Theme Parks Books

This is a FANTASTIC collection of photographs by a real artist. The East Bay Regional Park District lands (Alameda & Contra Costa Counties in CA) are one of a kind jewels to be enjoyed. Thanks to some visionaries these parks, trails and open spaces have been preserved for humankind.

I picked this book up at the gift shop on Alcatraz Island. This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to learn about how the Federal Prison on Alcatraz operated.

The book contains a very thorough essay by Jay Stuller in which he describes the history of the prison, many of the famous inmates that were housed there, and many famous incidents involving riots, muders, suicides, and escape attempts. You'll learn all about inmates like Al "Scarface" Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, and "The Birdman" Robert Stroud. While the essay is quite informative, this book's real strength is in all the pictures that it contains. Ever page has black and white pictures depicting prison life on Alcatraz. By looking at these pictures you'll get a very good idea about the prison cells, watch towers, officers' living quarters, and the kinds of activities the prisoners engaged in to pass the time.

This is an excellent reference book for information about Alcatraz. It contains just about all the information that you would get if you actually took a tour of the prison (which I've done several times). It's also a fun and interesting book to read.

This was a nicely done book about the history of Great Northern in general in addition to highlighting how important the development of the U.S. was on the railroads. I like old advertising images and this book has a nice selection of the ads that enticed people to venture into desolate areas for the shear beauty of the country. Many of these people decided to call these areas home with the help of the railroads. Santa Fe was largely responsible for the settlement of the Southwest and Great Northern of the Northwest territories when there was just about nothing there. An enjoyable book to read with great illustrations.

If you're curious about northwestern Montana and Glacier National Park, this beautifully photographed and superbly written text provides wondrous insights to this wilderness area.

Just to add on. To see more great scenic shots, see books by David Muench, Galen Rowell, Art Wolfe, among the very best nature photographers/writers out there, not to mention many others.

Wildlife photography? See them. Arthur Morris, Tim Fitzharris

Very helpfull to find great parks & info about them. The photographs are not large but there great & very usefull to pick places to see because you don't see many state parks on some maps. There are many great state parks that you may miss without this book.

Eliot Porter's beautiful photographs of wildflowers, trees, and mountain streams are an interesting juxtaposition to the often caustic prose of Edward Abbey, who writes the main body of the text, and Harry Caudill, who writes the epilogue. This book is Abbey at his best, showing that he can write well about a landscape other than the American southwest. He describes the landscape of the Southern Appalachians in their stark reality: the billboards and phony saloons of industrial tourism, the abandoned stores and churches, the paved roads catering to the rich and sedentary, the forsaken Cherokees. His story is a truthful and compassionate account of the tragedies of the region, as well as a powerful argument that capitalism has failed. This is not the place to start with Abbey--"Desert Solitaire" or "Abbey's Road" would be a better choice--but for those who are already familiar with him, this book will not be a disappointment.

The process Gordon Parks used when he made these photographs was innovative and unique. He painted beautiful watercolors, placed leaves and other objects suspended over them and made awesome photographs of the resulting image. The images are remarkable. His poetry harkens back to the age of civil rights strife and are a disturbing glimpse into that dark era. Somehow the beautiful images and troubled poetry are at odds with one another - but maybe that was his point. He was a great artist.

My family love this book so much that I was looking for a hardcover version! The book is a collection of beautiful photos of baby animals which live in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons NPs. As my children are looking through the book I hear exclamations of "how cute!", "what a great photo!". This is a great souvenir for anyone who visits these parks and great inspiration for anyone who aspires to be a wildlife photographer.

Bruce Davidson's "Central Park" is a compelling look at one of the world's most unique urban places. Unlike "Brooklyn Gang" or "Portraits," Davidson shoots his subjects here with a wide-angle panoramic camera. The result is fascinating as the images meld odd angles, distorted bodies and expansive views, and at no point does it come across as cliched or gimmicky. Instead, the photographs are hopeful, intimate, and revealing. Davidson shows us some of the park's secret places, but mostly he has discovered, through his visual explorations, the secret of what makes Central Park an essential part of New York life.