New Hampshire Books

I read this book hoping that Johm Cheever's daughter might possess a bit of his genius. Not so. This book is humdrum.

"Treetops," while telling of one family in particular, speaks to the ever changing family unit in the 20th century where the roles began firmly established in 1900 and careened on to a helter skelter order in 2000. The role of women, children, and siblings in a man's world is dissected in "Treetops" --all through the eyes of one family child as she looks at the past. I found the book quietly moving as I learned about the family and found it reflected in my own. "Treetops" is the place we all long to go back to and the place we all long to escape from at the same time.

I read this book hoping that Johm Cheever's daughter might possess a bit of his genius. Not so. This book is humdrum.

I liked this book and used it for some paddling & camping in NH. It gave nice descriptions of the water conditions and paddling descriptions. I agree that it's not a 'how to' book on camping. It's a reference for people who know camping already and are looking for rivers to paddle & camp along.

This book's title is misleading, and provides next to no info about camping. Its information about water conditions and white water classifications is pathetic (and unsafe) as well. More information is available about the rivers the author chose to include in the DeLorme Vermont Gazeteer and Atlas. I wish I didn't order this book, it will become camping toilet paper or an emergency fire starter.

This book was a major disappointment. It is a highly simplistic, broadbrush (to the point of being sloppy and slapdash) overview of Bridges' career in politics. It is shocking that a book about such a powerful congressional power broker could be so tedious, uninformative and, well, naive about the political process. It seems to be deliberately written for an elementary or high school reading level. How did Bridges become so powerful within the Senate? How did he rise to the top of the Republican congressional leadership? You won't find the answers to these questions in this book. If you are looking for a good book about politics, I would recommend any of Caro's books about Robert Moses or LBJ. The added ironic benefit is that, in a select few passages, Caro's third book about Johnson DOES contain some useful info about Styles Bridges. In a few sentences, Caro manages to tell us more about Bridges than this book does in over three hundred pages. A tragically wasted opportunity.

This biography of the late U.S. Senator Styles Bridges of New Hampshire, with a foreword by Robert Novak, the syndicated columnist and political commentator, profiles the life of one of those long forgotten, but once eminently powerful Washington figures whose career offers a valuable snapshot into the politics of another era. Bridges, who generally kept a low national profile during his quarter century in the senate, but who rose to become one of that body's most skillful wheeler-dealers, entered the senate as one of only two Republicans in the Democratic/New Deal landslide of 1936. Prior to that he served one term as New Hampshire governor (the youngest governor in the nation at the time). Finding early on that money is the path to power in Washington, Bridges won a seat on the powerful Appropriations committee in his first term, rising to chairman when the Republicans won the senate in 1952. From his perch on Appropriations (and with a similar position on Armed Services), Bridges became one of a handful of go-to guys - including the more flamboyant Lyndon Johnson - who virtually ran the senate during World War II and the Cold War. The book opens with a spooky scene of Bridges being called to the White House one night to be secretly briefed by President Franklin Roosevelt on the Manhattan Project. It turns out Bridges was one of but four members of congress privy to the nation's top secret development of the atomic bomb (Vice President Truman wasn't even informed), and helped hide its funding from fellow lawmakers in other appropriations throughout the war). As president pro tempore of the senate (third in line for the presidency) and senate minority leader, Bridges was a vigorous partisan who believed in playing hardball politics (the author suggests he helped precipitate a colleague's suicide), and was also not above trafficking in (and often pocketing) large amounts of political money - common practice prior to Watergate era reforms. Although a tough anti-communist and conservative on fiscal issues, Bridges' politics nonetheless were more practical than ideological (his most controversial vote was against the censure of Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy). In his fifth term at the time of his death (November 26, 1961), Bridges - as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee - was preparing an optimistic and progressive strategy for his party's future (which included cultivating the Rockefeller moderates) to combat the newly inaugurated and charismatic young Democrat in the White House, John F. Kennedy. A legend in New Hampshire politics (he attempted a run for president in 1940), Bridges controlled local party affairs in nearly every precinct for decades through a powerful network of loyalists and local officials. Styles Bridges/Yankee Senator, by retired University at Albany (N.Y.) Professor James J. Kiepper (270 pages, illustrated, indexed with bibliography) is an excellent treatment of a once important national figure. This book joins similar biographies of such Bridges contemporaries as the late Senators Margaret Chase Smith (R-Maine) and George Aiken (R-Vermont) - whose names are also fading from the public mind, but who nonetheless deserve to have their stories easily available for students of history and government, and popular readership alike.

I took this guide, 2008 8th Edition ( note the other reviews for this guide are very dated), along with Fodor's New England 2007, on a 10-day tour through New Hampshire & Maine. NORMANLLY, Frommer's does a very good job of guiding you to best that either a country (or state) has to offer. NOT this guide. This guide is seriously disappointing.

Yes, the guide does cover the tourist site, and like all of the major guides (Fodor's, Footprint, Rough Guide, Lonely Planet, Moon) it will point you to the "must see" places. Also, to be fair, WHEN it does list a restaurant or hotel the guide does a fairly decent job describing the place. BUT, what really set guides apart are the quality and quantity of their accommodation and restaurant recommendations. These recommendations, along with the author's writing style and the interesting sidebars filled with tidbits (this guide has none) make or break a guide.

Frommer's is dismal when it comes to restaurant recommendations. Dismal. For example, New Hampshire's largest city, and the largest city of northern New England, Manchester, has only two (2) restaurant recommendations. Two! It has one (1) accommodation listing. For New Hampshire's State Capital, Concord, there is one (1) restaurant recommendation and it is vegetarian!

Skip to Maine and if you look for restaurants or accommodations in the city of Bangor you won't find any listed. IN FACT Bangor (Maine's third-largest city) is not even mentioned! HELLO. Who in the heck is editing this guide?

I could go on about the pathetic maps, lack of statistics (population, altitude etc.) but really, save your money and get either Lonely Planet New England 2008 or Fodor's New England 2007 (strongly recommended). This guide is not recommended.

What's worse than a guide that doesn't know his way? A guide that leads you far up the wrong path. Imagine buying a map where the streets and roads led you into all the wrong places.

According to the ad copy: "...avoid tourist traps. Frommer's Portable Guides help you make the right travel choices...Outspoken opinions on top attractions - what's worth your time and what's not...The best hotels and restaurants in every price range, with candid reviews...The expert guidance you need to take charge and travel with confidence."

The haughty tone of this particular edition would make you think the author(s) were steeped in expert knowledge about the history and traditions of the long-standing established hotels and attractions in the region. And this illusion is effective until you arrive at more than one location expecting to find a rural paradise only to discover that it has become a gated community/housing development. So what do the authors actually know other than what they seem to have compiled from the hotel brochure you find at McDonald's? Not a whole heck of a lot.

For several of the hotels reviewed in this "guide", the reviews were obviously at least two years out of date and completely unrepresentative, to the extent that there was an impression that the guide was protecting the interests of the establishment being described, or should I say, advertised. So, am I actually paying for a compendium of advertising?

Any guide can draw a fine line between objective "candid review", favoritism and deceptive promotion. Many aspects of this guide fall into the last category. Someone's not doing their research, which is why a reader may actually pay for a book, or perhaps, someone is getting some money under the table. This guide is inaccurate and deceptive. Check their reviews at their Frommer's site on the Internet. Then check what's actually going on at sites like Tripadvisor or other travel forums. In this aspect, print is dead.

Frommer's guidebook provides an excellent overview of the sights to see, things to do, and places to stay in the three Northern New England states of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. The overviews are very accurate and provide a good description of the places, making the book an excellent way to decide where to go in the areas, and a good guidebook once you arrive.

The biggest problem with the book is that there is not enough individual descriptions of each area. Chances are most tourists are not visiting several regions in all three states, but are choosing one or two to explore in-depth. For example, I went to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park in Maine, an area that was given around 20 pages of coverage. Therefore, more research on the specific areas you plan to visit will probably be necessary to help you get the absolute most out of your trip!

I love you Austin Wright. I read very few books of fiction a year, you are the real thing. But this book is just a disappointment. I couldn't wait to get it and I tore through it immediately. There's nothing to it. An interesting set up and then it completely crumbles and falls apart. I wanted to love this book (as I usually do Austin, I do) but there is little to like here. Write another hurry.

In my naivety, I believed the blurb on the front of this book, "every budget" and "off the beaten path"- but when I received it I learned that this obviously refers to every budget upper middle class or better, and off the beaten path only because only about 5 people can afford to eat in restaurants where the main course is $40. Not only do I feel excluded as a social worker and a budget traveler- but the highlights on things to do were practically absent- the section on Burlington, VT is only 3 pages long, with only 9 or 10 hotel and restaurants combined listed! Hello- I've never been there and I know there's a lot more going on. That's one other thing- I personally dislike having dining/lodging listings combined- I mean, they're certainly not the same thing, and in my world food always deserves it's own listing. So, if you're a well to do bunch who's looking to spend some money and not do much else, this is the book for you. Enjoy!

The book's scattered organization and weak index make it difficult to weed through its often already outdated entries. Some of its listings had been closed for a few years before the book was even published. A guidebook for things to do with kids is needed in NH where you often have to stumble upon things to find out about them, but even in this book you have to stumble upon entries.

I have not read this book in it's entirety, although I have spent the better part of the last three days re-doing the research in this book which was done by Phyllis O. Longver. This data was entered into the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War's National database as it was entered in this book. We have found that the research was incomplete and in some cases incorrect. We are now in the process of correcting this data. While the men listed so far are in the cemeteries that they are listed in, some of their names are incorrect and no grave information is used with the exception of the cemetery name. To complete your research please visit our web-site at www.suvcw.org and click on our national database to search for the veteran information which you need. Here we will provide all unit information for each veteran, as well as some personnal information. If you do buy this book please know that it is not complete.

A so-so reference book. The maps can be inaccurate when it comes to location of ramps and roads. The text is good but the updated version varies little from the orginal. A good book for the price, but there are better ones out there, ie. Clark's fishing guide.

Sixteen-year-old Olivia leaves her Berkley home for rural New Hampshire to give her father, a man she has never known, a chance to make amends. One year later she returns to the home she inherited from her father upon his untimely death to make a symbolic journey on bicycle, following the path her father had annually taken. In this act she proves that she is worthy of inheriting his legacy, and of being his daughter. This realistic fictional account about the relationship between a father and a daughter takes place in the modern day. Apporoved for ages 12+ and appropriate for a study on relationships. Not much action and rather slow-moving.