North America Books

The text is technical and takes some work to understand but the effort pays off. The pictures are beautiful and flesh out the text. A wonderful aid to getting closer to some amazing creatures.

This guide is more like a textbook in its attention to detail, and I rate it the best raptor guide I have seen and read. The photos are great, showing various poses and the way the birds look as juveniles and as adults of both sexes, and the text covers all the traits, habitat, morphs, etc. to help I.D. and understand the birds.

This book is wonderfull. With dozens of photos for each bird, this REALLY helps an amateur identify a bird. The best in it's class!

This is the most comprehensive guide available. The species discussions include practically everything you need to know (molts, morphs, subspecies, habits, etc), and covers Western variants rarely covered in other works. The range maps by Economidy and Wheeler are the gold standard and will, it is to be hoped, encourage others to produce such extremely precise maps. It is a reference work, too large to fit in a pocket, but is indispensable. Keep this in your vehicle and Clark & Wheeler's Hawks of North America in your pocket, and you've got our western raptors covered.

Brian Wheeler has created what are likely to be THE standard guides to these taxa for the foreseeable future. Excellent photos, tremendous detail--a heroic effort with incredibly helpful results.
But what is wrong at Princeton UP? First they mess up Olsen's _Gulls_ to the point that the entire edition is pulped; and now Wheeler's text in both books is marred by what you would think would be embarrassing editorial errors. Wheeler's prose, for the most part serviceable, was obviously never read by an editor, and there are entire passages that make no sense (fortunately, they only rarely include identification matters). The very first page of the author's introduction has a shameful printing error, an entire half-line left blank.
This is a great book, I own it, I use it, I recommend it every chance I get; but the editorial and production slips make me wonder if Princeton has given up on its birding program--or whether it maybe ought to.

In 1801, France acquired the vast Louisiana territory from Spain, and in 1803, France sold it to the United States. President Jefferson wanted to explore some of the new territory as well as to establish some claim on the Oregon territory to the West of it. The plan was to look for a route to the source of the Missouri river and from there to the source of the Columbia, and then to follow the Columbia to the Pacific. Captain Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) and Second Lieutenant William Clark (1770-1838) were chosen to lead the expedition.

This book tells us a great deal about the expedition of Lewis and Clark, with some great photos of the terrain they encountered. We read about their encounters with grizzly bears, buffalo, fish, and mosquitoes. We find out how they coped with white water (in fact, they were even better than the Native Americans at handling it, although they were no match for the Chinook Indians when there were high waves near the coast). And we learn how they handled portages when they reached waterfalls or had to cross the Continental Divide (they abandoned their canoes and carved new ones at the top of the falls).

As the Schmidts explain, the expedition began to get organized in December of 1803, and it left Saint Louis on May 14, 1804. It went upriver on the Missouri to what is now North Dakota (the only death to an expedition member was on this portion of the trip), and the team wintered at Fort Mandan from November, 1804 to April, 1805.

The Indians local to Fort Mandan were the Hidatsa. But the ones who lived near the source of the Missouri were the Shoshone. The idea was to find some Shoshones, or even better, a Shoshone guide. The Shoshones could then explain how to get to the source of the Columbia, a region inhabited by the Nez Perce.

The official party of 25 left Fort Mandan on April 7, 1805 and headed immediately into uncharted territory. Along with them were Sacagawea (1788-1812), her husband Toussaint Charbonneau (1758-1840?) and their two month old son, Jean-Baptiste (1805-1866). Sacagawea was a Shoshone and spoke both Shoshone and Hidatsa, Toussaint spoke Hidatsa and French, and a member of the Lewis and Clark party spoke French and English. The presence of Sacagawea and her infant son helped assure various Indian tribes that the Lewis and Clark party had peaceful intentions.

They reached Great Falls (more than halfway across Montana) in June and Three Forks (the Missouri headquarters, which Sacagawea recognized) in late July. In August, they managed to reach the Lemhi valley (which Sacagawea also recognized) and looked around for some Shoshones. They did indeed find a Shoshone party. Truth being stranger than fiction, the Shoshone chief, Cameawait, turned out to be Sacagawea's brother.

The Shoshones did guide the party from the Continental Divide to a tributary of the Columbia. In September, they emerged from the Rocky Mountains, and they soon reached the Clearwater river. In October, they took the Snake river to the Columbia, reaching the Columbia estuary in November.

The party wintered at Fort Clatsop in Oregon, and even took Sacagawea to the Pacific to see a beached whale in January. They left Fort Clatsop on March 23, 1806, and were back in Saint Louis exactly six months later.

The first transcontinental railroad was completed in May of 1869 by crews which had headed West from Omaha, Nebraska and East from Sacramento, California. I wondered if any of the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition were still alive then. One was, namely Patrick Gass (1771-1870). It is sobering to realize how quickly this previously uncharted land became settled. When one compares the Montana of 1806 with that of 1906 and 2006, the differences are truly remarkable.

I highly recommend this book, which tells of a land which has changed greatly in a mere two centuries.

An exciting tale of the journey of these two adventurers and their crew is retold through sufficient text and plentiful images. The photos are striking and abundant and a great way to lure kids into reading the book. It's both educational and entertaining to learn of their trials. However, if you are looking for expansive, in-depth text of every moment, you should check out other books that are a reprinting of their diaries. While this book is thorough, it is really just an introduction to the whole adventure and easy enough that you'll probably finish it in just a few sittings.

This is a wonderfully illustrated retelling of the incredible expedition to the West and the Pacific Ocean undertaken by the Corps of Discovery, that amazing group of men (and women) who trekked over four thousand miles from St. Louis to the west coast and back over the course of two years from 1804-1806. The story of Lewis and Clark's journey to the West has been told many times, but never in such an accessible and enjoyable format as this. It is pepppered with excerpts from the expedition's meticulously kept journals and vivid descriptions of the unknown land and the native tribes they encountered in their travels into the vast Louisiana Territory. This book is bursting with beautiful photos, paintings, and drawings that draw the reader into this truly amazing story of adventure and discovery that shaped a young new nation.

Beautiful, bright color photos pepper every page and often offer full-page spreads to accompany timelines, topographical maps, and rich accounts of the Lewis and Clark journey. Their words and experiences come to life in The Saga of Lewis & Clark, a survey which reveals different aspects of the travelers' discoveries and experiences, with Wayne Mumford providing the beautiful photography.

"The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, & such principal stream of it, as, by it's course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado or any other river may offer the most direct & practicable water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce." -Thomas Jefferson, Instruction to Lewis, June 20, 1803

The Saga of Lewis & Clark is richly illustrated with lavish full-color photography, annotated topographical maps, pictorial timelines, sketches of the animal and plant species first recorded during the "voyage of discovery," archival images of native cultural arts and crafts, quotes and pictures of the land Lewis and Clark viewed on their journey to the Pacific.

There are pictures of Clark's field journal and a fold-out map of the journey to put it all in perspective.

The chapters include:

Members of the Expedition - pictures of the letter from Jefferson and gorgeous

pictures of the scenery.
Underway - Bound for the Pacific through the interior of the continent
Onto the Plains - Stories of the Tribes living on the plains.
Off the Map - Confrontations with grizzly bears
Over "Those Tremendous Mountains"
On to the Sea - Rapids and finally, some pictures I recognize as home! I can almost smell
the salty sea now as I look at the pictures. We visited Fort Clatsop once with my aunt.
Homeward Bound - Humorous story about fending off the herd of bison. Yikes!
Log - Expedition Roster, Index, Credits, Animal Listings, Plant Listings, Glossary

A retelling of the greatest wilderness trip ever recorded. Thomas Schmidt and Jeremy Schmidt truly have created a magnificent keepsake of this journey into the uncharted West.

An Epic Journey!

It is no easy feat to define savages and civilisation literally. The author brought us back right to the origin, ie. the formation of continents, the climate changes, changes of food chain, the formation and usage of tools and fire which subsequently change homo sapien's nature to hunt and forage into farming. With gradual changes of homo sapien's tendency of mobilisation into stagnation, infrastructure is needed to sustain their activities and thus, the formation of cities. The author used examples from Australia, Russia, South America, Pacific Islands, et cetera to illustrate to us the points that he was making and I find those components to be of interesting read. He continued on to explain about what we have known all along about people from countryside that shifts in huge numbers to the cities for better opportunities to the extent that it overextends the infrastructure and thus, the destruction of the Great Nature. Subsequently, the original city slickers move further away from the degradation that has become of the city. With advent of sophisticated technology, those city slickers are not worse off as they can both play and work at the same place nowadays. What he found shocking was the so called "tribes" or gangs that formed themselves in cities to carve up their own territories. His example was relevant and notorious ie. Washington D.C. Continuing on, tribes no longer need to be held in one place as technology allows the tribes to continue embracing their own cultures no matter where they are. For example, Asians that are living in USA are still able to watch TV programs from China through sattelite TV these days. He striked to the heart of the matter when he said that indigenous people are viewed like curios nowadays where people visiting specially allotted reserves to view how they live their day to day lives. The answers are not found from there but rather, from the displaced indigenous people that are trying to sustain their livelihood in the big and hostile cities. To summarise the book, it is to say that the countryside people have an uneasy relationship with the city people and vice versa. It is no longer relevant to separate people through religious affiliations, cultural differences, national borders. With the emergence of globalisation, it is becoming clearer that we are neither countryside nor city people but simply people. And to ensure the survivor of our species, we simply need to respect one another. A simple lesson of live and let lived. Alas, very few people take heed of this lesson these days. Highly recommended.

I have taken one class from Prof. Weatherford, and plan on taking another this coming year. He is one of the most popular and well-liked professors at Macalester College because he is, in a word, fascinating. He combines an immense field of knowledge with an engrossing lecture and discussion style. He does the same in this book, penning a book that both broadens awareness and understanding, and entertains. I would often intend to read one chapter then go to bed, but would end up many chapters later wondering what happened to the time. If you want a book which is written for those not steeped in anthropology, and which contains a great amount of educational material of interest to people from all fields of study and interests, this is an excellent book to buy, read, and enjoy.

Educational and entertaining. If you love this, you will love his new book about "Genghis Khan". This complete and concise reintroduction of 850 years of glorified Mongol history will be shocking and eye opening experiences for you. According to his long journey of tireless research, Genghis Khan had established our modern civilization. What a history, what a extraordinary work.

I have taken one class from Prof. Weatherford, and plan on taking another this coming year. He is one of the most popular and well-liked professors at Macalester College because he is, in a word, fascinating. He combines an immense field of knowledge with an engrossing lecture and discussion style. He does the same in this book, penning a book that both broadens awareness and understanding, and entertains. I would often intend to read one chapter then go to bed, but would end up many chapters later wondering what happened to the time. If you want a book which is written for those not steeped in anthropology, and which contains a great amount of educational material of interest to people from all fields of study and interests, this is an excellent book to buy, read, and enjoy.

Jack Weatherford has written a wonderful book on the topic of tribal or "primitive" cultures, generally nomadic, often pastoral ones in world history and today, seeking to explore the relationship between tribal peoples and the people of cities and what is thought of as civilization. The fact that these people have gone by so many names throughout history, whether stigmatic names like barbarian, savage, pagan, or heathen or more modern less pejorative names like ethnic group, folk tradition, or national minority shows that urban cultures have generally had a difficult time coming to grips with those outside the mainstream of global civilization.

Weatherford covers a great deal of history in his discussion of tribal cultures. He visits with and discusses the Australian aborigines; those that still have their traditional hunting and gathering lifestyle, he writes, with slight modifications, could have lived almost any time in the last 200,000 years in the temperate and tropical zones of Africa, the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia (covering something like 99 percent of human history). The modern Aleuts and Inuit of North America, the Sami or Lapps of Scandinavia, and such northern Siberian peoples as the Yakut and Chuckhi represent remnants of the thousands of such groups from the last Ice Age, groups that had to give up foraging and worked in groups to hunt the massive megafauna of the Arctic regions, whether mammoths or whales.

The fact that tribal peoples did not settle into the dense concentrations that urban peoples did and many tribal groups had relatively few domesticated animals would have a profound impact upon world history. An interesting point he makes involved pastoral people and disease; virtually every infectious or epidemic disease known among human has a close animal counterpart (smallpox is similar to cowpox in cattle and myxomatosis in rabbits, measles has similarities to distemper in dogs and rinderpest among bovines) and those cultures that did not have much in the way of domesticated animals (such as the Polynesians and Native Americans) were free of these epidemic diseases.

Weatherford wrote that the political and technological interaction between the wandering tribal peoples and civilized peoples for the three thousands years between 1600 B.C. and 1500 A.D. was the focal point of Eurasian civilization. Once indigenous people played a huge role in world history, one group occasionally assimilating the other or forcing millions to move in vast relocations. In some cases the nomads were technological innovators (inventing the horse-drawn chariot and the stirrup, for a time dominating urban peoples until they in turn assimilated these new inventions), in other cases acting as conduits for technological change (the Mongols for instance borrowed animals, ideas, and technology from all parts of their territories, spreading them from Europe to China). For centuries there was, despite the conflicts, a symbiotic relationship between farmers and nomads, as one helped the other (the former supplying cereals, tea, sugar, metal-working, and chemicals for leatherworking, the latter important in bringing in exotic items and introducing new products and ideas); this has been obscured by the fact that most written records about the nomads were left by the settled agricultural peoples and were often biased against the nomads. On occasion this was recognized; North African scholar Ab-ar-Rahman Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) wrote the first historical analysis of the relationship between tribal and urban people; he said that the city people needed the tribal people because the latter reinvigorated the civilized world, bringing in new blood and new ideas (such as Islam and Judaism). They brought a simple, direct, honest way of dealing with the world, a strength that accounted for the success of the Hebrews against the Canaanite cities, the Arab Bedouins in the Middle East, and the Moors in Spain (among others). However, the longer tribal people associated with urban people, the weaker they became. Weatherford makes the point that this assertion of Ibn Khaldun's was predated by the Old Testament of the Bible (evident in how the Hebrews viewed the corrupt cities of Jericho, Sodom, and Gomorrah), unique in being one of the few texts by a nomadic group.

Weatherford definitely wrote what some might call a "big picture" analysis of world history. He devotes several chapters to how eventually the urban peoples of the world came to complete dominate tribal cultures. He wrote that it took roughly 8,000 years for a truly world economy to emerge, the time between the first agricultural village and the start of the first trans-Pacific route from Acapulco to Manila (via the famed Spanish Manila galleon). This process required three major technological and social breakthroughs; the unification of Asia and Europe via the horse (made possible by the invention of stirrups, bridles, and saddles), the connection of sub-Saharan Africa with the Mediterranean world via the camel, and the voyages connecting Europe and Asia across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (made possible by the mastery of celestial and compass navigation and by paper and the invention of the printing press and movable type to maintain contact over thousands of miles and to aid in the creation of modern nation states by standardizing language, culture, and national identity).

I can only give a very brief introduction to this book. Though a quick read, it is epic in scope. Later chapters are devoted to how tribal peoples were treated during the age of imperialism, the advent of anthropology (the "study of the exotic by the eccentric"), and the future of tribal peoples today (which ironically may be aided by technology as it has aided widely separated people to maintain touch with one another and facilitated broadcasting and printing in tribal languages).

I enjoyed how the author opened many chapters with personal experiences. They ranged from traveling by camel in the Sahara to drinking chicha (homemade corn beer) in the isolated town of Pocona, Bolivia, to recounting experiences with the Kuna of the San Blas Islands of Panama, the only Native Americans visited by Christopher Columbus that are still alive. A great book.

A great book about some common and uncommon plants you have admired, but didn't know the names.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this book. I photograph wildflowers, and reading these fun, little-known tidbits has been very informative in my research of the flowers.

"The Secrets of Wildflowers" by Sanders is phenomenal! I am a naturalist in training and this book has helped me tremendously to find interesting facts to share. I wish there were more out there like this one, but I have just not found them. "The Secrets of Wildflowers" talks about a lot of plants native to North America, which is why it is so special. I can't thank Jack Sanders enough for making my homework a thousand times easier.

This is an essential read for those that want to further explore in an in-depth manner wildflowers of all types. The story telling format blends science and folklore and flows in a pace that is most pleasing to the reader. Highly recommended for those that have any interest in this topic.

This is simply a wonderful addition to any library. I was looking for a native wildflower handbook with a little extra, but this surpassed my expectations. You don't need to be a botanist or a naturalist to enjoy this offering. It has tidbits of fascinating information about native U.S. wildflowers, from its history to medicinal uses to mythological lore. The layout is nice and there are many additional artistic touches here and there to make it a pleasure to read.

I guarantee you'll never look at a wildflower the same way after reading this little gem.

Knowing the author, it took a bit to separate out my lifelong relationship with him to focus on the story, but once I did, I was hooked! There are wonderful detailed passages with unexpected endings which kept me coming back to see what happened next. If you have an interest in Native American history, and love of Florida, this book is definitely for you.

Tom Joseph writes beautifully. His descriptions of the natural world and the way the Calusa people lived in harmony with the land and sea is a pleasure to read. His extensive research of their civilization is evident as he convincingly theorizes and fictionalizes their relationships to each other, to their nearby enemies and allies, and to the looming invasion of the Spanish in their "wind ships." All of that in itself would make for a great read, but Mr. Joseph does something more. Through his strong characters he spins a story which leaves the reader feeling that, even in the Calusa diaspora, not all of them lost their pride. Aesha, their female leader, saw to it that her people claimed their power in an inventive way and were not ruled by fear. The story is a potent allegory for all humans who live and thrive in defiance of the odds.

I totally enjoyed this book. Not only appreciating all the historical research but the development of the various characters, as well.After the introduction to all specifics of the time and place,I found it to be a real page turner! Nadine Kovar

Combining first-rate scholarship with an almost lyrical prose style, Tom Joseph brings to life the long-vanished world of the Calusa tribe on Florida's Gulf coast in the sixteenth century. This complex society, living in harmony with the land and water, is thrown into turmoil over decades of contact and intermittent conflict with Spanish explorers and missionaries. Ultimately the Calusa disappear from history. Using contemporaneous Spanish accounts, other historical research, and his own knowledge of coastal Florida, Joseph offers a plausible vision of what could have happened, built around a compelling story of love, political intrigue, religious struggle, and power. His images of the islands, mangroves, plants and animals paint a beautiful picture, and his descriptions of the Calusas' and Spaniards' ways of life should fascinate students of history. Some of the characters are historic, others fictional, but all are well-developed and the reader comes to care what happens to them. This first novel thus combines the best qualities of history and fiction. Let's hope we will have more in the future from this gifted writer.

This was a very unusual, interesting book on a subject I knew very little about. The history of these Indian people is fascinating. The author's characterizations were unusually strong and carried throughout the book. The more I read the more I looked forward to getting back to it.

Mr. Virtue's book is well-researched and well-documented look at the early days of the Mexican League. There is a lot of historical data that I've never seen before, as well as interviews or quotes from players who played in the league, especially during its classic 1937-1946 period.

"South of the Color Barrier" is a wonderful book that shows the great influence of Jorge Pasquel in achieving racial integration in the United States, starting with Baseball. It is a book full of very interesting facts uncovered through a thorough and careful research by the author.

To me, as the daughter of the last Negro Leagues player brought to Mexico by Mr. Pasquel, this book has been a journey of discovery. "South of the Color Barrier" helps us to understand the entire picture about the hard times these players had to endure in the United States versus the many opportunities they found in Mexico and the rest of Latin America. It would be great if we could have another Jorge Pasquel in Mexico to boost baseball again.

Congratulations to John Virtue for such a work well done!

For the history buffs on Baseball's past a definite addition to your library. Jorge Pasquel's story concerns the last major threat on Major League Baseball. Like the others - Players League and Federal League it was a failure also. Unlike a prior book this tome paints a broader picture and more complete story of the life of Jorge Pasquel. For most American we did not know about him and his contributions to Mexico. A very good and plausable theory how Jorge Pasquel helped breakdown the color barrier in organized Baseball. A very good and easy read. Except for two minor errors Mr. Virtue has a very good well researched book. Some very good historical pictures also included.

Virtue has woven the facts and faces of historical figures from Mexican and American baseball of the 1930s and 1940s into dynamite read. In the process, he's uncovered a character that few people know about -- Mexican multimillionaire businessman Jorge Pasquel. Described as a Mexican George Steinbrenner, Pasquel raided the US Negro Leagues to strengthen the Mexican League.

"A man's man," Pasquel is compelling to watch. His drive to create a Mexican team that could bring about a real World Series, coincidentally brought light on racial inequalities in the US. Virtue puts us in the shoes of these great African-American players, who at one time couldn't get served in a dingy Texas diner, but across the boarder were treated liked gods. Willie Wells exclaims: "Here in Mexico I am a man. I can go as far in baseball as I am capable of going. I can live where I please."

Virtue has put Wells back on the field - along with other future members of the Hall of Fame like Monte Irvin, Roy Campanella, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Ray Dandridge, Cool Papa Bell, Leon Day, Hilton Smith, Willard Brown and Cuba's Martín Dihigo -- and we get to be in the bleachers. Enjoy!

Mr. Virtue has added treasure to the chest of baseball history with this rich, detailed study of baseball in a place and time when skin color blocked great players north of the Rio Grande. "South of the Color Barrier" introduces us to Jorge Pasquel, a baseball visionary who showed that whites and blacks could be teammates and managers at a time when major league owners in the United States absolutely refused to admit such a possibility.

The author ties good baseball history into the history of U.S.-Mexico relations while painting a word picture of Pasquel -- one of Mexico's great characters. This book makes a good case for including Pasquel in some form in baseball's Hall of Fame for what he did to prepare baseball for integration.

"South of the Color Barrier" deserves a space in the library of any serioius baseball fan.

Mr. Bennett has penned a work of spiritual fiction that follows the Native American Shamanic revelations to guide the main character from the rational world to the invisible realty of the dream world.
The story is full of intrigue, tension, and characters that hold your interest from the first page to the last.
"Spirit Circle" is a well-written, thoughtful, informative book of ideas and information on how you can find peace, strength, or power through dreaming. It teaches you how to see beyond our own conflicts and passion to find universal wisdom that helps transcent self-involvement. "The shaman's stories remind us to look and listen through the eyes and ears of other people."
This is a beautiful bookk that lingers with you long after you finish reading it. It allows you to open your mind and heart to the people and world beyond us. Spirit Circle is a book that you will read many times to find more nuggest of information that will help you enrich your life.

Spirit Circle demonstrates the power of storytelling to weave a tale that both teaches and entertains. Ancient and modern shamans dare to journey into the vastness of the unseen realms and come back to the world of five senses to report on that which they have seen. The shaman is the messenger but the truth is for all of us. Spirit Circle is a shaman's tale written by one who knows the path. At once fun and believable. A great read.

Ancient ruin -- ragged rock wall, wide window into the shamans' realm. Step through the window -- they're waiting. Waiting to show you luminous landscapes, ephemeral as adobe. Waiting to suspend your book-learned sense of space and time in ceremonial smoke. Waiting to introduce you to someone -- your self.

All the voices ring true, the surroundings are painted with a knowing and loving brush, and a shaman likely breathed the life into each character.

The story and the teller move me deeply. I read of the gateway to the shamans' gathering ground and I'm swiftly swept out to the ruin on the western ridge at Chaco Canyon, to a wide window filled with brilliant December morning light. I could have stepped through...

A few months ago and quite by chance, I ran onto this author/writing instructor in the strangest way. I was surfing the Internet and happened to find this website for writers. It's a very informative website with a little bit of everything for everyone in the literary world. I clicked on the discussion board to see what was happening. I'm not one to join a discussion group because I don't have the time, but like I said, the website is full of writing information. The discussion group actually has comments posted by published authors, giving helpful information to the fledgling writers. In so doing, these published authors not only have my respect, they have my attention. After reading some of the informative posts by Hal Bennett, I was impressed with what he had to say. I sent him an e-mail conveying my compliments. Being a man of intelligence and good manners, Bennett thanked me via an e-mail, thus allowing me access to his website by his reply. I think I would have eventually found it anyway, but it saved me a lot of time. Bennett's book on "Write From The Heart" took my attention first and I ordered it. Very impressive. I concluded the man knew how to write a non-fiction book on the subject of writing. I rated him as being in the caliber of Brande, another great one. So, figuring he knew how to write non-fiction and hold my interest, I'd find out if he could write fiction and still hold my interest. I'm a romantic by nature, always have been, but I'll read anything that's well written, whether it's mystery, suspense, self-help, non-fiction, etc. For a long time, I've stuck with the really big name authors, but eventually I think we all live and learn. I'm pretty gutsy and I'll venture spending the price of a book by any author who has my attention and interest. I don't know if you'd call it cheating when you open a book to the center or the end and read a few excerpts to determine whether it's a good book or not, but I'm famous for doing this. I DIDN'T DO THIS WITH "SPIRIT CIRCLE". I started on page one and read through to the end. I hardly put the book down until I finished reading it. The story was very different and touched me deeply. Bennett writes a book like I would venture to say he teaches writing, straight from his heart. The story plot, the characters, the vivid description of beautiful setting, his vast knowledge of Native American culture and last, but not least, the superb editing of this book, makes it an excellent read. Bennett is very gifted and well-educated, and quite obviously in good standing with his Muse. I do highly recommend this book to anyone.

Dr. Tara Fairfield, a young anthropologist, is on a quest to find her father, renegade tabloid journalist, Drew Fairfield, who has missed most of her life, but most notably has been missing for the last two years. Tara has received a letter from Drew containing photos and artifacts which she believes might be proof of the existence of a secret society of shamans hidden deep in the New Mexico desert. Either this, or it is an elaborate hoax, perpetuated by her father, who is not above foregoing integrity for a good story. To uncover the truth, she leaves her young daughter and travels to New Mexico, where her search leads her through a shamnic journey to find her own soul. She meets spirit guides who shape-shift and take her to places beyond the tangible world she knows. An old friend of her father's who has returned to his Zuni childhood origins, teaches her the way of the Medicine Wheel. She is at once the teacher and the taught as she takes the reader on a magical voyage between worlds, all the while tripping over her own skepticism. With an old shaman, she journeys to meet the crone, Mongwa, who tells her "You are a messenger. You have no choice." Tara's mission is to bring back to her world the teachings of the "fifth world," where understanding the Spiritual Source eliminates all appearance of separation between time, place, and physical identity. Bennett's writing is visually stunning, taking the reader into the quiet beauty of the desert mesa and deep into the caves hidden high on the cliffs. A masterful storyteller, he weaves spell-binding adventure and spiritual revelation. This book begs for a sequel.

I purchased this cookbook so I could cook something for a Native American presentation in my sociology college course. This book is great because it has lots of pictures and info about where the recipe came from or something else interesting about it. I haven't cooked anything from it yet, but I look foward to using the recipes for everyday cooking in adition to my presentation.

This is such a well-done book on so many levels. From the recipes and the ancillary information to the fine photography. The recipes are great. I own a number of books on Native American cooking and while the others are good in their own right, they just pale in comparison to the scope and the craft present in this one. If you are going to buy one book on Native American cooking, be sure it is this one. Very, very well done.

This is a "must have" cookbook if you'd like to prepare authentic Native American food. The ingredients are easy to find in any well stocked grocery store, and the recipes are not difficult. No "weird" ethnic foods here- just good meals made with what's available. The historical background for the foods of different tribes is an interesting read. The photographs and drawings are absolutely beautiful- those alone are good reasons to purchase this book!

i loved the book it gives you many different ideas to make things out of the ordinary

Great recipes...I orignally bought a copy of this book in 1994 and have tried virtually every recipe in the book. I subsequently purchased a copy in 2006 as a gift for a family member. I asked my family to consider a new tradition in 2006; replacing the standard Christmas dinner with a "Native Harvest" the outcome was brilliant. Consequently my entire family agreed to embrace this concept and pass it along to the children. We found inspiration in the recipes from this truly amazing cook book and an opportunity to honor our ancesters and Native American culture as a whole.

It is one of the best books on SQL I have read. This is a good book not only for those who want to use SQL Anywhere but for all SQL Afficianodos. It is both comprehensive and compact. I found this book useful while trying to understand Mobilink. I recommend this book without any hesitation to anyone who wants to understand how everything works in SQL Anywhere.

In a word: Awesome! This is the definitive book on Sybase SQL Anywhere 9. If you use this at work, especially in a replicated environment, then you MUST have this on your shelf.

This is a down-to-earth, no-holds barred approach to dealing with the good/bad/indifferent aspects of SQL Anywhere Studio 9. I am a data architect for a company that manages over 4,600 remote databases and this book has single-handedly helped me solve issues we have been having for months.

The author, Breck Carter, is a man who has been in the trenches with "the rest of us" to solve some of the most vexing data management problems. The solutions are as simple as they are elegant.

Written in a "real-world" tone, this book gets to the nitty-gritty of 99% of problems. The chapter on Mobilink replication is worth the price of the book alone as it goes into extreme detail on the how/whens/whys of moving data around and how to best utilize this impressive feature.

Highly Recommend!

Some of the documentation in this book is included no were else besides Sybase official docs. Given that "official docs" have such a dry reputation, I was happy to find this book. Indeed it is much easier to read, and contains lots of important information for configuring and programming in your SQL environment.

This book is packed with pertinant, in-depth info. The author does not have an overly-wordy style, so there is no inflated page-count.

This book is simply a must-to-have for db-developers; it presents a complete and compact reference for experienced developers as well as it offers a comprehensive immersion in SQL Anywhere to beginners and less experienced ones.

If I had to use only one word to express my opinion about this book I would just say: RELIEF. Relief of not getting drowned again in hundred of pages of irrelevant topics, misleading information, decorative pictures and tools descriptions.

I highly recommend this book to application programmers, as myself, accustomed to flirting with different db-engines but still seeking a solid understanding relational db paradigms.

I started using Sybase SQL Anywhere before Sybase owned it--when it was called The "Watcom" Database Engine. "SQL Anywhere Studio 9 Developer's Guide" is an outstanding reference. The book was written by someone who obviously has a great deal of experience using SQL Anywhere Studio to build real-world software solutions. Highly recommended.

I loved this book! A great resource for horse lovers, this book features all the expected popular breeds as well as several wonderful but rare breeds that I've never seen mentioned in any other book of horses. And the photography is simply glorious. Bravo!

This book was just what we were looking for. The photographs are gorgeous, and the text is informational, including topics such as breed characteristics, conformation, gait, color, breed registry, history of the breed, and additional interesting facts about each breed. This book is a "must-have" for anyone's equine book collection.

Judith Dutson's 96 Horse Breeds Of North America pairs stunning color photos by Bob Langrish with a fine survey of each of the 96 horse breeds of North America. Sidebars of information include height, place of original and special qualities for at-a-glance reference, while more extensive paragraphs on breed characteristics, history, conformation and color provide in-depth details. Perfect for any with an affection for horses and an interest in the breeds.

I agree with the reviewer who said that this is not a very good title. A better title would be Horses of NA or American Horses, or some such. But a great book with a bad title is still a great book, and THIS is a great book. The photographs are marvelous -- a word I rarely use. They're National Geographic quality. And the price! I would have guessed a hardback would be $60 at least. I don't know how they can sell it for so little. If you're a horse buff, you'll want this book.

This is overall a great book, with a really stupid title, don't let it deceive you if you are looking for a great book on horse breeds. Without seeing the book, I even thought to myself, "How did they ever come up with 96 breeds from North America!? I can't think of that many." As it turns out, the book is filled with breeds, the majority of which DO NOT originate from North America at all...strange. For example, Dutch Warmbloods, Halflingers, even Arabians, you get the idea. I suppose they really mean 96 breeds which are popular among horse owners in North America, but that doesn't make a really good title. The book contains a great deal of lovely photographs, but the format is nothing exceptional compared to breed books I have seen before. However, it's merit is featuring many breeds, exclusive to North America, which are often excluded from the books, such as the Shackleford, Sulphur, Pryor Mountain, Nokota and more.