Utah Books

amazing book makes you feel as if you want to be in that world most touching and amazingly well written with no bias and no dodgy facts very good choice of language

Antonia Fraser's book, Mary Queen of Scots, is very readable and entertaining. However, the author's "hero-worship" of Mary and low opinion of English Queen Elizabeth I rings out loud and clear. Fraser makes history come alive; just be aware that this is her version of history.

Antonia Fraser's first biography still stands as one of her best. This is a sympathetic look at Mary who at a young age was used as a political pawn, raised not to be "Queen of the Scots" but to be Queen of France. After the Dauphin died, she eventually returned to Scotland as a stranger to the culture and religion of her native land. Though a strong women, she was easily led astray by her passions and her advisors. Her cousin Elizabeth I, offered Mary shelter after she was forced to abdicate her Scottish thrown. Instead of shelter, Elizabeth held her prisoner moving her from place to place to isolate her as much as possible. This is the first great read from Fraser.

Overall, this is a well-written and well-researched biography, although not objective enough about its subject. I appreciated the beautiful writing and the thorough scholarship of this book, although in the end I could not share the author's unqualified admiration for Mary Queen of Scots.

Ms. Fraser presents enough evidence to convince me that Mary probably was not involved beforehand in her second husband Darnley's murder, and that the infamous Casket Letters were probably forgeries or interpolations of other letters. She was certainly not prepared by her French upbringing to deal with the problems she found in Scotland, and was very ill-served by the brutal Scottish lords there, including her own half-brother.

However, Mary apparently did willingly marry her husband's murderer, which cost her the love of her subjects; willingly fled to England even though she knew she was seen as a rival to Queen Elizabeth's throne; and later on became involved in conspiracies in England to overthrow Elizabeth, which virtually forced Elizabeth to have her executed. Even Ms. Fraser cannot explain away these naive and reckless actions, although she tries. Her bias towards her subject is rather obvious. I also shared other readers' frustration with the many untranslated French and Latin phrases, which slows down the reading for those of us not fluent in those languages.

Before this book, I'd only just gotten started on my Mary Stuart research, having only read two "semi-biographies"(Mary and Elizabeth by Jane Dunn & Mary Queen of Scots and the Murder of Darnley) of her. I was hesitant about buying the book because I read the reviews of it on here and it sounded ugly. But I'm very glad I did buy it, because now I am much, much better informed on the subject of Mary than before.

I'm an Antonia Fraser fan, and this book is written in her usual poetic and heart-warming style. She is, I'd have to say, among my favorite historical biographers. She is clearly very passionate about her subject and I was able to sympathize with Mary throughout. Likewise, she is very good about referencing unlike her counterpart Alison Weir.

I'd have to disagree with the reviewers who said this book made Mary out to be saintly. She is portrayed, in my opinion, as sweet and strong, but by no means perfect. There were times in the bio when I thought she was extremely foolish, and often times I was out and out annoyed by her. I agreed with Fraser's conclusion that Mary probably did not try kill her second husband, Henry Darnley and that it was a political set-up. I also agree with her about the Casket Letters. I'm on the fence about Bothwell. I think many of his actions are not at odds with a rapist and abductor. Likewise, I don't see how or why he would proceed to murder Darnley and just hope that Mary would marry him, which could mean prompt execution or life imprisonment. But I didn't mark this against Fraser, because I'm still trying to figure out what I feel on the subject, and also because she convincingly argued her side.


I do take issue with a few slender things in the book. For one, I love Fraser's style, but I did find her constant use of footnotes distracting*. And I definitely agree with the reviewers who said it was biased against Elizabeth. Some of the commentary, such as sharp jabs at Elizabeth's beauty and lifestyle, were entirely editorial and completely uncalled for. Fraser degraded Elizabeth so hard at times that I felt her case for Mary might have been a little too weak. I've read several books on Elizabeth and none so far have made petty, out of place remarks about Mary and rightly so. Both were interesting, incredible women and one need not be knocked down at the expense of the other. This bio would have gotten five stars had there been a little more objectivity.





*Most of them I felt could have been worked conveniently into the narrative.

If you liked the 2007 film SEPTEMBER DAWN, then you will probably like this book, AMERICAN MASSACRE by Sally Denton, which takes you more in-depth into the real life characters and situations surrounding the Mountain Meadows Massacre. September Dawn

This book retells the stories surrounding the infamous Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857, when a peaceful wagon train of settlers headed west were unmercifully massacred by Mormons disguised as indians. Why? How? Will the guilty get away with it all?

The author can be hard to quote because she seems to constantly quote other sources, yet, if you ignore the abundance of endless quotation marks, the reading is very smooth and highly interesting, even fascinating.

Early on, the book has a great origin of the Mormon religion, then spends the rest of the book leading up to the Mountain Meadows Massacre, and its aftermath. Strangely, the massacre itself does not get so much space in comparison to the before and after events. It is still a great read of a book.

I enjoyed the expose' about Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. This book paints him as a showman and charmer who tricks his followers into believing his bizarre religious explanations and events. Between the strange beliefs and seedy activities of Joseph Smith and his followers, (revenge, murder, adultery and polygamy abound), it is a wonder how anybody could become a Mormon, under these circumstances. You would have to be not too bright to become a follower of Joseph Smith, at least, as portrayed in this book.

The greater bulk of the book concerns Brigham Young, the successor of Joseph Smith. Brigham is the focus of this book about the Mountain Meadow Massacre. How much did he know and authorize, before, during, and after the Massacre?

The book expands on characters seen in the film and also introduces many characters not even hinted at in the SEPTEMBER DAWN film. John D. Lee, the patsy and fall guy, is the only person sentenced to death for the massacre. His life and loyalties are explored in detail, as are also the key members of the victimized Fancher-Baker wagon train. Thomas Kane is a sort of un/official covert ambassador of the US government to coordinate tensions between the Mormons and the US. It seems that they came very close to having their own little war between Mormons and the USA, and the details are explained in this book.

This book reminds me of HELTER SKELTER by Vincent Bugliosi, in the way that it talks about the lives and beliefs of Charles Manson and his followers, I find a strange parallel with Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and the Mormons. What makes their followers so loyal to these unlikely, unlikable, yet highly charismatic leaders? Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders

I will leave it to others to defend the Mormons, if they so choose, but all that I know about Mormonism comes from this book, and I am left with a lack of enthusiasm for Mormonism, as a strange cult and a false branch/spin-off from the mainstream Judeo-Christian teachings and faith.

The Mormons are a self-described spin-off of the Old Testament Jews, but they have weird beliefs which do not jibe with Old and New Testament teachings as understood by Protestants, Catholics, and even Jews. At least, that is the perception that I have after reading this book.

This book reads like dishy gossip, at times, which should be avoided, yet it seems to equally warn of a false religious path to avoid, Mormonism, making it equally educational and edifying. I don't plan to spend any more time researching or going after the false religious teachings of Mormonism, but I enjoyed this book, which seemed to bring me up to speed about the dark origins and beliefs of Mormonism.

When reading the reviews of this book, it is clear that those who were raised in the Mormon faith are blinded by their own prejudices and the dogma they learned from the LDS Church on the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Denton's investigation into this atrocity is impressive, and her retelling of the massacre is excellent. Don't be dissuaded from reading the book by those who seek an end to the discussion/investigation of the massacre. Some (see below) even have the audacity to state, "Just let sleeping dogs lie." It's easy for them to call for this, as it's not their loved ones who were brutally and cowardly murdered by Mormons.

All those who were involved in the murders, including Brigham Young, stained their souls with the blood of their victims. Rather than call for an end to examining this horrid moment in our nation's history, LDS members today should be demanding that their church acknowledge the massacre, the role of church leaders in it, and issue a full apology to the families of the victims.

"Vengeance is Mine," saith the Lord. Vengeance is not Brigham Young's, or his followers, or mine. But then, I'm sure Brigham Young now knows this.

A very interesting, fair-handed glimpse into the Mormon faith and its history, early theological foundations. I don't get the sense this book is anti-mormon propaganda as a previous reviewer complained. In my opinion, it is a passionate attempt to assemble available data on what happened at the meadows massacre, for the sake of the murdered. Ms. Denton does a commendable job to maintain evenness while documenting a well researched history of a crime that certainly deserves re-opening the inquiry. This book is very much worth reading.

Sally Denton does a superb job at adding to the body of knowledge surrounding the Mountain Meadows Massacre which remains the largest single slaughter, by gunfire, of innocent people in America today - even though one hundred and fifty years have transpired since it occurred. Based upon her extensive research, which includes sources not previously uncovered (no pun intended) including the recent infamous exposure of human remains dredged up by a backhoe in 1999. This occurred while the mormons (who, pathetically, still own the land) were preparing to rebuild a cairn that fallen into a horrible state of disrepair. As Denton reports, the original cairn had been built by the United States Army, shortly after the massacre only to be desecrated by none other than Brigham Young who, in responding to the inscription on the wooden cross raised upon the monument which said, "Vengeance is mine: I will repay, saith the Lord," arrogantly proclaimed that, "Vengeance is mine, and I have taken a little." Immediately preceding Young's use of the secret "Danite signal," members of his vile death squad (the Danites) tore the memorial down. Since then, "memorials" on the site had come and gone.

Ironically, the cult brought in Shane Baker, an archeologist from Brigham Young University (where else?), to "examine" the site of the bloodbath prior to rebuilding the cairn "just in case" - of course, the cult wouldn't want to admit that they really had butchered so many innocent people and wouldn't begin work unless they were assured that nothing damning would be uncovered. Almost immediately after Baker stupidly proclaimed to the media that "the archaeological evidence (of the massacre) was 100 percent negative" the backhoe exposed the bones of the the cult's victims. Needless to say, the cult's attempt to further hide their involvement was immediately exposed and rightfully caused them another PR scandal. According to Utah State law, investigations are required whenever human remains were uncovered. As a result, experts (real ones, not the cult's shills from BYU) were brought in who quickly determined that large numbers of men, women, and CHILDREN had been slaughtered. The forensic evidence also revealed that the men had been shot, point blank, in the head, while most of the women and CHILDREN were bludgeoned to death. Furthermore, these investigations also revealed that the butchery was entirely attributed to white men rather than by the Paiute Indians. That, of course, is in direct conflict with the cult's long-standing contention that "the Indians did it." The cult's lame attempt to blame on "the Indians" is further exposed as a complete fraud is further supported by Ms. Denton's considerable research of records available from the National Archives, military sources, court records, etc., etc.

Not surprisingly, after the bones were exposed, the cult quickly moved in to hide their complicity with this atrocity - they had another one of their members, former Governor Mike Leavitt (who also just happens to be a descendant of Mormon polygamists as well as the direct descendent of Dudley Leavitt - one of the participants in the massacre), intentionally side-stepped state law and had the remains prematurely reinterred in order to prevent the already damning investigation from being completed. How convenient. Isn't it comforting to know that Leavitt is now serving as the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services?

Perhaps the most vile recent act concerning the cult's continual refusal to accept responsibility for their evil is the statement of Satan's child, Gordon B. Hinckley at "dedication" of the new Mountain Meadows monument just a month after the bones were accidently uncovered. Hinckley had that audacity to state, "That which we have done here must never be construed as an acknowledgment of the part of the church of any complicity in the occurrences of that fateful day." From Brigham Young's involvement in stirring up the cesspool of hatred that lead to the loss of so many innocent lies to the mad ramblings of the cult's current false prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, it's apparent that the evil will only continue. It's a good thing that books like "American Massacre" are published to expose the truth.

So this is "history"??? One has to ask because Denton's "investigative" skills are severely lacking...she self-righteously bludgeons the Mormons but can't keep her facts straight. Denton's only new "twist" is to hysterically proclaim the "true" motive for the massacre: Brigham's and the Mormon's greed. Wow...that's original...Will Bagley and Mark Hoffman didn't even come up with that...she must have been inspired by those Zane Grey westerns or old family wive's tales. The fact that thousands of emigrant parties (many of which were much richer than the Fancher Party) passed through Utah both before and after this Massacre with no incident to speak of certainly would clue our crack investigator to come to this conclusion. Further, the coincidence of the Fancher Party passing through Utah when a belligerent Federal Army was marching on a persecuted religious population (First Amendment??) in context of newspapers around the country calling for the extermination of the Mormons at that time couldn't possibly have had anything to do with it...

This book is a pathetic joke because it purports to be objective and historical but only achieves bias and bigotry. Thomas Kane was instrumental in stopping a genocide, but Denton attacks him probably because he did just that...those Mormons deserved to be PUNISHED!! Bagley, while biased, at least is not hysterical. Just another personal vendetta in the "Why I hate Mormon's" genre...I'm surprised someone had the bad taste to publish it. Don't waste your money...

As an ethnic Mormon I am interested in the history of my people. This was an illuminating look beneath the covers. I loved it.

If you are interested in history and Mormons, this is the book for you. Actually, if you are only interested in history, this is a very good read. The first part of the book was better I felt that the second two sections. However, all the areas of the book lent an interesting perspective to a fairly little known, but horrific event in history.

An overriding theme of this book is the impact of war and violence on women. Men wage conflict, yet women are left to deal with the consequences -- some of which last for decades and beyond. A very timely topic often omitted from history.

Red Water by Judith Freeman is a work of historical fiction that takes place in the mid-19th century western US. Welcome to Mormon country. Freeman's novel fleshes out the true story of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, in which a wagon train party of 120 men, women, and children were slaughtered by a group of Mormons (and possibly some American Indians). The novel is ostensibly about the man who was eventually held responsible for the murders, John D Lee, but told from the perspective of three of his wives (Emma, Ann, and Rachel). It's one of those stories from US history that's disturbing, fascinating, and terribly intriguing. Freeman deftly weaves hints of it throughout the novel, delighting less in shocking her audience and more in subtly conveying the horrors of it. For example, there's a scene in which Emma wears a beautiful dress that John gave her to a big Mormon festival. She is soon ostracized for flaunting such ill-gotten gains as the dress came from one of the women killed in the Massacre. This forces Emma to confront her feelings about her husband's involvement. It also brings up another juicy part of the story: were those that participated in the Massacre just following orders (from higher-ups in the Mormon hierarchy who believed in blood atonement, like Brigham Young), were they motivated by greed (for the wagon trainers were quite wealthy), or both? While the story is superficially about the Massacre and its startling effects on Mormon society, the novel is really about the wives. When each wife contemplates the Massacre and John's involvement, she discovers the true nature of her love and faith. I plowed through this book, enthralled by the relationships between the wives and with their husband. Polygamy is a lot like the Massacre to me: fascinating and horrifying. Freeman doesn't mince words and the passages about sexuality are some of the best. My only complaint is that I found myself skimming through the parts about the surrounding landscape. While Freeman admirably employs subtlety elsewhere in the novel, her blatant attempts to make The Land another character are too obvious. The metaphor is easy but she spells it out for the reader time and time again: the cruel, stark land is awash in red. You know, red like blood? Like the blood that flowed at the Massacre? Get it? Aside from that though, I recommend it. The three wives are so different. Everyone's favorite has to be Ann, the independent and tough child bride (13 when married to the middle-aged Lee). Her story is the most exciting but only in contrast to the other two. The three stories together combine to create a nuanced portrait of John D Lee and 19th century Mormonism.

Being somewhat of an old west buff and having visited the meadow mountain monument a few years ago I bought this book expecting it to be a story of the events surrounding the massacre. I was pleasantly surprised that the story had much more depth than that.

The story covers the twenty year interim between the actual event and the execution of John D. Lee the only member of the "Danites" to be tried and convicted in the massacre, told from the viewpoint of three of his nineteen wives. The book closes with the follow-up of these three womens lives after the execution of Lee.

Judith Freeman has woven together a well told story that is more about the human soul than about a historical event. She has portrayed the probable feelings of these three women with an insight that is rarely seen in writings today. From the way that these three women likely viewed and dealt with such things as polygamy and Mormonism to their reaction when they discovered that their husband was implicated in and hunted down for heinous crimes he had committed before they knew him and how one of them stood by him through it all it makes a spellbinding read.

Freeman is able to adjust her viewpoint and shows the ability to get inside the mind of and to feel and become the character. I couldn't put this one down until I was too tired to read each night and then I would pick it up the next day and become just as engrossed in it as I had been the day before.

This story is about greed and a person who has no conscience but who is clever and innovative and skillful..to a point. The LDS involvement is only at the edges but the book is not anti LDS..it's just not very complimentary. The LDS had nothing to do with the commission of the crimes...directly that is. Great reading..compliments to local police, many of whom no doubt were LDS.

This book is no more an attack on the Mormon church than a history of slavery in the South is an attack on America. It's just a well-written book about facts.

The book is not pro or anti-mormon. The reader is left to make his/her own decisions.

It is all too easy to spot those who have not read the book by the way they word their criticism and use Amazon as a forum to promote thier religious beliefs.

At first sight, this appears to be an engrossing true-crime narrative. But it soon becomes evident that the real agenda of the authors is to use the crime case as an excuse for attacking the Mormon church. All of the Mormon leaders are presented as scoundrels and all of the followers are presented as fools. In short, Mormonism is demonized. The book is full of cheap shots. No stone is left unturned in the authors' quest to ridicule Mormonism. This is out of place in a true-crime book and hopelessly detracts and distracts from the narrative. We are expected to believe that two-thirds of the inhabitants of an American state are scoundrels and fools. Nonsense!

This book details the history of Mark Hoffman, one of the most controversial figures in modern day Mormonism. This was the first book that I had read on Hoffman. I read it as a young man (about 16 years of age), and it prompted me to do further study on certain questions regarding Mormonism that I found troubling. In a sense, I owe the authors of this book a debt of gratitude, as it was through them that I eventually learned of Fawn Brodie and the Tanners. I've been out of Mormonism for nearly 13 years now. I am deeply grateful to be out of Mormonism.

I re-read this book again recently. It is a fascinating tale, certainly. However, it does seem to be too sensationalistic in points (not that the Hoffman story isn't sensational!). For a more balanced version of the Tales of Hoffman, I would reccommend Robert Lindsay's A Gathering of Saints.

To be quite honest, this book stinks. At first, the book does grasp you and you feel like "This is a really good book, nothing bad about it." But then, as each chapter goes further into a "momon bashing fit", the story deteriorates into what read as a "I Hate Mormons" campaign/manifesto. It feels as though the writers started not caring about what they wrote, as long as it was seen that mormons "are bad people, becuase they are human...shame on them, shame!....".

All told, I wasted $2.50 for a used copy of this book and increased my stupidity for it.

Lots of information, pictures and maps. Print is so condensed, it makes it hard to read. Adding a map of Lake Powell with numbered reference squares to the detailed maps would make it easier to use. Not everyone knows all the names of the canyons..., but they know about where they are on the lake.

Good details for hiking from your boat and how to find the interesting historic and archaeologic teasures in an already amazing area.

The emphasis of this book is hiking and is kind of like a boaters guide to hiking canyons. However, It still has lots of usefull information for boaters.

Even though the water levels were allmost 100ft below full on our last visit we still took the authors advice and hiked the narrow slotted canyon at the end of west canyon. This was a highlight of our one week trip and we would have never known about it without this book!

Lake powell is amazingly huge and beutiful. Having this book as a resource was well worth the money and added to the quality of our trip.

It would be nice if there were more books and guides on lake powell. But since this is the only one I found I can't complain much about it.

This book is chock full of information on Lake Powell, and it's apparent the author spent a lot of time exploring the lake....many years ago.
My family and I just returned from a Lake Powell vacation in July 2007, and most of the areas the author talks about are no longer accessible from the lake, or are unrecognizable, due to the current lake level.
The pictures are obviously dated as evidenced by the outfits visible in the photos.
All in all I'm not sorry I bought the book, and it has tons of facts about the lake and surrounding area, it just needs to be updated.

I once read that, "Indexes are among those necessary but never spectacular products of hard as well as skilled work that can sometimes make the difference between a book and good book."
That said, this is a book.
And it needs an index.
It also needs a clearer table of contents, an acceptance that the metric system will never gain popularity in America, fewer photos of the author in tiny shorts, and a complete redesign by someone who understands the value of a clear font and of blank white space between chapters.
These comments could be said of all of Michael Kelsey's guidebooks--all of which are full of facts, maps, and hikes that are indispensible to exploring the Colorado Plateau, and all of which are incredibly hard to find anything in.
I wish I could rate this higher, because these guides really have been helpful to me over the years--especially this one--but a guidebook should be easy to use, and its information should be easily accessible.
I'll keep my fingers crossed for the fifth edition.

I think this book wasn't very good. The whole story is kind
of slow and boring. The main characters are Brandon and Gramdpa. They are both Navajo. Everything else about them wasn't well described. The plots and story events are long and boring. It takes about 60 pgs to get to the first problem. For example: Brandon's parents are arguing about weather gramdpa should stay with them. The message in this book is never forget your lost ones. I would recomend this book to anyone who likes slow and long books.
By
Brendan

The story is about a boy who's grandfather gets sick and has to come up to his house from Little Waters , Arizona on a Navajo reservation. Brandon the, main character, has to give up a lot of things in the begging before his grandfather gets there. He has to take down his posters and he doesn't want to have his grandfather in his house living in the same room as he is. They have some problems like for Brandon he has to do Navajo traditions like in the morning at like six o'clock in the morning he has to run to the sun. Then Brandon sees why his grandfather makes him race the sun and it's because it just makes you fell good. Then his grandfather gets a letter from home and he wants to go home so Brandon gets some money and takes him to his home town. There they talk talk to there relatives. The next day Brandon's parents get there and they are very mad. Later that day they go to his grandfather's house and then there they spend the night. The next day Brandon races the sun and you'll have to read the book to find out what happens next.
I thought this book was very interesting because it had some Navajo traditions that where very intriguing. I would give it three out of five stars (which is above average) because it was a little slow at times like in the begging when Brandon and his best friend are doing math and come home and talk about Brandon's grandfather coming to the city. On a general basis it was a good interesting book. It was good but if u like action packed adventurous books I don't recommend it to you.

12 year-old Brandon Rogers' grandpa has to move in with him. At first, what he does is annoying to Brandon but then he starts liking it. Brandon didn't know much about his culture until his grandpa came but then he learned how to race the sun.

I didn't like this book because there wasn't any action until the end and there wasn't any suspense.

I wouldnt' recommend this book because it was one of the worst books I have ever read.

Brandon, an ordinary twelve-year-old boy who lives in suburbia has an Indian heritage. Brandon who does not know much about his Navajo background sees a letter sitting on the kitchen table and sees that his grandfather will be coming to their house for the summer. His parents decide that he should sleep in Brandon's room and replace is bed for a bunk bed. Grandpa comes to the home with and Indian smell, He is exhausted from riding so long to the their house. By the next morning before the sun is up, his grandfather wakens Brandon. This is where the teachings of Navajo life begin! Grandpa sends Brandon to race to where the sun comes up, and then race back when the sun peaks over the trees. After that, it makes him feel great. Now he has to "Race the sun" each morning. Next, Grandpa teaches how to plant, where to plant, and what to plant. After a month, Grandpa is sick. Sick of his old age and misses his home and the fresh smells of the sage brush down where he lived. Brandon now cares for his grandfather and wants to take him back down to the reservation. Brand fiqures out a way to run away with his grandfather without anyone knowing it! The rest of the book you will have to read. I give this book *** (3) out of 5 stars. The book was planned well but had a sad ending.

12-year old Brandon's Grandpa said he was going to come. Brandon was horrified, but then when his Grandpa told him to race the sun and heard him chant at night, Brandon couldn't stand it anymore. But soon Brandon grows to loves his Grandpa. Soon, when he heard that his Grandpa had cancer, and wanted to go back to his homeland, but his parents won't listen, he decides to runaway with his Grandpa.

I think this book was kind of boring then kind of fun. First it was boring, but the middle and the ending was great! Some of the parts were funny (like the part when Brandon called Grandpa a genuine Navajo alarm clock), and some of the parts were sad (like the part when Grandpa died...)
I would reccomend this book to anybody who likes stories that are a little bit funny and sad.

Living in Utah makes this event too close for comfort which compelled me to read this book. This author's perspective was very interesting and exciting. I found the book to be full of interesting facts some of which I had not heard or read before. It also has reminded me that our society had changed in a frightening direction when we are no longer safe in our own homes.

This is a rather boring book...I picked it up after a friend of mine recommended it to me. Although it only took 2-3 to read it, it was boring. It took all I had to actually get through it. The writing is easy enough-but just in a vocabulary and level sense. My younger sisters and brother could read it with no problems. It's just that there's no real good flow.

What Elizabeth experienced was harrowing, and one of the reason why she's home is because of all the media coverage...

My hand trembled with each and every page I read.
With each word my mind went back to when I was kidnapped, beaten, tortured and raped in Moscow in January of 1992 by early Al qeada operatives.
Maggie, you have written a spine chilling account of Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping and rescue.
I applaud you for your writing skills.

-Yvonne Bornstein, Author, Eleven Days Of Hell- My True Story Of Kidnapping, Terror, Torture and Historic FBI and KGB Rescue

I read part of this book when the hardcover version first came out. What a horrific experience for that family and how miraculous that they had a happy ending!! I still remember where I was when I heard that she had been found. I didn't read the whole book because it was too disturbing and I get nightmares easily. It really bothers me when people criticize the family for writing a book and allowing it to be put into a movie. Why shouldn't they share their miracle? I would! Not a whole lot of children/teens come back alive when they are kidnapped and so I think the family are doing right to share their story. I'm sure that it will help other families to have hope. And what is the family doing now? They are presently helping another family who has a missing family member! So many others would want to just forget about it, but instead they are out there trying to help and comfort another family. That's really quite commendable. I did notice when I read what I read, that they do include a bit of information about their belief system. Although I don't agree with their theology at all, I do believe that they have every right to talk about it in their book. All of us would do that if we were in the same situation. They were sharing how they got through the ordeal and of course their faith is going to be mentioned. I was certainly praying too and I even hung light blue ribbons (her favourite colour) in a few places. There are so few miracles in the news nowadays and I'm glad that the Smarts are sharing their story. I really think the point of the book is how good is coming out of such a terrible tragedy.

When i got this book i expected it to tell me what exactly happened to elizabeth whilst she was captured, it told me pretty much nothing!! and left me a lot of questions!! all i got what how they tried to get her back and the way they lived on the streets. i had to guess by the insinuations that there had been sexual abuse, but im not sure what else! i assumed that the author researched and interviewed her and was going to tell us things we didnt know but it didnt! maybe that was the intention of the book, as the title shouldve told me that but everything it did tell me was everything the media pretty much told us. i would love to know why she didnt run, other than speculations and what all happened to her when she was gone. if you want to know media info then i suppose this book is good but if u are trying to find out what happened to her you'll be very dissapointed!it was written well though.

Justin McCarthy has done a fine job of explaining the context and background of the many different events near the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Much of the information is very intriguing and sheds light on a very obscure history in Eastern Anatolia.

If you've ever wondered what really happened to the Armenians, then you should read this book. The book doesn't give you conclusions, it gives you facts. It's a history book, it's not meant for a political audience and it has no political role.

This a book written by a paid writer who tries to sell himself as a historian. He is just a knot in the self defeating campaign by the Turkish government to deny the Armenian Genocide. No amount of money can silence the truth.

This is an articulate book of a controversial issue by a great historian from the United States. It is no surprise that nationalists are here trying to stop you from buying this book, because they know that the truth will damage their system of belief. The rebellion in Van is sometimes excused by Armenian nationalists as some sort of "defense of Van"; however, since when did people find the time to dig trenches around a city if it was simply self-defense? It was a rebellion!

It was definitely a rebellion, and it downplays the whole genocide argument, and that is why the book is so controversial and that is why some people are ferociously attacking it!

It is a little boring in the first chapter but then it gets extremely interesting and exciting in the later chapters. If anyone is even remotely interested in this subject this is a good read.

The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide (Utah Series in Turkish and Islamic Stud)

The book (As the title suggests) outlines the events that lead up to the Armenian rebellion in the east Anatolian city of Van and its consequences to not only both communities (Armenian and Muslim (I deliberately use 'Muslim' rather than Turk and will explain why later)) But also to the great powers of the time.

McCarthy begins his book by relating to us the journal of two Western travellers who journeyed to Van in 1919 and found a city in ruins populated by an Armenian majority and a tiny Muslim minority. Devastated Mosques, destroyed buildings and ruined villages.

He then goes on to provide the reader with some background into the city of Van and its surrounding area during the late Ottoman times. He points out that the city was one that unlike Erzurum was off the beaten track for trade, too distant from Istanbul the capital and with the Ottoman empire lacking in finances unable to develop the city. McCarthy describes how the city did have a moderately wealthy population who lived off trade primarily with Iran and Russia.

In Mccarthy's view, the Van Provence suffered from several key problems. one being the tribal structure of the Kurds who were only nominally under Ottoman rule whose tribal system often involved attacks on weaker groups both Muslim and Christian (Primarily villages) leading to a situation where almost every village was armed. 2 a weak and underpaid army mainly from Central Anatolia that had neither the arms or manpower to successfully deal with rebellious tribes or inter clan fighting. 3 Armenian political groups that intended to exploit the situation of disorder by provoking attacks from Kurdish clans and advertising it as "Muslims attacking Christians" and 4 The great powers especially Russia preventing the Ottomans from dealing effectively with the insurgents by seeking any opportunity to interview under the pretext of "Protecting a minority"

McCarthy states that Armenian insurgent groups while smuggling arms into the area knew very well that their rebellion would be unsuccessful but believed that should they provoke an outrage in response they would gain the sympathy of the great powers to their cause in much the same way as had happened in the Balkans and that was the main goal of their rebellion.

Leading up to the revolt, the Ottomans had placed a larger garrison of troops in Van and had an able officer capable of dealing with any violent unrest however while dealing with the problem in Van were incapable of dealing with the reprisals that took place in the rural areas. According to McCarthy the deaths of Muslims in the Van rebellion outnumbered those of Armenians however in the rural areas where the Kurdish tribes were far stronger and Armenians weaker the numbers of Armenian deaths were far greater.

McCarthy then goes on to narrate the situation leading up to Word War 1. How while Armenians had been granted higher positions in the Ottoman government and how Armenian parties had supported the Young Turks they deserted some before war broke out others en mass while armed during the war and often used their weapons on the civilian population. McCarthy points out that Kurds in the east who had for so long been only nominally under Ottoman rule soon began to be used by the great powers (Primarily Russia) in an attempt both to destabilise the Ottoman empire and also to gain ground from them.

In conclusion, McCarthy aptly shows that the situation in Eastern Turkey leading up to the Van revolt was far from clear cut. It was certainly not "Muslim Vs Christian" and according to McCarthy there could not possibly have been a government policy to massacre the Armenians as not only were they citizens within the state whom the government had sent troops to protect and even armed for service in the army but also it would make no economic or strategic sense to do so.

I would recommend reading this book as it does cover an aspect of World War 1 that we in the west know very little of and would also be of great interest to anyone with an interest in the Middle East and the Caucuses. McCarthy points out the connection with Armenian rebellions in Iran, how the Iranian government at the time had also exploited the Armenians against their regional rivals the Ottomans, Kurdish politics and Russia's eastern front.

A fascinating book that does require some time to read and it would help if the reader had some background knowledge on the subject before reading as although McCarthy does not labour on the subject there can at times be far too much information to digest.

I found this a much better read than his book "The ethnic cleansing of the Ottoman Muslims" because it was far more regional specific and less general. I used "Muslim" rather than "Turk" simply because It was Turks and Kurds involved in the conflict, though as McCarthy is at pains to point out the tragedy of east Anatolia was far from one of Muslim Vs Christian.

Query how an author and purported historian who is on the Turkish Government's payroll write an honest and unbiased representation of history? We should ask the author how much he has been paid by the successors of a regime of genocidal murderers. He may try to justify the facts, he may try to rewrite history, but the truth will always prevail.

More maps would be nice. I would have to agree about the using the minutes (ie 70 minutes) for beta. On the other hand one should always take the maps anyway.

Opposite of Kelsey, difficulties seem to be over exagerated, rather than underexagerated. It would be nic if all authors used the same terminology for diffiuclt and easy, but this will likely never happen.

Steve seems to skip over some fantastic stuff, in favor of some more mundane stuff on some hikes, but all you have to do is do some side trips. To get the most out of this (or any) book, leave the paint by numbers route description on occasion and do some exploring on you own.

I would still highly recommend the book. It's a great source of info.

Don't pay a ridiculous collectors price. A corrected, new and better edition is in the works, and the profit will go the the author/publisher.

Keep in mind that this book describes the San Rafael Swell. This is a remote, undeveloped part of the world. If you use a guidebook, such as Steve's, that doesn't include all the GPS points and topo maps, then maybe you'll realize that you are going to need more than a guide book to do this stuff safely. And that, my friends, is the genioius of Steve's book. It will get you started, but you need to invest some time with maps etc before the trip to do it safely.

Route descriptions for this part of the world should be in units of time rather than units of length. Not all 5 mile roads in the San Rafael are created equal.

We've hiked 5 or 6 routes in Steve's book. With proper pre-trip planning, we've always been safe and never seriously lost (we've just experienced temporary navigational inconveniences, so far!)

Mike.

We used Allen's books many times. The information is wrong way too often regarding exit and entrance points in canyons. It seems that nobody reviews guidebooks before publishing. The worst trio we discovered so far are: Steve Allen, Michael Kelsey and Vivian Lougheed. Hiker beware!

ET huh? Yeah I know exactly what you mean! Just did that hike suggested in the guide book this weekend. This book serves as a list of hikes to do, but you better have a topo map and some good orienteering skills to match. He listed maps used for the hike but omitted the map which showed the latter third of the end of the canyon. We are lucky we realised this or we would have been trying to exit in the wrong spot. Not only does he use times to find confusing, he gets mileage wrong when he does give it! He said it was about 16 miles for the total trip. We used a topo program to count the mileage afterwards. It was at least 24 miles! Be careful when using this book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Husband wanted book, I ordered it. He likes it.

Got this book in preparation for a trip to the area. It's very comprehensive, but looks like it was laid out with an old fashioned typewrite. Still, if you plan to hike the Paria River, it's definately a good resource..

Found this guide book very helpful in a canyoneering trip down this nice canyon. I read the book before an April 2003 Paria Canyon trip starting at White House Trailhead and going all the way to Lee's Ferry. One thing was missing from my pack though....the book!

My trip I carried the BLM map/travel guide you can purchase at the Paria Ranger Station. It was $8.00 and I had a detailed map with camp sites and all known streams for water. The Kelsey Book has little dots or symbols for the sites which were pretty useless when the maps are so small in print. I was glad on the trip I had the BLM Guide for the trip.

Check the weather forecast before you leave and again at the ranger station. The summer of 2003 in September there were flash floods in the canyon from storms over 40 miles away!

The Paria Ranger Station reports temperatures to the weather service and rain/snow amounts. You will have to go to noaa.gov site for the info. Enter Kanab or Salt Lake City in the today's forecast box and then at the bottom of the forecast page will be additional forecast info - press the forecast discussion. On the new page enter state summary and look on the page for Paria Ranger Station!! There the high and low's will be listed with any precipitation amounts. The ranger station calls in the info every day.

Remember to pack the book for your trip to help you with your travels down this great canyon.

As an American I lived my life of [...] years in feet and miles. I too heard my [...] teacher (nearly 45 years ago) say better get used to metric the US is the last country on the planet not using it and SOON you will have to use it. Never happened! (except for beverage providers who saw an oportunity to give us less product for the same price!) Wilderness hiking can be very dangerous, you need to know where you are, and I can't be pulling a calculator out every page to figure out how far 13.7 meters is!! Otherwise the book is filled with very good information. Pick up a detailed map at the trail head the maps in the book are too small to be of any help.

This book is outstanding. I'm an avid canyoneer and these books got me started. Many think they're too good. I follow the canyoneering boards and people consistently complain that Kelsey gives away too much information and allows, "just anyone who buys the book" to get in the deepest, darkets canyons. The land managers down right hate these books because people get into trouble. I think a good guidebook tells you about an area and it's up to the individual to be responsible and not exceed their abilities.

Aside from the extermely thorough and detailed area information, Kelsey takes pains to explain the history of the area and to prepare you for what you need to do spend time in these strange lands. I have hundreds of guidebooks from around the world and none of them comes close to Kelsey's in these areas. They are a treat to read.

There are a few quirky things about Kelsey's work. He lists everthing in metric. I agree this makes perfect sense from a technical (the rest of the world is metric and it makes much more sense) point of view but still have to do a poor job of converting everything back to miles in my head. It would be better to list miles in brackets after the kilometers. Kelsey is also (apparently) very fit because his hiking times are impressively rapid. I usually add 50% to his times to get a realistic estimate of how long it will take me.

All in all, I couldn't recommend Kelsey's books more. He is an extremely hard working, dedicated author. His works are jewels for this area and will long be recognized as not only the geographical authority but also the historical authority in this wonderful part of the world. Buy everything he writes.