Idaho Books

This book really helped with wonderful reviews of even the smallest city or area. Much interesting information about some areas was an added bonus. It helped to find restuarants and hotels. I would recoment it to anyone going thru Idaho. I have Moon Handbooks from several states and they are all always helpful.

We're driving from Denver to Glacier National Park this summer, and wanted to drive back through Idaho to see some new things on the way back home. I bought this book because it is packed with information and didn't have the usual Fodor's structure. The author, Don Root, has a lot of experience travelling in the state, and does a good job of sharing what makes him excited about Idaho. Particularly useful, to me, was the description of the off-the-beaten-path attractions. As with all travel books, it does a good job providing phone numbers, web sites, etc., to help you plan your trip.

Idaho may not be everyone's idea of a "hot potato" destination. But if you want a clever, concise guide to a wonderful state -- this is it. Check out "Rural Bar Etiquette" on p. 78 for a sample of Root's humor.

This is not your average dry guide (Although Root's sense of humor is indeed dry!) You will find instead detailed descriptions and opinions(some very funny) which can help you decide the places that might be of special interest to you. It is one of the best guide books I have ever read.

After reading some of the reviews on this book, I decided to reread The Idaho Handbook. The book that I read was quite a bit different than some of the reviews.

While the author's position on land-use is well documented throughout the book, I would hardly classify those views as extreme. Quite a few of the Idahoans that I talked with in the two weeks that I spent in Idaho last summer expressed real concerns regarding land-use throughout the state.

When I am looking for a tour book, I want something more than the AAA travel books. The book contains a significant amount of the history of the state. The book also contains all of the usuals for a tour book - an objective analysis of the lodging and food options in many small towns. This is very important as some parts of the state, the options are somewhat limited.

In addition, he covers the major (and many of the minor) attractions in the state. A number of these attractions were not found in other books.

I enjoy the Moon Guides a whole lot more than other guides. Their strength is that that they are written by people who spend a lot of time travelling throughout the state rather than the tourist areas. For example, Deke Castleman's Nevada Handbook dedicated 10-15% of the book on the Las Vegas area.

This book provided lots of helpful information during our exploration of the state. It provided maps, accommodations, restaurant that suits our budget, scenic places, and a bit of history about the state; its climate and its people. It covers all sides of Idaho: Southwest, South Central, The High Country, North Central and the Panhandle. We stayed in BOY-see, not BOY-zee and certainly not the French "bwah-zay! As you could see, the author added humor to this guide. As suggested, we jogged the serene tree-lined Boise River Greenbelt, biked at the pristine Boise Front, explore the Grove--the largest park near downtown, and clicked our cameras away to capture the scenic mountains. As we strolled down the cosmopolitan area, we knew exactly where to eat, where to go for amusement, and where to withdraw money. We had fun. We also explored the beautiful city of Eagle--a place that took our breaths away. Our next stop? Coeur D'Alene. And we're taking our tour guide with us: The Moon Handbooks.Cold Eyes

Was there at test site when this happened. Mostly accurate and alerts the reader to the dificulty in managing a nuclear accident. Accidents are rare but the nuclear waste problem is real challenge of all operational reactors. Probably mostly enjoyed by someone familiar with or working in nuclear field.

The book was well researched and written. It showed another side to the "official" investigation and cleared up a lot of the mystery surrounding the explosion and deaths of the men involved. For those who have not heard of this mishap, it can definitely open the eyes as to what it took to propel us forward into the nuclear age and the limitations of human emotion. Three Mile Island was not our first mishap...obviously, this was, but more tightly controlled media and national security. It happened when I was young (though I lived nearby) and my neighbor had to respond to the site when it occurred. A very interesting and informative book.

In the interest of full disclosure I will say up front that I am not in any way connected to The Site (locals' name for the facility out on the desert now called the INEEL) I have friends who work there and friends who would love to see it shut down.

That said I think McKeown does an excellent job in telling what's known about the SL-1 accident (if that's what it was) and the rumors that surrounded it. I found it an first-rate read (I read it in two days) and very informative.

McKeown goes to great lengths to delineate between what can be and is known and what is rumor and supposition. He also repeatedly explains (which keeps me from giving the book a 5th star) how different attitudes were then, particulary among the personel working at and responsible for the facility. This is the excuse given and accepted by the author for the lack of disclosure at the time. There's nothing here about what changed, or more importantly, what didn't change, as a result of SL-1.

Its unfortunate that the story of this incident is completely unkown by the general public. Both the heroism of those there immediately after the incident and the behavior of those in charge should be common knowledge. Reading this book goes a long way in correcting that.

I read half of this while waiting for the train! The author's style is very clear and he's a good storyteller. While some of the chapters were a bit sensationalized, this book is well worth your time and money. "Idaho Falls" is more interesting than 99% of contemporary fiction out there :)

McKeown does a good job of pulling together the many strands of this story, giving just enough technical detail to know what went wrong, and enough (relevant) human interest to keep the story interesting. Yes, it's true that Idaho Falls isn't exactly a brand-new 'revelation', but few outside the nuclear industry have heard about it, or know its significance. McKeown shows that the ultimate cause was a failure by the designers of the reactor to take into account Murphy's Law - if something can go wrong, it will. This is a common thread running thru nuclear incidents ranging from Windscale to Chernobyl. With some energy experts now calling for us to embrace nuclear power again in order to meet energy demand without triggering excessive global warming, McKeown's book is a very timely reminder of why and how things went wrong 50 years ago, and what we need to look out for the second time around (if nuclear power is granted one)

This book is an inspiration to anyone who wishes to be more independent and self reliant. Sylvan Hart epitomizes these qualities. It was his inspiration which lead my husband and I to find land in North Idaho and build our own log home far from the power lines and mail run.
The author does a superb job of introducing you to this unique and accomplished character. I have given my copy of the book away too many times and now have some in reserve for the next person who shows more thatn a passing interest in a self-contained life and nearly total off-the-grid independence.

I was thrilled to find this book by accident. I haven't thought about it in years. I first read it in 69 while in the Navy. Being from Idaho, any book on Idaho and the people of the state interrests me. I had actually met Buckskin Bill when I was in 5th grade. An old friend of his took me hunting and we met him and his brother in the mountains. I didn't know that was who I met until I read the book. This book is a fun read even if it isn't entirely about Sylvan Hart.

Awesome to think about life for Buckskin Bill. Makes you feel like you know the man and depressed that you never got the chance to stop by when on a float on the main salmon and say hi.

The other reviewers of this book have been thoroughly unfair. Sylvan Hart lived an amazing life of self sufficiency even to the point of mining and smelting the metals he used to make his flint locks. He was more than well equipped when it came to survival skills and eschewed most of modern technology, accomplishing things remarkably well the old fashioned way. This is a great read for anyone interested in truly living off the land.

harold peterson entitled this book "the last of the mountain men", subtitled "the true story of an idaho solitary"...WRONG. this is the story of the salmon river valley and whatever other prattle peterson decided to toss in to the mix...i bought this book to read about SYLVAN HART, not boring anecdote after boring anecdote about stuff that went on in the area in 1800s...25% of the book, if that, was about sylvan hart, and even that was superficial...you can sum up everything said about sylvan hart with this sentence: "he's a guy who lives near a river in idaho, farms, hunts, fishes and is a good blacksmith"...that's about all you learn about sylvan heart...the rest is history of the area in which he lives...

note to peterson: next time you want to write a book about somebody, consider writing ABOUT that SOMEBODY...god, what a disappointment.

Horribly inaccurate. Numerous anchors and rap stations not where described. On the positive side if you like moderate (5.7-10) X routes mr. colderone describes many in detail. These are routes he couldn't find any info on so he soloed them and gave himself credit for the FA. I think the only purpose of this book is to line his pockets and inflame his already giant ego.

What some people mistake for innacuracies is actually accurate information about previous inaccurately recorded information about the City of Rocks. Inaccurate information has been in print for so long that people have assumed it to be the truth. Calderone's guide is not without errors, but it is THE most accurate and up-to-date guide ever written to the area. Calderone gets a lot of flack for his bold first ascents and the people who die attempting to repeat them. I don't neccessarily agree with his staunch tactics, but climbers shouldn't be at odds with his environmental stance or confusing these issues with his writing. You won't be dissapointed with this guide!

The pictures, the comments, and the information in this book is top notch. The amount of information that is wrong in this book is minimal, and the same amount of wrong information can be found in all the other guide books for this area. I have climbed in the City of Rocks area for 5 years now, and this is definately a must have book for those new to the area, or exploring new sections of the area. As with any other guide book, the information is passed down from word of mouth most of the time, no focused group could ever hope to research the amount of information in this book. The pictures in here are awesome, and give the reader a much better idea what features to look for when hunting for a climb.

This book is very controversial due to the nature of the area. The Reserve management clearly has some personal issue with the author of this guide. I could care less about that, personally. Two other "comprehensive" guidebooks preceded Calderone's guide. Forkash's guide had several errors on every single page of the guide, from start to finish. Enough said. Bingham's guide was reasonably accurate, but was incomplete, difficult to understand, and contained no photographs, historical background, or geological information. The 10-page history section and clear photographs of 95% of the developed routes in the Reserve put this book on par with the best rock climbing guidebooks ever written to an area.

I've spent over 200 days climbing at the City of Rocks. I don't know if that qualifies me as an expert, but I do know a thing or two about climbing there. In all that time I've found one error in this book. A photo was reversed to an area that isn't even shown in any other guidebook (because nobody climbs there). I am a very discriminating and detail-oriented person, so that is pretty amazing. I happen to know a few of the old timers who climbed here before Forkash or Bingham. They are dumbfounded as to how calderone found out such things, but concur with his first ascent information. Amazing research! I don't know Calderone personally, but I saw him free-soloing routes on the Clamshell one day while I was climbing on the Lost Arrow. The guy is for real! As far as tact goes, the author doesn't get very high marks. You can tell the book is written from the heart. The guy is honest, if not a bit lacking in tact. Maybe he is full of himself, but I really don't care. To call this book "Top Notch" would not just be giving the author the break he probably deserves from the harsh sport climbing community. It is the truth.

This is another hollow novel by a boring author. I was gifted Girl Anatomy but perused through this one day at my local library, for the hell of it, figuring if Miss Bloom had a second novel out, she must have grown as a writer.
Boy was I wrong. I started reading and found same old story, tired, shallow, narcissistic.
I am shocked when I read like 4 or 5 stars as her average on here. This book is worst than the first one. Stay away from it. Read literary fiction, folks, because while it may not have the fun girl power allusions of single modern culture, it is actual substance and good language

Rebecca: contractions are YOUR FRIEND. Study them! Use them! Love them! You won't be sorry! See? 'won't be'! There's an example! You can do it!

laying on the nightstand was a dog eared copy of "Girl Anatomy" by Rebecca Bloom that my girlfriend left behind one day - with an initial fear of emasculation put aside - i was curious of the chick lit genre and began to read - - to my surprise i never put it down and have since become a devoted fan of anything Rebecca Bloom writes - - with her latest novel "Tangled up in Daydreams" - i identified with the main character Molly and her search for independence and personal growth told through tales chalk full of description and characters that felt honest and familiar - - making this a truly cathartic read for myself - - - i anxiously await book number three...

I loved Tangled Up in Daydreams and strongly recommend this book to anyone who craves a little girl power... or a break from their own troubles. It is an intensely moving story about a woman trying to come to terms with the reality that her journal writing, rock star boyfriend is not the flawless hero she had fantasized about as a little girl. The story is told primarily from the perspective of the main character Molly, who is an LA hipster with a creative flare and a wonderful ability to reflect on both her blessings and her burdens. The crisp descriptions of Los Angeles and Sun Valley, Idaho add a unique flare and capture the moment superbly.

Rebecca, you need a new editor. Pervail? It's PREVAIL. And "Should I stay or should I go now?" That was not the Who. I have never read a book with such jarring writing-- are we in the past or the present? Please pick one.

That aside, the story is pretty bad, too. Is Molly a tough LA girl or a wussy mama's girl from Idaho? Make up your mind, Molly. By the end of the book, I still don't like you or your loser boyfriend.

That said, I still had to read the whole thing, because I had to know what happened at the end. I guess that's why this book gets two stars instead of one for readability.

I absoloutely loved this book!!! It's by far my favorite christian romance book. Katie was an inspiring character and you couldn't help but love Benjie. Though it was a little predictable, it's still a great read. I highly recommend it!!

This book took awhile to get going, and when it did, it didn't last long, because once Ben and Katie married (in haste, I may add, but one has to take the time period in which this was set into consideration), it went downhill from there. So, even though I understand why Katie married Ben (for different reasons, at least at first, from why he married her), I think they should have had an understanding that they would wait until they were both in it for the right reasons before they slept together, the result of which almost ended their marriage (not in divorce, because that just wasn't done back then, but in separation). I liked Ben up until he found out she was with child, then all of a sudden, he wanted her to lose and move back home to Homestead, give up her career, everything. I really think he trapped her into marrying him, not intentionally, but then, she didn't have to say yes, either, though her reputation would have been ruined.

Anyway, I found Ben to be a selfish man (though he genuinely did love Katie, it was with a selfish love he loved her, because he kept trying to make what he wanted what she wanted). I think Katie should have put off a husband and children, or at least children, to pursue her career, like many women do today--get it out of her system first--and then work on building their families.

Of course, Ben wanted to get married and have children right then, but I believe both parties should wait until both parties are ready. That's the problem with many people today. They think nothing of bringing a child into the world, but the decision not to have a child is considered colossal.

I think Ben and Katie would have been better off remaining friends. She should have stayed single and lived in Washington, which had become her home, and if Ben couldn't fall in love with Charlotte, he could have kept looking. I mean, what's the rush? This book made it sound like just because you were in love, that was reason enough to get married. Then, if Katie ever grew tired of Washington and wanted to settle down and hadn't already married a Senator or something, and Ben was still single (or widowed) and living in Homestead, then they could have married.

I did enjoy Ms. Hatcher's use of scripture to show that God would be in favor of woman's suffrage, even if she did cherry pick, for, for every verse that's puts women equal with men, there's at least one more that doesn't, but Christian publishers don't want to publish a fiction novel that even mentions the less savory parts of the Bible instead of the happy, feel-good parts, and that's understandable. I think doing so would take away from the spirit of the book. Sometimes it's good to be a Pollyanna.

This book showed the positive side of feminism, but also how getting married can keep a woman from not pursuing, but accomplishing other interests (though not in Katie's case--her dream was just put on hold for a decade).

Overall, this book was decently written, but Katie's newspaper column and candidacy speech came across as generic. She said the right things, and with passion, but there was just something lacking in them that kept them from being truly inspirational and enlightening.

The best thing about this book was that it was about true feminism--not the kind of feminism National Organization of Women (NOW) puts out. All they care about is abortion. Now, women can dress like hookers and have to hold out their own chair.

Anyway, the worst thing I can say about this book is the nickname Benjie. It reminded me of the dog.

If that's the worst I can say, it wasn't that bad. Katie is likeable, but forgettable.

This was a HARD book to finish.
I never expected "Catching Katie" to be a literary masterpiece, yet somehow I still ended up utterly disappointed. This was my first Robin Lee Hatcher book, and I have to say, I am not motivated to read any of her others.

The largest and most obvious offense that this novel commits is the horrible cliché dialogue and narration - I literally groaned ALOUD several times per chapter at how cheesy and just plain ridiculous the writing was. I was SHOCKED to discover that with such aweful writing, Hatcher had once been the president of the Romance Writers of America!

The characters are so one-dimensional that they are downright unlikable - EVERY wholesome historical novel has the exact same characters! Their personalities and interactions were so predictable that I practically could have read this book with my eyes closed.

One redeeming quality about this book is the historical detail - the author did her homework on the Women's suffrage and American culture in the early 20th century. However, many times her narration begins to smack of a textbook passage - the detail is a bit too obvious for my liking.

One other positive thing I have to say about the novel is that the plot is slightly more original and has more twists than you might first suspect. It keeps you reading - but just barely.

Overall, I would not recommend this book. Do yourself a favor and go find something more intelligent, enjoyable, and flawlessly beautiful - I recommend books by Deeanne Gist and Liz Curtis Higgs.

I'd never read anything by Hatcher before, but "Catching Katie" makes me want to read all her novels. Hatcher's style is easygoing, and moves along while it still gives details. Unlike some genre novelists, she could be called a "good" writer, as well as someone who knows how to tell a good tale.

There's nothing very deep about this novel; it's a tale of a woman fighting her heart, and trying to balance career with love. But it's the perfect novel to read when you just want to get away from the world for a while.

For many years, one-time president of Romance Writers of America Robin Lee Hatcher wrote bestselling romance novels, including KISS ME, KATIE, about a young Idahoan fighting for a woman's right to vote. While Hatcher had accepted Christ in 1976, in the early 1990s she began to walk closer with Jesus, and she began reading inspirational fiction. She realized that she wanted to write novels that fit her new ideals and that some of her previous books could be tailored to fit her new writing model. Thus, her latest book, CATCHING KATIE, is her fifth "redeemed" one (Hatcher's term), an update of KISS ME, KATIE that incorporates a strong faith story into its romance.

Katie Jones is a graduate of Vassar College and has spent several years in Washington, D.C. lobbying on behalf of women's suffrage. She decides to move back home to Idaho, a state that had granted women suffrage in the late 19th century, in order to build momentum there --- and perhaps a platform for her own ambitions, although she's not completely aware of them as she rattles into the town of Homestead in her newfangled Model T Ford, nicknamed "Susan B" after Katie's hero.

What she is aware of is her burning desire to accomplish her goal of universal suffrage, and she doesn't consider what anyone else will think as she begins to do so. Her dear childhood friend, Ben Rafferty, is now the editor of the Homestead Herald, and Katie immediately "applies" to write a column about the subject closest to her heart. However, before she knows what's happening, that subject of her heart has changed --- it's become Ben. His former engagement broken off, it seems there's nothing to stand in the way of the childhood sweethearts getting married. In fact, they do (I won't spoil why, or how), but that doesn't solve the real dilemma for Katie, which is how to reconcile her feminist principles with marriage.

Hatcher tackles this subject head-on, by providing insight into the history of women's rights and by grounding Katie in a solid, no-nonsense pioneer Christian spirituality. Pioneer tradition had to acknowledge women as powerful and equal, because the work of building towns like Homestead couldn't have been done without them. It's small wonder that Idaho had early women's suffrage, and it's small wonder that Katie has no qualms about being seen as equal to men before marriage.

Of course, given the opinions of so many around her and given the culture of her era, Katie finds that once she and Ben are married in the eyes of God and man, she has a much more difficult time understanding herself. Fortunately, Hatcher helps the reader understand all sides of the issue, and grounds the conclusion in Scriptural as well as historical terms (for example, she demonstrates that many serious Christian women were also serious suffragettes; the movement was not filled with atheists and agnostics).

While Hatcher herself clearly believes that Christian marriage is about mutual submission and not about male dominance, she also clearly believes in the primacy of her relationship with Jesus Christ. Even readers who disagree with her views on men and women will find this tale of a bubbly young lady growing into womanhood a delightful and fresh take on the historical romance.

--- Reviewed by Bethanne Kelly Patrick

I picked up this book because it had Robin Lee Hatcher's name on it. I'd been very impressed by her story in Leisure Books "A Frontier Christmas" romance anthology, so I thought I would give her full-length novels a try. Please note that this review is for the original mass market paperback printing by Harper Collins in 1998, and not for the revised inspirational romance edition.

While the plot of this book was fairly interesting, my problem was with the characters. They felt very flat. Mary is a loving mother who would do anything for her son. She has fallen on hard times, and is running from an incident in her past that could ruin her life. Carson a tortured man who is trying to get past the hurt he suffered as the unwanted child of a prostitute. This could have been interesting, except that the author never probed the characters any deeper than these initial descriptions. I wanted to know what really made them tick. I wanted to know why they should fall in love with each other. The author didn't show me.

After the interesting beginning, the plot began to slow down until it was dragging. I had to keep bargaining with myself to keep reading this. I kept saying, 'well, I'll just read until page 100 and see if it picks up'. Then 'I'll just read until page 150 and see if it picks up then'. Then 'I'll just read until page 200' etc, etc. A good book shouldn't made a reader do this. A good book should have you zooming through it so fast that you're surprised (and sad) that it's over already.

I finally gave up on this, wanting to move on to something better. It seems that this author can write excellent novellas, but not entertaining full-length novels. This is the second of her full-length novels that I've tried, and as both were disappointing, I don't think that there will be a third.

As a reader of Christian Fiction I found this book to have immoral, sexual content. I had stop reading it.

I couldn't disagree more with the reader who said she struggled to finish and finally gave up. When I finished this book I immediately went to amazon to order the other two books in the series. I wanted more of Hatcher. She gave me what I always look for in a novel. Good people who are human and struggle with the same types of sins that I do and evil people who either repent or pay the price.

I read only Christian novels and this is an excellent example. I look forward to more books by Robin Lee Hatcher. She's great.

Mary Emeline Malone is looking for everyone else is seeking - love, family and a place to call home. When in Ireland she gave her heart and body to a man who said that he loved her and promised to send for her once he got settled in America with a job. They were to be married and live happily ever-after but the situation changed when Mary discovered that she was pregnant and couldn't wait to hear from him. She set off for America on her own to search for her to-be-husband only to discover once she arrived that he had already married another and had died in a miner's accident. Now Mary is left in New York to raise her baby boy on her own. But when an employer makes advances towards her with plans to make her his mistress, Mary does the only thing she knows to do and that is defend herself from him by hitting him on the head one afternoon when interrupted from cleaning in his study. Now she fears going to jail for murder and rushes to get her baby and head get out-of-town on the next train. While on the train, she meets up with a Madame who owns a saloon in Whistle Creek, Idaho but is dying of cancer. Trusting her instincts, Mary is offered a place to live and a job as bookkeeper at the saloon and Mary agrees. The first person Mary sees when she gets off the train is Sheriff Carson Barclay of Whistle Creek and Mary realizes that she is going to be running from the law the rest of her life. She has to avoid the sheriff or possibly be arrested for murder. Sheriff Carson Barclay has nothing for the saloon/whore house and "sees red" when he realizes that the beautiful woman with a son thats getting off the train is a new "girl" for the madame. But no matter how hard he tries to stay away- Carson is drawn to her only to lose his heart to a head strong woman with an Irish lilt and a past that is soon to catch up with her.

It was my first RLH book to read and is a good one though a little slow at times. The characters came to life for me and I really liked Mary and Carson but I also enjoyed the sub-characters as well. Yes, its a good story and one I would recommend it to read.

In the summer of 1910, wildfires in the Northern Rockies spread across millions of acres; the soot darkened the skies of New England and even drifted as far as the ice of Greenland. Seventy-eight firefighters died fighting the "Big Blowup" along the Montana-Idaho border. Nationally recognized fire historian Stephen J. Pyne presents Year of the Fires: The Story of the Great Fires of 1910, which tells of this tremendous catastrophe and how it forever changed America's policies for responding to forest fires. Accessible to scholars and lay readers alike, Year of the Fires is a welcome addition to American history shelves and highly recommended - especially considering that the lessons of the past remain just as relevant in "fire-prone" parts of the nation today.

Although some of the other reviewers disagree, Pyne has done a fantastic job of pulling together many diverse strands of primary materials to make a compelling narrative. Not only does Pyne tell the stories of individual firefighters on the line, but he interweaves larger political and environmental issues as well. Really, this is a model work as far as coordinating the "big picture" with the details. Readers of this work will learn about bureaucratic infighting in the early 1900's, competing forestry theories, the physics of how fires actually work, as well as slices of social history here and there. Pyne's greatest weakness in this book is that he tends to be too wordy and a bit too flamboyant with imagery. If you can overlook that and can see the big picture Pyne is painting, the book will draw you in.

The story of the great fires of 1910 that raged along the northern tier of the country from Washington to the Great Lakes, but especially the Big Blowup that occurred along the Montana-Idaho border that claimed over 70 firefighters in two days in late August. Heroes, cowards, and fools all appeared during those two days before the fierce winds that made containment difficult abated. Ed Pulaski saved a large crew from destruction by his actions. But Baudette and Spooner, both in Minnesota, were destroyed in only 20 minutes.

The country didn't really have a forest fire plan, in most cases just allowing fires to burn themselves out. But these fires, which destroyed so much property, forced officials to make big changes, among them the creation of the Forest Service.

A debate raged over whether fires should be fought head-on or by employing light burning to prevent devastating fires from erupting. (Pyne is weakest in dealing with these debates and doesn't make the issues or outcome clear.) In some ways the debate still continues, especially now that so many homes and communities have been built on forest lands.

A pretty interesting book, though Pyne's writing style is not very compelling.

This book could be some much more readable with, perhaps, an editor and another draft. The author has to juggle a lot of details - historical, political, social, biographical and statistical - but does so in an ungraceful confusing manner. The writing at times is distractingly florid. I compare this to Big Trouble by J. Anthony Lukas that handles a wealth of period detail with grace and a simplicity and directness of language that sweeps you along. I was very disappointed given the natural drama of the story.

I found this book through a newspaper review and eagerly bought it. I was very disappointed. It is overly academic, dull, poorly organized and excessively wordy. As a journalist, I understand the powers of brevity and clarity, but the author does not. Even the organization, by month, leaves a lot to be desired as the author still skips between months. The political background becomes so laborious that it is impossible to follow a chain of events or personalities. I would definitely skip reading this book, even though I forced my way through all of it, hoping that it would get better. It did not.

Let's dispel a few myths, some circulating hereabouts, about Fleisher's valuable book, which is getting much-deserved attention, but is of course not without its flaws:

Fleisher is not alone in advocating that a mass rape followed the massacre. In point of fact, Brigham Madsen, the primary historian of the Bear River massacre, also believes a mass rape ensued. That Madsen is a lapsed Mormon generally isn't taken as evidence that he's biased, and of course shouldn't be take as evidence that he's biased.

Only one-third of Fleisher's book deals directly with the history of the massacre as such, and related historical events. There are some factual errors therein, none of which invalidate her thesis or her analysis.

Fleisher is hardly the first to discuss rape in a military context. The gold standard here, and a book that Fleisher makes ample use of, is Susan Brownmiller's Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape. More recently, Maria Bevacqua has added a volume to this ongoing discussion. (Yes, Bevacqua blurbs Fleisher's book.) Rape continues to be a serious social problem, as we all know, and what Fleisher terms "genocidal rape" is happening right now, for instance, in Darfur.

Fleisher's primary target in her book is the *telling* of history, and how social realities invariably end up influencing such tellings. One of those social realities is gender, another is race, another is class, and so forth. Fleisher's interviews with the women who are arguing for and against a National Historic Site -- both of whom, incidentally, are Mormon (like so many others with whom she speaks), and both of whom Fleisher treats with the utmost journalistic respect -- comprise one practical (and contemporary) dimension of this situation. Her more theoretical point is not simply that historians are not "objective" -- a number of reviewers have incorrectly accused her of mounting such an argument -- her point is that objectivity and accuracy and truth and the like are invariably a function of the historian's perspective, and as such, we might need to understand how such perspectives are inflected by those social realities, above. Sure, there might be some things we can all agree upon, accuracy-wise -- we tend to treat facts as relatively stable entities (even if they're often proved not to be so stable) -- but here's a case in which we can't even agree on whether a mass rape took place (and we have a documented eyewitness account). So our stubborn pursuit of a fixed truth often blinds us to other possible truths, as Fleisher argues, which isn't to say we don't ultimately have to reckon with same.

And which leads us to the final portion of Fleisher's book, where she does a good deal of historical unearthing and (cultural) analysis to unpack the role that white women have played in Native affairs. All by way of casting her *own* work under increasingly harsh light, in order finally to draw some conclusions about history, about the telling of history, and about our public responsibility in addressing and participating in such tellings.

Drivel? I think not. And that kind of hatchet-job rhetoric is probably something that itself needs to be examined as a social reality now, given the preponderance of such hatchet jobs floating around in these spaces.

Serious students of the Bear River Massacre would find their time better spent reading some of the better researched and sourced materials available elsewhere. The banter surrounding the modern-day controversy is barely entertaining and hardly reaches the level of local Preston and Sho-Ban reservation gossip. It is evident that the author had little of substance to write, therefore a poorly-researched diatribe against mormons and a sad attempt to validate the battlefield rape tale, was her only way to get this trash published. Even the Southwest Shoshoni deny the rape accounts, yet this author so desparately wants it to be true that she goes to great lengths to substantiate this fairy tale with leading questions and wild fantasies-- obviously intended to titiliate the weak-minded. This is indeed a good first-hand look at what white-apologist, feminine revisionist history looks like. This book does nothing for history or for native americans. Sexist and bigoted baloney.

As a student persuing a Ph.D in American Indian History, I was not impressed with this book. Fleisher goes into long detail about her own experiences while writing her book, and what little "history" she does relate is easily found on the internet. The sources she uses are secondary and tertiary sources at best. If you want to learn about the Shoshoni and the Bear River massacre, I suggest one of Brigham D. Madsen's books; The Shoshoni Frontier and the Bear River Massacre, or Encounter with the Northwestern Shoshoni at Bear River in 1863: Battle or Massacre.

Fleisher's strategy is threefold: first, a sweeping survey and synthesis of histories and historical materials. This is less the work of an historian than of an accomplished prose stylist and original social thinker. (Historian Brigham D. Madsen's "The Shoshoni Frontier and the Bear River Massacre" (U of Utah P, 1985) provides the cornerstone for Fleisher's efforts here.) Readers will leave this first narration with a firm grasp of those historical contingencies that have complicated scholarly and public reception of the Bear River massacre and rape. In particular, Fleisher untangles the complex interweaving of Mormon and Shoshone (and Civil War) histories to illustrate how the blur of incontestable facts and competing fictions becomes crucial to the relatively muted reception (until now) of this seminal event. Next, in a startling move, Fleisher recommences her narrative to explore the circumstances that led her to embark on this intellectual journey. This second movement entails both an autobiographical account of the author's academic trappings -- and liabilities attending thereto -- as well as a journalistic archive of efforts underway to commemorate Bear River as a National Historic Site. In a provocative third movement, Fleisher then musters the resolve to scrutinize her own historical authority, asking why she feels compelled to insert herself into Shoshone and Mormon histories, being neither Shoshone nor Mormon. This leads to an astute reflection on the terms of her "busybody" historiography, including a review, at once graceful and witty, both of more popular 19th- and 20th-century representations and of the authorizing role of the historian as a teller of historical tales.

Ultimately this is a book of subjects, then, and of subjects often subjected to neglect. Despite the fact that the book is expertly researched -- clearly the product of years of work -- and includes an excellent bibliography and index, Fleisher's controversial decision not to employ footnotes (save for a sly, solitary footnote explaining her rationale!) will doubtless raise the ire of more fastidious scholars, while pleasing those of us who would sacrifice such notation for an enhanced measure of readability. Even more, the absence of footnotes -- and this is Fleisher's carefully measured ethical point -- forces readers to confront rather directly the question of accuracy, and whether historians' customary prerogative, their tacit claim to objectivity, does not in fact smooth out those rough edges of reality that a more bracingly essayistic (and autobiographical) approach can productively foreground. But as Fleisher's effort is one of recuperation, if not redemption -- public redemption, or the redemption of public consciousness -- her challenge to accuracy and authenticity cedes, at least in theory, the very authority she must wield in order to make a convincing argument. At any rate, if Fleisher's book occasions a debate about such matters, this will be owing less to any particularly novel textual maneuver or documentation controversy than to the sheer conviction bodied forth throughout, which conviction brings with it an insistence on critical reflexivity of the sort one finds in the writings of Robert Coles.

If this is a flawed book, it is no less for that a remarkable book, a necessary book, and a book that goes a long way toward demonstrating why history is never a done deal, and how the interpretive endeavor can be, at its postmodern best, the stuff of social reckoning.

Sometimes a little distance gives an author the ability to see a subject clearly-the historical distance, for example, necessary to see how past events predict contemporary consequences, how war is always brutal and dirties both its victims and victors no matter how many yellow ribbons we hang around it-and I couldn't help but be reminded of this while reading Fleisher's analysis of the Bear River rape and massacre at the same time that stories of American soldiers "abuse" of Iraqi prisoners were coming to light.

At its heart, this book is about the making of history itself: that is, how an event generates competing explanations that clash, and are either accepted as truth, alter each other, or fall out of memory. It is about how "truth" is made. Specifically, Fleisher focuses on the massacre of one Shoshoni village by U.S. troops, or rather she focuses on the competing agendas feuding over how this one event should be remembered today. Though there is some disagreement on some details (such as the body count), there isn't much disagreement on the essential fact that on that day U.S. soldiers murdered a village of Shoshoni Native Americans, committing rapes and other atrocities in the course of wiping out survivors. Like others historians, Fleisher assembles all the historical evidence: details, for example, like the fact that the attack was planned to take place at dawn when the village would be asleep and people could be killed in their tents, during the winter when the Shoshoni would all be gathered together, while the snow was deep so women and children couldn't run away. Unlike most historians, she questions how historians themselves remember this event, examining their methods, their own political agendas, wondering for example, why some cast the massacre as a military victory instead of an act of genocide.

But what makes this book remarkable, and distinguishes it from the conservative historians who have written about the event before her, is that she portrays the event not as some dusty artifact, but as an ongoing story that involves us all. For we all are involved: how we remember this story, or not, determines "what happened" that day and will contribute to what can happen tomorrow. Like an investigative journalist she interviews living descendants of the original massacre, both Native Americans and the white ranchers who still live on the land. Most remarkably she includes herself as part of the problem/solution with this story (sort of as the voice of the common man) and shows how all of us, ordinary American citizens, have a stake in how the event is remembered. Should the park service erect a memorial commemorating the brave actions of our men in uniform in a military victory against Indian warriors? Should the rapes that were committed be erased? Should no marker be erected? Or should we remind ourselves that war is brutal? That even our side commits atrocities, especially when expediency is at stake? That is, she asks if by white-washing history we make it easy for history to repeat itself, e.g. go to war lightly, convinced we will be remembered as virtuous no matter what we do?

I had no particular interest in Native American history before reading this book. But afterwards I realized that that was equivalent to saying I had no particular interest in my own history as an American, and by implication no particular interest in why my country behaves as it does today. The Bear River Massacre and the Making of History should be required reading for everyone, but especially for anyone who thinks they are patriotic. An important book.

This guidebook seems to be very comprehensive and complete, but the layout is not very clear. If I want to do a long hike or backpack from one trail head to another, the layout of the book makes if very difficult to figure out where to pick up the next trail to link the route together. Probably what is most confusing here are the maps. Many of the maps just end at the edge of the map and it's difficult to determine where in the book to pick up the next map that will allow me to complete my planned route. The layout just doesn't seem as clear as it could be for route planning.

I do like how the maps show distances between points though. Profile data for the routes along with the maps would be nice though.

Overall it's a nice guidebook with lots of information and good descriptions of the routes, but the layout seems to be the only drawback and it makes route planning more difficult than some other guidebooks I've used.

You must be a serious hiker who is in top phsical shape with all the equipment to use this book. Most of the hikes are many miles and some are for days and weeks. My hat is off to the author for having hiked all of these. They are well documented. The book is not useful to me as a casual hiker who is on vacation for a limited period of time.

I wanted a detailed guide to the trails in these areas, and recently spent two weeks in Idaho on a number of the trails discussed in this book.
The trail descriptions and directions to trail heads were uniformly good.
My only recommendation for a later edition is to qualify the hikes, so the hiker with limited time can focus on the really exceptional trails.
What trail do I recommend for an aggressive day hike? Saddleback Lakes, out of Redfish Lake trailhead.
Idaho is awesome.

Robert Varney
Encinitas, California

Margaret Fuller is an exceptional writer that combines how to get to some of the best locations in Idaho with a little history of the area. I own all of her guidebooks and would recommend them to anyone. One of my favorite pieces of information that she includes is how long a hike will take which makes it nice since I can plan better. Being a native Idahoan growing up in Salmon I was surprise at how much information and different hikes Margaret has put into her books. And if you have never been into the White Clouds buy this book and plan a trip. The area is spectacular and the vistas are unforgettable. They are some of my favorite mountains.

Although this is one of only two guides on the Sawtooths (the other one is very tough to get), and the Author has provided great trail descriptions, the organization of the book drives me crazy. The hike header information, that provides elevation, distance, and estimated time, seems to switch back and forth between describing that individual hike to describing an overarching hike that has been broken up into segments. I'd prefer the segments (to allow me to assemble my own loops). I think either way could be effective, however the mixture leaves the reader as a loss. Despite that issue, this is still the best source of information on the SNRA.