Field Books

James Lowe has captured the essence of Western History in this recent release. An accomplished author and historian, Lowe tells it like it was. He states in the preface that this text is intended for the layman or scholar alike, and though the former will find the story entertaining, the latter will reap the full benefit of his extensive research. Lowe has successfully provided the reader with an accurate overview of frontiersman, Jim Bridger, Native-American history and politics, the history of nineteenth century westward migration and United States Indian policy of the same era. In detail, he has presented a thorough and accurate account of the discovery and usage of the route known as the Bridger Trail to the gold fields of Montana, as well as compared the alternative routes of the Bozeman and Montana Trails. The reader is given countless examples from emigrant diaries of the difficulties presented these travelers in making the decision of which route to take. These diaries are extensively quoted to document the various trains, and experiences of the over 2,500 travelers who embarked on the Bridger Trail in 1864. Through Lowe's understanding of Native-American politics of that time, he also helps explain many of the fears and misconceptions of these heroic pioneers. His study includes the exacting of the location of the trail and points out both the accuracies and fallacies of many of the historic maps which are reproduced in the book. There are also several historic photographs of those who challenged the hardships of this route to become prominent citizens of Montana. This book makes both interesting and entertaining reading for anyone interested in the history of the American frontier, an excellent addition to the library of any scholar of Western History, and a must for everyone with a particular interest in Oregon Trail, Wyoming, or Montana History.

In 1864 Jim Bridger blazed a trail route through Wyoming and southern Montana that provided a shorter, faster access to the new Territory of Montana and the gold fields of Bannack and Virginia City. Jim Bridger's trail also provided safer passage for emigrant trains traveling to Montana during the turbulent decade of Plains Indian unrest, and eliminated hundreds of miles and many days of travel along the least dangerous, but circuitous route via the Oregon Trail or the longer routes by way of Fort Bridger or Salt Lake City. Historian James Lowe has assembled all available material on Jim Bridger's involvement with the trail that bears his name and dispels many of the inaccuracies and romantic assumptions that have built up over the last 130 years. A thorough background is provided on Bridger, gold discovers, federal Indian policy, variant trail routes, and other factors which precipitated the blazing of The Bridger Trail. This superbly documented, highly recommended contribution to Western Historical Studies is enhanced with numerous contemporary and historical maps, historical photographs, and portraits of several of the earliest travelers on the route, as well as tables providing a listing of the 1864 trains, the provisions and equipment used and recommended for travel, and a listing of the pioneers who used the trail in 1864.

The Bush Junta is an anthology of 25 cartoonists who lampoon the Bush dynasty. Made all the more biting from its heavy reliance on literal fact, these stinging, wordy black-and-white parodies candidly reveal the records, actions, and foibles of the GOP with razor-keen wit and no-holds-barred cynicism. A series of bumper-sticker flyers that can be reproduced and distributed enhances this timely and critical attack on alleged abuses of govermental power, among other presidential, political, and personal failings.

Kind of along the lines of "The Big Book of Scandal", only focused on one subject, "The Bush Junta" pulls no punches in dissecting a perilously evil cabal of chickenhawks commonly known as Bush's Cabinet.

Hilariously illustrated by such artistic geniuses as Ted Rall, Scott Marshall, Ethan Persoff, the late, great Hack Smith and others, "Junta" chronologically deflowers arguably the most villainous political monarchy of modern times; starting with the infamous Prescott Bush/Nazi connection. It moves on to the Skull & Bones years and then in one of the most chilling chapters, pulls the wool off of GHWB's incredibly corrupt CIA tenure.

More disgusting and very true tales of deceit, corruption and flagrant neo-fascism follow, from the warwhores of the dying-empire stenched PNAC; the collection of shady reptiles known as the Carlyle Group; John Ashcroft's suppressive and incredibly bigoted years as Missouri's attorney general and governor; the megalomaniac warmonger and former Saddam cigar-buddy Donald Rumsfeld; Condoleeza Rice, the supposed genius who ignored a ton of pretty damning intelligence reports that could have thwarted 9-11; and finally, the chief snake and puppetbastard of them all - Dick Cheney.

It's no secret or suprise that the key players of the Idiot-in-Chief's cabinet got their start or influence with the Nixon Administration. Most of the information presented here is probably not new to those that follow underground radio and internet sites. But for those who think the . . . er . . . "liberal media" (meaning, Faux News, which is about as liberal as your average John Birch member, GE-owned NBC, Disney-owned ABC, Viacom-parented CBS and CNN, which has turned into "Faux Jr." (rolls eyes)) is the be-all, end-all of truth and fairness; for those who are open-minded and won't brush this off as "more commie libtard lies" (it's backed by hundreds of footnotes, statements, excerpts, links and direct quotes, BTW), this will be a blow to the stomach like no other.

At the very least, "The Bush Junta" will make you seriously question why this administration isn't telling you everything you need to know, why the biased cookie-cutter cable media will not call them on the issues that they have failed so miserably at and why you ever trusted your government in the first place.

This book is great for business students. It helps you get through those courses that are not your emphasis and gives you an edge in participation for the course. I'd recommend it to all business students.

My husband owns a business and is usually quite active with one project or another. Whenever he comes home and tells me about his day, he sometimes uses phrases with which I am unfamiliar. For example, what does he mean by "low hanging fruit" or "free cash flow." These words and phrases and numerous others are detailed in the book Business Words You Should Know by Dr. Dean McKay. The book is written in an elegantly simple, understandable fashion. This is a book that belongs in every business reference library. After I read the book, my husband read it and was able to learn some new things about business terminology himself. He even found a few words and phrases that he had been interpreting incorrectly. I have found myself referring to the book several times when I sometimes overhear an unclear term on programs such as Squawk Box or Bloomberg, programs that seem to be on around our house in the early morning. Everyone who talks about business with their peers or wife or husband who may be in business should purchase this book. It is fun and easy.

I think the best kind of fiction is that which is inspired by real events. It's clear to me that Laura Belle used elements of her own life to paint a vivid picture in Buttercup Fields. A very good book from (I think) a first time author. Keep it up, and keep writing from your heart!

As a frequent flyer, I especially enjoy the insight Laura provides into the roles, responsibilities, and training of a Flight Attendant.

Laura - keep up the good work and perhaps I'll see you again this Christmas season on another IAH-EWR run. :)

I could not put this book down! I enjoyed every page and have told all my friends about this story. I think that it would make a great movie!

This is the best field guide to European butterflies and not just by default. Although there is currently no other decent European field guide to butterflies, this has undoubtedly set the standard for many years to come.

All 440 species of Europe and North Africa are fully described and illustrated with male and females depicted and - where there is significant variation - subspecies.

The text itself is accurate, concise and oriented at the field observer. A monochrome thumbnail map accompanies the detailed range / distribution section. Under "Description", it is heartening to see comparative comments rather than a re-hashing of what can be seen on the plates - something that used to occur often in field guides. Habitat is described in great detail. Life history includes a list of larval food plants.

The 104 plates do not accompany the text, but are found together in the centre of the book. They are, of course, superb. Extremely lifelike, wonderfully helpful for identification and pleasing to the eye, they are everything we have come to expect from Richard Lewington's brush.

This is a "must have" for anyone travelling to Europe and no British naturalist will want to be without it either. In 1970, Higgins & Riley were the pioneers. This book is the worthy successor to that groundbreaking first guide, taking the art of identification to even higher levels.

This book has over 500 pages, about half of it is drawn pictures of butterflies (Rhopalocera). Each plate has a load full of butterflies, drawn in ground and side plan. Along with species there are possible forms or subspecies. The families are organized from Papilionidae to Hisperiidae. Quality paper, hard cover which is useful, due to common use out in the field. Along with a picture there is a portion of text for each species. The author gives information on range, distribution, variations, flight-period, habitat, life-history, conservation, behaviour, food plants... A map of Europe marked with distribution. Useful to hobbyist or a professional alike. Highly recommended.

I have two copies of this book.

It opened my eyes to things I had never seen wandering the Coastal Range and Cascade Mountains of Oregon and SW Washington.

This field guide is well organized with beautiful photos. Each butterfly listed has a key for recognition, variations, life history as well as habitat range and the time of year you are likely to see this butterfly on the wing. A particularly nice feature is is the list of names for each as butterflies often have akas (also known as.)Dr. Pyles broad knowledge of nature allows him to include additional information about the history of butterfly study. This book will supplant other field guides whose scope intends to include the entire continent. The beautiful durable cover will look good on your desk and will function well in your field pack.
The tremendous amount of data collected in these pages reflect a dedication to the study of butterflies that is inspiring to the amateur and professional naturalist.

This book is one of the best I've actually read so far that is recommended for the novice. It contains and index and glossary, as well as illustrations that explain the various parts of the plant, and gives simple, precise descriptions of each form of cacti and where it can be found. It also has excellent photographs of the entire plant in close-up that aid in visual identification. It has been a tremendous help in identifying cacti that once were nameless to me. If you can obtain a copy, it's well worth it.

Del Weniger has given us an excellent compilation in this volume. Fortunately, copies are still available of the out-of-print title. I highly recommend the book for beginners & experts alike. Excellent photography. Insightful text. Good organization.

I've had this book on my shelf for 10 years, and I finally read it this summer. It is as good as the Laura Ingalls Wilder series, set 100 years earlier in the New England wilderness. The main character, Maggie, shows spirit and grit, making sacrifices for the family too which she has been "bound-out", even though they consider her an outsider because of her French heritage. I will use it with my 9th grade remedial class because it is relatively easy to read, but it still has themes and vocabulary that will help my students grow.

I read this to my 10 yo ds and 9 yo dd and we loved it. It was interesting to each of us and we were all hoping that there was a sequel. It really shows what life was like for immigrants who first came to America and how different life was like from what they were used to.

Highly recommend this book.

Some of the characters a reader will "meet" upon reading this novel: Barbarossa the Pirate, Pope Leo X, Pope Clemence II (if I am correct), the Medicis, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel of Spain, etc. You will be surprised what Amin Maalouf has under his sleeves by reading this book.

It was written at the back cover of this book as a true story of Leo the African or Leo Africanus. We was a historian and wrote a book on his travels in African region, mostly north Africa.

He was born in Granada, Spain during the waning years of the Moorish Empire in the West and the emergence of Ottoman Empire in the East. His experiences and childhood friends will prove to be vital in the later-years-of-his-life-plot (is it a plot if it is a true story??) His name is Ali al-Wazzan, or Ali from Wazzan. Ali al-Wazzan turned Leo Medici only to reconvert back to Ali.

The story was written in several main sections, started with Granada. When Granada eventually fell to the Aragons, his family fled to Fez in Northern Africa. His adventures eventually took him away to other north African cities, and ended up in Egypt. In Egypt, he found a new Circassian wife, already having a wife in Fez. This second wife turned out to be the last defender of the Saracen dynasty. This kingdom was eventually overwhelmed by the Ottomans. Many Western readers may not know that within the Islamic kingdoms, there existed rivalry and hatred among themselves, which were also depicted in gross conflicts by Mr. Maalouf.

Ali eventually ended up in the Vatican, where he was the personal slave of neither but Pope Leo X himself. Having excelled in calligraphy and scribles, Ali was ascended into a highrer plane by the Pope by having him converted to Catholicism. Though in heart he was always a Muslim, he enjoyed being a Christian, too. During his stay in the Vatican, he has experienced having reigned by three different popes of different objectives in mind. Since the Vatican aligned themselves with France, eventually disgruntled German clergymen lead by Luther started the church reformation by naming themselves as the Protestants.

Leo (Ali, that is) was saved by Hans, his old priest student during his years with Pope Leo X. Leo and his new found converso wife (ex-Mulsim, turned Christian) fled to Africa again, only to reconvert back to Islam. These stories made a great impression on me that conversions are nothing but another fact of life during those turmoil years. Worst for the Jews, since having expelled from Spain. They were being prosecuted again in France.

If you think Amin Maalouf is just another middle eastern writer with exotic Oriental writings, you must start reading this work. Having also read the Balthasar's Odyssey, which is somewhat similar to Leo the African, but on a lighter scale (I gave that book a 4 star), I must recommend this novel as one of my all time favorite read. Have it a try!

When you begin a long journey, Leo tells us, start with a short step. That way if you forget something, it's no distance to go back home for it! Good advice.

Leo the African is set in Medieval North Africa. Leo is an arab in the employ of the pope Leo X, recounting to us his history, and how he came to serve the Church of Rome.

In his youth he travelled widely from his home in Morocco, all across the arab world. His journeys are clearly based on those of the great traveller of the Arabic world, Ibn Batuta.

The book is narrated in a familiar and relaxed style and you quickly settle into it, like a comfortable armchair. One of the nicest and most memorable books I have had the pleasure to read. It contains much wisdom about travel, about people, and about the arab world. Well worth the five stars!

A great book for those interested in learning as our Civil War soliders did. It is a real insight into military thinking of the time.

This is an excellent resource for the serious Civil War re-enactor, or for the history buff researching the 'way it was' for the soldiers in that time period. We use this book in setting up camps, and reenactments here in Florida. This is the real thing-the regulations for the army in the 1860's.