Geography Books

Books about GIS are usually quite technical, surveying the applications and computer potentials of geographic information systems, so it's refreshing to note that A TO Z GIS: AN ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY OF GEOGEPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS is something different: a simple set of geography and cartography definitions designed to defines values, coordinates, reference systems, representations, and GIS data processing methods and routines. Students of GIS will find this essential to understanding the terminology of both computer and geography worlds.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Have you rummaged through a GIS textbook for half an hour looking for a simple definition, never to find it? Have you wondered why a $100 "introductory" textbook has loads of extraneous information but not a simple glossary, or how it can be written so obtusely and still get past an editing staff? Well, this is the Allen Iverson of GIS books, "The Answer." It gives you GIS concepts clearly and succinctly, with great explanatory illustrations for the "visual learners" out there, which are many in geography I would think. This has been a "go to" book for me in GIS but also in Remote Sensing; there's no question whether to get it, only how much the bookstore will pay you to buy back that unused textbook that you blew $100 on.

My daughter and I enjoyed using these books (also purchased the one on Greece). The activities were useful and relevant to our study, and the information was well-written. Highly recommend.

As a home educator, I'm always looking for books that will draw my kids into the time period that they are studying. Tools of the Ancient Romans does this perfectly. Through reading and hands-on activities, kids will gain an understanding of what life was like in ancient Rome. The main text is full of information that kids will find interesting, and peppered throughout are sidebars offering further detail. Each activity relates to the text as kids try their hand at making projects such as an abacus, an amphora or a Roman medal. These activities are great for letting all kids delve into the ancient Roman era, but especially good for kinesthetic learners, as they can get their hands involved in learning!

Everything you always wanted to know about the tourism industry in one convenient source! This book is written with the serious reader in mind, but it's easy reading style will appeal to any curious mind. It covers everything from operating issues to fun facts that will help you be a more informed consumer. Once you pick it up, you won't want to put it down.

This book contains the most current and comprehensive coverage tourism industry on the market today. I enjoyed reading this book due to the excellent writing style of the authors. It is very well organized so finding topics of interest was no problem. It lists many citations to other sources and is well researched. The author's educational credentials and other accomplishments are listed (and are very impressive.) Cook and Yale have done extensive research and publishing in tourism. I find this work very credible and user-friendly. I know that I won't leave home without it!

I am not sure that the above reviewer actually read the book.

The book demonstrates very clearly how the moneyed interests used progressivism to remove the voters from the important decisions that are made in formation of the business and land use climate in California. We should be able to throw the rascals out and all we can do is pass nutball initiaives.

Do you know that the socialist party eventually merged with the REPBULICANS? Do you know that the state is essentially controlled by unelected trade associations? Do you know that those associations are run for the benefit of their associate members?

For example; farm policy in California is vastly influenced by the California Farm Bureau, but this organization is basically controlled by vendors to farmers (banks, shippers etc) and not farmers. The same pattern follows for the California Association of Realtors and many other organizations that promote themselves as functioning for the general welfare of Californians while gouging their members for the benefit of their assoicate members.

The whole patten of corporate welfare has it's roots in California land use policy development.

Rural California is the environment that nurtured Richard Nixon during his formative years. What we have in this lovely but weird place is business oriented REPUBLICAN SOCIALISM. Don't miss this book, you will never see the world in quite the same way after you read it.

An extremely important book!! This book is a study of the political history of land use and URBANISATION IN CALIFORNIA COVERING THE LAST 100 HUNDRED YEARS.This an extremely well written and usefull book.

This book has proven to be very interesting to our guests as they visit our new vacation home in Baja California, Mexico. They love browsing or reading it for insights into the country they are visiting.

In A Traveller's History Of Mexico, historian Kenneth Pearce provides the reader with an informative, engaging history that begins the prehistoric life of the region, and continues with the coming of the Olmecs and the Mayans (1150-1000 BC), whose cultures were subsumed into the Aztec empire. The reader is treated to a vivid account of Aztec life and its ultimate demise with the arrival off the Spanish conquistadors. The consequent greed, corruption, and oppression of Spanish colonial rule and the Catholic Church are covered in detail. Pearce then moves on to the 19th Century War of Independence which led to the founding of the Mexican Republic, the brief reign of Emperor Maximilian and the Empress Carlotta, the dashing Santa Anna (who led the siege on the Alamo); revolutionaries Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa, and other influential characters that were caught up in Mexico's' often violent power struggles. Highly recommended for personal, school, and community history collections, A Traveller's History Of Mexico concludes with the last 70 years of one-party political domination, recently ending with an election of the opposition, and the contemporary social issues of an expanding population, drugs, pollution, corruption, and an oppressed indigenous population.

My entire family read this book during the Christmas holidays. My kids range from age 5 to 15 and all four enjoyed it. The stories gave a wonderful picture of growing up in the Caribbean and made us want to visit. We also loved the authors' telling about themselves. The activities at the end of each story kept my children occupied. I think these activities are a good way of getting children to really understand and enjoy the stories. Great family reading.

This book kept my 6 year old cousin and myself hooked. The stories were fun, and the illustrations engaging, and at the same time, I also learned a little more about Caribbean life. I could even relate some of the stories to things that I went through as I was growing up. Overall, a great book to include in your library at home.

We bought this book as a birthday present for a 2 year old preschooler. We wanted something different and this book certainly fits the bill. It is a hard board, flap book with a twist. It is colorful and creative and presents animals in six different settings: Backyard, Farm, Sea, Desert, Rain Forest, and Africa. We highly recommend it.

We bought this book as a birthday present for a 2 year old preschooler. We wanted something different and this book certainly fits the bill. It is a hard board, flap book with a twist. It is colorful and creative and presents animals in six different settings: Backyard, Farm, Sea, Desert, Rain Forest, and Africa. We highly recommend it.

It may seem unusual to some that a recovered alcoholic, A.A. enthusiast, and Alcoholics Anonymous Historian would enthuse over this book. But that's because so few have realized the rich religious background in Vermont from which A.A. ideas sprang. The soil was everywhere--in Manchester, East Dorset, St. Johnsbury, Montpelier, Burlington, and more.
And it was seeded by the evangelistic YMCA lay leaders of the period about which the author wrote. It was seeded by Vermont Congregational leaders. It was seeded by the United Christian Endeavor Society. It was seeded by the North Congregational Church of St. Johnsbury, the East Congregational Church of East Dorset, and the Manchester Congregational Church. Also by the unusual philanthropists and religious leaders who led the way to the Great Awakening of 1875 where the whole community of ST. Johnsbury was transformed and 1700 among a population of 5000 were converted. The St. Johnsbury Academy and The Burr and Burton Academy furnished daily chapel, Bible study, church attendance, and YMCA outreach. And the leaders had among them Governors Horace and Erastus Fairbanks as well as a dozen other Fairbanks family notables such as Thaddeus, Joseph, Henry, Franklin, Edward, and more through the years. They donated the YMCA building, the famous Athenaeum, the Fairbanks Museum, the North Congregational Church, and St. Johnsbury Academy buildings. What's all this about? Well William Griffith Wilson learned about the Bible, conversions, prayer meetings, and church in Vermont. Robert Holbrook Smith, M.D. learned these Christian principles and practices and more from his family and his church's Christian Endeavor activity. Now a library as been established at the Wilson House premises in East Dorset where the relevant A.A. roots history items--some 30,000 have been lodged. And in St. Johnsbury at the North Congregational Church a Dr. Bob Core Library with a somewhat smaller largesse is now available for recovery people, the public, clergy, physicians, historians, scholars, and others. There are three recent books that lay the picture out in a way hitherto unknown. See Dick B., The Conversion of Bill W., Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous, and Real Twelve Step History: Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous: His Excellent Training in the Good Book As a Youngster in Vermont; The Conversion of Bill W.: More on the Creator's Role in A.A.; Real Twelve Step Fellowship History. Only recently has extensive research been conducted in Vermont to discover the facts, documents, and history that inexorably found their way into the early A.A. Christian fellowship which Green Mountain academy boys fashioned as they founded A.A. on June 10, 1935 in Akron, Ohio.

I like what Searls has done here. He gives an excellent analysis into what has shaped the modern Vermonter's psyche by exposing the dichotomy between the agrarian/rural vs. urban. The author does this by examining Vermont during one of America's most significant eras - post Civil War and pre WWI. In doing so, Searls has authored an interesting book that is a "must read" for all of those with even a passing interest in Vermont history. Indeed, all Vermonters should read this book.

This is the best book I could ever come across, I have most of the video games and the information in the book has helped me beat the game better.

This book, The Ultimate Unnoficial Carmen Sandiego Companion, is a Guide for the owners of the Computer Games: Where In America's Past Is Carmen Sandiego?{Carmen's latest Adventure}, Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego?, Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?, Where In The U.S.A. Is Carmen Sandiego?, and Where In Europe Is Carmen Sandiego? For each Carmen Game, The Guide gives charts, general information on all the thieves in that game, and gives you hints and tips for playing the game, and answers to some clues. The clues may involve famous events, people, points in Time, or Geography Facts. Listing people's names alphabetically, for easy reference. This Guide also has black and white photographs from some games. This Guide will also tell you how to play the game, and very important hints and tips that you'll need to play the game. The Guide tells about fun and amusing things that you can do with your Carmen Game. It will also provide you with lists of things that have been stolen in a place, or Time Period. This Guide is essential for any Carmen Fan, and anyone who owns a Carmen Game. The Guide is by: Corey Sandler, and Tom Badgett. It was published by: The Bantam Game Mastery Series. This Guide is not authorized, or endorsed by Broderbund Software, Inc. This Guide is meant for Games that run on: IBM-PC, Tandy, Apple II, Macintosh, Commodore 64, Amiga, and Nintendo Entertainment System. I highly reccomend This Guide!

Although this book needs to be updated (Mike Tyson alone could add a dozen pages) this book is a classic. James Brown's PCP-fueled two-state police chase? You can follow the route here. Hilarious in its inclusiveness, it manages to keep things tasteful despite hotspots like "Where Margaret Mitchell got run over by a car" (downtown Atlanta)and "Where Jayne Mansfield got decapitated" (California). Some inclusions in an updated edition could include "Where Jean Claude Van Damme got beat up by a bouncer" (Scores Nightclub, Queens NY)and "Where Stephen King got run over by a car" (Route 5 near Fryeburg, ME).

If you're planning a trip and you'd rather skip the usual theme parks, outlet malls and hole-in-the-wall museums, this book is packed with ideas ranging from a town that got "nuked" (sort of -- the bomb didn't go off) to places where Sean Penn got into fights (yes, there was more than one).