Pacific Books

You could live in London all of your life, and never see Buckingham Palace. You could live in Washington D.C., and never see the White House. You could live in Alaska, and never see the beautiful wilderness that surrounds you - and that's what happened to author Sherry Simpson. "The Accidental Explorer: Wayfinding in Alaska" is her tale of accidentally discovering the vast natural wonder surrounding her during an epic solo hike across it all, despite not being much of a seasoned hiker. Written with humility versus the nature that she is simply a simple city girl facing vast odds, "The Accidental Explorer: Wayfinding in Alaska" is highly recommended for any true adventure collection and for anyone who wants to read a tale of explorer about someone who is not so much unlike them.

The more I read her work, the more convinced I become that Sherry Simpson is not only Alaska's most accomplished essayist, but that she ranks among the best in the nation. The latest proof is The Accidental Explorer: Wayfinding in Alaska. At one level, this collection of 10 personal essays recounts memorable trips into Alaska's wild places (most, but not all, emphasizing her own travels), written by a person who thinks hard about things, is willing to take risks, and has a wonderful talent for self-deprecating humor and story telling. The remote areas she writes about range from Glacier Bay to Denali National Park, the vast flatlands of the Yukon River basin, and an imposingly wild stretch of the Alaska coast that remains unnamed. But the specific places aren't as important as her experiences, lessons learned, questions raised, and the ideas that Simpson mulls in that restless, roving, worrisome mind of hers. Early on she admits to being a fretter. The reader gains as much, if not more, from her fretful and inquisitive mind as from the adventures themselves.

As with the best of essays, these are multi-layered gems. Besides sharing her sometimes funny, other times sad or disconcerting, occasionally frightening, and always humbling passages through Alaska's wilds, Simpson writes movingly and unflinchingly about home and family. One of the strongest essays, I think, is "Fidelity," which in large part reflects upon about a troubled time in her marriage and the importance of what endures. In fact home and wilderness - and various notions of each - are juxtaposed against each other throughout the book and that juxtaposition creates one of the book's delicious tensions. Simpson is also fascinated by both the Euro-American explorers (many of them military men) who made the earliest Westernized maps of Alaska, and Alaska's Original Peoples, who created their own internal maps of the landscape while building a far more substantial and lasting relationship with the places they have come to know over the millennia. Both "The Mapmaker" (which focuses on mapper-and-explorer-turned-homesteader Bill Yanert) and "Hypothetical Geographies" take the reader to unexpected terrain as they consider the various ways we humans "map out" new territories and homelands. There's lots more here: the importance of stories, the dangers of not paying sufficient attention to advice, instincts, or the landscape itself (death and the specter of death are frequent elements of the stories, including a wonderfully provocative piece on Chris McCandless, of Into the Wild fame - or notoriety - in "A Man Made Cold by the Universe"); and the internal tensions carried by a writer who wonders "how could I ever reconcile this constant restlessness with the desire to know and love one place?" The essays superbly blend Simpson's personal idiosyncrasies with larger questions about discovery, longing, imagination, and how it is that each of us finds - or seeks to find - his or her own place in the world.

A final thought: I'd previously read (and in one case, heard) versions of five of the essays included in this collection; and I found each to be powerful and illuminating this time around. In short, these are essays you can return to again and again, and take away some new insight or delight. That's essay writing at its best.

Sherry Simpson's earlier essay collection, The Way Winter Comes, was topnotch. The Accidental Explorer is even better. Her voice has mellowed some since her last book, and this seasoning imparts a difficult wisdom--the price of living an examined life. Two of the essays, "Impedimenta" and "Fidelity," are more than worth the price of the book. Excellent.

I recently rode my motorcycle up the Alaska Highway and space was pretty limited. I photocopied pages out of various other books, but brought this one along intact.

It stayed in my tankbag every day, was brought out at every meal, and was pored over in hotel rooms at night. I'm also a writer, and my Adventure Guide to the Alaska Highway became my de facto notebook on the trip -- post-it notes of every color peek out from its pages; notes line the margins.

There are a finite number of places to stop along the Alaska Highway; most guidebooks will give you pretty much all of them. What makes this one different is its tone. The authors obvious enjoy both the road and writing about it. Personal anecdotes are lightly sprinkled into the text, giving the impression that yes, the authors know what they're talking about. I learned little bits of history about the areas I rode through; not so much that it weighed down the book, but just enough to pique my interest and send me scampering to the library once I got back.

Also, the book is laid out very well. The font is easy on the eyes; bold section headers made it easy to find what I was looking for, even while balancing the book on my tankbag after pulling to the side of some gravelly road in the middle of nowhere.

While the Milepost will give you every pullout and scenic view on the highway, this book is great reading about what to do, and what to see on your way. The information is very accurate and intresting. In this book, when you look up a certain place you end up reading on and on.

I took this book with the AAA guidebook on my trip to Alaska, read the AAA intro on the plane there and read only this book for the rest of the trip. We traveled more than 2,000 miles on the Alaska Highway. This book has been a great companion and guide book wherever we go. I even did some more reading on the plane back home because the writing was interesting. It may be partly because Alaska is such an interesting subject; but the book is definitely fun to read.

I just returned from a trip to St. Kitts and Nevis and found this book very useful, from the time I was selecting a hotel until I was on the island and looking for a place to eat. Through this guide, I learned about many out of the way spots that were overlooked by other guides. I am looking forward to using other sections of the book on a trip next year to St. Martin and Anguilla.

I have been traveling to Anguilla for several years but just found some new discoveries in this guidebook.

I wish I had met this book before I went to St. Kitts & Nevis for the first time. It tells you everything about them and you can count on it. Very easy to find out what to do, where to go, stay and eat. Very organized and easy to read. Many pictures in this book.

Mike White has borrowed the very successful book format pioneered by Jerry Schad to produce 'Afoot & Afield Reno-Tahoe.' Like the original books in the Afoot & Afield series, this volume aims to provide a comprehensive listing of all the day hikes over a broad region within California and Nevada. The result is 175 hikes centered around Lake Tahoe but including the northernmost parts of the Sierra near Graeagle and extending south of Carson Pass. The hikes also vary tremendously in length, ranging from 1/2 mile nature walks to 18 mile all day treks along the Tahoe Rim Trail. All of the classic hikes in the region are described, including the climb to the summits of Mt. Tallac and Mt. Rose, the Tahoe Meadows trail, and beautiful Showers Lake. Literally everyone will be able to find something to suit their tastes in this book, but readers should be warned that White does tend to favor longer and more strenuous hikes. The average hike in this guide is about 7 miles long and includes some serious elevation gain. Nonetheless, White often offers shorter options for his routes so more casual day hikers like my wife and myself will still be able to make use of this guide.

Like other books in the 'Afoot and Afield' series by Wilderness Press, this volume includes a nice chapter on the local and natural history of the region. Route descriptions also feature occasional sidebars to highlight areas of local historical interest. Most important, this book includes excellent maps and retains two features that made Jerry Schad's original books in the series so successful. The first is that the broader region is subdivided into smaller areas so that readers can find hikes that are close to their campgrounds, condos, or casinos as the case may be. Second, each description begins with a capsule summary that quickly gives you details about distance, elevation gain, approximate hiking time, and difficulty for each trail. This is invaluable for tourists who have only a few days to spend in the area.

My last visit to Tahoe was primarily for the purpose of backpacking the Tahoe Rim Trail. I never finished the last 60 miles and have intended to return ever since. This book has further whetted my appetite. The Reno-Tahoe area is one of the most spectacular hiking regions in California and Mike White's volume is a fine addition to the books on the area. If you are planning a visit to the area, this book will be an excellent resource.

We purchased this book for a vacation in Lake Tahoe, and it provided a wonderfully complete summary of the hikes, organized by region. The summaries at the beginning of each hike give you the mileage, terrain, and difficulty rating and were extremely helpful in selecting hikes for each day. The maps are better than many other hiking guides I've seen, because they show all nearby trails in relation to each other, not jut each individual trail. we purchased a US Forest Service map, which was nice to have, but we could have gotten by just with the maps in the book.

Informatively written by Reno local Mike White, Afoot & Afield Reno-Tahoe: A Comprehensive Hiking Guide is a satisfyingly in-depth outdoor hiking guide to the Reno-Tahoe region on the Nevada-California border. Intended for both visitors and residents, Afoot & Afield Reno-Tahoe covers general safety and practical guidelines for hikers plus in-depth examinations of more than 175 mountain hiking and mountain biking trips in the region. Routes vary in length from less than a mile to an 18-mile point-to-point challenge. Black-and-white photographs illustrate this top-quality guide for hikers of all skill and experience levels looking forward to enjoying the Reno-Tahoe wilderness.

The authors of "After Moruroa - France in the South Pacific" have done a brilliant job in relating France's colonial history in the South Pacific to its global and economic interests in the region today. And it is Maclellan and Chesneaux's ability to weave between past and present which makes this book such an engaging read....After Moruroa is an important book containing a vast amount of material... from review in Race and Class (UK), January-March 2000

"Nic Maclellan and Jean Chesneaux have produced After Moruroa, an enlightening history, analysis and interpretation of French thinking about the Pacific - made all the more valuable by its publication just before the referendum [in New Caledonia] in November" excerpt from review in Islands Business, October 1998

This is an excellent and readable summary of the French presence in the South Pacific, stretching from the days of Bougainville and the "discovery", to present day - and into the future. The situation in French Polynesia and New Caledonia is made understandable, whereas the somewhat forgotten islands of Wallis and Futuna are more briefly treated. This book allows the reader to understand what is specific about French colonialism, from cultural as well as historical and political aspects.

so lucrative it attracted doctors & lawers . alaska's great salmon fisheries.

This is a profoundly moving account of a young commercial fisherman working in the pristine, danger-filled fishing ground of South-Eastern Alaska in the early 70's. Told in first person in a diary format, events of the four months of the fishing season takes the reader from descriptions of the beauty of the sea & land to terror of nature on the edge. There is direct manner to Upton's style that puts the reader right in the boat. This is great reading for any arm chair sailor that has dreamed of exploring The Great Land by boat.

Call me crazy, but this one is a 10 for me. I got my copy in 79 when it came out. Joe is a wonderful story teller. This book documents the joys and challenges of Upton and his wife during a season as small boat trollers in the southeast Alaska troll salmon fishery. The book is about commercial fishing, but really it is about staying alive and making a living in storms, good fishing and bad. If you can find it, GET IT

A fantastic informational book about the madicinal plants that this state
has to offer. Learn a lot about the wild plants and their uses or ones that you should stay away from. Would recommend this book and the seller
from whom I purchased it from, booksurf11.
Paula

Divided by plant - includes a line drawing (full page), plant description, distribution, constituents, medicinal, culinary and other uses. Many of the medicinal uses are taken from the traditions of the Alaskan Natives and work very well... I have personally used my copy of this book for many years with great results

Everyone in the part of AK that I live in part of the year harvests their necessities. This is one of them.

If you have time to read only one book on Immigration in the Trans-Mississippi West this classic by Stewart is the one. Filled with characters and anecdotes it started me on a long and large collection of books on the Old West. Many published in small numbers have been excellent investments.

Stewart tells us a splendid story. In 1840, California was there to be settled, but how to cross the deserts and mountains to reach it? Beginning with the Bartelson Party in 1841, pioneers blazed ever-better trails that avoided deserts, followed water, and crossed the mountains, especially the forbidding peaks of the Sierras. But even though trails improved, they were still treacherous, as shown by the doomed Donner Party in 1846. We get a fascinating picture of the West, and Stewart even takes on a trip along the California Trail, from Independence, Missouri to Sacramento via Fort Laramie, Wyoming's South Pass, Nevada's Humboldt River, and over Donner Pass. If you enjoy travel or American history, you can spend many, pleasant hours with this book.

Because my family also migrated to California (albiet in 1993) I have been interested in the history of the settling of the American west. This book was wonderfully informative but also very compelling reading. It chronicles the annual human migrations from the Missouri to California, including the ill-fated Donner party (in 1845)and the famous "49ers". The author did a very good job comparing the immigrants mode of travel, unique difficulties faced during each of these migration years, route finding and heroes and villans, and the sweat and tears progress which lead to the wider opening and settlement of the west.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the history of the settlement of the west or anyone who just wants to read a good old-fashioned adventure story based in historical fact.

This book successfully takes you beyond the fighting and into the lives of those unsung heroes who dealt with the consequences and how they coped on a daily basis. I really felt I knew the characters and could hear their voices, so real and descriptive was the story-telling. It opened my eyes to aspects of this war and facts I knew nothing about. A thoroughly compelling read.

This was a compelling book which once started I found hard to put down. In between reading I would wonder just what the characters would upto in the next chapter.They had captured me and carried me on a journey of emotions as though I were beside them. An ordinary persons tale, one we can all relate too as a parent or child. Most of all I began to appreciate the great sacrifice that so many made and continue to make in the name of freedom.

''Lions led by donkeys'' is the well know and apt saying about the British Army troops in WW1. This story is about a 'lion cub'. Although a novel it is factual and true to life story about a boy in the service of his country carrying out some of the worst duties imaginable. Despite these horrors the author very much holds your attention by mixing humour with sorrow - just as did the soldiers themselves in that world ''War to end Wars''! Few books before have paid tribute to the soldiers that had to 'clear up' on the battlefields, this Author deserves much credit for doing so in a very readable story.

Being a Korean navy vet and having worked for the author 1966 to 1971, I was totally unprepared for the contents in thebook. I have passed out 20 copies to family, friends, those who have had business relationships with the author; a very successful auto dealer, direct sales marketing training systems, pioneer in computerized auto dealer accounting systems.

1960 Annopolis grauduate "best book on WWII I have ever read." 1962 destroyer electronic technician, "they still call it the Williamson turn, baseball caps on deck now uniform of the day."

This is a wonderful book. Having met John Willaimson and some of the officers and crew of USS ENGLAND DE-635, I cannot say enough about these men, there heroes. John Willaimson had said he was working on a book when I met him in 2002 and when he passed away I was curious as to what happened to the book. I was elated to see it in print and after reading happier still! It is well written, personal, and detailed as it discusses both John Willaimson's path to the USS ENGLAND and USS ENGLAND in the Pacific at war where she sunk 6 submarines in just twelve days in 1944! This was not well publicized at the time but ENGLAND's effort was well known in the Navy, "There'll always be an ENGLAND in the United States Navy." CNO Admiral E. J. King 1944 "May there allways be an ENGLAND. Well done and congratulations to all hands." Admiral Halsey. This is a must read book. It is also imperative that an ENGLAND return to the US Navy to honor these men and this legacy.

The USS England (named after a sailor killed at Pearl Harbor, not after the country) was a small destroyer escort ship (DE 635 306 feet long, 1200 tons). This book is the story of her wartime career from launching in San Francisco through her nine month career. Yes, nine months, launched December 10, 1944, she fought in the South Pacific until hit by a kamikaze at Okinawa. She struggled back to the Philadelphia Navy yard and was in the process of extensive rebuilding when the war ended and such a damaged ship was no longer needed by the Navy.

The crowning point of the England's career was the record it set for killing six enemy submarines in twelve days. This was enough to make the Navy use her name on a guided-missile cruiser (CG-22) to keep the history alive.

The author was exec and then commander of the England during her short life. He writes a tale of navy life during the war that is fascinating and interesting.