Pacific University Books

The Young Guard rests upon a fabric of true events culled from the life of an underground organization of Young Communist League members which was active in the town of Krasnodon during the German occupation. Forty-five young boys and girls were shot by the Nazis in the dungeons after excruciating torture. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was posthumously conferred by the Soviet government upon the leaders of this valiant group, Oleg Koshevoi, Ulyana Gromova, Sergei Tulenin, Lyubov Shevtsova and Ivan Zemnukhov.

George Borrow was the author of the more well known "auto-biographical" duet of Lavengro & The Romany Rye. The Zincali recounts his adventures in Spain, especially as concerns The Rom (aka Gypsies) whom he loved and was loved by in return. George, you see, was the Romany Rye ~ the non-gypsy Gypsy. I hope this new edition garners a wide audience, and would like to recommend it to anyone interested in Mr Borrow and his delightful storytelling. "3 Cheers!"

This is nothing but proprogand for radical change in China during the 1930 or so. I read this for a Asian History class and I understand why we read it. It shows how the young strongly wanted change if not anarchy (look up history and term. it means has a differant meaning what you might think). But as a story it was a very superficial, melodramtic romance. But it does have its place in history. If anything, this might make your interest grow in Chinese-political history.

Family has an undying, infinite longevity. First published in 1931, its message still has vital importance. It tells people, young or old, male or female, not to suppress themselves due to external influences, including their own family. At the same time, this is not to say one should negatively rebel against their own people, but to strive and accomplish one's own goals. Ideally, one's achievements should benefit others as well. Family is a story of romance, tragedy, endurance, and victory.

I really, really didn't like this book. It presented good ideas, but I hated the writing style. It seemed preachy and bland. However, the issues that were adressed made up for its dryness.

This used to be a book from a communist source. Not until I saw the movie and realized marriage was arranged by parents for centuries and is still being practiced in China and elsewhere.

This is a must for anyone wanting to understand the feeling of people in social history.

Ba Jin (1905-) is a low key person who has such pronounced impact on modern China and elsewhere.
It is good to know he is still with us and so is the renowned
actor Sun Daolin.

Good job master Jin!

I had to read this book for a modern Chinese history class in college and found it very enjoyable.

It focuses on a time in time that many of us in the West do not really think much about - when the Chinese were wrestling with entering the modern world, a time when the empire was collapsing and the foundation was laid for the rise of both the Chinese Communists and the Chinese Nationalists.

The story, of the generational conflicts that exist as traditional family roles are stretch by modernization, is also relevent in today's world.

The author, Pa Chin, was an active member of the May 4th Movement - this modernization movement in China around the turn of the century - and I believe this book plays some historical significance to the development of modern China.

This would be a nice beach book: not to deep, reasonably well written. And some nice reflections on an Alaska that is changing, and the people who live there.

Even though I love Alaska and most books about it, I found this book pretty slow. I like the fact that the book tells the stories of people who live along the pipeline, but I was probably expecting more adventure...
Therefore, it took me more than a month to finish it...
I enjoyed the extracts about Jane and the affection he feels for her, but unfortunately they are very rare exceptions.

This was a good book about a fellow who decides to walk the Alaska Pipeline from Valdez to Prudhoe Bay with his Chocolate Lab, Jane. He took all summer to do it and chronicles the trip in the book. He did some research on the places he visited as well as the pipeline so it was very interesting from that point of view but also from his writing about walking, solitude, and his dog.

I spent my teenage years in Fairbanks and traveled from Bristol Bay to the Arctic Circle, though not even nearly as intimately and exhaustively as Ned Rozell. But luckily I found his book through a family member there who knows him. His descriptions of the landscapes, the characters, the attitudes, and even the whine of the mosquitoes all take me back to Alaska. It's absolutely true to the people and places I knew and it makes for a delightful read! Plus, I can't tell you how grateful I am to escape to the land of the midnight sun when it is 112 degrees here in central California. I hereby solemnly swear to take my kids to canoe on the Chena and pick wild blueberries on Ester Dome next summer!

Having traveled in Alaska, I think many others have had the desire to take a similar journey.The story was very well written as my interest was held from the moment I started reading.The author does an excellent job of telling his and Janes many adventures along the trip.It makes you fell you are right there with them.I recommend the book for anyone who has had that l ifelong desire to do something they have never found time to do.I really enjoyed the book.Made me feel I was back in Alaska.

Stuart gives a good, basic explanation for the collapse of the "Chaco phenomenon." (He doesn't use the word, but you could say, even, as I felt, the collapse of the "Chaco state.") He then looks how a temporary change for the better in climate and some reorganization let Mesa Verdeans make a short stab at replacing Chaco's spread befor that collapsed itself a bit more than a century later.

From there, he doesn't stop. He leads readers into the beginnings of the Pueblo IV era of the ancestral Puebloans and to the dawn of modern Pueblos, and their emergence into Western history.

Stuart is not afraid to draw parallels and point out lessens that modern American inhabitants of the Southwest fail to -- or refuse to -- learn but at their own peril. And I am in total agreement on this part of the book, too, while noting that with nearly a decade since its writing, the rich-poor gap in the U.S. has but expanded, not decreased.

That said, even if you don't agree with his modern sociopolitical analysis, you've got plenty to learn from this book.

And, having grown up in Gallup, N.M., Mr. Stuart has lit fires of nostalgia and more within me.

A friend who took Stuart's class at the University of New Mexico recommended this book to me. It has become my favorite book on the Anasazi after David Roberts's IN SEARCH OF THE OLD ONES. Stuart, with the aid of his students, provides a terrific overview of not only the Anasazi, but the paleo-Indians that preceded them and the Pueblo people who came after them. Stuart is a scholar who avoids too much factual detail (though the book is dry in places) and the tendency to romanticize and speculate too much on Anasazi culture. Especially interesting are Stuart's insights into the thousands of small Anasazi farming communities often ignored by those more interested in the Chacoan "great houses" or the spectacular cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde, why and how the Anasazi culture collapsed, and how out of it grew the more sustainable, enduring Pueblo culture. Where did the Anasazi go? Their descendents are still here, the people who live in 22 pueblos in New Mexico and on the Hopi Pueblo in Arizona. Lastly, Stuart draws lessons and warnings from the collapse of Anasazi culture for contemporary America: If we don't find a more sustainable way to live, our culture will not fare any better than the ancient Anasazi.

Impressive. The implications of Professor Stuart's analysis of the Chaco Canyon and later Pueblo cultures in Anasazi America blows one away. Certainly some of the social data from our own culture and time period, which he uses for comparison, are scary! The book has a very interesting concept, namely that we can apply what we know of modern economics to the ancient world and what we discover of economic outcomes in the ancient world to our own. While I'm none too certain this is a valid premise, it certainly made for interesting reading! I am by no means an expert in prehistoric Southwestern America, but I have done some reading on the subject, and I can't recall when I've read a volume that made so much sense of the mystery of the collapse of ancient indigenous culture

Unlike many students of ancient history and culture, this author does not stop with a simple description of the data or the sequence of events. He extrapolates principles relevant to all cultures, including our own. Most authors on the American Southwest make much of the climate changes which made life in the area nearly impossible; Stuart's analysis of this data and of the timing of the furious building activity that occurred toward the end of the phase uses economic principals and modern sociology. This technique makes the period come alive. Stuart points out that all human behavior is motivated, and motivated not just by basic biological needs but by social and cultural needs and expectations as well. Stuart uses evidence of violence, even of possible cannibalism that occurred as a climax to the period to understand the implications of decline, violence and collapse on the evolution or extinction of a society. He also applies what he discovers of human behavior in this setting to what he sees as occurring in our own culture. As middle and lower socio-economic classes feel more and more disenfranchised, modern society is facing a possible withdrawal from its principles and leadership.

Some of Stuart's summary of the succession of cultures in New Mexico and the Four Corner's region are arguably speculative. The assumptions he makes about why people did things-like move away from their homes and property-so long as they relate to such factors as climate, infant and maternal mortality rates, nutrition and malnutrition, etc. seem quite sound. When it comes to less quantifiable issues-like personal values, the sense of community among society's constituency, religious intent, etc,-his observations, while certainly very credible, are also not testable.

With these caveats in mind, the reader will discover through this discourse that our own lifestyle as it is currently practiced, may not be indefinitely sustainable. The US might well be facing a cultural disintegration not unlike that of the Anasazi. If the social statistics in the author's final analysis are correct, and they certainly seem reliable to me, the effects of our rather profligate style of consumerism are already producing negative outcomes for a significant portion of the US population. We may share more in common with the ancient Anasazi than we realize. We may evolve into a more sustainable society as the Pueblo people did, or we may go extinct as the Anasazi people did.

As the author points out in his introduction, the book arose as the result of a very favorably received classroom style that stressed the relationship between economics and social cohesion, using archeology as the medium of introduction. In doing so the professor made his specialty relevant to the lives of his students in a way that inspired them. It inspired me too. Unmentioned by the author is the fact that much of our culture is shared by the world, and while the third world may not be politically incorporated into the US or into the privileged portion of the world, it is definitely part of the globalized culture that has arisen as a result of more rapid communication and transportation. It is not inconceivable that the collapse that Stuart envisions for the US cultural milieu might actually extend to the world. It gives one pause to think.

This book could and probably should be included in the reading lists of courses in economics, cultural anthropology, history, sociology, and political science. It might be useful in high school classes that include any or all of these topics. FOR THOSE WRITING PAPERS: this book shows an intersting use of history, anthropology and archaeology as applied to modern day problems. One might find it profitable to: 1) contest the author's conclusions with your own ideas or with quotes from other authors, 2) agree with his conclusions and say why in your own experience you believe what he says, 3) compair his assumptions with someone more versed specifically in economics or sociology than the author is, 4) check his sources to see if you can find errors in his data or in his use of it or to suggest a different interpretation of the date or a different use of it , 5) write a paper on whether or not you believe that it is valid to use anthropological or historical data in this way.

this book reverses the traditional view of the Chaco culture. Chaco represents to alot of people as a "golden age" of Indian prehistory with the numerous kivas of Pueblo Bonito and other settlements of the canyon.However according to Stuart the Chaco Age was a period of rise and decline as the valley's economy and way of life was dominated over by Chaco's religious and ceremonial elite who scimmed off the best portions for themselves leaving smaller households with higher infant mortality rates and shorter life expectancy.Stuart supports his suppositions by good archaeological research spanning decades of study and debate.Also he cites evidence that Chaco may not have gone "peacefully into the night", but displays rearch indicating a possible to probable,violent and sudden fall that put the four corners area into chaos for about a century after.As Stuart goes through the different periods proceeding after Chaco, (the Pueblo 1,2, and 3 era)you can readily see the logical procession to a more efficient and egalitarian society for the Amerindians of this area.So if you look at the grandiose ruins of Pueblo Bonito in Chaco and see the smaller Pueblo villages of today and wonder what happened,you'll say(after reading this book),the Pueblo moved to a more efficient way of life.One that was more fair to farmers and artisans.Also Stuart explains the Basketmaker culture which I always wondered about,simply put,this culture used baskets instead of pottery for everyday use including cooking dropping hot stones in the baskets to heat. These people preceded Chaco but were also around at the time of Chaco and even today you can see some well crafted baskets in the area.Stuart also does alot of interesting explaining about water usage and rain patterns and how the Chaco civilization was not able to cope with even small droughts,periods of 1 or 2 years made a drastic difference.With all the Kivas the Chacoans built a person would think they were more religious than present day Puebloan indians,however this is certainly not true. the author points out that Puebloan religion is even more vital now than in Chacoan times with a rich ceremonial life. Bigger as were the Chacoan great houses was not always better.

30+ years ago I toured some of the Anasazi sites. At that time there remained a lot of mystery about what had happened there. This has fueled all sorts of fiction including part of the thread of "X-Files". Since then most of the general chronolgy has been worked out and in many ways is more interesting than ancient SciFi aliens. Stuart provides the best non-academic overview of the Anaszi history I'm aware of. Most definately a good read. I found particularly interesting that the spectacular cliff dwellings were really just a minor sidebar to the overall story.

Unfortunately, Stuart couldn't resist dabbling in pop-economics and attempts to draw dubious parrallels with current events. The Anaszi had neither a written language nor a monetary, market (or semi-market) driven economy. These are two very effective non-hightech tools that alllowed European contemporaries of the Anaszi to survive and bounce back from even worse calamaties.

Rocomendation: Read and enjoy the history of the Anszi but ignore the the nonsensical digressions in to current politics.

Brechin begins with an overview of the social and political environment that evolves around historic mining operations, then applies the historic pattern to San Francisco's gold rush. This very readable volumn highlights the interactions between San Francisco's movers and shakers, explaining in the process why these individuals had buildings, parks and streets named after them. Imperial San Francisco paints a good picture of the opportunities the city's founders embraced and some of the consequences of their actions.

Perfect in fact.
My general remark is that the cost of sending the item is very high in relation to the original price of the book. I realise that this could be difficult to change, but this makes that I will only consider an order to Amazon whem I see no otrer way to buy a book othertwise.

Karel

OK, OK, I get the point: elites manipulate the physical world for their own enrichment and then disguise their machinations by comprimising the media. So what else is new?

One complaint that has already been voiced about this book is that it is not reall "about" San Francisco at all, but rather makes a point about all cities. That complaint is true in that author's theoretical underpinings for his argument extend to examples outside of San Francisco. Really though, what else would the author do?

Personally, I found authors attempt to relate San Francisco to Rome and other cities to be interesting and relevant.

Another complaint voiced in these reviews is authors tone. That tone has been described as "shrill". I would have to concur with that complaint. I found the tone of this book to be distracting. I would venture to guess that anyone, ANYONE who reads this book is likely amenable to his "Cities suck" thesis. To belabor the point in the manner that author does is just beating a dead horse.

In defense of author, he doesn't present himself as a true "academic" but as a sort of journalist/academic cross-trainer. I found that perspective refreshing. Author is impassioned about the subject of book in a way that makes you put up with the occasional hectoring and shrillness.

One fundamental problem I had with the substance, rather then the style of the book: Author repeatedly discusses various civic improvement schemes as plots to "increase real estate values". Query: Is that really such a nefarious scheme? If you look at California today, property ownership is hardly the exclusive province of the elite. In this way, I think the book unwittingly lends supports to an alternative, and contradictory hypotheses: That the actions that economic elites take in their own self interest ultimately benefit those outside their own social class.

So, that's something to think about.

Gray Brechin tells us about the short Spanish-American War and the long, bloody Philippine-American War that followed. When Gulf War II went fast and well, and the occupation went awry, and comparisons were made to the Vietnam War, I thought Brechin's observations to be much closer to the mark. Too bad its lessons were missed by almost everyone.

I am long overdue in giving praise, and thanks, to Gray Brechin for writing one of the definitive and most unique historical treatises on the incomparable and often barbaric history of California, San Francisco, and the American West. He opens with an examination of urban-centric empires, particularly Rome and London, and shows how the process repeated and accelerated in California, due to the unprecedented economic boom triggered by Gold Rush, Silver Boom, the "green gold" agricultural explosion, real estate, ship building and military hardware. His portraits of the ruthless visionaries/profiteers like California's Big Four and Comstock Load barons gives a historical and cultural understanding of how the West became a major economic and political engine that helped transform America into the lumbering financial juggernaut it is today. Brechin dissects the phenomenon of faux wealth perfectly: explaining how hundreds of millions of dollars invested in Gold Mining stocks fueled the Western boom and expansion, investments that were several times greater than the actual amount of gold taken from the land. He dissects the financial "pyramid" that he attributes to mining: how elevator shafts that went down into the grown soon becamse elevator shafts that moved people up into the heavens in high rise buildings, transforming the brief gold mining bonanza into the real estate phenomenon that continues in California to this day. It a truly fresh, original, eye-opening and flawlessly documented observation. And Brechin is not shy about showing the human and environmental costs: the deforestation of the entire Lake Tahoe Basin, the astonishing wastelands created by high pressure water mining for silver in the High Sierra. This is mesmerizing, wonderfully written, a reflective and predictive tale, told as deftly and poignantly as any California history I have ever read, and I have read many. This book should take its place alongside Walter Bean's "Abe Ruef's San Francisco", Marc Reisner's "Dangerous California" and Gladys Hansen's "Denial of Disaster" as a pivotal tome on where we started and where we are headed in America and particularly the American West. James Dalessandro, author, 1906.

We moved here and I like it, but there are better ones that I've seen around.

Thank you Amazon.
I received my order(map of big is) quicker from Stateside than I get some
mail here in Australia . I received my map 2 and a half weeks quicker than promised , and to think I don't need it till Nov .
Thank You.
Regards
Patrick
Patrick Richardson

This map was not what I was expecting, so I returned it. Thanks anyway.

Purchased this map for our trip to the Big Island of Hawaii and found it to be most helpful!

As a former long-time resident of the Big Island, I can attest to the fact that this is very well done. It's a very good buy.

Editor of former Oahu resident Laurie Birnsteel's Kahala

This is a great, unconventionally written wine book. Paul Gregutt covers Washington state by talking about the history, the top vineyards, the varietals, and the top wineries. He gives ratings to wineries instead of specific wines. Sometimes it feels like his praise is too strong because he does not specify which wines are good values versus just plain good wines. But overall this is a great reference guide. If you are looking for a buying guide, stick to Robert Parker; if you want to learn about wines in Washington, this is where to start.

While this book may be very informative, it looks and reads more like a textbook and lacks the excitement and entertainment value of its subject matter. The book could be significantly improved simply by adding color pictures of wine labels and/or the wineries themselves rather than black and white pictures of only a handful of labels (which makes the book look dull and cheap). Prior to actually reading the book, I originally purchased it as a gift for out of state friends to give them along with a mixed case of Washington wines as they are unfamiliar with wines from the Pacific Northwest. However, after reading through the book, I decided to find another book that would give my friends a better sense of Washington wine country as well as a visual journey of this beautiful region through pictures.

If I could sit down with Paul in a tasting group I am assured that I would be utterly amazed by the amount of information he has tapped into that makes him so vital to the Washington wine industry. As a writer, investigator, connoisseur, & diplomat of all that is worthwhile in the Washington Wine realm. Rest assured you will have the upper hand on a vast extension of information from the distant past to our now proportionately thriving world of grapes in the Scabland's to the valleys in the Yakima, Columbia, & Walla Walla wine regions. Enjoy, MD

I WOULD SUGGEST THAT ANYONE WHO WANTS TO KNOW MORE ABOUT WASHINGTON WINES, HAD BETTER GET A COPY OF THIS BOOK. IT IS OBVIOUS THAT MR. GREGUTT KNOWS THE WINEMAKERS AND THE WINERIES HE WRITES ABOUT. HE HAS BEEN DOING IT FOR YEARS, AND IS A RELIABLE RESOURCE FOR THIS INDUSTRY. KEN D.

Paul has a great deal of experience with the Washington Wine scene, and it shows. This should be called the Washington Wine Encyclopedia. The book is full of very current and relevant information about the blossoming (and Booming) Washington Wine industry, and the top 25% (His Opinion) of the wineries. I found the history portion of the book fascinating.

If you have any interest in the Washington wine industry, this is a must read!

While there is much helpful information in this book, I'm afraid the delivery is awkward and colorless and it was an effort to complete this read. If you're working on a specific project related to architectural issues in Portland, then you'll find some relevant data. Otherwise, don't put yourself through it.

This is an outstanding architectural guide, written for architecture enthusiasts and serious cultural travelers. Why did I give it only a 4 (instead of a 5)? Because it is not entirely inclusive of entries from the 2001 edition. The author, for some odd reason, has removed (or condensed) many of the entries from the 2001 edition to make room for mostly modern structures from the past six years. My simple complaint (and recommendation): In any new edition, add, but do not subtract.

Otherwise, it's nearly perfect. The small building selection (about 250 sites) is wonderful, and is a perfect balance between historic and modern landmarks. The author wrote the text with a fun, tongue-in-cheek style that is both insightful and entertaining. It really works well. The photographs are all monochrome, and there are very few, perhaps one per page, or about one for every other entry. There are a few interior shots of important public spaces. I would say that the photography meets minimum standards of a book like this, but that's about all. For those of you familiar with the Dorsey and Dilts guide to Baltimore, this book is similar in feel and format. There's a very brief introductory essay to establish the historical context, and short architect biographies inserted into the text. Mostly the author chooses to let us interpret the history of the city through the buildings.

As for the architecture, I'll leave that for you to discover. Suffice to say that Portland is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful cities in the country. Surrounding suburbs and towns are not discussed, but that's fine since there's more than enough to keep one interested within the Portland city limit. And if you think Portland is just a smaller version of Seattle, you should take a look at this book and reconsider that conclusion.

Now in an updated and expanded second edition reflecting Portland's growth in the twenty-first century, An Architectural Guidebook to Portland is teacher Bart King's guide to the amazing buildings that distinguish Portland, Oregon as a place worthy of sightseeing. From 19th-century cast-iron front buildings to the Old Town and Chinatown to the breathtaking downtown bridges and much more, An Architectural Guidebook to Portland is sure to intrigue architecture enthusiasts, Portland tourists, and armchair travelers alike. Black-and-white photographs illustrate this blend of historic preservation and history vignettes, which features over 250 separate entries.

The book contains a brief history of Portland architecture, and a building by building look at the best, and some of the worst, buildings in downtown and surrounding areas. Anyone who has been to Portland and actually looked at the buildings knows that Portland's architecture is pretty special. There are only a few of the original turn of the century cast-iron frame buildings left, unfortunately, because they were torn down to build a freeway in the 1940s. The freeway is now gone (moved 14 blocks west, away from the Willamette waterfront), but only 10% of the buildings near the waterfront survived. The area around Skidmore fountain shows what Portland looked like then.

The book doesn't limit itself to just old buildings, though. There's a description and photo of the Henry building, the condo development completed in 2004 directly behind Powell's books. And the new Park Towers building, occupying the space across the street from the old Hamburger Mary's, is present as well.

This is a really excellent and detailed look at Portland's unique architecture. It would make an excellent guidebook for walking tours in downtown.

[Review of the second edition]

When I accepted the offer to receive and review a copy of the book An Architectural Guidebook To Portland, Second Edition by Bart King, I'll admit I wasn't waiting with anticipation for it to show up. In fact, had his request not had the line "No pressure! The book is particularly helpful as a cure for insomnia, however.", I probably would have let it pass. But much to my surprise, this was far more fun to read than I expected, and I'm glad I had the chance to see it.

Contents:
Introduction; Downtown; Cultural District, Government Center; Yamhill; Old Town - Chinatown; The Pearl; Northwest; Southwest; Southeast; Northeast; Downtown Bridges; Glossary; Photo Credits; Bibliography; Index

Portland has a very rich and colorful history from the early days as "Stumptown" to the present. And going into old historic sites fascinate me, as I can often "feel the past" when I imagine what things must have been like back then. But reading a book where someone waxes eloquent about the finer points of Romanesque versus Richardsonian Romanesque doesn't do a thing for me. Fortunately, this book is *far* from that. King divides up the city into some basic areas, and then covers approximately 20 to 30 buildings of note in each, ranging from the late 1800's to buildings that are due to start in the upcoming year. The first difference I noticed is that his choices are not all "excellent" examples of some style or architect. In fact, a number of his choices were voted "ugliest building in Portland" by various panels. You may not necessarily agree with the opinions, but he's not afraid to point out both thoroughbreds and nags. And he does it with a sharp and cutting sense of humor. Each selection usually has a short inset or sidebar that contains an interesting factoid that brings the building's history to life. Even the glossary is worth reading (yes, I was *that* hooked!). My favorite was probably the definition of portico... "A covered porch. There are many different styles. You do not care." It's not often I laugh out loud when reading. Especially so when architecture is the subject matter. This was a definite exception.

"Serious" students of architecture might feel that King doesn't treat the subject matter with the reverence that it deserves. To that I say, get a life. But for the average person who goes to work in downtown Portland every day without noticing the rich history around them, this book is a true gem.

This book has taken us thorugh tropical rain forests, dense valleys, and sun-parched craters. The variety of hikes is wonderful. There is something for everyone in here, well, everyone except the beginner hiker. It seems even beginning hikes in the book are a bit challenging. This is because Oahu has such a varity of terrain. However, if you are looking to take a relaxing stroll through the woods this book will be of no use to you. We have children so we only do the novice hikes and even those are challenging, but fun and dirty! This is probalby for more serious hikers and some of the hikes mentioned are 12 miles long! That takes a long time in Oahu's terrain! The author always write in interesting tidbits of info in his hike description which I like. Things such as the where the strawberry guava trees are, where the WWII tunnel is, etc...The one negative to this book is that many of the hikes the author writes about are closed to the public and you have to write for permission to hike them. To me, this is a pain and I am not organized enough to plan ahead and do this. If you are better organized than I, I am sure you would enjoy them. We are just a bit more spontaneous. Enjoy!

I won a copy of the first edition of this book in a contest in 1994, and since then it has helped me find dozens of beautiful and enjoyable trails.

For example, one of the trails we found was a great hike in Wahiawa through the back country of an Army training base. As the author suggested, we wrote to the commander and we got permission to do this hike that rambles over hills and across streams, and all at the cool elevation of Wahiawa.

Some of the highlights of the book include great descriptions of the flora along the trail, reproductions of topo maps for each hike that show you the pitch of the trail(although you should probably get the real topo if you plan to get lost), clear route descriptions that show that the author has been on these trails many times, and a wonderful layout.

It is the best hiking book I have ever read (although I've probably only read about a dozen). It is without equal among O`ahu hiking books.

I just bought the second edition, and if possible, it's even better than the first one.

Simple: this is the best hiking book ever published regarding trails on Oahu. How do I know? Not only have I used it, I've hiked a couple of times with the author and watched him take notes. An experienced hiker with over 20 years in these mountains, Stuart Ball knows what he's talking about and describes the trails with detail, map, and comment. I've seen the other books on the market - this is by far the BEST reference for hiking on Oahu. Ask anyone you find on these trails - they might just produce a copy from their backpacks!

Working as an outdoor guide in Hawaii for a summer gave me a chance to discover the island of Oahu. It also helped me realize the that is the ONLY guide to hiking on Oahu that is worth buying. Not only do you get VERY accurate trail descriptions, you also get driving directions, directions from TheBus and information on flora and fauna in the area. I dare you to try and get lost!

this is a great hiking guide but please keep in mind the published date; it's quite old by now and as such, the detailed hiking descriptions are sorely in need of an update. thus, please be careful when using the guide as a reference, as you could end up getting lost. getting an opinion from local hikers would be your best bet.