North America Books

I never thought I would ever find such a book that I would ever not put down..This book kept me involved like I never been involved before. I loved this book from beginning to end. Also the artwork from Ms. Boyd's mother Silversong is just breathtaking to me. I laughed and cried and cried some more. I have owned my copy for 3 years now. I also have read this book 4 times since I have owned it. This book is part of my favorite possessions and will cherish it forever. Also when my daughters are old enough I will read it to them or have them read it themselves for the simple fact is the strength, pain, love, and sense of woman and family in this book are just absolutely breathtaking. I really recommend this book to anyone with a heart and the heart of a woman...I like to thank Ms. Boyd for writing her family's story. I never will forget it and although this may not be my family story, I will pass this onto my girls and onto their girls so they can see that women can have the strength to go through anything and that love conquers all and that the SPIRIT MOVES through all of us.....

This book is a clear work of literature where the reality of growing up Indian in 6 Generations is laid out before the world. It is a hard life but one where the women make a difference in the lives of their children and grandchildren. Their choices were often made for them until the past 2 generations. It is a powerful and moving story the should be read by all.

This book does have an epic quality about it... Also, it is the type of book that calls to and connects with the spiritual side of all of us regardless of our individual culture, race or gender. Ms. Boyd's gift is bringing a beautiful narrative quality to the experiences shared by her Mother, Grandmother and Great-Grandmother as well as her own. As the challenges and hardships are recounted it seems incredible that the harshness experienced was so recent, relatively speaking. In a time before domestic-violence laws (as recently as 20 - 30 years ago) options were few and overcoming such oppressive treatment seemed to be as much an act of faith as of will. This is a story that's important to all, not just to these lovely Lawson women.

I am buying several copies to distribute to the women in my life. This is the best book I have ever read and I just happened upon it. It has changed my life, I am a better person for reading it. I love it, cant say enough about it, Loree Byrd is so talented, I would read anything by her.

Loree Boyd has done more than merely written a great book. She has demonstrated the pride, strength and respect so characteristic of Metis/Native people in Canada. As a Metis/Ojibway person myself, I found this story, based on Loree's family history, to be moving and inspirational. I laughed, I cried, and I smiled thoughout reading this book. Loree's personal story extends beyond the words of this book; touching the lives of many Metis and Native families throughout Canada. Knowing and recognizing the similarities of my own Metis/Native family history made reading "Spirit Moves" all the more bittersweat. This book should be read in every household in Canada- Metis, Native, and white! Mii-gwetch Loree for your courage, your pride and your story! In Spirit, James Fortier

This tome covers corn "ear" to toe. I love the sassy tone and contrarian viewpoints.

I must admit, I am actually a beet person (well, root vegetables generally) and bought this book to get ammo to goof on my corn enthusiast friends. But how the worm has turned! Corn and human history are inextricably linked, a bonding of nurture and social evolution. This book lays down the facts.

I guess in retrospect my "hubris" about beets was misguided and wrong. I now think the lesson I learned, whether it pertains to vegetables, politics, music or whatever, is that YOU SHOULD NEVER UNDERESTIMATE DIFFERENT OPINIONS. It's too easy to do, and is an easy way to miss out on fundamental truths.

In that sense, this book transcends it's core audience of corn folk (cornies?) and teaches a much deeper lesson if you are not really interested in corn - that well disciplined research into unfamiliar topics can instruct and delight the receptive reader.

Read it, enjoy and reflect.

Food historian Betty Fussell's survey of corn history blends folklore, anthropology, botany and social and art history to provide a lively blend of anecdotes and facts about world corn, from its influence on war and ritual uses in the Inca and Aztec worlds to its use as a key ingredient in different cultures' cuisines. The Story Of Corn isn't a cookbook; it's a specialized food history which will appeal across many different lines, from students of anthropology and sociology to culinary enthusiasts and history buffs.

Everything you want to know about corn is found in this book. And I mean everything. We see corn growing in fields everyday but do we actually stop and think about it? Do we pull over to the side of the road and LOOK at it? It's amazing how corn has been around longer than anyone will know. This book covers an overwhelming amount of detail. If you don't find it interesting you're just not a corn person. In fact, the only thing it doesn't answer is why I threw up over a bad cob one time. I don't throw up.

I love corn. Whether it's cobbed, creamed, breaded, or popped. This book is non-stop corn!

My mom borrowed two of the Olga da Polga books for me from the library when I was a little nine-year-old girl with her very first pet, not surprisingly, a guinea pig. I instantly fell in love with the bragging Olga, who loves to tell tall tales and considers herself quite a celebrity. If only her animal friends would agree with her! We searched in vain to find any purchasable copies in the series for many years. Words can't explain how much I enjoyed these books as a little girl . . . and still do!

I'm so pleased that the books are back in print (there are several titles, but it's best to read them in order). If you have never read these books, you're in for a treat, whether you're young or old. For those not familiar with Olga da Polga's inventor, Michael Bond also wrote the Paddington Bear novels. His love of animals is evident in both series, as is his wit.

This is the story of a guinea pig named Olga, told from her perspective. From it you learn what a guinea pig likes. How they want their beds to be made, their fur combed, how to pick them up and all of the other aspects of the day-to-day care of a guinea pig. She is also a bit of a scamp, escaping, starting incredible rumors among the animals, and sometimes being pompous and self-centered. In many ways she is a typical pet.
A combination of being an engaging tale about a lovable small pet and her thoughts on her treatment, this is a book that will help teach young children how to care for small pets. The gentleness that is required and to understand that they are creatures with feelings that need to be considered. I recommend this book for the child approximately nine years old.

This book is a charming story about a sassy, clever, adventurous guinea pig with a style all her own. Bond is imaginative, insightful and succintly well written. Olga is self possesed, somewhat mischievous and weaves a web of characters around her into a colorful tapestry of her own creation. I'm sure by the end you'll agree that her ventures end all too soon.

Olga da Polga was read to me at bedtime by my parents when I was about five. 25+ years later, I still remember Olga's antics and stories. As a child, I even went so far as to name my guinea pig "Olga da Polga". A super book for youngsters!

Olga da Polga is a wonderful book from the creator of Paddington the Bear. It begins at the pet shop where Olga dreams of the world outside, and moves to her "house on legs" in the Sawdust family's garden. Along the way we meet the family she belongs to, her friends from their garden, and are entertained by both the tales about Olga, and the ones she creates for her friends. It's a low-key but charming book for those who love animals, and find humor in the little things they do. Children who favor the WWF,Yugio and Power Rangers will probably find the stories a bit tame, but my seven-year old son enjoyed the series of Olga books as much as I did when I was his age.

The Ten Grandmothers, required reading for a course in anthropology, inspired a lifelong interest in and appreciation of Plains Indian culture. It is romantic without romanticism, sentimental without bathos, realistic and uplifting.

I stumbled on this book years ago, and I joyfully re-read it each year. It is a wonderful, engrossing look at a long-ago time, beautifully captured through the words of Spear Woman, Hunting Horse, and their families and friends.

Although not a novel, it sure reads like one!

My favorite parts? The chapter where Spear Girl and Hunting Horse elope, the poignant journey of Apiatan and the piece where the grandmother and granddaughter go to visit the buffalo. Truly a wonderful read!

This should be required reading for anybody interested in Indian culture, lifestyles, history. Heck, for anybody who's a student of human nature.

i loved this book. as did everyone in my family. i borrowed this book from my mom three years ago to check it out and i ended up keeping it and reading it all the time. as a matter-of-fact, i'm currently re-reading it.

for me, this was a great look into the past and at the old ways. it proved to me that the Kiowa are some of the strongest people on the plains. and i am proud to be one.

This is an absolutely superb book. It's the story of the Kiowa people, a native American tribe of the southwestern plains & Wichita Mountains, told from the point of view of individual Kiowas. The "Ten Grandmothers" are sacred bundles with special powers which are important to the spiritualism of the Kiowa.

The stories in this book are marvelously crafted, and full of life and sensation, and they spread new light on old ways. The chapters feel mythological, yet they help the reader to understand the shared culture behind the daily life of the Kiowa people.

This book was first published in 1945, when there yet remained some very old people who remembered the old-time buffalo days. Historically, the book reads very true. The events of each chapter are fixed within historical times-lines which appear in the back of the book.

The author, a woman, has gifted us with wonderful portrayals of the life experience of female Native Americans. So often, women's roles and labors go unmentioned in other accounts of the old days. Alice Marriot wrote an account of the Kiowa that includes the experiences and interactions of people of both genders.

Notable chapters include one in which a young woman of seventeen - about to be forced by her relatives to marry a man she doesn't care for - runs off during the annual Sun Dance with a young man her own age. The exacting ritual of the Sun Dance is interspersed with the tribulations of this personal love story.

Later, when their first baby is small, Spear Woman struggles unsuccessfully to fulfill all her home-making responsilibities. Her unhappiness leads to conflict between the couple, until eventually, he realizes that she has too much work to do and needs female help and companionship. Such a moving story, for people of any era.

And the author brings us forward in time with the Kiowa tribe, from nomadic life into settled agriculture. And, by knowing what has gone before, the reader can perceive how their shared cultural history and mythology has colored and formed the Kiowa response to this sweeping change in lifestyle.

I can't recommend this stunning book highly enough. What a good read. Definitely a remarkable book for those interested in Native American culture. Do read it if you are interested in the old ways of the plains tribes. An excellent book.

Having grown up in Kiowa/Comanche country for all my child and adolescent life and having been immersed in the attendant legends, though from a white perspective, I began to research Southern Plains Indian culture much later in life. During my early investigations I came upon Alice Marriott's "The Ten Grandmothers". This was the book I was looking for but didn't know it. Other research had served up books "about" the Kiowas. This was as close to a book "by" the Kiowas as could be expected given that the Kiowas had no written language. Ms. Marriott has done a superb job of not only recording these stories of the old ways, but has let the Kiowa voice come through loud and clear. As you read these stories you feel yourself sitting around the fire in an 1800s Kiowa camp listening to these stories being told first hand.

One of my favorite chapters was about the day the children made a play camp and built a defensive earthen berm and ditch (I believe the Kiowas were about the only plains tribe to employ such a defensive tactic). Later that night White Bear began blowing his "liberated" cavalry bugle as he led the victorious raiding party back to camp. The women in the camp, awakened and thinking they were under attack by the cavalry, began tearing down the camp as the men mounted and rode out to meet the enemy and cover the escape of the women and children. Not knowing about the children's ditch, both incoming and outgoing parties of mounted warriors careened into this obstacle in the darkness. Those within earshot of the melee were in a panic thinking their worst fears were being visited upon them. The next day, a rule was announced by White Bear that, while play camps are good, children were not to make play camps with ditches; only the men could make ditches.

We owe Ms. Marriott a huge debt of gratitude for preserving these treasures that might otherwise have been lost.

Great wealth of history and interesting facts on the missions and accomplishments of the 37th. My great grandfather was one of the profiled officers. I throughly enjoyed this book and bought one for my brother. Thank you again for a wonderful read and another glimspe into my family's past and southern heritage.

Michael Hardy has written a detailed and fascinating account of the 37th North Carolina in the Civil War. It is especially good in its use of first-hand sources - letters, diaries, etc. - of the soldiers who served in the unit. Formed in the late summer of 1861, the 37th participated in most of the major campaigns in the eastern theatre, beginning at New Bern and continuing through Gaines Mills, Second Manassas, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, and Petersburg to Appomattox. Hardy traces the whereabouts and actions of the unit in rich detail, sometimes on a day-to-day basis, which is especially useful while they were on the march. In addition to their battlefield actions, Hardy provides a complete roster of the 37th by company and a list of all the unit's courts-martial during the war. The book is an excellent history of the 37th and a useful reference source as well. And Hardy's generous use of the soldiers' words themselves make for very interesting reading. The book is another excellent addition to the many regimental histories published by McFarland in the last half-dozen years or so.

Michael Hardy is the consummate writer- he does his research-in depth, collects his material-much of it first-hand, then writes a book that is a cross between a textbook and a biography. I,too, am descended from men who were in the 37th NC of whom I knew nothing before I read this book. Now I do.

Even if you are not related,this book is excellent reading in order to understand how and why young men from rural western NC were willing to risk it all for a cause they did not all support. This is a tremendous book and a great read.

this was a great written book ,i had relatives that served in company E of the 37th nc and it was great getting to know there effords in supporting the southern cause.i suggest this book for anyone.

This book is loaded with in-depth research and provides a well written history on the 37th. My great-great Grandfather served in Company H and it has been a pleasure to learn of his exploits.

All of the history buffs and Native American descendants and people in general should buy this book to have a bigger and brighter outlook on the "indians" that our country so badly abused and misunderstood.

Amazing book.

This book is a compilation of first-person accounts of various native American Indians (natives) from the 1700s to the 1900s, focusing mainly in the period 1800s. With the stereotyping of native American Indians (natives) in Hollywood movies such as Dances with the Wolves, where they were portrayed as savages or barbarians, this book serves to give a thought-provoking perspective as seen from another view point. This book comprises of 4 sections or periods of their life in chronological order; (i) in their native environment (ii) slow and increasing emergence of the white men (iii) the eventual domination of white men over the natives (iv) life in the assigned and restricted Indian reservation regions.

From this book, I gained a better understanding of how the natives viewed the world, their beliefs and their lifestyles. They have a reverence for the everyday environment, such as the lands, animals, objects which made up the environment they lived in. An environment that is integrally interwoven with the Indian life. They have the wisdom about having the needs to establish the right relationship with the land and resources, otherwise destruction of Indians will be followed by destruction of nature and in the destruction of nature will be followed by the destruction of ourselves. It has been about 30 years since the first release of this book. And the state of the present world is such that we are not preserving the environment as much as we should.

The natives were not destructive. They would shake down acorns, pinenuts and use dead wood instead of chopping down living trees. On the other hand, the white men were viewed as destructive, causing destruction to the environment with the gains subjected to only themselves.. As an example, during the 19th century gold-mining era, they would blow up where ever they suspected there were treasures. They tended to blow up the ground, pulled down the trees, blasted rocks and scattered them onto the grounds. Once these treasures were found, they tended to grap only the treasures and left all trash behind.

With the current issues we are facing in the 21st century such as global warming, this book ended up being a self-reflection of what we humans had done in the past 3 decades. For all the advancements made (such as technologically, medically), where do these changes lead us towards? And it seems that we are and have been truly destructive to our environments.

In addition, the natives had a keen observation; " An animal depends a great deal on the natural conditions around it...... We see the change in our ponies. In the old days, they could stand great hardship and travel long distance without water. They lived on certain kinds of food and drank pure water. Now our horses require a mixture of food, they have less endurance and must have constant care". From their account, I shared a similar view as humans living in the present versus those living in the past. Unfortunately, we are sharing similar transformations as the ponies and horses.

As history has shown, every treaty had resulted in the disappearances of wild life. For example, in 1877, Blackford Confederacy ceded 50,000 square miles to the Canadian government, a treaty which led to the rapid disappearances of buffaloes and near starvation. There used to be so many bisons that they could not be counted, but more and more Wasichus (white men) came to kill them until there were only heaps of bones scattered where they used to be. The white men did not kill the bisons to eat, but rather for the hides to sell. Sometimes they killed them just for fun and ecstasy of enjoyment. On the other hand, the natives hunted the bisons only for what they needed as food.

The natives, tribes by tribes, from the Sioux to the Cheyennes, fought losing wars and were forced into treaties. Eventually, they were forced to migrate to less fertile reservation regions. If these reservation regions were found to contain minerals (coals, gold, etc), the previous treaties were likely to be voided and new treaties issued such as to reclaim those lands. While they were in these reservation regions, the populations slowly declined as they were subjected to a different lifestyle, (more processed) food and systems. And when they were in such a poor declining state, some of the native leaders being caught in a dilemma, had to humble themselves and plead with the American government for the permission to return to their original native regions where they once formerly thrived.

It is truly heart rendering to witness the pride and then ending in humility these natives had to undergo. I am not without guilt for the way the world has ended today. So it is really up to each of us to determine and preserve our values and to learn to respect the cultures of others.

In a nutshell this book is a compilation of quotations from many Native Americans.

However this book expands far beyond that nutshell. It shows many sides of Indian thought and belief interweaving both spirituality and history. The book is organised in an affective way, first having quotations showing the Indians willingness to co-exist with the white man and slowly that willingness fading into bitterness and anger as the settlers destroyed the land and displaced the Indians from their ancestral homes.

Even though 'Touch the Earth' might seem like an potentially depressing book it is very far from that. I found it very uplifting. Many of the quotations spoke to some deep part of my heart that made my soul smile. The archive pictures through out the book alone make me love it. It is a book full of words from wise men, so inspiring yet at other moments so anguished.

"What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of the buffalo in the winter time. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the Sunset." -- Crowfoot

"I hear no longer the songs of the women as they prepare the meal. The antelope have gone; the buffalo wallos are empty. [...] We are like birds with a broken wing. My heart is cold within me. My eyes are growing dim - I am old..." -- Chief Plenty-Coups

The one thing I will say about "Touch the Earth" is that you have to be in the right mood to read it. Most people cannot sit down and read a book cover to cover that is filled with quotation after quotation. Also some things that are said are so deep that I just had to sit for awhile and think about them. If you are not the type of person who liked history this is not the kind of book for you. However if the history of the Native American's fascinated you, as it does me, I would definitely recommend this gem.

Have you ever at any time in your life truly felt connected to the earth, all its inhabitants, the plants, the rocks, the wind? Touch the Earth is almost like a Native American prayer book and it examines this direct connection between our land's original inhabitants and their world around them. Not only did they feel this connection, but they lived it every day. Consequently they did not understand the White Man and his only going to church on Sundays.

As I've read and reread my copy, I often wonder what it would be like if we had respect for all the things created by God's hand instead of for only the ones we pick and choose to respect and honor. By favoring one species over another, we have dangerously tipped the ecological balance and not in a good way. By failing to understand the links between all the elements that make up the earth, we humans are well on our way to fouling our own nest.

I recommend reading this book late at night just before bedtime. Read only one or two essays at a time and allow the words to resonate with you in the quiet. Perhaps you will be reminded why it is important to Touch the Earth, our Mother.

The letter from Chief Seattle to the US President.. "How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? ..." and the vision of Black Elk ..."The sacred hoop of his people was only one of many hoops, all joined together to make one great circle, the great hoop of all peoples.." brought home to me the fact that the Native American philosophy of living has so much to teach us. They were closely connected to the earth, loved and respected it, while we treat it with violence; they were closely connected to our universal Mother and seemed to truly understand humankind's place in the universe while we trust in our technology and the wealth it brings us. The Native Americans appeared to have lived their lives with their two natures - materialistic and spiritual - in harmony while we have over emphasized the material and neglected the spiritual. While we cannot turn the clock back and ride horses and live in tents - nor would we want to - but surely there must be some principles that they incorporated into their lives which we can discover and build into our lives to help redress the balance of our two natures. So I turned to this book to see if there is some Native American wisdom which would enrich my life. I was certainly encouraged by the Book of-the-Month Club comment on the back cover "Simply but eloquently, the selections tell of the Indians' relationship with the earth, their kinship with all of nature's creatures, and their unity with the elements. They speak of the harmony that existed between the Indian and the land, a harmony that was disrupted as 'the hairy man from the east' encroached still further into their territory." and ".. one cannot help but be struck anew by their wisdom and their prophetic vision..."

I read this passage in the introduction: "In this book, the Indians speak for themselves, of the quality of their life. The passages that make up the book have been taken from speeches of Indians living in all parts of the North American continent, between the 16th and 20th centuries. They speak with courtesy and respect of the land, of animals, of the objects which made up the territory in which they lived. They saw no virtue in imposing their will over their environment: private acquisition, almost without exception, was to them a way to poverty, not to riches. The meaning of their life was identified through their relationships with each other and their homelands - all of which was given depth and resonance by memory" and understood that here in this volume I would find what I was looking for. Many of the passages reflect attempts by the Indians to offer their ideas to the whiteman but we responded by destroying their way of life and with it much of the wisdom we need today. We are indeed fortunate to have this collection to refer to. We cannot turn the clock back; we cannot undo the deeds of prior generations. But perhaps we can at least take the trouble to reflect on what these wise people were trying to teach our forebears and perhaps we will find some words of wisdom that will help us to live our lives with our two natures - materialistic and spiritual - more closely in balance.

If we fail to do this I fear that the prophecy in the introduction will come true. "It is well understood that the only decent future for us who live in America now is through a rediscovery of our environment. We need to establish a right relationship with the land and its resources; otherwise, the destruction of the Indian will be followed by the destruction of nature; and in the destruction of nature will follow the destruction of ourselves."

This is a must have for anyone interested in learning more about the traditions and cultures of Native Americans. Thoroughly researched, well written, beautiful color photos, respectful.

This book is very well researched, and it makes one want to spend time traveling and learning more about Native American culture.

This book is worthwhile for readers new to Arizona as well as for those who may already live there.

I lived in Arizona for 28 years and traveled to many of the sites in the book, yet I still discovered a lot of new things reading it. I particularly enjoyed the sidebar stories about people, places and events that presented anecdotes and little-known facts about Indian Arizona.

In fact, in reading the book, I actually became a little nostalgic for many of the prehistoric sites I personally visited and explored over the years. This includes a moving experience that I had while visiting the Heard Museum In Phoenix.

One final note, the writing style is very clear and easy to read.

This is a very well written guide for anyone traveling through the Southwest. The author provides excellent historical information as well as suggestions for routes, places to stay and nearby places of interest. On a recent trip to Canyon de Chelly, we used the book to plan our route, stops along the way, and as a reference for the history of the area. The author obviously feels strong ties to the native people of the Southwest..

When you launch your own discovery of Arizona's Indian cultures..., I suggest you begin by reading a comprehensive new book, "Traveling Indian Arizona," by Anne O'Brien... Anne is an experienced hand in the Southwest, working with museums in Denver, Flagstaff, and Phoenix. She has assembled something much more than an instructive travel book; this is a small encyclopedia of the many native peoples that continue their customs, and their arts and crafts, in Arizona. The many color photographs and the essays by elders and by anthropologists provide an additional dimension. --Richard Sims, PhD, Director, Sharlot Hall Museum, Prescott, AZ

"Unearthing Gotham" is the story of historical archaeology in the city of New York. Historical archaelogy is the archaeological study of eras that might also have written documentation - so what can digging around in old privies tell us that the paper trail does not?

Cantwell and Wall prove the answer is "an almost infinite amount." From a painstaking analysis of shards of pottery found in various privies, for example, we learn how the world changes for women when New York became too big to walk (they no longer lived above the shop, so to speak). In landfill in lower Manhattan, the charred ghost of a ship that sunk in the harbor in the 17th-century tells us something about trade back then. Most touchingly, the discovery and excavation of the old African Burial Grounds tells us something about the lives of the enslaved (did you know that over 20% of the residents of colonial Manhattan were enslaved? I didn't; I learned it from this book).

The book is extremely well-designed, liberally illustrated with photos of digs, but also old maps and engravings. If you have lived or walked New York, it will inspire you to look at the city in a new way - the ground you tred on still bears the marks of centuries past.

By the way, the authors have also brought out a book of walking tours based on their discoveries - next time I'm in town I'm tucking it under my arm and having a good look around at the vestiges of the 17th-19th centuries presented here.

New York, like no other city in the world, is a city of spectacular heights and many books have been written about the buildings that rise to the skies. How many people, however, think about what lies beneath the vast weight of edifices and human life that exists above the ground? In this compelling and instructive book, Anne-Marie Cantwell and Diana diZerega Wall have a given us a lesson not only about the artifacts and remains that have lain dormant for centuries but also in the history that surrounds their burial and ultimate exposure.

In a time-line fashion (11,000 years before present to today) the authors reconstruct a picture of what life might have been like during these times. Lest one think the unearthings are limited to Manhattan, they are not. All five boroughs are represented. There were moments during the reading of this book that I wanted the authors to spend more time recounting the actual excavations to which they refer, but in the end their historical perspective is the link that saves the day. Without it, their offerings would be no more than a field trip.

My future trips around the city will be made with a new awareness as I ask myself, "I wonder what lies beneath....". It is a question we all can ask.

This is the very best book one could have if he is interested in the early history of New York City and the area immediately surrounding it. The coverage of Native Americans is especially strong, fascinating from beginning to end. The authors know their subject thoroughly, write beautifully, and have given us an exciting, scholarly work that will be a classic for some time to come.

This book was good but I must admit it was extremely repetitive and very over written. Facts that could've taken 1 sentence to reveal took pages. More like a long essay then a book. But still very good.

As a long-time student of and writer about old New York, this book held so many surprises for me that I felt like a college freshman again. For so many years I had read about the Native Americans who occupied this city, but the illustrations, maps and photos that accompany this complex narrative give it new, more vivid life for me. The experiences of the Dutch, African-Americans and British that followed are given a face, so to speak, by the detailed, but lively, narration. The graphics, especially of the extreme southern tip of Manhattan, are generous, clear, and highly educational for newcomers to and veterans of this history. (By the way, as a Brooklynite, I want to kiss the authors for covering all five boroughs, and not just focusing on Manhattan, as do most histories of NYC.) This is a book that can be enjoyed on so many levels. It is a great introduction to a relatively--and undeservedly--obscure subject.

As the author/editor of Unnatural Phenomena, I apologize for the immodest five stars. Unfortunately, Amazon won't accept a submission without a rating, and what the hell, I am fond of the book. It is among my own favorites of the ones I have written. This is not being written, however, to praise my own efforts but to correct some serious misinformation in T. Christopher Smith's review.

First of all, the book is not self-published. As Smith could easily have determined, ABC-CLIO is a successful, highly regarded publisher of reference books for libraries and the academic market. I am somewhere between stunned and perplexed by this sentence: "But remember, [Clark] is the one setting the price tag, not the retailer." Where in the world could Smith have gotten this impression? The retailer had everything to do with setting the price, and the author precisely nothing. Then Smith follows a baseless claim with a malicious charge, based apparently in mind reading with faulty reception, that "money now seems to be [the author's] only motivation." What did I do to deserve this?

As Smith would have learned with even the most minimal research, reference books are very expensive. I wish they weren't, but I have no say in the matter. If I had had some say in the matter, I would have liked Unnatural Phenomena to be a trade paperback, selling in the $15-17 range, so that just about everybody who wanted to read it could afford it.

I'm glad that you liked the book, Mr. Smith, but next time you feel the compulsion to throw around nasty charges, you would be better advised to make sure you know what you're talking about.

This is a wonderful reference book full of material that will inform much future research.

Such books are made for libraries, most often, and have high prices due to the time it takes to comply them, their length, the amount of time to edit and produce them, and more. A criticism of the price from someone that borrowed one from a friend seems immature to the extreme and should be removed from consideration as a valid critique.

Buy it if you have the money. But please, don't whine if you don't.

Clark and ABC-CLIO have rendered a priceless service to Fortean readers and researchers alike with this collection of 645 entries spanning the years from 1729 to 1935. The vast majority are verbatim quotations of newspaper stories commonly cited only in footnotes by other authors (or with excerpts taken out of context, frequently misquoted). Every library should own a copy of this book, and no serious researcher or would-be writer on Fortean subjects will begrudge its cost.

North America has seen some of the strangest natural phenomena in the world: some accounts yet to be proven and possibly fantasy; others well researched, documented science. UNNATURAL PHENOMENA: A GUIDE TO THE BIZARRE WONDERS OF NORTH AMERICA is a compendium of the former of these eyewitness accounts, gathering findings and events from the last 200 years that keep defying rational explanations, from strange lights and sky battles to sea monsters and huge flying starfish ghosts. Each documented sighting includes a description and a dated source reference. This could've been reviewed under 'New Age' but many a science student will find it fascinating, and not to be missed.

Not really organized like a traditional book this is really a collection of newspaper and magazine articles from the early 1800's through the mid-1900's. The original articles are repeated verbatim complete with comments, misspellings, and colloquial word usage. I found this to be one of the endearing qualities of the book. The author takes a very broad look at unnatural phenomena and includes everything from strange things falling from the sky, to strange apparitions, animals, visions, and just about anything else you can think of that has been reported over the last two hundred years. While it is interesting reading it is not a book that I would suggest if you are looking to do a serious study of strange phenomena. On the other hand, if you are just looking for some light reading and a collection of incidents as reported by the media you will probably find this an entertaining read. The articles are all arranged by state instead of by type of phenomena so it is easy to look through your state and see what has been reported over the years. Unnatural Phenomena: A Guide to the Bizarre Wonders of North America is a recommended read for anyone interested in this subject or light enough reading for the merely curious.

I found this book in a bookstore in Washburn, WI (Chequamegon Books - best used bookstore in the US, by the way) and was so involved with the writing, the characters, the setting, I didn't want it to end. Came to Amazon to find another book by Jim Northrup and to see what others thought of this one -- am not suprised that everyone who rated it gave it five stars. The last review was quite a while ago, though so I thought it was time to review it again -- its still worth five stars. Buy it, read it.

He's opinionated and stubborn, sure. But did I mention Northrup is also a sassy, silver-rongued, and insightful writer? WALKING THE REZ ROAD is a tremendously important, truthful contribution but never dreary or dowdy.

I bought the hardcover years ago when it first came out and loved it. Mr. Northrup has an easy going style that grows on you. Just an all-around wonderful book.

I hear it is GREAT! I can't wait.... only two more days til I get this book! Everybody I know who has read it rates it as 5 stars! Is this cheating? Rating it before I read it? I hope not... I'll be back within a week to give it my personal critique. :)

I stumbled across this book in a bookstore and bought it after I flipped it open and found the main character's name was Luke Warmwater, I knew this would be a good book! The author begins this book with stories and poems about his experiences as a Vietnam veteran, stories which I felt were powerful and insightful for the reader - and then the author continues with stories from Indian country, stories which can heal by sharing the strengths of Indian people (our humor, families, traditions). I really felt connected to the stories and characters because I swear he was writing about my cousins and I had a few really good chuckles. Northup is able to make light of serious issues, and does so in a good way. Highly recomend this for both members of the "rez road" and those who want to take a glimpse into Indian country.