Idaho Books

"Hate is My Neighbor" has taken its place on the list of books that have changed me. It read like a novel but the thought "This is TRUE!" was always disturbing the ease of my reading. I was pulled out of the comfort of the life I've chosen to feel some of the pain and frustration of victims of hate. Understanding that it was "history" and not "fiction" meant I couldn't shake the knowledge while I was reading it that this book would not end "happily ever after" for everyone involved. But it wouldn't let me sink into feelings of futility as it reinforced the belief that individuals and groups can make a difference in this world that contains too much hate and injustice as long as it contains ANY hate and injustice. An enlightening read for anyone!

"Hate Is My Neighbor" is a harrowing true story about ordinary Idahoans banding together to fight the Aryan Nations, a neo-Nazi sect which had established a toehold in the Couer d'Alene area. Authors Tom Alibrandi and Bill Wassmuth take you to the town meetings and the clandestine ones in graphic, at times stomach-turning detail. While the book is stunning in its revelations about the virulent hatred which can lie beneath the surface of an innocuous-seeming merchant or housewife, it shows that a brave citizenry can and did conquer it. For the present, at least. The book is written in an unusual style which takes you into the protagonists' minds (Bill Wassmuth being one of them), and this contributes to its spellbinding appeal. I could not stop reading, even at 2 am.

An extraordinary, but true account of combating hate and prejudice in Northern Idaho, that reads like a novel. I could not put it down! This is Wassmuth's own story of organizing a community against bigotry, and violence. His courage and commitment made him the target of an Aryan Nations bombing attack on his own home, but that did not stop him. He went on to found the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment, and served as its executive director for 10 years.

Great book for planning hikes, it's truly a must have with the "seet Spots" serie for anybody planning some hiking in Idaho. Information is accurate but you always need to prepare it using other tools (google earth, topo) and other.

Falcon's guides are consistently good references to the areas they cover, and this is no exception. Reading it will inform you about the many excellent wilderness hiking opportunities in this beautiful state. For more specifics on an area, like the Sawtooths, also consider one of Lynn Stone's books, like Hiking Idaho's Sawtooth Country.

The trail descriptions are great. The maps are great. The depth is great.

BUT, there are two things this book is missing that any good hiking book has. Each and every trail description in this book has a 'quick glance' section which lists a quick description, general location, maps, special attractions, difficulty, season and contacts for more information - BUT not trail LENGTH or an estimated time to complete! You have to read the entire description to find the length and probably won't find an estimate of the time required. Sure, this is OK if your friend recommended hike 'X' and you want to look it up. But, it is terrible if you are looking for a hike of, say, 6 miles that you can complete in 3 hours. It's just not readily available - you'd have to read the whole book! Even better, many guides have an index of sorts where you can see this information (and the availablity of backcountry campsites) for all trails at a glance, then go to the specific trail(s) that interest you.

This is what this otherwise great guide is missing. I returned mine and picked up 'Trails of Western Idaho' by Margaret Fuller instead - which does contain this information. Ms. Fuller's book is older (1992 vs. 1995 for this Falcon Guide), but not terribly so. She has some newer revisions for her other quides and I'm hoping this one will be reviced soon as well!

The hikes cover some of the best hiking over a large area.

it encompasses the hikes that every avid hiker must do before or during death.

I have the first edition of this book and it has been an invaluable guide to the incredible hiking in the Northwest. Living in the east and only getting to the west when business or a vacation take me there (for relatively short periods of time) I've always tried to make the most of the time I did have to hike. I have done about 1/3 of the hikes in the book and have yet to be disappointed. I have other, more detailed, hiking books for these areas but I rely on this one for selecting my hikes. I just wish this type of book were available for other areas of the country.

truly enjoyable, informative and easy to read james angleton was my favorite worth reading for any one interested in idaho history.

The author surmises that Idaho has more loners than any other western state, and he celebrates a dozen of them in his book. Whether Idaho has so many hermits because of geography or luck, it is a far richer place because of them!

The book is an entertaining account of some of Idaho's characters. It is one of those books that you hate to see end.

My husband is from the Twin Falls area and we recently spent a week there. I took this book along with us for ideas on ways to pass our time. It was a great resource! Having grown up in the area, my husband was surprised by how many things were included in the book that he wasn't familiar with. We visited lots of sites that either he'd never heard of or had never bothered to visit. We both had a great time exploring southcentral Idaho with this book as our guide. In fact, I'm going to look for an Off the Beaten Path book for the area I currently live in (Alaska) to see what we're missing here at home.

If you're unfamiliar with Idaho, I would opine that its most outstanding characteristic for the tourist is its clean, clear, white-water wilderness rivers: the Salmon (River of No Return), Snake, Selway, and others. There isn't anyplace in the world that can boast of better and more beautiful float streams.

The guidebook divides Idaho into seven regions and briefy describes interesting places to stay, old-time restaurants, museums and art galleries, annual events, and assorted trivia. Sidebars recount stories of places and people, including Ernest Hemingway, the Nez Perce Indians, and the infamous Ruby Ridge. This guidebook is light and small and well-organized and has all the information you need to find your way to interesting spots around the state, especially if you're the sort of person who's allergic to cute boutiques and cookie-cutter hotels and restaurants. This is the guidebook series that my wife and I carry when we travel in the United States -- but if you're visiting Idaho for the wilderness experience you'll need additional information to what is offered here.

Smallchief

This book is a WONDERFUL resource! I was raised in Idaho, and it contains places even I hadn't heard about. The book details many of Idaho's beauties that the locals normally know about, but a visitor might not notice or be aware of. It isn't the most in-depth place to find information about neat places in idaho, but it is a "must read" for people who want to make their visit to Idaho special and unique.

Terry Johnston writes like a man who was there as events unfolded. He leaves no doubt that he was there--not during the events, but at the locations. Weaving contemporary newspaper articles and original letters throughout the text firmly roots this novel in time and space. This, plus occasional historical footnotes quenches a historian's thirst for authenticity. It made me want to go and visit these places for myself, equipped with Johnton's literary visual aids.

Terry Johnston's "Lay the Mountains Low" is a must for the avid fan of western history. Part of the Plainsmen series, we are not gifted with the rugged Irishman Sheamus Donnegan, as he is on duty miles away trying to quell a different Indian uprising (this makes Johnston's writing less fictionalized)instead we fall in love with numerous characters both Native American and European. This is the second part to a trilogy about the Nez Perce War of 1877, focusing on the drama which occurred after the Battle of White Bird Canyon and culminating with the tragic Big Hole Battle. Johnston takes you to the campsite, the fort, the trail ride, the battle ridge, and makes you consider how you would stand up against the elements, enemy and morality. Without a doubt, this is Johnston's best piece of work and is a must read for all fans of the Great American West. Make special note to read the afterword as Johnston provides information on his fact-finding trips thoroughout the West. Johnston provides valuable information and insight to battle sites, cemeteries, forts and historical road-side stops...again, Johnston gives the reader a seat on the fifty yard line to some of our nation's most famous locations.

As always with Terry, a great book, an excellent way to learn about the history of the American West. If you are looking for a typical shootem up western this is not the book for you. This book is not for the faint hearted, there are few heros here, just a people fighting for their freedom and their lives against impossible odds. There is a lot of pain and and heart break here for both the Nez Perce and the whites, but mostly for the Nez Perce. This book really got to me, it was heart breaking reading what happened to the innocents on both sides. My family,s history goes back over 150 years in the west, so Terry,s books have special meaning for me. Read this book and you will never forget it.

This handsome volume opens with a few pages of introduction about the Wasatch Mountains, followed by forty pages discussing the progress of the Painters of the Wasatch Mountains; an account illustrated in colour with examples of the artists' work which often highlight interesting comparisons. The text is informative accessible and well written in a conversational style. The last thirty pages of the book provide brief individual biographies of the artists.

However the real delight of the book is the nearly two hundred and thirty pages comprising the Portfolio of Images, full colour reproductions, one or occasionally two to a page. The large almost square format of the book allows for good size images without the need to turn the page to accommodate those of landscape proportions; and a few pictures are even reproduced life size. The quality of the images is excellent often revealing the texture of the brush work in the original. Most artists are represented by quite a few examples of their work, they provide for a range of painting styles; the majority of the paintings are in oils, with a few watercolours, and date from around the 1850s to as recently as 2005. In total there are about two hundred and seventy five artworks in colour.

This is a sumptuous work, what an art book should be with the emphasis on the beautifully reproduced paintings and the text kept to a minimum.

A stunning book. Anyone who is a fan of the mountain wilderness cannot help but enjoy viewing this book. It takes you back to the time when 'white eyes' first happened upon these mountains. The delicate color, the wide field, and the land itself breathes life. A treasure.

A big coffee-table book, with exactly the kind of panaromic images you expect. You can while away an afternoon gazing at these cooly complacent views of an idealized West.

Okay, so she's one of my best friends BUT EVEN SO, I never knew she could write this well. Her memory is sharp, her observations hard and clear, and her insights are not for the polite or faint of heart. Koskela's early life in the harsh world of Idaho farming country is told with wit and clarity. It may not be gracious but it is REAL and you will find yourself laughing, tsk, tsking and looking back with a new vision on your own childhood. I've known Alice for over 20 years--she's incapable of telling even the most innocent of white lies and so understandably she has written a book of truths. This will by MY Christmas gift this year!

I thoroughly enjoyed this graceful, sweet, honest and sometimes heart wrenching memoir. As the illustrator, I was honored to be a part of it.

A beautiful intimate story of a young girl growing up in rugged Idaho.This is not a story full of sweetness, but of the tough life small farmers and their family encoutered in their fight for survival. I loved it from beginning to end

This beautifully illustrated book explores the physical and ecological roots of Idaho's civilization by following its longest river from Henry's Fork, through desert landscapes, cutting deep through ancient rock formations flowing out through Hell's Canyon (deepest in North America)... (I may have stole part of this from some other review I read.) If I did I apologize!

An excellent book on the Snake River Plain from pre-historical archeological time through to critical water and people issues that confront not only that area but the world as a whole. The format, design and layout were excellent and the written content moves through beautifully. The pictures and insets greatly enhanced the message of the book.

Snake examines this unique region in southern Idaho from the perspectives of geology, history, anthropology and current politics. Snake combines excellent illustrations, graphics and photos with a very informative text. The book is a must buy for both natives and visitors who want to know more about the region.

For anyone who has ties to the Salmon River this is a must. Gives a person a sense of what life was like on the river. If you're going to float the salmon take it along and relive what life was like for all those spirits that now drift with the waves on the salmon river.

Though K. Deinhardt's main focus in writing Spirits of the Salmon River may have been to give respect to those who lived there, her book offered something different to me, someone not as interested in history as the present. It interested me because I know the author, I know Idaho and I have experienced the Salmon River from taking rafting trips on it. Spirits of the Salmon River deepened my feelings for the River, as it recounted story after story of persons who lead adventurous, brave, hardworking and often short lives there. I was drawn to the stories of the women on the river. Reho Wolfe's story was especially impressive with it's combination of tradegy and success and a spirit that would not be defeated. Ms. Deinhardt offers detailed desciptions of not only what has happened to the people living on the River, but also easy to visualize pictures of the weather, the surroundings, the cabins lived in, the work that was done, family dynamics and challenges. I appreciated the simple, straightforward and well-researched writing that allowed me to experience this part of Idaho history in such an enjoyable way.

Deinhardt writes as a person who has personally climbed, reached, dug and slid through water and mud to uncover not only the graves but the lives of those who came before. Her careful research is apparent as she shares some discrepancies found in various other publications. Whether read cover to cover, or about one individual at a time, it's an interesting take on the brave and somewhat eccentric individuals who chose the Salmon River as their home. Enjoyable and relaxing. It would be a terrific book to take along on a river trip on the Salmon or for all who may have visited the river in the past.