1 comments about Boston Harbor Islands.

1. Compiled and edited by Ken Mallory (Director of Publications, New England Aquarium, Boston), Boston Harbor Islands: National Park Area is a beautiful and impressively informative introduction to the national park islands of Boston Harbor. Featuring lavish full-color photographs, at-a-glance capsule information concerning access, description, facilities, special interests, and agencies of each island, and inviting, easy-to-follow narration of each island, Boston Harbor Islands: National Park Area is a joy for armchair travelers, and an excellent introduction for anyone looking to spend quality vacation time in the national park areas of Boston Harbor Islands.

No comments about London Living.

1 comments about Fodor's See It London, 2nd Edition (Fodor's See It).

1. I bought this guide for a 3 day trip to London. It was very useful for the detailed descriptions of places to go, when they are open, how to get there etc. For a quick guide i used "The London Mapguide: 5th Edition." This helped me get around the streets and just generally wonder around or look for a place to eat. If you're looking for a book to plan the trip for you, i would use the "Idiot's Guide to London." This book has suggestions for a 3 day, 7 day etc trip to London with all the thinking done for you.

1 comments about Covered Bridges of New England: A Postcard Book (Postcard Books).

1. My grandson is interested in poatcards of covered bridges so I bought this for him as a Christmas gift. He was delighted with it. The pictures are excellent and has many bridges with which we are familiar having lived in New England for most of our lives.

3 comments about South Boston, My Home Town: The History of an Ethnic Neighborhood.

1. I had to read this book...and comment on it. Like Thomas O'Connor, I am also a native of Southie. Using a voluminous store of references, and countless personal interviews, O'Connor has written the most comprehensive history of "The Town" I've ever read. He takes the reader from the very beginnings of life in the relatively isolated peninsula settlement, through the cultural, ethnic, occupational, and religious history of the residents, emphasizing their insular nature, seemingly always at odds with the rest of Boston and other outsiders, right through the 80's.

   The detailed background information provided by O'Connor over an entire chapter, regarding the forced busing for school integration and ensuing Southie riots, will give the non-Southie(and maybe some Southies also) reader a much better understanding, and different perspective, on the town. O'Connor is clear on the causes of the riots, namely a clueless judge following the path paved by a self-serving state legislature that passed a law which would preclude busing to Boston's lily-white suburbs, compounded of course by Southie's insular nature and desires to maintain their neighborhood schools. I recommend Michael MacDonald's recently published "All Souls" for a terrific read on the tragic experiences of one very poor Southie family in the projects during the those riots in the 70's, and on through the 80's, into the 90's.

   Overall..a terrific historic work on South Boston by O'Connor..the best Ive ever read.




2. Written by a South Boston expatriate [who hasn't lived in South Boston for decades], the book: 'SOUTH BOSTON: My Home Town - The History of an Ethnic Neighborhood' (c. 1988, 1994) by B.C. history professor Thomas H. O'Connor, ignored the usual tenets of logic and historiography and took a contingent and non-teleological world view of the history of his ex-neighborhood, South Boston.

   Containing all the usual ingrediants of determinism - such as: truisms (e.g. "The Dorchester Heights monument was completed in 1901 ..." p. 107) interpreted with many unreferenced categorical statements (e.g. " 'Most' of the Irish who came to America ..." p 78, and "In 'most' South Boston Schools ..." p. 121, or " ... the anti-semitism among 'some' Irish Catholics ..." p. 186); Professor O'Connor, in an attempt to initiate a self-fulfilling prophecy, simply collected a series of stereotypes which coincided with the media coverage of the anti-forced busing events of 1974-1984 Boston, of which he personally was not involved!

   This blatant manipulation of information is further enhanced by these curiously irresponsible statements that "To a great extent, Irish emigrants brought their traditional drinking habits with them when they came to America." (p. 44) and " ... the potato was the absolute mainstay of the Irish diet." (p. 47). In light of the facts that the first beer pump in Boston is found in South Boston at the German bar "Amrheims"; and in Ireland, the Irish don't just eat potatoes!

   As a further case in reader manipulation, the book 'SOUTH BOSTON: My Home Town' contained an anachronism as Prof. O'Connor perpetuated a crude specimen of Boston 'Mytho-history'. On page 254 in Prof. O'Connor's sources is found the screed LIBERTY'S CHOSEN HOME (c.1977) where journalist Alan Lupo related the excited outburst of an anti-forced busing protester in 1974 to then Mayor Kevin White that: "No matter how poor we were, Kevin, we always had clean lace curtains on our windows"(p. 30). And through sheer hyperbole, this exclamation from a non-Irish women found its way into 'SOUTH BOSTON: My Home Town' (p. 87) as the 1901 long established tradition of "the lace curtain Irish"! It is undocumented that there has ever been a lace curtain Irish in Boston and this description is specious.

   The book 'SOUTH BOSTON: My Home Town' presented a series of inconsistencies and mechanistically biased views of the author's former hometown: Prof. O'Connor emphasized white racism and ignored all the black racism found in Boston (p. 219); constantly referred to South Boston as an 'ethnic' neighborhood, but didn't describe at EXACTLY what point South Boston became a 'white' neighborhood when it came to his description of forced busing (p. 209); the author mentioned historical 'forces' throughout his work with no explanation of exactly what those mysterious 'forces' were? (e.g. pgs. 115 & 246); and in confusing digressions for correlations, Prof. O'Connor committed the 'post hoc' fallacy by constantly comparing two disassociate events: the Irish immigrants in the 1854 North End (Boston) as a "theme" (p. 32) for the behaviour of the Irish American minority in 1974 South Boston, two miles away and 120 years later! (An illegitimate teleology occurs when an author speculates, without sufficient proof, that x causes y).

   The omission of relevant data also marred 'SOUTH BOSTON: My Home Town' as Prof. O'Connor listed some of the whimsical nicknames (p. 178) found among South Boston residents but neglected to include his poster boy's, former mayor Ray Flynn, sobriquet of 'Mel' Flynn (and why he earned it). Also omitted from this work was the fact that the Irish American became a vocal minority by 1974, surpassed in the 1950s by Lithuanian, Polish, Estonian, Latvian, and Albanian immigrants fleeing communist persecution by the former Soviet Union - thereby breaking any contingency between the Irish immigrants of 1854 Boston, and the Irish American of 1974 South Boston! There were also 240 Afro-American families, plus a small colony of Mic Mac Indians from the Canadian Maritimes living in Southie when the Federal judge declared the Boston Schools segregated, which escaped the author's attention.

   Though this was supposed to be a history of South Boston, the author tended to drag in the history of all the Irish no matter how far or removed from Southie; e.g. Irish immigrants of New York city. (This is where Prof. O'Connor's specialty in demographics tended to displace his knowledge of South Boston history.) Then, inconsistently, Prof. O'Connor failed to mention the most segregated and insulated neighborhood in Boston's entire history - Chinatown!

   Professor O'Connor's collection of generalizations, unsubstantiated allegations, and unreferenced claims, makes it impossible for the researcher to verify his information. The yarn: 'SOUTH BOSTON: My Home Town' by history professor Thomas H. O'Connor, is a distorted work which is not history, but encompassed all the worse traits of a poorly written biography. By allowing his imagination to run away with him and indulging in a weak psychobiographic speculation with few sources or no proof, professor Thomas H. O'Connor had produced not a technically proficient work of history, but a weak biography on his ex-neighborhood, with all the veracity and authority of an eighth grade book report.

   Any life long resident of South Boston would immediately pick out the flaws and errors of this work (e.g. Life long South Boston residents do not refer to themselves as 'Southies'!)

   'SOUTH BOSTON: My Home Town: The History of an Ethnic Neighborhod' is a perpetuation of many media stereotypes, documented truisms, vague categorical statements, and added nothing new to the knowledge of South Boston's history.




3. "South Boston My Hometown" is a detailed but very readable history of a unique Boston neighborhood. Written by a native who is a professor at Boston College, the book is remarkably objective considering the South Boston Irish background of the author. If there is any flaw, it is the apology given for the long standing ignorance and bigotry of many South Boston natives. The pitiful anti-semitism of the 1930's and the disgraceful racism of the 1970's deserve no forgiveness. Perhaps a later edition will tell if any effort has been made to educate the new generation of South Boston Irish to avoid the sins of the last century.

1 comments about AMC River Guide Maine, 3rd (AMC River Guide Series).

1. This is the guide book to get if you are thinking of doing a river trip in Maine. The information in it has been thoroughly checked and is very accurate. It tells you if you need permits for campsites and even tells you the quality for those sites. It has excellent detailed descriptions of all significant rapids and even suggests the best route to take. It has every conceivable trip from a half-day to a week or more. As a professional in the field, this is a book that I rely when planning any canoe expeditions in the state.

1 comments about Fishing Maine, 2nd: An Angler's Guide to More than 80 Fresh- and Saltwater Fishing Spots (Regional Fishing Series).

1. My job in the small boat industry requires that I travel to various places on or near the water. As a rabid angler and fish watcher I can't bear the thought of being anyplace where new, different or quality fish might be caught or observed without taking a crack at them. On these trips my time is limited so I have to plan my outings carefully. As a result I've acquired a small library of regional fishing guides to study before each trip in order to pursue my piscatorial passions most efficiently. Luckily, I'm required to visit the state of Maine on a frequent basis. Fortunately, I discovered Fishing Maine, 2nd Ed. by Tom Seymour. This is the most complete and most intelligently written regional guide I've ever seen. If you follow Seymour's advice regarding locations, tackle, technique and seasons you are almost certain to catch plenty of fish. His recommendations for each site are very specific and accurate. Everything about this book is superior, from the writing style, illustrations, choice of type, to the paperstock. Seymour and Lyons Press should be very proud of what they've produced. I often find myself thumbing through this book and wishing for an excuse to visit Maine so that I can check out more fishing sites, firsthand.

2 comments about HIDDEN PLACES OF EAST ANGLIA, THE: An informative guide to the more secluded and less well-known places in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire (Hidden Places Series).

1. This book has places that you would never be able to experience with out it. The descriptions were superb and the details were extremely helpful. To truly discover England you have to see the little villages and towns. This book was a great guide to all things historical and interesting in East Anglia. I highly recommend it.



2. As I try planning a trip to the UK, this book just wets my appetite more. Covers areas not usually found in general guide books. If I make the trip, this book will come with me.

1 comments about Time Out London Walks (Time Out Book Of...).

1. I have used and read many self-walking tour books and have taken walking tours in London. I found this book to be one of the best as usual with any Time Out Guide Book. The information in their books is not as detailed as some others, but they give a great overall view. The walks, on the other hand, go into very good detail. The maps are excellant and the information on how to get to the start of the walk is the best I've ever seen. I plan to use this book when I go to London next February (2001).

3 comments about The Dragon at War.

1. This Book I felt was one of the best books'. Before I tell You about about how I felt how the book was, I would first like to give you a breif Summary of this book. It is about This person by the name of Sir James Eckert, Baron de bois de Malencontri et Riverroak. In this book It was About these seaserpents who wanted two kill the Dragons on england ( Also Sir James Who Has The Power to turn into a dragon at the wave of a hand ). These Searpents were not all that were in this book, No there Was Things like a giant Squid Who wanted to take controle of all the magickians in this world, And a BIG Freindly Seadevil by the name of Rrrnlf. Anyway These magickians were all over the world but one of the most renoun and best loved as a freind by jim is Carolinus. Carolinus Is one of three AAA+ Magickians in this magical domain. He is jim's mentour and advisor as a junior magickian. Now enough about the book before I tell you everything ( I geuss you will have to just read the book for yourself!!!) This book ( One of seven in a series ) is to me one of the best books that I have ever read. It contains More Magickians,Dragons,Kinghts in armour and a 1000 things Than any other book that you have ever read. It has a very intriging plot to this story. What I find is that gordan trie to enter in a few jokes here and there that I believe help perkin up a good book. Thats all that I have to say, and if your intreseted in these types of books here are the names of them. 1. The dragon and the George 2. The dragon Knight 3. The dragon on the boarder 4. The dragon at war 5. The dragon, the earl, and the troll 6. The dragon and The djjin( last word might be wrong!) 7. The dragon And the Gnarly King. These fine books you can find Right here on Amazon.com



2. If you have only read the first three of the series you must keep going. This book continues the saga of Jim, Brian,Daffyd, Giles, Secoh, Carolinus and more. The ending of this book over takes all the others in the series. If you can't find this book here keep looking becuase it is well worth it. This has the only ending in which it is possible to guess and makes realistic sense. This is the one book that really involves every charater in a major role and has a most impressive ending. Read this book if you liked any of the other at all.



3. I highly recommend this book and all the "Dragon and the George" sequels. IT was a wonderful series, written by an amazing SciFi/Fantasy author!