Earth Day Books

In "Krakatoa" author Simon Winchester examines the great explosion of August 27, 1883 from all angles, including historical, scientific, social, political and religious. He starts by explaining the social structure in the Dutch East Indies at the time. He then goes on to explain the scientific explanations for what happened and why. A fascinating portion is the story of the scientific studies which recorded the effects of the blast including water waves thousands of miles away and the air wave which circled the globe seven times during the first fifteen days. As the book progresses he impact the blast had on the natives and Europeans living in the area. He eventually suggests that the rise in Muslim devotion in the Dutch East Indies may have been the result of a fundamentalist turn to Allah after the catastrophe. The book ends by chronicling the volcanic activity and the island at the site of Krakatoa in the years since the explosion.

Krakatoa was the first major natural catastrophe to occur after the network of underground cables united the world. This made it a "World Event" which has fascinated readers ever since. I had long heard of Krakatoa and appreciate the opportunity to gain a better understanding it and its implications. It raised an interest in other scientific histories and the history of the Dutch East Indies. A book than can do that merits a recommendation.

Gratuitous slaps at creation science didn't help to positively influence my opinion of this book, but ultimately this book just wasn't as well-written as expected from Winchester, renowned as he is for his popular scientific treatments such as

--The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of The Oxford English Dictionary
--A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906

The book takes too long to get going with too many side trails from the main subject that are only marginally interesting.

In the side trails that are of interest, we learn that

--amateur weather observers indulging in their newly-popular pastime helped record the shock waves that circled the globe seven times after the explosion.

--the explosion is believed to be the loudest ever in human history, and was heard nearly 3,000 miles away.

This is a generally well-written account of the famous volcanic eruption which was one of the first such major events to take place after the development of worldwide communication technology. The author has been criticized for including details - many details - about not only geology, but also the history of the region and it's people, in addition to the narrative of the explosive eruption itself. If you are not a geologist or an Asia specialist, you will unreservedly enjoy this book! All the details provided by Mr.Winchester give the reader a feel for the place and the time. A perfect "read" for the intelligent non-specialist! My only complaint is that this book could be one-third shorter without losing any information, if the author would curb his use of literary devices like foreshadowing and the use of rhetorical questions. These are not bad writing "tricks", to be sure - but enough is enough! The fifth or sixth time that Winchester tells you of other volcanic eruptions, or of lesser events in the Krakatoa volcano which "would pale compared to what was about to take place" ( or some such comment ) you have a feeling which is beyond "deja vu". Despite this, I recommend the book wholeheartedly. The missing fifth star is due only to my quarrel with the writer's style.

The first 90 pages of this book are boring, but after that point, the story picks up into a gripping, detailed account of the worst volcanic eruption in recorded history.
This book not only recounts the geology and history of the event, but aptly points out the complex interplay between natural events and people. Moreover, it shows how much the world had become a global village, even by 1883 and that politics and the environment are intertwined.
It is masterfully written (minus the first 90 pages) and is perhaps the best science related book I have read this year...and as a geologist I read quite a few.

I bought this book because of a reference to it in an earth sciences lecture on iTunesU, expecting to learn all the details of the Krakatoa eruption. Simon Winchester fulfilled that expectation and gave me a detailed and interesting snapshot of the times as well. In that way it was reminiscent of William Manchester's excellent work, A World Lit Only By Fire. Winchester also covered the subsurface causes of the event in a substantial but readable way. I was pleased to find a very up to date account of the current geological state of the site. His ability to paint word pictures is obvious and enjoyable, and I'd recommend the book to anyone.

Just like the title says. Some scientists here have written their responses specifically for this book, others are obviously taken from other articles. Either way, the weight of evidence and logic weighs throughout to show the requirement for design, intelligent design, creative power and design beyond human comprehension.

The cumulative impact is impressive.

When I wrote my review, among the suggested tags were "bad science" and "creationist crap." Some reviewers apparently struggled in applying considered and balanced thought to their reviews.

This book is an eye opener, revealing wonderful scientific facts about the universe that support the Biblical accounts of Creation and the Flood. I used data on supernovae from this book to silence the atheists on an aol comment site. When I began to post, I was the only Christian on the board. When I ceased to comment, there were only Christians on the board. There is a great need to get these truths out into the world. People are deciding to live their lives as if God were a fantasy, which leads to horrendously tragic mistakes, a heartless society, and a messed-up world. This book is like a light shining in the darkness. Enjoy!

We keep hearing that real scientists believe in evolution. This book proves that claim to be a lie, as 50 Ph.D.s from virtually every branch of science explain why they believe in a literal six-day creation by the God of the Bible.

This collection of essays achieves what it sets out to do, namely to demonstrate that a significant number of scientists believe literally in all or part of the Biblical account of Earth history. I found the format more readable and authentic than a combined work, showing the range of perspectives and ideas from the many authors, many of whom have impressive credentials.

This "book" is actually a collection of religious testimonies of 50 Christian "scientists". Actually, it has no central theme except for the bashing of evolutionary and comological science on religious grounds, not scientific grounds. And many of the "scientists" are not researchers, but practical applicants, such as engineers and doctors. The majority of these people speak outside their area of expertise, and when speaking inside their expertise, they fall back on personal feelings and outrageous speculation, not science, to uphold their belief in a 6 day creation. No new information is brought to the table at all, and little logic. No scientific basis is offered to dispute evolutionary science or cosmology. Scientifically speaking, this book is cartoonish. Theologically speaking, it's like a Baptist revival of nerds decrying god's magical power. Probably the worst thing this book does is continue the fallacy that one must adhere to a literal, fundamental interpretation of the Bible in order to call themself a Christian. It also promotes the fallacy that science objects to religion. Science has taken these cheap shots for years, yet the theories still stand and are more valid and accurate than ever before, and becoming moreso every day with every technological development. When will the Christians learn?

IF YOU WANT REAL INFORMATION ABOUT TOLKIEN, THE LORD OF THE RINGS, OR ANY OF HIS OTHER BOOKS, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK, OR ANYTHING ELSE BY DAVID DAY!

I was given a copy of this book as a christmas present a number of years ago, and naively perused it, fascinated by the 'insights' into Tolkien's mythos and world. However, once I actually started to study Tolkien, I quickly realized just how completely bogus most of the stuff Day writes is.

One particular example that always strikes me is Day's entry on dragons, where he claims that there are three kinds of dragons: legless, legged, and winged. This is just plain wrong- there is no hint anywhere in any of Tolkien's writings that there were legless dragons. Day just seemed to like the idea, and went with it.

Read every page of it! Great book. I highly recommend reading this book before you read any of this larger works. There are so many characters and information in Tolkien work, reading this book beforehand will definitely help you if you have had trouble remember who is who.

This book is very thorough and explains ALMOST everything in the Tolkien universe very well. When I was looking through a bookshelf at my local bookstore, I found and great book. It changed my whole outlook on Lord of the Rings. Now my knowledge is quite extensive and I understand the lord of the rings trilogy a lot better. I would recomend this book for anyone. There is one small problem.. In the maps of middle earth and arda. They really show no detail of tolkien's world except for the bodies of water and the continents. But overall, this is an awesome book.

With "The fellowship of the Ring" motion picture coming up, I became interested again in Tolkiens wholly self-invented mythology. Strolling through my local bookshop one day, my eye was caught by a beautiful painting of Smaug attacking Lake Town. This painting turned out to be the cover of a beautifully illustrated and quite complete encyclopedia of Tolkiens World.

For me, the buying of this book turned out to be the starting point of a massive inquiry in Tolkiens world which I have far from ended today. And even after all that supplementary reading The Illustrated Encyclopaedia remains today one of my favorite books.

However. Getting nowadays more at home in Tolkiens mythology I am beginning to see the wholes in the text. I'm not saying that the "Encyclopaedia" errs, but I do believe that if the author had taken his research even further it would have turned out to be an even better, if not brilliant book. I give two examples.

First, the books chapters are about history, geography, sociology, natural history and biografies. Why not add a chapter about important objects, discussing for example the Rings of Power and/or the various magical swords wielded by the great heroes of Middle Earth? Such a chapter, I am sure, would prove very interesting. But by letting this stuff out, people are left with an alltogether beautiful, but essentially incomplete encyclopaedia.

Second, when one takes into consideration the subjects that did make the book, it is all to obvious that some of the information that should have been there was simply left out. Considering the history of Arda, for example, I was astonished to find no reference at all regarding the Dagor Dagorath, the final battle of the Gods, when Morgoth the Dark Enemy returns and Arda will be laid to waste...

My final word on the subject : I love this book, but what if...

With "The fellowship of the Ring" motion picture coming up, I became interested again in Tolkiens wholly self-invented mythology. Strolling through my local bookshop one day, my eye was caught by a beautiful painting of Smaug attacking Lake Town. This painting turned out to be the cover of a beautifully illustrated and quite complete encyclopedia of Tolkiens World.

For me, the buying of this book turned out to be the starting point of a massive inquiry in Tolkiens world which I have far from ended today. And even after all that supplementary reading The Illustrated Encyclopaedia remains today one of my favorite books.

However. Getting nowadays more at home in Tolkiens mythology I am beginning to see the wholes in the text. I'm not saying that the "Encyclopaedia" errs, but I do believe that if the author had taken his research even further it would have turned out to be an even better, if not brilliant book. I give two examples.

First, the books chapters are about history, geography, sociology, natural history and biografies. Why not add a chapter about important objects, discussing for example the Rings of Power and/or the various magical swords wielded by the great heroes of Middle Earth? Such a chapter, I am sure, would prove very interesting. But by letting this stuff out, people are left with an alltogether beautiful, but essentially incomplete encyclopaedia.

Second, when one takes into consideration the subjects that did make the book, it is all to obvious that some of the information that should have been there was simply left out. Considering the history of Arda, for example, I was astonished to find no reference at all regarding the Dagor Dagorath, the final battle of the Gods, when Morgoth the Dark Enemy returns and Arda will be laid to waste...

My final word on the subject : I love this book, but what if...

Though the author does stretch to associate certain mythos with Tolkien, this book is a great compendium of little-known mythos, traditions, and "history" not commonly found in your standard books.

J. Lyon Layden
The Other Side of Yore

David Day's book is an excellent compilation of almost every imaginable legend, myth, or folk tale that relates in some way to Tolkien and his writings. While the central task of the book is to relate past legends to Tolkien, Day also makes a point to briefly summarize some of the more important tales before making the Tolkien connection, so in this way the book can also be viewed as a source for Anglo-saxon, Celtic, Scandinavian, and Germanic tales and epics. Thus I found the book compelling, both as a source of ancient legends and an intelligent discussion of how these myths relate to the masters of modern fantasy like Tolkien. When I wrote my thesis in college on archetypes in fantasy literature this book was invaluable. Probably my most important and heavily drawn upon source. David Day has definetly done his homework on the subject, and the result is a masterful book containing some of humanities most influential myths and legends.

Definetly recommended, even if you're more interested in the mythological aspect of the book, and not so much the Tolkien connection. And of course, Alan Lee's artwork is excellent as usual.

I thought this was a really nice little book, easy to read, and full of information on various mythologies and how they may have influenced Tolkien. Tolkien once said that he wanted to develop a mythology for Britain, and his background work in northern European mythology was well-suited. Readers looking for exact, specific references may be disappointed. Christians who want to lay claim to Tolkien's work as a "Christian influenced" work may be disappointed also; there is little of the Bible here since it's influence on the trilogy was minimal.

David Day, in writing Tolkien's Ring, has seemingly changed Tolkien's written word to suit his purpose. Not only does he make many factual errors about the books by the author of the title, but fabricates evidence and deforms Tolkien.

"Sauron of the Evil Eye," says Day, is comparable to "Balor of the Evil Eye," and so forth. Unfortunately, for Day, nowhere in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is Sauron called such, thus making the comparison useless. And so on. There are too many such twistings of the original text to cite, too many of Day's own extrapolations quoted as the truth in The Lord of the Rings, for my comfort.

On the plus side, he presents an intriguing collection of stories. Yet knowing how he meddled with Tolkien, I cannot help but wonder if the tales I am reading therein are true to the originals.

The main good thing about this book is Alan Lee's fantastic imagery, which once again shows him to be undeniably the greatest Tolkien artist around. Having portrayed everything from hobbits to bigfeet without ever losing the mythic and ageless qualities inherent in his works, he brings a brilliant touch to the images in this book.

If only the same could be said of Mr. Day's text.

J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" is rooted in mythology. That much is evident if you check out just a few Norse legends, with their gods and dwarves and elves and so forth. But in investigating the legends that lead up to "Lord of the Rings," David Day goes wide of the mark.

He describes the legends about rings and ancient civilizations, dating back to the earliest recorded history. He dips into legends from all times -- the Celts, Arthurian legend, the Norse legends of gods, elves, dwarves and human heroes, the opera "Ring of the Nibelung," and many others. He includes synopses, analysis, and plenty of speculation.

So what does this have to do with Tolkien? Not much, unfortunately. Day flounders in just about every ring-related legend he can find, and cobbles mythical material from every mythology he can get his hands on. Filler makes up most of this . Just because a legend has a ring doesn't mean it's in any way connected to "Lord of the Rings," or that they are in any way the roots of Tolkien's Ring saga.

As a result, this book is a crazy quilt that will drive Tolkien fans nuts. Tolkien famously drew on Norse and Anglo-Saxon legends for his books, but not a lot else. Arthurian legend (a sketchy source itself) is cited too heavily, as is Celtic legend. What does the Celtic ogre Balor have to do with Sauron? Uh, well, they both have one eye... they're powerful... they're evil... bingo! says Day. Connection made.

Day's scholarly ramblings also have a lot to be desired. He paraphrases things from "Lord of the Rings" without telling readers that he is doing so, and offers his speculation as unadorned fact. He even stoops to trashing Christianity despite Tolkien's devout beliefs. Even legends are misquoted, such as his half-made-up descriptions of the silver horse Grani. No sources, no citations. Those familiar with the background of Tolkien's work will be incensed, and those who aren't familiar will be grossly misled.

The saving grace of Day's book is Alan Lee's exceptional artwork, which is elegant and magical as always. But even Lee's wonderful pictures cannot save a fetid, self-important volume with more fiction than fact.

IT MADE SENCE TO ME,AND CLEARED UP A FEW OF MY QUESTIONS.

This book was so bad that I could only read half of it. Basically the author thinks the human race colonized Earth, or something like that. He believes the Great Pyramid was built as a shelter during Noah's Flood. He also doesn't believe in the ice age. It's a very confusing book. However, it's good for a few laughs.

Pseudoscience: an activity resembling science but based on fallacious assumptions

This book, like Velikovsky, gives enormous food for thought to the thoughtless evolutionist or fundamentalist. Among other things, the author challenges the theory of primate ancestry, the Ice Age, and Von Daniken's alien thesis (although he admits that this might be a better theory than some). He gives credence to the legend of the Flood, as well as the Garden of Eden, although he interprets the Scriptures (and other old texts like the Mahabharata) in terms of what we would call science fiction.
Although a bit simplistic and also shallow in his approach to religion, he is less so than most other scientists, and demonstrates rather convincingly that pre-Flood civilizations may have been high order and even "magically" advanced by our standards, which accords with Scriptural accounts rendering it another fall of man from a Golden Age.
Covered in this book are the New World civilizations (including Chimu surgery and Tiahuanaco architecture), the Aryan legends of old India, basic astrophysics, archaeological anomalies, and a chronology for the Flood.
If nothing else, Mooney convinced me that the missing link hypothesis is full of more holes than I thought, and that perhaps the fallen angel/nephilim/UFO scare among Christians these days may need to be moderated a bit in the direction of informed scepticism. After all, if the Bible teaches us nothing else, let us not worship angels or anything else (including ourselves) but God alone. That lesson is as valid for an atheist or agnostic as a Christian, at least if Western civilization means anything.

I'm not going to sit here and say that I buy this book hook line and sinker, but you have to admit, Mooney's ideas are no crazier than some of the other things we accept as fact. Never once does Mr. Mooney say "These are the facts." He merely states that if we believe "A" to be true, and "B" to be true, could it not be that "C" just may be true? He does not advise his readers what to think, rather, he just wants us consider some other possibilities.

I have no intention of joining the "Richard E. Mooneys", But he certainly made me stop and rethink a few things.

I wonder what ever happened to this interesting feller.

This book provides considerable information most of us were not previously exposed to. The conclusions are rational in light of the author's interpretations and assumptions. Altogether a good read that makes one think, whether a beliver in religion or agnostic.

The best part of reading this book is that new views of the past become almost inevitable.

The Kindle conversion of this translation apparently has hard-coded carriage returns . The body of the text has left widows throughout. Modifying the justification did no good. It is nearly unreadable from a mere failure to strip the returns.

This is a tale of defying convention and attempting the impossible. To travel across unforgiving Africa at a time when so many had tried and ended up dead for their efforts presents quite a challenge. To do so in an untested but ingenious new invention only adds to the romance. As you follow Dr. Ferguson, Mr. Kennedy, and faithful Joe on their daring adventure you get quite a tour of a continent that for centuries had defied European exploration. While most of the voyage is spent in rather peaceful observation and light-hearted conversation, there are a number of times that incredible danger threatens and the heroes must rely on Providence alone to see them through.

As Verne's first book, published in French in 1863, FIVE WEEKS IN A BALLOON is obviously a product of its time, with frequent phrasings and descriptions of African natives that would likely be pretty insulting to civil rights activists. Also, I'm sure many animal activists would be appalled at the rather brutal and uncaring attitude towards all manner of creatures. It just goes to show you how far we've come in the last 150 years.

Jules Verne's scientific aptitude is on display in this book, with relatively complex and believable descriptions of the mechanisms required for long-distance hydrogen balloon flight. Fancies such as these have led many to consider Verne to be the originator of science fiction. He was also obviously quite a history buff, with complete descriptions of previous African explorations found throughout this book.

A light and fun read, and a great example of Verne's style.

This book is very exiting because ti makes you fell like you are really inside the book i would recomended for kids from 9 years old to adult

Originally published in 1863, "Five Weeks in a Balloon" was Jules Verne's First novel. In its pages, one can see some of the elements that were eventually to come together to form such great stories as "Around The World In Eighty Days", and "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea". In this story, Dr. Ferguson creates a hydrogen balloon for the purpose of exploring the unknown regions of Africa. He decides to take along Dick Kennedy, a Scotsman with whom he became friends when they served in the same regiment and who tries to dissuade him from making the journey, and Joe, who is his faithful servant. As one might expect, parts of this story are dated, and some of the language regarding the natives undoubtedly would offend many people if one were not to take into account when it was written. Still, it is an enjoyable book to read, and rates somewhere between 3 and 4 stars in my opinion.

The [other] publishing firm's bare-bones version of the book. There is no foreword or introduction discussing the life of Jules Verne, or the context of the times in which it was published. It simply contains the story, and nothing else. It has a good solid binding, and the print is easy to read. For some reason, they elected to put an extra line between each of the paragraphs, but this makes it even easier to read. All the extra white space also makes it a much quicker read then one would expect.

This book has some of the most beautiful pencil drawings I've seen in a children's book. While the story isn't overly enthralling, he does a great job of describing the animals and plants in detail to help the reader learn about each one and to really imagine they are there on the prairie. We will be using this book as a resource to study prairie life.

I have its companion books "One Day in the Tropical Rainforest", "One Day in the Woods", and "One Day in the Desert". I was very excited to get this one. I use them all in my third grade class room. The children find them an interesting and exciting way to learn about different types of land.

This book is SSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO boring. The story, if you could call it that, is this nerd named Henry Rush trying to get a picture of a prairie dog doing a backflip. The story is split into tiny chunks of the book, while all the rest is just facts about the grasslands. I had to read this for school, and, god, was it BORING. There was not ONE tiny part that I found interesting. Just for you, I'll tell you what happened the whole book so you won't have to go through the pain and agony I did reading it.

SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN THIS BOOK, DO NOT READ ON.

Henry's father drops his geeky son off in the middle of a Wildlife Refuge and drives off. Henry wants to get a photo of a prairie dog doing a backflip. Henry sees a tornado, but he doesn't care. He finally gets the picture and he ducks down, escapes the tornado, and the second the tornado is over, his dad comes in his car. Wow, that's good luck!

The book brought up some questions. 1) Why didn't he just use a camcorder or a digital camera that could make movies for the picture? 2) Why did his father just drop him off in the middle of nowhere? 3) Why did he name the prairie dog? 4) Why did he name it Red Dog? 5) Why did Jean even bother putting in a character, plot and a setting? Why wasn't it just a fact book? 6) Why didn't any character die? 7) Why didn't Jean make this book interesting? 8) Is this book supposed to be fiction or non-fiction? 9) How did somebody give this book 4 stars? Huh? Huh? 10) Why did they make this book so boring?

For those of you that think I'm being too hard on this book, I'm not. This boring piece of junk deserves this 1 star I gave it. The idea stinks, I know, but I can think of lots of ways to make it interesting. For one thing, you could make somebody die! That would make it interesting and if I had a choice to read it (Again, I had to read it for a report on the grasslands), I would've considered reading it if Henry Rush got sucked up in the tornado and got dropped off in the lake. Now, THAT would have made things interesting. Or at least the camera! Or at least the irritating prairie dog! Or at least part of the car when it's driving by! They could have made at least one of the characters likeable. This book is boring, unimaginative, and just plain dumb. The only things this book is good for is a paintball gun target, a frisbee and a sleep pill. Speaking of paintball guns, I would rather be shot by one than reread this book.

Here is another entry in nature writer Jean Craighead George's fantastic ONE DAY series. This one, unlike the other books in the series--ONE DAY IN THE. . .WOODS, ALPINE TUNDRA, DESERT, and TROPICAL RAIN FOREST--is written more dramatically in the present, and is a very satisfying introduction to the lively environment of the United States prairie. Henry Rush, a young photographer, gets to spend one day on the prairie to take a picture of a prairie dog doing a backflip. These comical little critters provide humor, while the buffalo of a nearby herd seem wise and noble. Suddenly, disaster strikes. A tornado is headed for the prairie, and Henry, the buffalo, the prairie dogs, and countless other creatures are in its path. The result is thrilling and tense. The illustrator's amazingly realistic drawings add to the excitement. This is a fine story about a lively environment from the author of JULIE OF THE WOLVES, MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, HOW TO TALK TO YOUR DOG, and many, many more superb books about the environment.

What is this book? Is it a story of a man trying to impart some peace and maturity to his young son with a river journey, or is it that of an author tracking down new discoveries of an old explorer? It is both; it is neither; it is an experiment in organizing text that didn't fully work out.

Overall, I found the narrative of this book too complicated to follow. He tries to weave together too many strands: the history of La Salle, his trip downriver with his children, visits to artifact-hunters, and stories invented for his son. This may have worked if it were organized in a geographically or chronologically coherent way, but I got dizzy trying to keep track of exactly where and when we were in all the different strands.

I have to admit that going into this book I knew almost nothing about La Salle, and coming out I don't feel like I know much more. I think the historical parts of this book are written to an audience who is already familiar with and excited by La Salle. Near the climax of the historical portion the author expresses excitement at touching "something La Salle probably had touched", a statement that left me particularly cold, wishing he could have gotten some of his excitement across to me.

The journey was better told, I thought, but still I felt let down at the end, since he doesn't offer much resolution as far as the stated purpose of the trip, shaping up his son. Still, the trip seemed fun and I wish he had used my interest here to help me understand La Salle's story.

It feels like there are two books here, stuck together because each was afraid to stand on its own.

When I saw La Salle in the title, I was almost put off this book, but I am glad I took the time to look a bit further. Being a Mississippi River travelog buff, I hoped to find something of interst in this book and indeed I did. Skipping all the entries on La Salle and focusing only on Daniel Spurr's here and now story, I felt as if I were traveling along with him as "a fly on the wall" in the cramped quarters of Spurr's boat, Pearl. The author and his family seemed to be involved with the waters and the banks of this river as opposed to just skimming past to be getting somewhere. I empathized with the author over the myriad uncertainties, irritations and feelings of guilt that go hand-in-hand with parenting. I understood the deisre to introduce his young son to a world far removed from the two-dimensional-virtual-reality vortex Steve was fast becoming addicted to. Travel can be about getting away from or going toward, but I think this story was ultimately about going along WITH. And in this case, I think Mr. Spurr and his children were traveling in spirit with the son Peter, who died in a train accident. I felt a deep heartache coming through in Spurr's words, but also his hope of renewal and his sense of the circle of life. Pre-America barely exisits anymore within the 48 contiguous states, but along the banks of The Mississippi, this author came close to finding it, in spirit and in fact.

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I want to be sympathetic to an established writer, so John Eastman's review from Jan, 99 sums it up for me in every detail. I ate up the History in his book, which was my reason for reading, but the kid stuff drove me crazy (I've got some of my own), and the writing, exclusive of the historical part, was bad. I think all poor Dan Spurr needed was a good honest editor.

This book is as much, or more, of a parental odyssey than a historical one. What information Spurr presents on LaSalle and current thinking and research about this fascinating French explorer is solid and intriguing. Far less engaging, at least to this reader, is Spurr's own family story. Long, dreary episodes tell us considerably more than we want to know about father, mother, and children (his wife mercifully escapes our scrutiny); he even quotes at length some of the clever little bedtime stories he makes up for his son. While all of this wordage is significant to him, no doubt -- and even mildly interesting, perhaps, to other daddies and mommies -- it provides a less than enchanting gift to the general reader. The book belongs on the parents' shelf of "what I did with my kids last summer" rather than with serious historical travelogs. One comes away with the impression that the relatively minor focus on LaSalle emerged as an incidental by-product of a family jaunt. Also, Spurr is not an especially gifted writer, making some of his too-frequent, ruminative, pretentiously insightful passages less than crystalline at best, murky and obscure at worst. Unfortunately, his prose comes alive only when he's discussing his boat or his kids. We learn precious little about the mighty river itself, its dwellers and endless permutations. Spurr's bankside activities mostly revolve around acquiring fuel for his boat. Still, Spurr's book is worth reading for its useful gleanings about current discoveries relating to LaSalle -- one must just tread a lot of water in order to find the good stuff.

My goodness, 14 years as an SDA was TOO long!!! Marvin Moore takes Adventist prophecy to new heights of historical and theological ignorance in his latest piece of end-times FICTION. I encourage my Adventist friends to read up on the history presented here, without Adventist or even general Christian bias. Just a 2nd glance from first a historical then theological viewpoint at some of Moore's conclusions will open your eyes to the follies of man concerning the mysteries of God. ...

No other book on the topic of "End Times" paints a clearer picture in the mind than this book! Marvin Moore walks you very carefully through biblical prophecies that have already taken place in our world, and through this world's END TIME CRISIS events which are soon to occur, as foretold straight from the Bible.

Be prepared so you won't be deceived! Tomorrow will reflect how you react today....

A MUST READ book for anyone wanting to know the truth about the Second Coming of Christ Jesus..

This book provides the reader with background information on what to expect in the final days of earth's history as we approach The Crisis of The End Time. The book provides very practical advice on exactly how we should go about developing and deepening our relationship with Jesus Christ as we enter this awesome period.

A clear vision of what events we can expect to precipitate the persecution of the Saints is given along with signs that the trouble is about to begin. This is a guide book to spiritual survival for the Christian in the end time.

From the title I expected to receive a book about sites all over British Columbia. Instead I received Volume 1 Vancouver Island. I would never have ordered this. There is no mention of Vol 1 and no photo of the cover.

The newly revised and substantially updated second edition of A Field Guide To Gold, Gemstone, And Mineral Sites Of British Columbia: Volume 2 - Sites Within A Day's Drive Of Vancouver by Rick Hudson is an insightful and informative collection of area locations filled with the accessible beauties of natural minerals and gems to be found in the Vancouver area. As a concise compendium practical information for finding and recovering prized gemstones and minerals, A Field Guide To Gold, Gemstone, And Mineral Sites Of British Columbia combines the author's years of experience and "know-how" with practical mapping and discovery methods. Enhanced with maps and site drawings, a glossary of geological terms, addresses of government offices, museums and mineral clubs/associations, A Field Guide To Gold, Gemstone, And Mineral Sites Of British Columbia is very strongly recommended for do-it-yourself mining hobbyists with respect to more than 260 sites in the British Columbia and Vancouver area.

Volume 1, Vancouver Island, is the most detailed field guide available for gold, gemstone and mineral hunters in this area. We found the detailed maps and generous Latitude and Longtitude references very helpful. When inputting this information into our GPS we have easily located the sites mentioned in this book. Highly recommended.