This is a great book. Written in a clear, easy-to-read style the author does a great job of weaving together descriptions of the mountain gorillas in Bwindi National Park with descriptions of the Uganda people and their culture, the politics and history of the country and other aspects of his experiences there. If you are looking for a book with detailed, scientifically-oriented analysis of the mountain gorillas, this is not the book for you, nor is this the book for you if you are looking for great color photographs of the animals and the country (he only has black and white photos of so-so quality). But, if what you are looking for is a book that allows you to learn about a variety of aspects of life in Uganda, its people and the gorillas this is a great choice. It would be the perfect book to read prior to a trip to the region to see the park and its gorilla population.

Thumbs up to Thor Hanson on an excellent book for people who have traveled to rural Africa, and a MUST read for anyone planning a visit to the Bwindi forest. Hanson's descriptions on the Ugandan people, landscape, food, and adventure, fit the country perfectly. Read the book, then take a trip to the Bwindi forest where you can visit the entire cast of characters including Phenny, Levi, Medad and more. In Africa, all things change slowly, and Buhoma is much they same as it was in 1995.

I got this book when I went home for the holidays. I finished it before I got home. I'm now reading it for a second time.
I would say it is equally about (1) humorous human interactions, (2) learning about the mountain gorillas, and (3) modern day African culture.
This isn't a book for scientist, rather a book for everyday readers that want to learn something about Africa, gorillas, and want to be entertained in the process.

Although the "freight train" line gets old after the first several times it is written, the rest of the book is outstanding. This was probably the fastest read I've ever had-if it weren't for work I'd have finished it in a day. It'll make me think twice about just where I stop to camp this summer when I'm crossing through the Upper Penninsula of MI. The characters in the book spend more time in various stages of naked than in most horror books, but that's alright. A highly recomended book.

The debut novel of screenwriter Tom Chaney and written with the assistance of Jack Vincent Jr., The Wind Walker is a truly haunting horror story about a beloved American author who journeyed into the deep woods of Northern Michigan to write the greatest tale ever... and was never seen again. Twenty-five years later, his son challenges the land and pursues his own journey in search of inspiration, and finds a more chilling insight than he ever could have imagined. The Wind Walker is highly recommended to fans of the macabre as a fascinating, gripping tale of horrific suspense.

Not my particular genre, but a friend recommended it to me so I thought I'd give it a read. Turned out to be an spectacular, well written piece. I literally couldn't put it down. A well paced book with vivid descriptions and a little indian folklore thrown in. The storyline never skipped a beat as it wound its way to the powerful and climactic finish. Much recommended. Pick up a copy, but be sure you have nothing planned for the day before you start reading it!

In a remarkable first novel, Golden weaves a riveting narrative set against the backdrop of Pacific Northwest timber wars. He addresses both timeless human themes - fact vs. truth, ends vs. means, conflict between individual values and historical forces - and timely social/political issues - local values vs. globalization, personal integrity vs. political/financial opportunity.

Golden presents the historical background of the timber wars through the direct, honest voice of Jack Gilliam, a thoughtful logger and independent thinker with the soul of a poet. We follow Jack as he comes of age and strives to maintain his integrity while providing for his family in a world transformed by apparently inexorable external forces. He struggles to do the "right" thing, while avoiding the temptations of simple, appealing "TRUTHs" that conflict with the complex web of reality. Gilliam's tale provides a compelling, contemporary vision of the paradoxical conflict between the individual's obligation to influence historical events and the real limitations of a modern individual's influence.

Never mind that you couldn't give hoot about the spotted owl or that your knowledge of environmental issues comes from the Jamba Juice Bar. Forest Blood addresses conflicts of fundamental human values in a gripping, contemporary narrative. This book is for you if you are looking for a richly-written, exciting, and thought-provoking novel.

This is a fine novel that is both a captivating read, with complex, carefully drawn charactors, and at the very same time, the best account that we have of the critical ethical conflicts in the ecology movement. If you teach ethics, this book is a clear choice for your students, better than any number of articles on the topic. But if you just plain love a good book, you will just plain love this one. A political novel in the best sense, in that it is about the way in which personal narrative and relationships are at the heart of social dilemmas. This novel takes you directly to the front line of the old-growth timber wars in a way that most of us, as outsiders will never be able to know ourselves, teaching us the power, beauty and transcedence of work. It will be on my assigned reading list for my students, and my friends: a hauntingly beautiful, moving, and very very smart novel.

I live in the middle of the forest wars in the Northwest. Mr Golden accomplished what I would have thought impossible. He created the opportunity for me to care for a died-in-the-wool logger. His character development is excellent.The story is an inside account of the tragic shift in logging practices in the 1980's and the forces that led us there. This is an important read for anyone who wants to better understand why it is that we have stripped the Northwest of its timber and left everyone worse off in the process.

Perlin's book is an ambitious overview of the use of wood in world civilization. Therein lies the both the book's strengths and weaknesses. Like any work that attempts to do a global history, inevitably some regions and some eras get very short shrift. Still, A Forest Journey is interesting, and well worth reading by anyone with an interest in environmental or forest history.

This book is a study on the rise and fall of civilizations, as caused by their management of wood resources, or in other words energy resources. Perlin tells a convincing tale on what makes a civilization tick. This is a very good book to read for anybody who cares about what the world is coming to, and perhaps even for those who don't. It is filled with fascinating historical material.

The limitations of the book are that Perlin is not as great a storyteller as DC Peattie (many of the stories here would make a sweeping tale in the hands of a truly gifted writer) and that the choice of civilizations treated is very much oriented towards the US.

A Forest Journey first reminds us of the absolute importance of wood to human history: how much we have depended on wood for our very existence:

"Throughout the ages trees have provided the material to make fire, the heat of which has allowed our species to reshape the earth for its use. With heat from wood fires, relatively cold climates became habitable; inedible grains were changed into a major source of food; clay could be converted into pottery, serving as useful containers to store goods; people could extract metal from stone, revolutionizing the implements used in agriculture, crafts, and warfare; the builders could make durable construction materials such as brick, cement, lime, plaster, and tile for housing and storage facilities....

"Transportation would have been unthinkable without wood. Until the nineteenth century every ship, from Bronze Age coaster to the frigate, was built with timber. Every cart, chariot, and wagon was also made primarily of wood. Early steamboats and railroad locomotives in the United States used wood as their fuel...

"Wood was also used for the beams that propped up mine shafts and formed supports for every type of building. Water wheels and windmills ­ the major means of mechanical power before electricity was harnessed ­ were built of wood. The peasant could not farm without wooden tool handles or wood plows; the soldier could not throw his spear or shoot his arrows without their wooden shafts, or hold his gun without its wooden stock. What would the archer have done lacking wood for his bow; the brewer and vintner, without wood for their barrels and casks; or the woolen industry, without wood for its looms?"

Perlin then thoroughly documents how all past nations declined once their forests were depleted. Today, with the world's forests in jeopardy, A Forest Journey provides much needed information that can help us avoid another needless repetition of history.

Mr. Coffman has done a good job of transporting his readers back to a time of adventure for young men that would be hard to find today. The book is informative and at times amusing. I enjoyed it.

Having grown up during this era, I can relate to the way things were done in this generation. It should be considered a remarkable event when the author has the commitment and opportunity to revisit places and events which were a part of his life almost 60 years ago. It is obvious that his Forest Service experiences left a lasting impression on the author as a young man. The reader is brought into those experiences with considerable detail.

This is the story of the way life was in the Clearwater National Forest and elsewhere for the folks who lived and worked for the Forest Service about 60 years ago. The author's vivid memories are etched in details that make great reading. Some of his recounts are quite amusing and others testify to the danger and tough mindset required to live in the conditions common to those days and the area. The book let me relive similar experiences from long ago. I especially enjoyed the photos showing lookouts, scenery and people of the US Forest Service.

What I like about Matthiessen's account is that he has no clear destination (e.g, through "some remarkably bad planning, I crossed the Andes nine times in five months")., and hence open to adventure and experience. He writes of what he sees and what affects him. He also is reflective about how he effects the local residents or native Machiguenga guides. I have some sadness that the tribes he encountered (1960's) may no longer be there. He writes honestly, not claiming superiority, for example he takes pistol shots at crocodiles. His adventure down the Urubamba was particularly compelling ... would he find the giant crocodile bones, would he find the lost city ruins? Along the way he manages to accomplish something remarkable (the traverse of the Pongo), and as any proud adventurer, tries to understand if his adventure was historically unique. For bird watchers, there is an added enjoyment of trying to identify some of the birds he describes along the way. This travel journal sets a standard for other adventurers and for my own daily journals.

Matthiessen always teaches,in a quiet sober way.The extent of his experience coupled with a wonderful style has always made his subject fascinating.The Cloud Forest is no exception.From ornothology,Buddhisum,indigious peoples,spirituality,the environment,to his fiction... on every subject he gives the reader a clear insight.Quammen, Lopez,Finnegan,Mcgune,Proulx et al,all in one.Simply the best.

Macchu Picchu, a giant fossilized mandible, steam ships, and Allen Ginsberg. What can be wrong with a book that features all that. Seriously, this is a great book. Good culutral anthropology without all the anthropology to get in the way. From his depiction of the natives to his own almost childlike desire to explore and see, Matthiessen conveys a great story in a great way. Not exactly up to the Snow Leopard's level, but a great read.

hEY, THIS IS A GOOD, NUTRITIOUS READ SPANNING THE MALADIES OF THE AMERICAN FORESTS, DON'T GET ME WRONG, BUT THE UNBALANCED, CATHARTIC ANECDOTES FROM SIMILAR THINKING CRONIES WEARS ON THE READER AS DOES LITTLE'S DOOMMSDAY DIRGE AND PARANOID ASSESSMENTS OF GOVERNMENT SCIENTISTS AS FEAR-WROUGHT STOOGES OF SOME AMERICAN KGB. hE COMES JUST SHORT OF OLIVER STONE IN SPINNING ACID RAIN, FOREST FIRE SUPPRESSION,TEARY EYED STORIES OF , THE DOOMED HEMLOCKS, THE DOOMED MAPLES,CRITICAL MASS DOOING THE REST OF HIS TREE FRIENDS--AND, OH YES, PEOPLE TOO. HIS ONLY CONCESSION TO HALF-FULL GLASS IS IN THE PENULTIMATE CHAPTER ON THE TREE SAVERS AND THEIR EFFORTS (WHICH HE DISSASSEMBLES AS FAULTED, OF COURSE) TO RESSURECT THE FOREST .lITTLE FINISHES ON FAMILIAR GROUND, DONNING RACHEL CARSON'S MOURNING ROBES AND DRIVING OFF INTO THE SUNSET IN HIS CO2 BURNING AUTO JUST LIKE THE REST OF US HEATHENS.

This book has vital information that we need to take into considerstion as we look at today's environmental situation. He is rather pessimistic, understandibly so, and sad about the state of the forests in America let alone the rest of the world. Things look grim and he gives a very good case for seeing it that way. It is strange and kind of eerie that Little gives almost no solution to this problem and that any solution is almost hopeless. Everyone likes to think that they have all the answers a lot of times. Like Rachel Carson having all these nice solutions to the problem of pesticides at the end of her book. Some of them were definately helpful but despite her warnings there is over twice the pesticide use as there was in 1962. I guess Little is telling us to get real. There is no simple answer to these problems and any complex answer is almost never put into action. The corporate world isn't about to do anything for the environment unless it is economically profitable and what's the chance of that happening? Unless we come up with energy which doesn't pollute a lot faster than what people are forcasting soon, we are in trouble. That is basically what he is saying. I think he got a little too upset about the government's denial and corporate denial about the issues. It doesn't seem to help much by getting ourselves all upset by others problems and obstacles in our fight to save the trees. In this regard I thought he should have remained a bit more objective and not let them get to him the way he did.

Little painted vived portraits of the death of America's most precious and valuable forests. This book will bring you to tears as you learn about the plight of the woodlands that we brought on them ourselves. This story is not sugar-coated in the least.

This is one of the best choices I made in books. It's about a 13 year old named Storie who lives at Blue Star Camp. A fire is burning the woods down, but for a long time she and her family think it's so far from them that it doesn't matter. Of course, it soon comes dangerously close to them, and everyone must leave. Storie's father is required to try to fight the fire with the other men, but she is terrified about this and ventures out to save him. In the end, she escapes and tells her grandchildren about the natural disaster that happened to her as a kid. It's very exciting, fast-paced, touching, and just an overall great book. Yes, I highly recommend "Fire on the Wind."

The book Fire on the Wind by Linda Crew is a great book and very hard to put down. It has many thrilling and gripping scenes. No one could have written better historical-fiction about the real Tillamook Burn in Oregon in 1933 that burned over 200 acres of forest. It almost seems as if the characters are real. While reading, I almost feel like I'm actually there, like I'm part of the story. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a good well-written historical-fiction book.

It was like a window into life in a logging camp in the 30's during the Tillamook burn. It was interesting to see how much society has changed in the last 6 decades. I would recommend this book to any one!

This book provides a good background for the subject of woodland management for both timber and enjoyment, blending the two subjects well. It does not provide much in the way of specifics, as the subject is too broad, and often recommends professional help rather than suggesting ways of helping yourself (i.e. further reading).

This book is a basic introduction to woodlot management with a focus on the forest ecosystem, basic valuation metrics for trees, reforestation, and conservation.

The major difference between this title and the Beattie, Thompson, Levine text is that the latter devotes substantially more space to financial, legal, and logistical issues associated with harvesting trees. Conservationists will probably prefer this book while the reader focused on income from his or her woodlot will prefer Beattie et al.

Neither text goes very far helping the reader identify specific health problems in a woodlot; look more to Pirone et al. for an excellent introduction.

Excellent source of information. It is one of a few books of its kind - well worth the investment. The author(s) did an outstanding job of telling the whole story. Everything I wanted to know was available to me in this book. I'm ready to manage!

This is by far the worst cookbook in my collection. I consider myself to be a decent cook, producing beautiful and delicious results from recipes in all of the other books in a rather large collection.

Every single item (save one) tested from "In a Vermont Kitchen" has been nothing but disaster! The "Cranberry Nut Pumpkin Bread" does NOT need to bake for 90 minutes. A Cranberry Nut Brick is what came out of my oven ten minutes short of that time. "Drunken Apple Chicken" is the only meal I have ever literally pitched into the trash and then reached for the phone to call the pizza man. "Maple Magic Mousse?" Not magical. The recipe doesn't tell you where to add in the gelatin, resulting in a little too much experimentation for my taste, not to mention a disappointing result. Cranberry Apple Conserve was satisfactory, but today's recipe was the last straw for this book. "Brie Pizza with Apple Onion Sauce" - the apple onion mixture is truly disgusting! After following the instructions to the letter, I have a limp and gross-looking mess that I would not want to feed to my dog, let alone put on a pizza shell for my guests later this evening...

I have always been suspect of cookbooks that carry beautiful covers. Often the treats inside cannot live up to the magical picture the eye is first drawn to. This book has forever changed that suspicion. From page one I felt wrapped up in the honest, poetic style with which Amy Lyon has painted upon these pages. Suddenly I was not in Ohio experimenting with a recipe, I was in a small farmhouse smelling a robust meal that only Vermont could deliver. The recipes were easy enough for me to follow, but I still felt like I had created my own masterpiece after I was finished. I could write on and on, but the chill wind of November is urging me to retreat to the kitchen and visit Vermont with Amy Lyon!

The recipes were easy to follow and the results were superb. Never have I had such "delicious" results with my cooking from the many recipes I tried in this cookbook. I particually enjoyed reading the narratives at the beginning of the recipes and learning about the backgrounds of the contributors of some of the local restaurant owners.