North America Books

I am a biologist that has been working in the Galapagos as a Naturalist leading tours there for the last 6 years. Michael Jackson's book is the "Bible" for the beginning naturalist and certainly more than adequate for the casual "ecotourist". Jackson covers all major aspects of the history, geology, ecology, and biology of the islands. In the "biology" section, he gives a clear, concise, but thorough group-by-group treatment of all major taxa including plants, reptiles, land and sea birds, mammals, and a brief section covering marine life. While there are other guidebooks available, none come close to the accuracy, clarity of presentation, and logical format of this book. Of particular usefulness are the many photos, tables, and graphs which provide a visual representation of many of the topics discussed and a synthesis of large amounts of data.

My wife and I bought Jackson's book in preparation for a trip to the Galapagos. The book served us well; when we arrived at the islands we felt that we were almost on a first-name basis with all the fantastic creatures and plants that make the Galapagos such a fascinating place. The book is considerably more than just a field guide; it includes information on the islands' history, their environmental and ecological setting, and the conservation efforts being made to preserve this truly unique place. And, as the title indicates, the book provides a lot of natural history, not just a brief summary of bare facts about each animal or plant. Not only is it a fine guide, it is a most enjoyable read.

Every naturalist guide in the Galapagos has this book. They also sell this book at the Charles Darwin Center in Santa Cruz, and it is a must read. It explains how the islands came about and what makes them so unique. I highly recommend this book!

I just recently returned from the Galapagos Islands, and the book that guided me throughout my journey was this book by M.H. Jackson. Very easy to find the animal you are looking, and also helps to discover more creatures to look for. Helped explain things further from what the guides had said. Also helped me in answering many people's questions about different creatures. A Great book! A must for all travelers to the galapagos in search of unique wildlife.

I would imagine that most visitors to the Galapaos are not naturalists. For those without a strong background in natural sciences, I would highly recommend this book. The book is easy and fun to read, detailed without being tedious. The photos are amazing and the author's passion for the islands is evident. If you only have time to read one book, this is one I would advise a Galapagos visitor to read in advance of their trip.

I truly enjoyed reading the book and learning of my Aunt Alma's point of view. I have grown up hearing of Pretty Shield and truly am blessed with having an aunt that shares her story and pictures.

I have been blessed not only to read this book but to have met the author. She is both fascinating in person and in printed word, and her story is enlightening, educational, and entertaining. If you have any interest in Native American history, you'll be glad you read this book.

I truly enjoyed this book. It was written in plain language and seemed very personable to me. It is a true story about Alma's life growing up on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana and how she was deeply influenced by her grandmother Pretty Shield who taught Alma the old ways...she was a grandmother's grandchild. Pretty Shield was pretty smart I think. She had an appreciation for the natural world not seen too much anymore in our modern lives. I found these "old ways" interesting. This has influenced Alma for sure and she is able to reconcile this as well as the hardships of life with her deep Christian beliefs. God Bless you too Alma!

Grandmother's Grandchild,Alma Snell, shares memories of one of the first recorded Female Indian Elders..Pretty Shield. Pretty Shield was written about in the 1930's when women were too often overlooked. Pretty Shield saw the buffalo leave and the reservations begin. Alma shares the experience of making the transition to Reservation life with Pretty Shield by her side. This book is a refreshing and deeply personal life story that manages to state facts without undertones of judgement. BEAUTIFUL! READ IT!

A wonderful book! While much of the poverty and oppression of Indian people is painful to read, one can see the wonderful connections between families in Ms. Snell's book. The love and care for Indian children by extended families is probably one of the greatest reasons the Indian people and traditions have survived. We in the "dominate culture" could learn much to change the disintigration of American families by learning more about Native American people.

In this superb second volume on Grant's war-time service, Bruce Catton shows how Grant devised and executed the grand strategy that ensured we'd be one country.

Beginning at Chattanooga, Catton chronicles Grant's successful battle to save a beleaguered federal army there and his selection as head of all of the armies of the Union.

The strategic plan, the overland campaign, the investiture of Petersburg and the finale with Lee at Appomattox are chronicled well.

What Catton does very well here is focus on Grant the General-in-Chief. We see how Lincoln and Grant are drawn toward each other through a shared and fundamental understanding of what it would take to win the war and the will to do it -- incredibly a trait Lincoln could find in no other General selected to head the Army of the Potomac.

The actual management of the Union's armies and efforts is given great attention. Even the Civil War devotee who knows a lot about the battles of the war will appreciate this focus on grand strategy, army management and the particular and singular attributes possessed by Grant to manage the affair to a successful conclusion.

A wonderful book, as is it's predecessor, "Grant Moves South."

This is a well-researched account of the last two years of the Civil War (1863-1865). The harsh realities of the battles and living conditions are especially given great detail here. The final days of the war and the surrender of General Lee are extremely poignant as the author examines the tattered remains of the once invincible Army of Northern Virginia. The exchange between the victors and the vanquished at Appomattox is the highlight of the book. The author also takes pains not to overlook any of Grant's military blunders such as Cold Harbor and gives an even-handed viewpoint throughout. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in the darkest days of our nation's history.

"Grant Takes Command" is the second of two volumes by Bruce Catton on Grant's Civil War service and the third volume of a trilogy on Grant's military career (beginning with Lloyd Lewis's "Captain Sam Grant"). However, this volume can easily be ready by itself. Catton picks up the story in the fall of 1863 with Grant's successful raising of the siege of Chanttanooga, following which President Lincoln picks him for a third star and command of all the Union armies.

Grant is the latest in a long series of Union commanders, most of whom have been badly beaten by General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia, and none of whom have been able to bring superior Northern resources effectively to bear on a slowly weakening Confederacy. In fact, as Grant takes command, the war has not yet been won and could still be lost.

Grant will be the commander that Lincoln has long sought. Lincoln's telling exchange with an aide, repeated by Catton, lays out why. Grant is the first general to take the supreme command who will work in harness with Lincoln and in full acceptance of Lincoln's constraints as President of a democracy in the midst of a civil war. Grant is prepared to take full responsibility for the conduct of the missions of the armies, and without setting up an alibi in advance for possible failure. And as it becomes apparent in the course of Catton's absolutely superb narrative, Grant understands the terrible math. Lee and his army are too proficient to be easily beaten; great persistance will be called for. Grant grasps the essential truth that Lee's army is the Confederate center of gravity, and the corallary that Lee's requirement to protect Richmond ultimately limits his ability to maneuver. Further, Grant is able to cause the Union armies to work at a common design, denying Lee the ability to reinforce Virginia by drawing on other theaters of war. The result will be a long, grinding, and exceedingly bloody campaign stretching from 1864 into 1865, as Lee's army is slowly bludgeoned to death.

Catton's narrative does not spare Grant his errors; in the 1864 campaign, Grant underestimates both Lee's abilities as a general and the difficulties of conducting campaigns on such a huge scale. Grant has to learn the job of Army commander in chief on the move; the unnecessary casualties of Cold Harbor and the repeated failures to flank Lee out of position in Virginia are proof of the learning curve. But Grant's great gift is his refusal to be deterred from his objective; he pins Lee at Petersburg and uses the Union armies of Sherman and Sheridan, among others, to destroy the Confederacy's means to make war.

"Grant Takes Command" was first published in 1960, and the details of the history of the Civil War have evolved since then. However, Catton's prose has stood the test of time. This is a truly magnificently told story on an epic scale and a highly recommended treat for the Civil War enthusiast and the casual reader alike.

A change in Focus--Grant takes the Reins

Until 1864, the Army of the Potomac had never won a campaign. Each Union attempt to capture Richmond drove south, was repulsed, withdrew to Washington, found a new general, and tried again. After his successes at Vicksburg and Chattanooga, Grant came east to a promotion, to general in charge of all Union Armies.

Grant brought a different focus, and Catton defines this superbly in this book, drawing on many of Grant's memoranda to other officers, as well as President Lincoln. Catton captures the essence of a Grant campaign: hold on to the enemy, grasp and retain the initiative, and always move your logistics aggresively forward.

Catton also tries, albeit weakley, to show that Grant was not a "pure" attritionist. He offers examples of Grant's desires to push west and sever Richmond from the Shenandoah. Catton explores the political reality of uncovering Washington to a Confederate thrust, while attacking the logistics that sustained Confederate armies, while Sherman simultaneously attacked Atlanta and its strategic railhead. Catton states that after the battle of Cold Harbor Ggrant's numerical superiority was at its lowest level, but he does not provide the hard math to support this stance. On the other hand, Catton shows well the manuever warfare used by Grant to slip away after Cold Harbor, steal a march, and get across the James River before Lee, stripped of his cavalry, could discover the move and react.

This book does a very solid job of capturing Grant's determination, his unyielding efforts to impose his will on the leaders and staff of the Army of the Potomac, and to integrate the political realities of volunteers, political appointee generals and a presidential election with the cold hard reality of constant campaigning.

A good read not just for students of the martial art, but for any leader who must address the Sisyphean task of invigorating old "we've always done it that way" people with a new ethos and drive.

It is almost amazing that even after nearly 40 years, this book still stand the test of time as one of the best studies of General U.S. Grant's tenure as the military commander of all Federal forces. The book starts off from the Chattanooga campaign in late 1863 and moving on to his promotion as overall commander and his attachment to the Army of the Potomac for the rest of the war. By this move he clearly determined that General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia will be his primary target and a key to overall victory for the Union. Bruce Catton does a wonderful job in narrating each event in a clear and colorful way that make this book a joy to read.

Best part of Catton's writing is the way he make individual characters stand out in a way that most pertaining to the event at hand. We understand how Lincoln and Grant bonded so well, how even Meade and Grant worked well on surface and why Grant kept his eye on the ball when grinding Lee down to earth.

This book is a follow-up to Catton's earlier work, Grant Moves South which was published 7 years prior to this book and captured Grant's military activities from the beginning of the war to end of the Vicksburg campaign in 1863. As part of the two book set, Bruce Catton continued to captured the essence of Grant's military chronicles with clarity and understanding that any reader can appreciate.

For anyone interested in the American Civil War, this book is sure to be part of your mandatory reading material and the best part is that its really is a great reading book.

To read a book numbering 945 pages of fine print is a luxury these days. It took me such a long time to read the Fourth Edition of Paul Horgan's wonderful, Pulitzer-Prize-winning "Great River: The Rio Grande In North American History" that sometimes I felt as if I were experiencing 10,000 years worth of history in real time. At the tail end of the epic, when President Wilson hesitates to send troops across the river to pursue bandits, citing his personal shame regarding the United States' "invasion" of Mexico during the Nineteenth Century, I felt able to "remember how it actually happened" - how U.S. fear concerning France's courtship of then independent Texas coupled with its distaste for Mexico's ethical transgressions (e.g., mistreatment of Texan prisoners of war) made U.S. annexation of Texas, Arizona, California, and New Mexico seem almost righteous.

The Preface to the Fourth Edition is dated 1984. But the book, initially authored in the Forties, reflects the philosophies of its times. Written well before the feminist era, the book, whether dealing with Pueblo peoples, Spanish Conquistadors, Mexican revolutionaries, or American generals, mostly follows the pursuits of men and ignores women. In Pueblo times, one glimpses Pueblo women washing garments in the river. Centuries later, several pages focus on Maud Wright, an American frontierswomen who must have been ferociously brave to have endured unspeakable horrors at the hands of bandits yet survived to provide U.S. troops with knowledge that was "valuable to know." And yet, passive adjectives describe her - "helpless" or "thankful to be busy" - before the narrative again turns its attention to colorful male warriors, raiders, politicians, navigators, or thieves.

Similarly, the book displays a Forties-style awe of "machine technics." Technology, it explains, had a positive effect on river cultures, liquidating "all indigenous aspects of the river's three [Indian, Spanish, Mexican] societies." Half-a-century later, it seems a day doesn't pass when "you Rio" isn't in the news, whether sporting a new, angry-looking border fence (to hold back hordes, who wish to ford the river and flee a still troubled Mexico) or failing to reach the Gulf thanks to global warming. Alas, technology, as Henry Adams feared, is proving to be the river's enemy.

One can't reverse the course of a river, but one can reverse the course of policies made in the heat of whatever political moment. This book should be required reading on both sides of the border.

The level of detail amassed by Horgan for this book is nothing short of incredible. Roughly half the book is dedicated to historical events; the other half covers culture, the role of religion, native living conditions, and a hundred other nuances of day-to-day living by peoples (both native and the later Spanish/American cultures) along the Rio Grande.

Readers who want a VERY in-depth history of the Rio Grande can't do any better than this book. However, readers looking for a more general overview of events might want to consider other sources.

I probably fell into the latter category; I found myself skipping 2-5 pages at a time because I just wasn't that interested in knowing every single detail of (for example) how the Indians dressed and meticulously prepared bits of food for a ceremony to welcome the growing season. Or details covering 5 pages of how Spanish missionaries held a typical mass in the settlements in 1650.

That said, I recognize that this book is about as complete a works as could be published. I'd much rather skip over detail than have an account which isn't thorough.

This book is the best ever written on the history of the southwest along the Rio Grande. Horgan manages to capture the shared history of New Mexico, Texas and Mexico as no other historian/writer has ever done. This one will be around as long as readers want to understand history in the borderlands.

This two-volume series was my inroduction to Paul Horgan who became one of my favorite authors. It is interesting to note he and Frank Waters ('the Man who Killed the Deer') died recently just two weeks apart. They were both 92, and among the greatest authors who dealt with the Rio Grande. Mr. Hogan's dedication to detail set him apart from Willa Cather whose fame rests upon her book 'Death comes to the Archbishop,' using Lamy as her subject. She rejected the aproach of Paul Horgan who at the time was writing his own history, 'Lamy of Santa Fe.' Willa Cather was a novelist; Paul Horgan an historian, and of the two I prefer the truth. Anyone interested in the history of the Rio Grande will be delighted with Paul Horgan's two-volume introduction to it.

One of the major materpieces of American historical writing. The two volumes are a continuing delight, far better than any historical novel. Scene succeds scene, filled with movement, passion and unbelievable heroism. Won the Pulitzer and Bancroft Prizes for History, and is considered the greatest history of the Rio Grande from pre-Columbian time to mid 20th century.

Filled with black-and-white photographs and a brief insert section of color plates, Guide To Rock Art Of The Utah Region: Sites With Public Access is a singularly comprehensive, illustrated, informative, and descriptive introduction to Native American rock art, as well as a thoroughly "user friendly" travel guide to the viewing of rock art found in Utah that has endured since before written history. Chapters cover not only the artwork found throughout Utah, but the accessibility of sites and proper etiquette and conservation that traveling viewers should observe. Highly recommended for students of Native American studies, rock art history, armchair travelers, and people with a simple zest to visit Utah and see these amazing drawings for themselves.

This is the best and most responsible guide to the rock art of Utah I have seen. It is well written and researched, the maps are excellent and so are the directions. It's a winner.

I'm not easily satisified with guides, but this one appears to be an exception. It fits the need of those of us who enjoy and appreciate indigenous art and the wilderness that typically accompanies it. There are numerous maps, excellent directions, a section of color pictures, and good insights.

This is the best and most responsible guide to the rock art of Utah I have seen. It is well written and researched, the maps are excellent and so are the directions. It's a winner.

Usually when I buy a book, I feel I get my money's worth as long as I can get something out of it. It is very rare when the entire book becomes an invaluable resource. This is such a book. This book contains excellent maps and directions and includes numerous B&W pictures and illustrations. There is also a color panel in the middle. When I say detailed directions I mean DETAILED. The author tells you what landmarks to look for, what exit to get off, how the road winds and breaks the distances down to a tenth of a mile. It is also written in a very easy to follow and understand text. The highlight of the book for me is the detailed breakdown of Nine Mile Canyon. I was not intending on doing nine mile canyon due to a shortage of time and thinking I would need a guide to find many of the sites. The book describes the trip in such detail you feel like you are on a tour. Besides Utah, the author also writes about some sites in Nevada, Arizona and Colorado. Before I purchased this book, I thought I would only get to see a few rock art panels at the more popoular destinations. After reading this book, I now know that there are many more sites I can visit. Hopefully, those who are intersted in this book will also heed the authors plea to be respectful of the sites. His book speaks about way to many instances of idiots vandalizing these treasures and destroying them for the future generations. Bottom line is that this is a must have for anyone serious about seeing rock art in Utah.

John McDermott has done a fantastic job with this book. The first half is a wonderful in-depth look at life on the frontier during the 1800s that goes back and forth with comparisons of the living conditions, clothing, social beliefs, etc., of Native Americans and the whites who were moving through/into the West. The second half gives a good overview of sites of historic interest, museums, battlefields and more. The one thing I found frustrating (and I can't think of a good solution McDermott could have employed) is that the "guide" section of the book does include some good history information, too: It seems that these instances were included in the second half of the book to discuss localized events that might have seemed out of place in the more generalized first half of the book.

I was introduced to this book after I had already done quite a bit of reading on the Indian Wars, and I was sorry that I had not found it earlier. It provides alot of basic information in a very readable format. I now keep this book on hand as a reference when I do any other reading on the subject. I had the privilege of meeting John McDermott this summer when he served as historian guide for a tour of the battlefields of the Sioux wars. It must have been very difficult for him to condense his vast knowlege of the Indian wars into this simplified format, but it works very well. I strongly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the Indian wars, or someone who would just like an introduction into that period of American history.

John D. McDermott writes well and knows an amazing amount about the wetsern indian wars. The first part of the book, background material, is hard to top. I learned several things I didn't know from it. The second part, the travel guide, can be helpful because the West if so big that not many people will know about places in every area. But there are a few mistakes in the second part, things like wrong phone numbers and maps and descriptions that might put you in the wrong part of a state. This seems to be from carelessness and not ignorance. The book is certainly worth buying, but if you are set on going to some fort or battlefield you might want to phone ahead for information and also have a good map to be on the safe side.

This is more than just a Guide to Indian Wars, it is a well written and very informative and importent piece of literature for anyone interested in the history of Native Americans.

I live in England so I doubt I will ever see most of the places mentioned in the book, but having read it, my knowledge has been increased, the little "potted" history of Army Life etc really made for interesting reading, a wonderful little book, but a big addition to my library of Native American literature.

This book provides a concise historical perspective of the Indian Wars of the West with the second section providing sites of interest based on geographical location. There is a lot of detail on the different tribes, their geographic locations and differences, their relations with the "whites", lifestyles of Native Americans, lifestyle of the soldiers, weapons of each and a review of literature, movies and TV shows on the West. Reminds me of a lot of Robert Utley mixed in with Paul Hutton's Custer Reader.

The second part organizes points of historical interest geographically and by tribal history detailing what you will see (actual structures or replica and scenery) and a mini biography of the site. This book is a great companion for touring since you can organize what you want to see easily since the sites are organized by states and region. For example, if I were in Colorado, one of my goals would be to see Brent's Fort particularly if I was there during the annual rendezvous. How great to not only see Fort Apache if you are in Arizona but also to be able to detour to Cochise's Stronghold.

I just wish the text had pictures of the tour sites or a portion of them and an index. It's a modest book of 200 pages but a walloping amount of information. It's also a great reference for further reading.

I've got it and you don't! Too bad. It's outta print. I called the publisher and they are not reissuing. Go find it used. It is worth every penny ($85 I paid) if you need or desire to ID gulls.

This book is a must have for every birdwatcher! If you have problems with indentifying gulls, this is the book to have! It anwers all my questions I have about gull distribution and indentification. Now I know how to Indentify those Ring-billed Gulls that I see in the parking lot. Also I have a better outlook on where they came from as Well!

The size and massive detail in this new book on identifying the gulls of the Northern Hemisphere is likely to deter most readers from more than a cursory leafing through its lovely paintings and photographs. But if you're curious to learn more about these common but highly varied, many-shades-of-gray birds around us, and you happen to live in a coastal area as I do, with more than a few gulls that are hard to identify during the winter, this might be a book to look into more thoroughly.

A caution though: gulls can be notoriously difficult to identify accurately, since they have so much finely detailed, age-related plumage variation. But an effort to simply knuckle-down and learn more about all this, such as this book amply provides, can pay off greatly in much greater detective-fun trying to figure out all these heretofore anonymously gray gulls sailing and prowling around us here each year. It's already helped me develop better skills in figuring out nearly all the varied groups of gulls around us here more quickly than I would have heretofore thought possible. And to more quickly decide which birds you can or cannot more accurately identify...and why.

The detailed accounts and maps of the distribution and relative abundance of various gull species have also helped me better understand where the gulls that migrate through or winter in our area are likely to have come from. And, finally, as you delve more deeply into what's known about all these gull species, and their European and Asian counterparts, it becomes obvious that the series of beautiful, comparative paintings and color photographs provided in such detail for each species in its various age-plumages, subspecies, and hybrid-forms is worth the price of the book alone.

Well....maybe not easy....but, not through any fault of this book! The book starts with a lesson on the various body parts, as you will need to know many of these in order to ascertain what gull you have sitting in front of you. A comparison of the wings comes next. Then, it goes through each gull species and all of its plumages, including the months you might expect to see them in that plumage. It ends by discussing the various hybrids. If you ever hope to get beyond referring to gulls as "gull sp.," this book will do it. When you hear other birders refer to "the gull bible," this is it!!! However, don't think that this is a field guide you might want to carry in a fanny pack...it's a heavyweight!

growing up with the knowledge that there are just a few "kinds" of gulls and realising after a while that all the gulls you knew are now called somthing compleatly different (the whole herring,yellow legged,caspian,armenian,lesser black backed,sibirian etc. complex). this is the book we were all looking for, easy to use and extremly proffesional.
another good birding book to have around.

Russell S. Smith was the Police Chief in San Angelo, Texas for years. He was an outstanding officer. There were many twists and turns in this book, it kept my interest and eyes on the printed page. He is a true detective, enjoying the chase as he traced the facts in order to find the truth.

What a great book! Author, retired Texas Police Chief Russell Smith, has a unique way of talking to the reader. This is an interesting account of the "Caveman Bandit" - in a time much like the Wild West but in the 1960's. Most certainly all those who have roots in West TX would be interested as well as Texans everywhere. As a Californian, who has never been to that part of the country, I referred to a TX map to visualize the expanse of land that the Bandit inhabited. Wow - it is really incredible to think that a human was capable of covering such an enormous territory. Also incredible is the way this man slinked in and out of businesses, houses, rugged terrain, in and out of Mexico and Texas -without detection - sometimes underneathe the noses of those who so desperately hunted him. Yes, the bandit was incredibly animal-like: digging for shelter in caves, surviving off the land, outwitting and outrunning his prey. You will have to read this book for the interesting details and to see how the story ends. Bravo Chief Smith!

Russell Smith has a way of telling a story so that you see every event, almost as if you were there when it happened. You see the rugged country and the people very vividly in your mind. You feel the suspense as the caveman bandit enters a home at night while the occupants are sleeping. You laugh as two macho teenage boys decide they will be heroes and catch the bandit one dark, cold night. I got so involved in the story, I didn't want it to end.

What a great book. I could visualize the caveman bandit, his hiding spots, the rough land, the houses and the people. Russell Smith brings the characters and the landscape to life. Chapter 1 was a great way to start the book and it hooked me. I can't wait to read his next book.

"The Gun That Wasn't There" is an interesting true story about a man who lived off the land, the ranches, and the businesses of the area he was in. The local people knew about him, had often seen him, but it wasn't unusual for "illegals" to cross their ranches so they didn't pay much attention to him until he broke into a house while the people were home and attacked them. This is a story about man against man, one wanting to be left alone to survive the way he knew best, and those who wanted to stop him.

The book includes several original photographs as well as recent photos of the area. The author paints such a vivid description of the area that you already know what is there without seeing the photographs. There are numerous endnotes that historians and genealogists will love.

This guidebook exceeded my expectations. Appropriate detail, lots of history, wonderful dining and lodging suggestions. I can definitely credit this book with contributing to making our recent Door County vacation a hit. We stayed in an amazing bed and breakfast and every meal we had was delicious, which is not an easy feat considering we had never been in Door County before. I only disagree with a few of the suggestions.

Moon Handbooks: Wisconsin is a 570 page travel guide to the Badger state and designed specifically for the adventurous traveler seeking to sample its wealth of diverse cultural and ethnic festivities, events, communities, and cuisines. Now in a completely updated and expanded second edition, Moon Handbooks: Wisconsin is packed with invaluable, descriptive information ideal for planning everything from a simple daytrip to an elaborate and extended vacation itinerary. If you are traveling in Wisconsin, don't leave home without your very own copy of Moon Handbooks: Wisconsin!

This book is packed with history, geography, politics, art, and more. It will suprise and delight any native. Meticulously edited, all contact info. I used is up-to-date. After a few months, you find yourself laughing with Huhti, fighting with him, and agreeing with him; but most of all, you are awed by this native's depth of knowledge. He does use some obscure vocabulary. It's inconvienent, as most travelers I know don't carry a dictionary. More than a travel guide, it's an achievement.

If you are coming to Wisconsin bring this book with you and if you are a resident keep it in your glovebox. It covers all the obvious attractions as well as a wonderful selection of off the beaten path destinations. Huhti also give us heaps of interesting historical background and his love of the Badger State shines clearly through all 570 pages.

Want to know where the talking cow statue is? How about where to find some of the state's best pie, or scenery, or the sites with great local atmosphere? Huhti's book offers it all, thoroughly covering every region in the state--pointing out highlights and lowlights throughout Wisconsin. It's all interspersed with historical tidbits and local color, providing a wonderfully in-depth guide to the Badger State. I write a statewide travel column and it is an invaluable tool. Defintely recommended!

As Hinge fo Fate opens in early 1942, The Japanese had just destroyed most of the American fleet at Pearl Harbor; Japan was about to drive Britain from Southeast Asia and (perhaps) invade Australia; German and Italian troops under Romel were about to invade Egypt, and Stalin's Russia was under attack by the German Army, which had completed itsoccupation of virtually all of Europe, from France to Norway, Lithuania to Greece. Parliament was calling for Churchill's head. This was a true world war (contrast, Bush's War on Terror)--and Britain was losing.

Churchill's reaction--the entry of America and Russia into the war as Britain's allies guaranteed that the Allies would ultimately win--Britain, US, and USSR simply had greater resources than Germany, Japan and Italy. Thus it was only a matter of time.

The attack by Parliament was a sign of a healthy, strong democracy--as Churchill said, how many countries had strong enough political institutions to allow this type of no holds barred debate while under attack, and still survive.

And survive they did. The first half of Hinge of Fate describes a series of worldwide disasters, unbroken by a single significant Allied victory. Then came the legendary battle of Alamein--where General Montgomery beat Rommel, the Allied landing on the north coast of Africa, the US Naval victories at Midway and in the Coral Sea, and Russia's effective resistance against the German Army at Stalingrad and in the Caucasus Mountains.

By the end of 1942, it was not yet clear that tha tAllies would win, but they looked a whole lot batter than they did at the beginning. Along the way, Churchill gives us his impressions of the politics involved--both internal British, within the larger Commonwealth, among the Allies--and particularly his relationship and struggles with Stalin--and the tension between the British (focused on Europe) and the Americans (pushing for more resources to fight the Japanese in the Pacific).

Hinge of Fate continues Churchill's inimitable style, mixing contemporaneous, detailed, memos, telegrams, letters, and directives he wrote, the responses he received, connected by new (in 1950) commentary by Churchill himself. This makes no pretesne at being an "objective" or multi-focused history of WWII. It is clearly, and exclusively, the war from Churchill's unique perspective. But, what a perspective!

Well, here it is. The largest of the six volumes in Winston Churchill's telling of The Second World War. There's not really much to say about volume four that hasn't been said about the previous three. Churchill continues in his style of presenting his own perspective on the war effort, including (very) extensive use of memos, reports, and telegrams written at the time both by him and other major players.

With America and the Soviet Union fully committed, the war rages hard while the western allies seek a means of striking at Nazi Germany effectively. Though this is delayed throughout this volume, and Churchill's tense relations with Stalin over this very point are prominently presented, the events leading up to just prior to the Italian campaign are presented here. The reader will see how the first real turnabouts came about.

Winston Churchill was remarkable, as much as for any other reason, for the sheer volume of words he produced. In a long life, during which he was often preoccupied by both family matters (he had four children) and matters of state, he nevertheless found the time to compose an inordinate number of books. I say compose, because he perfected a system during the first war, which revealed its efficacy more than ever in the second, of working through secretaries. There are many odd anecdotes told about Churchill, not the least of which is that his secretaries, sometimes working in rotation throughout much of the night, were obliged to attend to him and take down what he said, even in the bath. This way of getting the material down in print proved to be very effective, as the tens of thousands of published pages of his work amply demonstrates.

His long history of the Second World War continues with "The Hinge of Fate." Although he was personally assured that the American entry into the war meant the ultimate defeat of Germany, he still had to see to the day to day running of the war machine, and counter the perverse effects of both German victories and British pessimism. Now began, as well, the long battle with Stalin about opening up a second front in France, to take some of the heat off the Russian armies in the East. In fact, his relationship with the Russian leader is one of the most interesting sources of anecdotal references throughout this series.

This is history being well told by a man who was, while perhaps not a trained historian as such, so steeped in the history of his family and his country, that he an utterly unique point of view. The fact that he was also a central figure in the war itself, means that we have, if you like, a one in a million chance victory on our hands, as though we had just won a lottery of sorts, by being able to read him.

Churchill's fourth book, `Hinge of Fate', covers the time period from January 1942 to June 1943. The Japanese, after Pearl Harbor, were advancing through the Malaya peninsula and onwards towards Singapore. With bold offensive strokes Hong Kong, Burma and Singapore were soon in Japanese hands. In the Atlantic, U-boats were taking high tolls in allied shipping and soon the British, Dutch and Americans were being run out of the Pacific. The gains in the African desert were soon lost as Rommel regain the offensive and retakes Benghazi. Churchill now faced censure at home and soon he needed to reorganize his Generals. Hitler was pushing forward on the Eastern front towards Stalingrad and many setbacks were shifting the balance.

This volume is well named as there is much offensive and defensive struggles going on in the Pacific theater, the African desert and the Eastern front. All three Allied countries were up to their necks in trouble, and the Axis forces still had the upper hand. It wasn't until Alamein, on the African coast that the hinge turned in favor of the Allies. Churchill states that "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat." Some of the most interesting parts of the book are Churchill's relationships with Stalin and FDR. Much has been written about these and it is nice to get Churchill's views and opinions about these men and the struggles they faced. Churchill acted, in many ways, the diplomat and statesman greasing the way between the Allied powers and paving the way for Torch (French North Africa), Bolero (Administrative preparations for invasion of France) and soon Overlord (France liberation 1944). Stalin wanted the Western front cross channel attack, of German held France in 1943 as planned, but because of the efforts on the African desert it wasn't until 1944 that Overlord was able to take place. Churchill needed great diplomacy and FDR's help to convince Stalin of the inability to make Overlord work in 1943.

It is great to read Churchill's rendition of this time and place. He was right in the middle, and at this time, still in command of the allied war effort. Well worth reading and adding to the history shelf.

Because he was writing for a population that had lived through World War II and knew its facts, Churchill's 6-volume history of that time can be more than a little daunting for contemporary readers. His is a kind of top-down history that approaches unconscious autobiography: Churchill seems to feel that reproducting his memos, letters, and "minutes" -- in painfully small type -- will provide the reader with all the info necessary to completely know and understand the war. Of course we know it ain't so; Cornelius Ryan, John Toland, and Stephen Ambrose, just for starters, have written far more accessible and comprehensive histories that present a variety of viewpoints and don't gloss over difficult or unsavory moments. Instead, one should read Churchill in order to read Churchill-- in order to enjoy the company of that most remarkable statesman, in order to savor his impeccable prose and snicker at his wicked humor, in order to marvel at a life that began in mid-Victorian times and ended in the heyday of the Rolling Stones. The man's prescience was uncanny, not only in recognizing the evils of Hitler long before any other world leader, but in comprehending the nature and extent of what was then a genuine Soviet menace. Despite his anachronistic attitudes about people of color, Churchill was no racist; he simply lived in his world as we live in ours, and his story is an object lesson for the present. How much of what we now revere as received truth will be questoned, even debunked, 50 or 60 or 70 years from now? Yet authenticity and honesty will always last longer than glibness and flash, and Churchill has more a & h on one page than the easy-to-read historians have in their entire oevre. I'm afraid our puny and wan little world, so beset with its infantile fears and carefully nurtured insecurities, gooey with political correctness, dizzied with the hoohaw and the yelping of the media, is now far from capable of producing such a giant. Young Winston would be given Ritalin in school today and taught that white males like him are born evil. To paraphrase "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," he saved the world -- a lot -- and he did it with the English language.