowell book (if there is such a thing). There are far more pictures of human beings and their artifacts then one usually finds in such a book, and I sometimes felt that the pictures were gritty and dark. At first I thought that this was a shortcoming of the photographs but then I realized that Rowell had specifically selected these pictures because he believed that they reflected the spirit of McPhee's words. Oh, there are some grand landscapes like a picture of snow-covered Mount McKinley across isolated Nugget Pond, but there is also a picture of the same snow-covered peak taken across a dark, intruding asphalt highway into the wilderness.

The final pages capture the essence of this book. McPhee describes the role of the 55 gallon steel drum in the Alaskan landscape, and tells how his view has gone from considering them ugly to finding them almost blooming. Opposite these words Rowell has placed a picture of a long line of rusty drums curving sinuously out of the frame into the Arctic Ocean.

This book is more than 20 years old and the McPhee book almost 40 years old. Alaska may have changed since then, although everything I've read about it recently makes me believe that the same forces are still at work out on this frontier. But for a person interested in Alaska this book provides a feeling for the place and its people that has the ring of authenticity.

If you want to see Alaska as a work of art, then I would recommend Art Wolfe's recent book of photographs "Alaska". But if you want to understand how a bright place can still have a dark soul, "Images of the Country" is a good place to start.

"Alaska" is one of those books that, after teh first few pages lets you forget the world around you and fly to other places. His pictures are breathtaking, and it is true : a picture sas more than a thousand words; rowell manages it to tell you more about Alaska with a couple of photographs than 100 professors could tell you. He shows the reader that there is still some pure wilderness out there and that it is worth to preserve it. rowell is someone who loves the wilderness and the beauty of nature and he makes you love it too.

This book takes you through moments in the life of teenagers living in a world that many of us will never understand. You will laugh, cry and just enjoy every step through this book. Some will come to have a better understanding to life in Alaska and others will realize they may have been tricked with an Alaskan joke if they were the tourist. Reading this book makes you proud of the education in Nenana, Alaska and very proud of the students being so willing to share their personal stories.
(Bradley, I am so PROUD of you!!)

I bought this book to learn about Alaska, and I sure did! The short essays were great - I had no idea that people live like that in Alaska. A must read!

All You Need is Love is simply an experience that we are lucky enough to have Nancy de Herrera share with us. You can't make this stuff up!! Nancy talks about her spiritual path, a journey she shared in India with the Beatles, Donovan Leitch and Mike Love. It is so amazing to read about my favorite Beatles songs like "Dear Prudence" and "Bungalow Bill" and know their inspiration. I recommend this to everyone who transitioned with the 60's and for those who love the music.

Nancy isn't a household name yet, but she will be! Her work with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi made her pivotal in bringing Transcendental Meditation to the States, South America, and Europe. This is an amazing personal and cultural history that anyone interested in the 1960s, meditation, and world travel will not be able to put down.

This remarkable book takes you behind-the-scenes in the extraordinary life of Nancy deHerrera. The loss of her soulmate was the impetus for a lifelong spiritual journey. Nancy served as the right hand person to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the sixties and became one of the first U.S. meditation teachers. She shares stories from her days in Rishikesh at the Ashram where she was liasion to John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and other stars. Her meditation students included Greta Garbo, heiress Doris Duke, Madonna, Sheryl Crow and thousands of others. Nancy has probably met more yogi's, guru's, sadhu's and holy men than any other woman on the planet. Her engaging writing style captivates. A real page turner that I beleive anyone interested in spirituality will totally enjoy.

Having been raised near the Continental Divide and spending summer vacations on Red Rock Pass and the CD, the photos in this book bring a flood of memories. Leland stood where I rode horses and hiked as a child and where summer vacations are spent as an adult. Having stood on the same hillside Leland took the magnificient sunset photograph of Montana's Centennial Valley for the book's cover page, I have truely seen in life the magnificient colors and majestic scenery presented by Leland Howard's photography. The written text by Lynna Howard is as well done with thorough detail of all the areas they hiked and all her special humor especially telling about hiking and camping in a "Grizzly Bear Recovery Area" and the humorous tales sprinkled through several pages about two Llamas Popeye and Pogo. Hiking on to the Lemhi Range and viewing Borah Peak the highest peak in Idaho in the Lost River Range was a view more than fifty miles. Lemhi Pass brings lots of Lewis and Clark history and the Sacajawea Memorial Camp. Through Chief Joseph Pass there are tales of snow in July, a vanashing CD trail, and Lynna's tough job of modeling at Little Lake. By early October there is snowfall and ice on Twin Lakes. Lynna gives a short history lesson about Big Hole National Battlefield and the Nez Perce Chief Joseph, how he fought to save his people from the U.S. Army, after he, Chief Joseph had so helped guide Lewis and Clark. The glacier carved peaks are truely rugged, nearly inaccessable areas in the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness Area. The reader learns about "Trodes" and proposed routes for the CDT, and the discomforts and dangers of Hypothermia. And then there are the dangers of Lynna hiking off by herself and finding lots of bear scat and a wolf mistaken for Leland's pet dog Tempest. Rogers Pass to Marias Pass brings humor of grizzly stories, camping in Bear Creek Corridor, and the depth of description of scenery and surroundings near Bighorn Lake. The Bob Marshall Wilderness is an area of grizzlies, deep sucking bogs, Ruffed Grouse, deer, mountain goats, coyotes, and extreme geological formations with thorough explainations by Lynna of what has happened the last 175 million years. The hikers are assisted by mule trains, cowboys, and there is a lost soul found. On to the Canadian Border--what can I say--simply God's Country, glaciers, water falls, more grizzlies. By late September it can be snowy and bitter cold in Glacier with the park service trail crews removing seasonial bridges from waterways. Always most welcome along the CDT was the support crew and "Mom's Mobile Wilderness Cafe". "Along Montana and Idaho Continental Divide Trail" is a magnificient publication of Photographic Art for the dedicated hikers like Leland and Lynna as well as arm chair hikers who simply want to dream.

This wonderful book by Lynna and Leland Howard is a far cry from the usual coffee table photography book. The humorous, personable writing style of the author had me laughing all the way through the trail hiking story, which is woven amongst the incredible photographs. As magestic and awe-inspiring as the Divide Trail is, Lynna and Leland bring it within reach and touch upon the realism of the hike. The mountainside conifers under snow and the miles of wildflowers that stretch along the ranges will make you sigh with wonder, while the stories of Pogo the llama, and the list of clever bear tips will split your seams. You will savor every photograph and read every word. Highly recommended!

I think this book is great. It illustates pioneering in a unique way. History buffs of all ages will enjoy it.

All three of these paper doll books are wonderful, they combine history and art to create an interactive experience for the child to treasure always. I highly suggest getting two copies, one to cut out and one to treasure forever :)

Full of interesting, charming, and humorous anecdotes gathered from letters and diaries, Roberts accomplishes the elusive task of making history informative and entertaining. Roberts repudiates the notion that the forty-niners were predominately working-class folk, explaining instead that most forty-niners were actually of middle-class origin (pointing out that the trip to California was expensive). These middle-class forty-niners, Roberts illustrates, joined the gold rush as a "rebellion against certain middle-class values; this revolt, in turn, was largely carried out by middle-class individuals." The gold rush provided an escape for those who sought freedom from the confines of Victorian mores.

Few books have as much to teach about the history of Californians or the United States. I recommend American Alchemy highly to anyone interested in innovative books about American history and culture.

This book fills a significant gap in the historical record on philanthropy and the rise of civil society in the United States. Kathleen McCarthy's writing meets the highest standards of scholarship, in a very readable and enjoyable style that will appeal to a broad audience. It should be on the "must-read" list for all nonprofit researchers, practitioners, and students of philanthropy!

This is an important book. It offers a novel and compelling explanation of America's early democratic development that suggests a much greater role for the non-governmental sector than previous studies have suggested.

The author throws light on some neglected corners of American development, such as the role of non-governmental organizations run by blacks and women. After reading this book, no one will look on non-governmental efforts in quite the same way. Their energy and vision were essential not only in making America a more decent country but also, surprisingly, a much more prosperous one.