Travel Books

The book is fantastic! I traveled to Cuba as a student for six weeks in 2003, and I am always looking for photos and literature that capture today's Cuba in the truest light. This is one of those...
(FYI: It is only very recently that almost all travel for US citizens to Cuba has been restricted, and many people still manage to go illegally. Like I said, I went in 2003 as a student with permission from the US government...and now I search constantly for a way to go back, but so far I have not had any luck.)

Hey, how is it that all the reviewers are from the United States, where it's citizens are not allowed in Cuba? Just curious from someone in Canada who's been there.

I bought this book for a Cuban friend of my, who is very knowledgeable about his country. He loves Cuba but is realistic about it as well. He was so thrilled with the amazing pictures in this book, he still thanks me. An as a photographer, I agree that the life and passion of Cuba is conveyed beautifully. As for a previous review: Just because people currently live in the US doesn't mean they haven't lived and traveled elsewhere.

As a traveler who has been mesmerized by Cuba through literature and film, I am filled with images of the country's idiosyncratic, seemingly incompatible mix of a totalitarian regime and a life-loving people. Editor Terry McCoy has done a superb job of capturing the precarious balancing act pervasive in contemporary Cuban life with this coffee table tome of photographs and essays. She thoughtfully organizes an intensely complex subject into themes relating to the country's art, music, ethnic makeup and local customs. Contributors range from novelist Russell Banks and playwright Arthur Miller to Cuban poets like Nancy Morejón and Reina María Rodríguez.

Some essays are memory pieces, while others are more objective observations. Yet, all add up to a vividly rendered tapestry complemented by the stunning photographs. Among my favorite sections are Pablo Medina's "A Brief History of Exile", in which he discovers his Cuban identity, and Carrie Mae Weems' combination of poetry & photos, "Ritual and Revolution". This book has a particular resonance given the ongoing effects of the U.S. trade embargo on the Cuban economy. For over forty years, Cuba has had to make do with native ingenuity, a powerful sense of life affirmation and a quiet but palpable sense of desperation. All these elements are captured with acuity in this evocative book, probably the next best thing to being able to visit. I recommend reading Richard Gott's "Cuba: A New History" as a complementary piece to give you a fuller portrayal of this endlessly fascinating country.

If you look at something from enough different angles, you begin to sense what it is truly like. That is the overarching strategy of this wondrous book. Multi-faceted Cuba is seen through the eyes of greatly gifted writers and photographers, each with his or her own unique relationship with and idiosyncratic take on the island. The strategy succeeds brilliantly. Paradoxes and trade-offs are subtly explored, for example, between the blessings of free education and health care versus constraints on the ability to pursue dreams. You get not only to understand but also to feel the sensuous physical beauty of the place and the strains of Cuba's love/hate relationship with the U.S.. After spending time with this book, I feel as if I had actually been there and am left with a longing to go.

An excellent behind the scenes look at Cuba today. No better example of a failed yet still forced socialist state. This is not some itellectual dissection of the situation but a "person on the street" documentary. Must read for those who take democracy and free enterprise for granted and for those who even think Cuba is better now than in pre-revolution time.
As a Cuban born US citizen I applaude this book.

JAN. 12, 2001

I FOUND THIS BOOK VERY EASY TO READ. IT WAS AS IF I WAS READING PART OF MY STORY, MY LIFE. IT ANSWERED MANY QUESTIONS I HAVE HAD. IT ALSO ANSWERED THE WHY OF MANY FEELINGS I HAVE. THE LAST TIME I WAS IN CUBA WAS 1953, MUCH LONGER THAN HIM. I WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO GO BACK AS HE DID. MY HUSBAND AND I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IF THIS YEAR WE CAN GO BACK. WE JUST ARE NOT SURE OF HOW SAFE IT WOULD BE. WE WOULD LIKE TO GO TO SANCTI SPIRITUS, LAS VILLA, VERY FAR FROM HAVANA. I FOUND IT TO BE GREAT READING. IT WAS TOLD IN A VERY CLEAR WAY. IT EXPLAINED MANY THINGS I DID NOT UNDERSTAND. THIS BOOK CAN BE READ BY CUBAN'S AND THOSE WHO ARE NOT CUBAN'S IT IS VERY INTERESTING FOR ALL. ALSO ONE CAN APPRECIATE ALL WE HAVE.

STILL WOULD OF LIKED MORE. I WOULD OF LIKED MORE PICTURES OF THINGS HE WROTE ABOUT. HIS SUMMER HOME, WOULD OF LIKED TO SEE OTHER PICTURES OF THE HOUSE. WOULD OF BEEN GREAT, FOR HIM TO HAVE BEEN ABLE TO MAKE HIS TRIP TO THE OTHER PROVINCES HAS HE HAD WANTED TO DO.

I ALSO WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE IN SPANISH.

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK MR. MENDOZA FOR THIS BOOK. WISH HIM THE BEST, WILL BE LOOKING FOR OTHER WORK HE HAS DONE.

This book is amazing! Tony came and spoke to a class I was in at Ohio State University before this book was published. His story of returning to Cuba is unforgetable. The photographs in this book really capture the feelings Mr. Mendoza had I felt. The ability he has to capture the feelings of the Cubans and his own feelings in this book were wonderful. I highly recogmend it.

Like Tony I am a cuban american who left Cuba in the early 60s for political freedom to study in the States. I came from a successful middle class family and a history of political successes and upheaval. I have always wanted to go back to re-live my youth in Havana, Tarara y Santa Maria del Mar (like Tony in Varadero) where I spent the happiest time of my youth. I have known of the misery of our people because I kept in touch, however Tony has been able to portray that misery in his wonderful black and white pictures. His writtings and dialogues are very easy to read but with a real message for everyone to understand. This is a great book for those who will like an honest and unbias portray of the cuban situation today. Tony has let these people speak out their feelings (pro and against) for the world to judge. I envy Tony for having the opportunity to return. His book has made me very sad because we are limited in our ability to help them. I cried for the younger generation unable to better themselves. Only the beauty of our land and sea remains untouched. Someday our people will be free again to make their choices and Cuba will be a wonderful place to visit. I promised myself to be in the first plane to help rebuild it.

I,too,like Mr. Mendoza, was forced to leave Havana, Cuba, as a child because of my familys' political beliefs towards Castro. I was a child of 9 in 1967, when my parents and I uprooted ourselves from our beloved land because we had been politically betrayed by someone that a whole generation felt was to be their "savior" from the dictatorial regime of Batista. In the last few years I have started to rediscover my roots. I found this book extremely educating as to what to expect to see there, if you plan to "go home for a visit". It has convinced me that I must go home again even though it won't be the same as I remember as a child. This an easy to read book, with compelling sepia tinted pictures of scenes and people Mr. Mendoza came across throuhgout his travels. I highly recommend this book.

This book really is the definitive source of all things Disney by the keeper of its archives. It is fascinating and complete, containing information about theme parks, characters, movies, television shows, music, and more. It is the must-have reference for Disney fans like myself.

This is a must have for Disney fans. Everything from ABC's LOST to the Alice Comedies and from Steamboat Willy to Meet the Robinsons is covered here. Some articles are more detailed than others but everything is covered. Makes an interesting read just on its own. Film historians and students will find a wealth of connective material here to jump start them on research and fill in the dots on hard to find questions. A beautiful display of pictures is included with this volume. If you can't actually visit the archives (and I certainly would like to) then this is the next best thing.

"Disney A to Z" is an awesome book that a true Disney fan cannot live without. It is a great book that will help you find out about old Disney movies, that you might have not seen. "Disney A to Z" encyclopedia is also an essential source for those that love to play the "Disney Seen it" board game. It gives a short description of ALL Disney movies including the short ones that came out after the World War II. I LOVE IT!!!

This is a great gift for any Disney fan. Many listing bring back great memories and coll trivia.

This book is a great resource for all Disney fans. All the characters, all the movies (unfortunately, the Mephisto movie made in collaboration with Salvador Dali is not in the book) and all the attractions, parks, properties and influentials employees are mentioned. Maybe just not as exhaustive as I would like it; it is, however, a great resource.

The quotes are great and some of the stories hysterical. It does remind me somewhat of The Accidental Tourist with regard to the advice for life, not just for travel.

I am afraid to fly. I am afraid to travel outside my southern Illinois home town. This book helped me to understand the ups and downs of travel. The toll free phone numbers and web pages were a great help in planning the trip of a lifetime...to Hawaii. Thanks to Doctor Travel for his advice and counsel.

As a frequent traveler I thought I discovered all of the answers. Dr. Travel shows me that I was wrong. He has uncovered lots of solutions to problems that I thought were unsolveable. For anyone that is planning a trip...take the Doctor with you.

I travel over 200 days a year. I thought I knew it all until I read Doctor Travel's book. I love it. Filled with useful tips, humorous stories, and wonderful illustrations, I read the entire book on one flight. I could not put it down. If you are planning any trips, take the doctor with you.

James Feldman has been there, done that. In fact, he's highly experienced in being there...getting there. A veteran traveler and travel planner, he's learned the secrets that can turn a potential nightmare into an enjoyable journey. Readers will learn more travel tips than they could imagine even existed. Even the most seasoned traveler (I log between 100,000 and 200,000 miles each year) will benefit from what's in these pages.

Unlike some other books in this field, this one is funny, easy to read, and a real trip in itself. The design makes reading this volume a real pleasure. Take it on your next flight and watch your seatmate look over your shoulder.

Note: This book was written before 9/11/01, so travel has taken on a whole new dimension since its publication. Don't let that concern you. There is still an incredible amount of valuable information, advice, and insight in these pages.

Highly recommended.

Malcolm Henderson, a well-known resident of Bocas, has written a book that fully captures the lifestyle of the expat resident. With wit, irony and lots of heart, Don't Kill the Cow Too Quick (great title!) is a must-read for anyone considering an escape to paradise showing all the ups and downs of living in a new culture and trying to adapt to same.

Can't wait for the sequel!

Cindy Cody, author Hubba Hubba

Look at a map of Central America then zoom in on Panama. Just south of the border of Costa Rica on the Caribbean shore is the archipeligo of Bocas del Toro. As the author says, Bocas del Toro is like Key West was in the 1920's just getting noticed by tourist, retirees and developers. This is a small city on a tropical island with the surronding islands, coral reefs, beaches, small farms, tropical forests and mangroves, the area that Malcom Henderson and his wife settled to live the years of their life after age 60. This book is his story of finding the area, settling there and working to fit in by building a home in town and starting a ranch (finca) on the mainland.

Henderson has an unusual writing style, very personal, like writing a diary. Some of the chapters have abrupt endings that seem a bit odd in the way that perhaps your grandfather would have told a story that takes a while to register than you get the meaning of it. His writing flows better through the book and makes it hard to put down by the end. Henderson also has a well developed sense of humor and perhaps this follows from some of the laughable situations that he gets into that still maintain the admiration of his friends. I felt a sense of loss when I finished the book, wanting to continue to hear his stories about Panama and the people of the Bocas del Toro region.

I purchased this book mainly to learn more of this region from the expatriat's viewpoint but I picked up much more than that. Anyone moving to a foreign country should anticipate the potential conflict of gringo and latino, foreigner and national, impoverished and wealthy, and greedy and charitable. Henderson covers all of this and it is a tribute to this book that he tells it with insight, humor and is able to evoke some of the essence of the region for us.

I am looking forward to reading a book with the Panamanian's view of the changes in the Bocas del Toro region next.

Malcom gives the reader a real first hand view of Bocas. He is funny and hauman. Makes you want to move there.

This has been the first book that I have read cover to cover, except for techincal manuels. I enjoyed all of Malcolm's adventures. Having been in Bocas, I can relate to some of them.

I have just finished reading, for the second time, Malcolm Henderson's enchanting tour of a marvelous part of the world and his introduction to some wonderful people. Mr. Henderson has what other writers wish they had, the innate gift of being able to tell a story. In this delightful book Mr. Henderson displays the qualities of a Mark Twain, or Ambrose Bierce in that regard. This book would make an excellent addition to University classes in creative writing and psychology courses on social psychology. Mr. Henderson succeeds in taking us to Bocas Del Toro, sharing his relationships with interesting people, and engages us in the desire to live with and assist however we can, both the indigenous tribal natives and other Panamanians. He is candid in the things he probably should not have done, as well as in those things he did well. You will become engrossed in this book as it is truly a relaxing, entertaining, and informative work. Human behavior is remarkably different in different cultures and Mr. Henderson introduces us to a truly admirable culture in Panama, in a truly admirable manner. Sit back, read, enjoy. I look forward to other offerings by this author.

I highly recommend this book and all the "Dragon and the George" sequels. It was a wonderful series, written by an amazing SciFi/Fantasy author!

a great book and the second in this amazing series.

a must for Fantasy readers everywhere.

This book is very exciting and does a good job how life was probably like in the middle ages, but it also has alot of suspence and action, and alot of times when you can't help to wonder how Jim(aka the Dragon Knight) can get out of his situation. It also has the interesing twist of comedy that makes you laugh every once and a while. This was a very good book but, I still like The Dragon and the George, better then this one, but they are both pretty simular. Never the less, this is a great book and I recomend it

This incredible book takes the best characteristics of a fantasy book and mixes them with a very particular way of seing every-day life during the Middle Ages. The author narrates the story with the fine humour that we see in all his work, capturing the reader with the crazy situations in which Jim and Brian are involved and trying to show us how beautiful and horrible can a life surrounded by magic and by unusual things can be. An excellent book full of magic, fantasy and optimism that any reader will enjoy a great deal!!!

This is another good book in the dragon series. If you liked the first you will surely like this one. The one disappointment I had with this book was that it leads you to believe there is much magic involved with the plot. However, in the final grudge there is really no magic but more strategy and war than any magic battle. The final ending does bring you back up to speed with an unsusspected surprise. Once again the mid-evil thriiler will grab you in the end and bring you back to the next book in the series.

This book was a nice combination of serious and fun. My favorite line was "'Plan your lunch snacks accordingly,' she concluded, giving the cinnamon roll ladies a sharp look."

Imagine my surprise, too, when Maddie and her friends joined the Iron Mountain Mine Tour. My grandmother was born in Iron Mountain in 1891. It's a small world and this book captures many of life's common joys and challenges.

The Dream Catcher Tour is a novel following a group of forty-seven women on an economical, no-frills tour bus excursion around the Great Lakes. As they take in the sights and sounds, they also trade favorite memories with one another. A leisurely delight brimming with female camaraderie, The Dream Catcher Tour glides gently along as it presents moments of interrelated insight, and makes for gentle, fun-loving leisure reading, bit by bit or cover to cover. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Lori Plach for Reader Views (11/07)

Buckle your seatbelts; you are in for an adventure you won't soon forget! Welcome aboard the Northern Experience Tours! You will be traveling with 46 other women on a trip around the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. You are certain to meet some of the most interesting people you have ever met and perhaps you will make some new friends along the way. Emily is our tour guide and she wants to spend some time with each individual tour group member and be certain that they have a good time.

Of course, when you have this many different people from so many different walks of life, you are sure of having many life stories. As the group travels from one location to another, another person is spending time with Emily and sharing their life stories. From one city to another, you are able to enjoy the sites and unique characteristics of each locale. Some of the tourists' attractions are as follows: Mackinac Island, the Soo Locks bordering Canada, Munising, Houghton and Crystal Falls.

Paula Buermele has done an excellent job in providing a great storyline and travel book all in one. Through the pages of the book, you will feel like you are right there on the bus and getting to know these people that you are traveling with. Through descriptive paragraphs you will feel like you are seeing these places with your own eyes. I certainly hope that Paula Buermele writes more books. I loved "The Dream Catcher Tour" and would definitely like to read more of her work.

Paula Buermele's The Dream Catcher Tours provides her readers with a peek into the lives of forty-seven women who together embark on a bus tour of the Great Lakes with Northern Experience Tours.

What ensues is a potent collection of stories reflecting Buermele's affirmation that she is an attentive student in the classroom of life. Buermele moves effortlessly from one voice to another as her characters relate a variety of tidbits about their lives, some painful while others humorous. However, as one of the women remarks, "during the early days of the trip her companions had all seemed much the same, but with each passing day she had come to see the uniqueness of each woman."

These accounts also reaffirm an old adage, that no matter where people find themselves, they can't help reminiscing and revealing some of their family and psychological baggage that echo the past and at times consume the present. The stories range freely, some sounding familiar while others stirring up sad emotions, as is the case with Leslie who is traveling with her late husband's Aunt Helen. Leslie recounts how she lost her college sweetheart and young husband Steve who had suffered a brain aneurysm shortly after they were married. We also learn that she had lost her parents at a very young age and it was her adopted Aunt Helen who took her under her wing and has been her mentor

Then there is the familiar tale of Marianne, a wife and mother, who subjugated her own choices for those of her family and as she states, perhaps this trip will bring out the hidden Marianne. And Donna, the future mother-in-law, who is not exactly overjoyed with her son's choice of a wife. Barb, a divorcee, who after thirty-two years of marriage believed that the trip would mean a step into the world of self-determination and an escape from a controlling ex-husband who had left her for a trophy wife. Ruthie, who had visited her father in the hospital on her eighth birthday, recounts how she was pleasantly surprised when the Catholic nuns wheeled him in into the waiting room to wish her a happy birthday and thus shattering her stereotype of the "mean" nuns.

Buermele can clearly write and her storytelling is extremely perceptive, demanding quick concentration into the lives of her characters. However, at times in truth I did feel cheated, as some of the stories were underdeveloped and I would have liked to be better acquainted with the raconteurs. In the end though, these stories leave us with something to ponder; the uncertainty of life, the meaning of home and family, and what makes us all tick, for in all of us there is a story to be told.

Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor Bookpleasures

I really enjoyed reading The Dream Catcher Tour. While it is a work of fiction, I appreciate the fact that the characters are based on real stories and accounts. The author does a fantastic job of telling this story in a way that makes the reader identify with the women and their personal journeys. The conversations are so real and honest.

I went on many trips to the U.P. when I was young and while some of the sites are familiar to me, there are many I haven't seen. This book has inspired me to one day go back and visit the places mentioned. I would love to visit Pictured Rocks and photograph as Leslie does in the 'Peace' chapter.

It is amazing to see the scope of the body of work he produced during this time period, LIFE was pissed at him Magnum fed up! All the world didn't understand his need to see! This book shows the work in full! wonderful buy.

I purchased Dream Street after reading about the Pittsburgh Project and what it ment to Eugene Smith. I think it's an important book for anyone interested in Photography, Photojournalism or Eugene Smith. The size and quality of the prints is quite allright for the price paid. And the photos are the best part. Great book!

This book was bought for Christmas for my husband who just loves photography. He has had this on his must have list for some time so he was delighted with it.

This book does a great job in documenting not only W. Eugene Smith's four years of extensive research and photographing Pittsburgh, PA but it also reveals a torment man's struggle in trying to capture something that we will never understand since his 6000 photographs of Pittsburgh set a standard for not only documenting a city but he also raise the bar in the artistic expression of black & white photography. The prints of Smith's work in this book are very good and edited quite nicely, included are some of the photograper's letters to his friend and relatives revealing the thoughts of a troubled genius in words that show he could have been a great writer, too.

I'm a Pittsburgh native, though I was born after the pictures were made. Still, I found Dream Street to be an interesting perspective on my hometown. Smith's special gift is looking beyond the typical "beauty shots"- the Pittsburgh skyline, the parks, etc., and capturing images that create a strong feeling of the local neighborhoods and their residents. While the topology of Pittsburgh creates strong local neighborhoods, it's the mix of residents that really gives it character. Local restaurants, the alleys and streets of some of the less glamourous sections of the city, and the sense of history and grandeur of Mellon Bank downtown. This book is a great opportunity to step into the past and feel the grit of a true industrial city. Smith's personal genius - and his demons- heavily influnce the project. We're fortunate to be able to benefit from his views after the fact. Special credit has to go to the editors for wading through the 17,000 images Smith shot to get down to the highlights for this book.

Having read McCaig's other books, I found this one fascinating, but I agree that you might have to be a border collie enthusiast to really enjoy it. The trip through Scotland and finding Gael held my rapt attention. I agree with the Publisher's Weekly review, that McCaig should have stayed on the theme of his new dog and her subsequent life. He left me hanging on that one and I'm hoping there will be a sequel. Despite that, I loved the book anyway.

The only problem with his books are that they seem to read far too quickly. I find myself putting them down just to make them last. He knows how to pull you into a good story. "Nop's Trials" is a particularly great story. Unfortunately for me I stayed up all night with this one in hand until the very last page. Tired but glad to have read this one.

"Eminent Dogs, Dangerous Men" reads great but I'll lose no sleep from this one. A wonderful and captivating read. A real insiders perspective on working dogs and the sheepmen who work with them.

This is a fascinating read for dog lovers.

I have occasionally had friends decide they wanted a Border Collie - friends I knew should not get a Border Collie. I give them this book and it does a great job of changing their minds. And it entertains them at the same time.

I liked this book so much and it stuck with me so when I first read it - the many comments of his "wee bitch" and naming her Gael that my Gael was named from this book. Border collie enthusiasts who see just names on the papers of their dogs may well see some of those names in here. Wonderful people and dogs in real life and an enjoyable read of working dogs, both trials and every day dogs, in Scotland. Loved the book...as someone else mentioned if you're not a fan of border collies you might not find it quite as engaging. Recommended reading for border collie owners!!

A Border Collie owner, I could hardly wait to read this book, and the author's other books, Nop's Trials and Nop's Hope. A one-time visitor to Scotland who can't wait to go back, I eagerly looked forward to this book. And, I was not in the least bit disappointed on either count! The author's style is easy-going and readable, with a subtle humor throughout. His images are brilliant and I just felt like I was present for each scene that he wrote and a part of the action. Someone who has no interest in the working Border Collie might find the book dull. So also might someone who is not particularly interested in the very different lifestyle of the shepherd of Scotland. But for us who love the working Border Collie and find the life of the Scottish shepherd and his/her dog intriguing, this is an absolutely must-read book, over and over again!

Fascinating!!

I only wish more photos, diagrams and website links and/or information (on those specific archeological discoveries and digs) would have been provided, so that we could have researched it a bit more, and tracked any furhter progress.

The listings of the incredible array of artifacts found in these archeoligical digs would have also benefited by some drawings and photos.

That being said, this is a wonderful book that brings the action to life -- I can almost see the ship rise and fall with the waves. The natives (skraalings) and the landscape of the new world is rendered in vivid word pictures. The descriptions of the Viking farms in Greenland and the hazardous trips sometimes needed to be made to reach those farms, gives me a sense of the tremendous resiliency and resourcefulness of those heroic people way back then.

Exceptional -- but would definitely benefit from photos, diagrams, links, -- even a rendering of what Gudrid may have looked like.

This is an extraordinary acheivement. The author follows the character of Gudrid throughout her journeys through in Viking world of the late 900s and early 1000s and, along the way, paints a vivid picture of life at that time. The writing is engaging and apparently effortless, but the research that supports it is massive, as described in 35 pages of footnotes and references at the end of the book. The author's passion is clear throughout, and further evidenced by her having worked as a volunteer archaeologist one summer in Iceland to excavate Gudrid's home. This is essential reading for anyone interested in the Vikings.

This book enlightens a period of history not well known to date. It is very interesting reading, especially for anyone with Scandinavian roots. The research the lies behing this work is remarkable. I highly recommend this book.

Brown gives us a lot of interesting information about Gudrun's life and times in "The Far Traveller." But what is even more interesting is her description of being on archaeological digs in Iceland, describing what archaeologists have to do to torture more information out of the physical remains of the past. Brown's focus on what archaeology has contributed to our knowledge of the Vikings, as well as archaeology's limitations, make this a more fascinating read than the account of what we think we know about Gudrun could have done.

I am just a general reader who happens to enjoy well-written history. I've never read much at all about the Vikings but the NY Times review of THE FAR TRAVELER was enticing and I was not let down by its promise. Nancy Marie Brown has reached back to a place and people obscured by time, doing a decent job of erasing some of the fog and cold desolation that obscure the Dark Ages and Medieval Epoch in Iceland and Greenland. She also succeeds in revealing a lot about contemporary archaeological practice and thought.

Brown turns first to the Sagas, the 10th and 11th century tales of Vikings, for inspiration. Though embroidered, the Sagas, written down some generations later, are regarded as holding historical memories. Brown focuses on one woman who appears in both the Eirik the Red and Greenland Sagas as her guide, Gudrid, who traveled from Iceland to Greenland to Vinland, back to Iceland and remarkably, in later age, on a pilgrimage to Rome. Her son Snorri was very likely the first European child born on North American soil, circa 1005. Her personal story reveals much about religion, economics, gender relations, values, world view and other aspects of her culture. Born late in the 10th century AD, she witnessed the spread of Christianity and the fading of the violent marauding male economy as the domestic textile industry spun by women on the farm began to reposition Iceland in the world trade scene. Brown travels to all of the places Gudrid did, reads scholarship on her topic and participates in archaeological digs and recreation of weaving studios.

The digs at L'Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland, have been reported on before, but Brown brings a fresh fascination to them in the context of Gudrid's life. She provides strong descriptive passages of the places she visits and there is one map in the front of the book. It would have been nice, however, to have had some illustrations. I would also like to have known a little more about Brown's own context and interest in this subject.