Pennsylvania Books

Written by award-winning "Philadelphia Inquirer" restaurant critic Craig LeBan, The Philadelphia Inquirer Restaurant Guide is a compendium of 76 in-depth reviews of the most enticing restaurants in and around Philadelphia, as well as over 600 capsule reviews of additional quality food joints, and special features on coffee shops, food trucks, retail shopping, dining at the Jersey Store, and more. The in-depth reviews include a list of menu highlights, lunch or dinner hours, notes on prices, parking, and whether credit cards are accepted, a brief history, and of course, a succinct summary of the restaurant's ambiance and highlights. The capsule reviews tend to be only one or two sentences plus the restaurant's address, phone number, and website, but a simple four-star rating system (with the stars replaced by liberty bells) immediately highlights the best of the best. A wide variety of ethnic eateries are among the many profiled in this "must-have" for epicureans visiting or living in the Philadelphia area.

Craig LaBan's guide is an essential read not only for those who enjoy exploring the Philadelphia restaurant scene but also for those who appreciate good food writing. As you would expect, the book provides you with all of the utility you want in a restaurant guide, including indices that organize the restaurants by various categories. But LaBan serves up much more. The guide reads like literature. And LaBan is the consummate storyteller, treating you to a level of depth and expertise about the Philadelphia restaurant scene that only he can deliver.

LaBan feeds you detailed, eloquent reviews of his 76 favorite Philadelphia restaurants, all of which have been updated for the new book. LaBan's prose will vividly transport you to his dinner table, his sensory details so crisp and engaging you'll be convinced you shared the meal with him. In the margins of each of these 76 reviews, LaBan fleshes out the scene even further by delivering bullet point highlights about the menu, the wine list, the weekend noise level and even parking options, among other things. In addition to his 76 favorites, you'll also find concise capsule reviews of over 600 more area restaurants.

But, as a guide, what sets this book apart from the others are LaBan's essays. Peppered throughout the book are nine densely informative and richly entertaining essays about features unique to the Philadelphia restaurant scene, including the BYOB phenomenon, truck fare and (of course) cheesesteaks. Digest these and you'll feel like you own the city.

Edward Colimore's The Philadelphia Inquirer's Guide To Historic Philadelphia takes the reader on twelve walking tours through city neighborhoods that have preserve history and culture through the generations. Walkers can visit buildings, streets, gardens, and parks that date back to the colonial period and the Victorian era. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Guide To Historic Philadelphia is arranged in a logical, easy-to-follow format, and includes maps, touring and public transportation information, parking tips, recommendations for nearby restaurants, and more. Enthusiastically recommended for armchair travelers or walking tourists - for anyone who either vicariously or personally wants to follow the footsteps of Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin!

This book is divided into 12 chapters, each proposing a different walking tour of Philadelphia. The tours included are "The Nation's Most Historic Square Mile," "North of Market," "Society Hill," "Penn's Landing," "Southwark: A Stroll Through Time," "Washington Square West," "Around City Hall," "Rittenhouse Square: The Good Life," "University City and West Philadelphia," "The Ben Franklin Parkway," "Philadelphia's Backyard: Fairmount Park," and "Germantown and Chestnut Hill." The book may be of interest to tourists, but it is particularly valuable to Philadelphia residents desiring to learn more about their neighborhood. While the tours will get you to the major tourist sights like Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and Betsy Ross's House, the true value of the reference is that it uncovers some of the city's treasures that may have escaped the resident's notice. I was surprised to learn that General George Meade, commander of the Union troops during the Battle of Gettysburg, had a house in Philadelphia that still stands. I was even more surprised to learn that I had been passing by it on a regular basis for years without realizing what it was. If you are a civil war buff and you want to see Meade's House, this book will lead you there. Check the index, and it will direct to you his field uniform or his gravesite if you like. Philadelphia is rich in history, much of it hidden, and this reference can help you ferret out some of the city's treasures. While it is not totally comprehensive (some of my favorite historical sites are not in any of the tours and a walking tour of Broad Street is noticeably missing), its division into easily manageable tours lends itself to pleasant Sunday afternoon strolls for the motivated. The author even includes some of the prominent restaurants around each of the walks.

If you are looking to read about Philadelphia history, this clearly is not the book for you. Many better and more comprehensive books are available. However, if you are looking to get out and see some of the history of the city for yourself, I recommend this reference without reservations.

Growing up on the outskirts of Phoenixville in the 1970s and 1980s, I had a great time seeing how Phoenixville evolved over the years. Completely enjoyable!

I found this book to be very interesting and informative.
I highly recommend the book to anyone who is interested in history. I'm looking forward to Mr. Martino's "then and now" book on Phoenixville, which is scheduled to be out sometime in September 2005.

-ML

This is a wonderful book and it offers a wonderful first hand account of what it was like to live the life of a pioneer in Pennsylvania's wilds. His accounts of Cornplanter are wonderful. It truly is a great piece of social history; one of those great stories that tends to get lost in the greater picture. Of course, I am probably a little biased because Philip Tome is my great great great great uncle. I highly recommend his book.

Great book on the frontier life in early Pennsylvania. Some of his doings are a little hard to believe, but who am I to say different. There are still area up Pine Creek that bear his name.

It is finally here! This book includes everything you could want to know about the Pirates. It rates the Top 100 players in Pirates history, Top 10 teams, and 10 worst teams. It includes info on all of the Pirates managers, general managers, and owners. It provides a year-by-year season recap. It has info on each of the ballparks the Bucs have called home. If you want one book for reference on Pirates history, this is the one.

By far the best book on the Pittsburgh Pirates that I've seen, complete with season-by-season recaps and stats galore. The highlight: Lifelong baseball fans Finoli and Ranier offer their picks for the 100 best players in the history of the storied franchise. It's sure to start an argument or two among fans of the black-and-gold, but that's what a good book should do. Well-researched and written, this is a must reference guide for any self-respecting Pirates fan. (And you know who you are.)

Growing up around the three rivers I was not aware of how much of Americas history flowed past their banks. This book helped to illuminate such moments. The pictures and the captions bring life to an era where steel was king and the rivers its mistress. You will not be disappointed. Buy it!

Not only do the images in this book portray an important city's life, growth and development along its three rivers, but the captions are replete with fascinating facts (and some surprises) about the region. This book is a must-have for anyone interested in Pittsburgh's history.

This book, only the third written about aviation in Pennsylvania, is a splendid coffe table history. Contained in it are many pages and illustrations concerning the All American Aviation air-mail pick up routes from 1939-1949, numerous news clippings concerning the history of early aviation in Pennsylvania, form C.P. Mayer's commercial airfield in Bridgeville, to Cliff Ball's Bettis Field. There is also a chapter, together with photos, about the founding of the OX-5 Club, now an international organization, at Latrobe, Pennsylvania, in 1956. Featured in the books are Charles Carroll, Raymond Elder, Carl Strickler, Lou Strickler, Russ Brinkley, Lloyd Santmeyer, Elmer Ashbaugh, Clyde Hauger, and other prominent pioneers of aviation.

This is a great coffee table book for all of those interested in the history of flight or the history or Western Pennsylvania. I helped to transcribe a lot of the tapes of interviews for this book and these guys love to tell stories about their early days in the airfields.

Frank McKetta, a former Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) Commissioner,writes of the department he once headed. While much of the book relates past events in which the author does not have direct knowledge or participation, it is fascinating to read an expose researched and written by the person who was at the top of the organization. It is clear Colonel McKeeta deeply cares about the proper roles police should have.
Colonel McKetta is especially critical of local police departments throughout Pennsylvania history. He notes that local politicians determine police budgets, hire Police Chiefs, and decide which laws should be enacted and guide the degree to which existing laws should be enforced. What results are highly politicized police forces that are sharply influenced by local leaders. Unfortunately, criminals have learned to become forces within local politics and then guide police investigations and enforcement away from areas they don't want the police to notice.
Decades ago, it was official state policy that PSP officers could not investigate local crimes. Thus, gamblers and racketeers operated in parts of Pennsylvania with the local police in their pockets and without fearing the PSP. In the 1960s, Reading, Penna. hosted the largest gambling operation east of Las Vegas, according to the author. The PSP had its own problems, as Colonel McKetta claims several people achieved leading PSP positions with sponsorships from politicans with organized crime connections.
The author describes his efforts to clean up the PSP. By informing state legislators of his efforts, they turned deaf ears to politicans who argued for continuing to keep the PSP out of investigations in their political areas. The PSP thus was able to make significant progress in destroying racketeering operations, according to the author. This book provides great descriptions into how these changes were achieved. Students of state and local politics and of Pennsylvania history should find this book exceptionally useful.

After 25 years in law enforcement I know whereof Col. McKetta speaks in his book. The general public is woefully unaware of what goes on in the political sphere regarding police and the exposures by Col. McKetta of past history in this area as well as more recent situations, personal and public media facts, is something to ponder for anywone interested in such matters. I was especially intrigued by his personal story about the gambling and racketeering involvement of the Allegheny County District Attorney and his attempt to use politics to quash State Police efforts in that area. The more recent questions that McKetta brought up about recent Governors in their relation to the police situtation suggests that perehaps the solutions he offers at the end of his book should be recognized as being feasible to correct a serious problem.

As an environmental history, this book rates five stars because the author so skillfully and comprehensively weaves together the many different threads that form the actual experience of environmental protection. At the most basic level, the book is a history of pollution in Philadelphia, a surprisingly good choice since it was an important colonial city, a major manufacturing center during the industrial revolution, and a typical troubled post-industrial metropolis of the 20th century. At the same time the book is a history of environmental management and ecomomics. And it discusses the trajectories of pollution-control technologies and the politics of pollution as well. Able to quote authoritatively from environmental regulations and quantitative risk assessments in one chapter, and from philosophers like Isiah Berlin and Lewis Mumford in others, the author provides readers with as detailed, comprehensive, and engaging a story as one can find in the literature on environmental history.

Dr. Raufer introduces the reader to the multifaceted environmental history of one of America's most unique urban environments. From the early privies to modern waste facilities, Raufer chronicles the city's solutions to problems and the problems that resulted. Following the history is an in-depth and informative section on current environmental regulations and how they came about. I highly recommend this for anybody interested in environmental issues or even Philadelphia history. I actually found the book hard to put down at times.

Pittsburgh.It is a marvelous city that I visited back in 2004 for New Year's Eve. I enjoyed my time watching the city from the hills. I decided to purchase this book just to remember Pittsburgh by. I am glad I did. Wonderful pictures and a brief history of what made this city the great city it is! If you are a Pittsburgh resident or have visited it in the past then I recommend this book. Thanks for the memories Pittsburgh!!

This is a fantastic book with high quality photographs. Anyone who has been to Pittsburgh recently is at least impressed and some like me fall in love with the great city of Pittsburgh. This book explains why. Those who have never been to Pittsburgh are always surprised when I say it is my favorite urban city in the U.S., those who have been to Pittsburgh are never surprised. This is the only book about Pittsburgh of this scale. It covers almost every building and every major business like no other book has attempted to do.

The quality of the photographs is outstanding work by Thomas Bell who has photographed Pittsburgh for many years and is a Pittsburgh native. The size of the photographs is very pleasing too. He certainly succeeds in capturing the beauty, mystique and soul of this marvelous city.

I lived in Pittsburgh for a number of years. This is a city that has inspired me to be a better person, to always aim for what's best, not what's average. This book brings to life the beauty and glory of this American city from people to architecture to businesses and landmarks that make this city unique.