Tours and Travel Books

A friend turned me onto this book after attending a reading (and a mini-walk) by the author. I thought that I already knew Brooklyn, but -- boy! -- was I surprised! Who knew how much I was missing by not looking upwards (which the author, thankfully, reminds us to do constantly) or the history behind buildings that I constantly dismiss, passing them by without a second look and with hardly a thought? I've already done three of the walks and plan to do more in the fall when it's not so hot. They are easy to follow and make for a more interesting outing than the usual weekend social fare, such as dining, shopping and movies (lots of dining and shopping options are recommended in the book, too, though_ -- bars, as well). Also,the easy-to-read text is further enhanced by great photography that just jumps off the page. I plan to give copies of this book to friends as gifts. (My hard-to-buy-for boss will love this, I think.) For anyone who wants some excercise, fresh air and a leisurely day of looking and learning, this book is a must-have. I hope that the author plans to do other boroughs as well.

I really enjoyed reading this attractive, well written guide and learned a great deal about Brooklyn. I'm looking forward to going for some walking tours and using this as a guide. Highly recommend to tourists and anyone interested in shedding a few pounds while walking through Brooklyn with this handy, informative, fun guide.

I loved the drawings and the maps, and the book was a wonderful companion during my recent stay in Hong Kong.

A simple, elegant, easy-to-use guide for anyone interested in architecture and history. I loved the layout, so easy to follow, and as for the drawings, really pretty. Highly recommended.

I've met the author of this book and I can truely appriciate his views and the way he is able to leave his mark on a book that is basically history. All the books he has written are wonderful. They are among my favorite books.

A Walking Tour of the University of Georgia is a great gift for any alumni or prospective student. UGA is the nation's oldest state charted public University, founded in 1785, and it is a major university today, with 30,000 students enrolled and over 14,000 applying for admission each year. This book offers a concise history of all parts of the 600+ acres of the beautifly landscaped University of Georgia and is easy to carry around if you're touring the campus. It is a lot more limited in scope than Professor Boney's other book on UGA - A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA - which offers a wealth of information, but is not easy to carry as you walk through the campus. -UGA Alumnus

This is a charming walking tour/guidebook that really enhanced my recent trip to Singapore. The layout of the book is easily accessible and the line drawings throughout are a beautiful touch. The walks themselves are well thought out and obviously meticulously researched and planned by the author himself. I especially liked the Did You Know? sections dotted throughout which contain little tidbits of unusual facts and information not often found in other guidebooks. This is definitely a must for any visitor who wants to see more than just the tourist side of the city. I highly recommend it. Also worth checking out are the other guidebooks in this series that do walking tours of Bangkok and Hong Kong.

What a nice idea! Easy-to-follow walks through the different parts of the city, plenty of advice on what to see and do, as well as a wealth of architectureal and historical information, and all accompanied by delightfully hand drawn sketches by the author. A lovely, useful guide, and very pretty too. Highly recommended!

I took the author's course on land making at Harvard Extension School and have read her book on the sane subject. This easily portable book is full of salient facts and diagrams which neatly summarize the history of the area in which the walk takes place and does so in a very easily understood way. For anyone interested in this suject or someone who enjoys walking and learning the history of the area in which they are walking I would highly recommend this guide. The book is well organized and is a bargain at the price

Boston is a city with an extremely rich history; Baedeker's 1909 United States Guide called it "the city with the greatest amount of historical interest in North America." Almost one hundred years later, Nancy Seasholes has performed the city a tremendous service with her illuminating, entertaining, and informative guide to Boston's made land.

Unique among American cities, Boston is a city with so much "made land" (i.e. landfill or artificial land) that a guide to made land essentially constitutes a guide to the city itself. Readers of Seasholes' book will find the history and buildings of familiar districts like the waterfront, Faneuil Hall, Beacon Hill, and Back Bay described as they have never been before- as constructed pieces of the Boston cityscape- as well as equally interesting (and beautiful) areas like Charlestown, the Leather District, and Bay Village that are a bit further from the tourist trail. The section on the South End, in particular, is rich in detail and provides an entirely new perspective on this urbane and diverse area of the city.

Not since the AIA Guide to Boston, published in the 1980s, has the cityscape and urban design of Boston received such an informative and entertaining treatment. Those interested in the built history of Boston, and in the city's ever-changing relationship with its waterfront and rivers, will find no better guide than Seasholes' book. Best of all are the puzzled looks you will get from passers-by as you examine a seemingly innocuous rowhouse or section of wall that once absorbed the waves of Boston Harbor or the Charles River a hundred or more years ago.

The first, detailed, comprehensive, and thoroughly "user friendly" guidebook to some 200 of region's waterfalls, Gary Letcher's Waterfalls Of The Mid-Atlantic States provides directions to each beautiful site enabling the reader to use it as a guide book to experiencing these natural, beautiful wonders in person. Some of these sites are in or near major cities, others are tucked away in remote wilderness areas. The flowing falls are, for the most part, on national, state, and municipal parkland, forests, and game lands in Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Each waterfall is rated on a scale of 1 to 5. The location information includes GPS coordinates; trail access and difficulty; waterfall type and source; geological factors; historical and culture features; and even the best times of the year to visit them. Enhanced with tips on waterfall photography and the author's "Seven Ways to Find the Height of a Waterfall", Waterfalls Of The Mid-Atlantic States is confidently recommended reading for tri-state area backpackers, hikers, canoeists, and anyone else with an appreciation for the natural beauty and spectacular wonder of falling water.

THis book is a must have for any outdoor enthusiasts, bikers who enjoy daytrips, photographers, families, and everyone in between!

This book not only SHOWS you these wonderful Natural Wonders, but also gives you the ability to travel to them and see them for yourself, the directions are fabulous!

Mr. Letcher goes a step further by providing history to the falls that will allow you to understand the nature of the falls as well as tell your children or friends each fall you visit.

THIS BOOK IS A MUST HAVE, YOU WONT BE DISAPPOINTED! i have already purchased several for gifts. THIS IS A GREAT GIFT BOOK~!

If you have any interest in the Civil War at all you must have this book! I have read some of Mr. Moore's other work and this is top notch. The book is also a valuable resource for modern day Wilmington as far as locating important sites in the city today.

Detailed new analysis on the fall of Fort Fisher accompanies a fascinating comparison between the famous bastion and the defenses of Sebastopol during the Crimean War. Well written, well illustrated, and supplemented by more than fifty amazing maps. Highly recommended!

In the library of Civil War literature the Battle of Stones River, December 31, 1862 to January 2, 1863, is one of the most under represented large scale battles of the war. One can easily count the number of volumes dedicated solely to the battle on the fingers of one hand.

Having moved to Murfreesboro nearly five years ago I am a regular visitor to Stones River National Battlefield, but I have never been able to make much sense of the battle by my battlefield visits, even when using the park brochure's guided tour. I suppose my confusion about the battle stems from the fact that the park's current 600 acres represents only about 15% of the total area where fighting took place.

Matt & Lee Spruill have come to my rescue with their book, Winter Lightning: A Guide to the Battle of Stones River. With twenty-one tour stops (as opposed to the National Park's six) the Spruill's lead you on a driving tour over the ground, both outside and inside of the park, where the three day battle between the Confederate Army of the Tennessee with General Braxton Bragg at its head, and the Federal Army of the Cumberland under General William S. Rosecrans.

The evening of December 30, 1862 found both armies facing each other northwest of Murfreesboro, Tennessee in opposing lines of battle, stretching diagonally from the town's west to its north, and each preparing to attack the other's right. Which ever side to launch their attack first would have the advantage. At sunrise, Bragg and his Confederate Army was the first to strike.

The Spruill's follow the battle chronologically as it progressed, following the action as the Confederate troops rolled up the Federal right and sending Union regiments, one after another, fleeing to the rear, to the Federal's stand at The Round Forrest, and finally to the fighting at McFadden's Ford on January 2nd. At each stop we are provided narration by the authors, giving the reader an overview of what happened, and then we are presented with a balanced view of the action from both sides with first hand accounts from the soldiers who were there, usually from official reports, but some times from diaries or letters.

The book contains 41 maps, which vary widely in scale from theater maps down to maps on the regimental level, depending on the situation or topic being covered. One only reading the book may find the maps a little cumbersome as north is not always oriented to the top of the page. This book was intended to be a tour guide, and the maps are presented to the reader at each of the stops as the reader would see the landscape that is in front of him. Therefore if you are directed to look to the southeast, southeast would be oriented to the top of the page. Not only do the historic roads appear in the maps but also the roads of the present and are clearly marked, for example: "Medical Center Pkwy (today)."

Not only have Matt & Lee Spruill added a book to the small library shelf dedicated to the battle, they have also given me a greater understanding of it. I can now point to a spot of land just south of the present day Medical Center Parkway and say with confidence that is where my great great grandfather, Walter E. Partridge (Company F, 36th Illinois Infantry) was during the battle.

At the end of 1862 after a series of defeats, the Union won a clear victory here. This is one of those under reported battles and more important than we think. Lincoln thanked Rosecrans saying that the nation could not have taken another defeat. Additionally, Lincoln said he would remember this victory as long as he lived.

The Spruills continue the tradition of excellent Civil War battlefield guides that are so valuable to walkers. These detailed guides contain directions, participant's accounts and good historical information telling us what we are looking at after telling us how to get there. Each one is a required addition to my library and packed for any trip to the field.

This is truly the "don't leave home without it" item.

Most people who have viewed the many natural wonders in the United States place Yosemite somewhere near the top in terms of remarkable beauty, grandeur and spirituality. If you have not yet been there, I certainly hope you will plan to do so. You probably already know the area from having seen many of the remarkable landscape shots done by Ansel Adams.

Many people who have been to Yosemite feel that they know it well from having seen it from the bottom of Yosemite Valley and having viewed Mr. Adams's remarkable photography.

I have had the pleasure of visiting Yosemite many times from when I was just a youngster growing up in California. Each time I go, I plan to see another part of the park. Interestingly, I find myself drawn more to the areas outside of the bottom of Yosemite Valley than to those areas where most visitors congregate. For example, when I took my wife there for her first visit, we went first to the Mariposa Grove to see the giant sequoias. I was hooked on this book when it started out the same way, after an introductory section that focuses on the geological, historical and political background of Yosemite. When I discovered that the book pays a lot of attention to the high country where most visitors never go (even though you can drive through Tioga Pass), I decided that it was important to encourage people to read this book. It will open your eyes, mind and heart to the full scope of Yosemite.

By being in color, those images provide a totally different perspective on Yosemite. These views will help those who have been to Yosemite recapture the feelings that they had while there. For potential visitors, the book is an excellent resource for planning a worthwhile trip. I was especially pleased to see that the wildlife were well captured in the images.

No book that I have read and enjoyed captures Yosemite so well for me as this one. I hope you will decide to read it.

After you have finished the book, I urge you to find ways that you can commune with nature more frequently in places that inspire the positive parts of who you are.

"Yosemite - the Grace & Grandeur" is a must-have for anyone who plans to visit this beautiful park or who wants to re-live the memories of having visited it. While it's chock-full of beautiful photos (it's also called "A Pictorial Discovery Guide"), it also contains wonderfully written text about everything from the Park's history to its wildlife. We just got back from a visit to the park a couple of weeks ago, and immediately knew this one was a keeper!

Travel is a good relaxing hobby. I would like to go to every beautiful scene in the world. Now, I would like to search a book to show me that famous places should be go in the world.