1 comments about A Traveller's History of Oxford (The Traveller's History Series).

1. A Traveller's History Of Oxford by Richard Tames (Lecturer for the London Programs of Syracuse University and the American University) is an superbly researched, accessibly written, deftly informative guide to exploring and appreciating one of Britain's most famous and provincial cities. Featuring Oxford's history, museum highlights, recommendations for bicycle, car, train and bus trips, this handy and "user friendly" volume is enhanced with sections devoted to sports, walking tours, a bibliography, glossary, and an index. A Traveller's History Of Oxford is especially recommended for on-site vacationers and is ideal for "armchair travelers" wanting to know more about the history and attractions of this venerable English city.

1 comments about The Primal Place.

1. One day people will realize that Robert Finch is the greatest nature writer of our time. He is a competent naturalist - he easily identifies animals, plants and other natural phenomena with their scientific names; he is a keen observer - he notices the intricate details of the objects of his observation; and he is also an excellent writer - all the scientific lingo are woven seamlessly into his writing, and the details are always accurate, vivid and never boring.
   
   Compared with some of his near-contemporaries, Mr. Finch is also more humane, tolerant and even personable. Aldo Leopold essentially only wrote one book (albeit a very good one), and he was too much of a hunter, always trigger happy; Edward Abbey writes with pungency, but he was often ornery and undoubtedly a misanthrope; Joseph Wood Krutch was too detached, too distant in his writing; Anne Dillard was prone to prolonged and irrelevant theological rambling.
   
   As to this book, as Mr. Finch said, it is his favorite, the best "book book" (as opposed to a collection of loosely related essays) he has written. In the first part of the book, "Digging in", the setting is centered around his house in Brewster, Cape Cod: the house itself, the garden, the adjacent commentary, the roads, Punkhorn. In the second part, "Going out", the author ambles to the nearby surroundings: the brooks, ponds, seashores and "The Landing". Mr. Finch writes about the natural phenomena: the herring run, the woodchuck in his garden, the stranded marine animals on the beach, etc., but he also writes about the people and the human history of the land. In his words, this is not a static place, but "a landscape in motion".
   
   Although Mr. Finch lived in Cape Cod for years, the book vaguely suggests the continuation and changing of seasons of one single year (interestingly, the book itself was written in a year) - it starts in about early Spring, then rolls into summer, fall, winter, and finally ends in early Spring again. This and the geographical concentricity are perhaps what give the books a cohesive theme and the reason why Mr. Finch says that it is a "book book". They also remind one of Walden, which without a doubt has influenced Mr. Finch's writing and perhaps also his philosophy.

No comments about Eden Project: The Guide 2008/9.

5 comments about In Search of Robinson Crusoe.

1. Daniel Defoe based his famous Robin Crusoe castaway character on the real-life seafaring adventurers of men who were his contemporaries - and who did survive for years on isolated islands after shipwrecks. Tim Severin camped out on islands castaways once survived on, and searched South America for the tribes which were a model for Crusoe's companion Man Friday. In Search Of Robinson Crusoe is highly recommended history blended with adventure and travel in a revealing and thoroughly engaging.



2. Tim Severin is a master of his craft. For any one who has not read his other books this is a good place to start. His enthusiasm for his task, in this case finding on what, or whom, Defoe mostly likely based his book 'Robinson Crusoe' has once again resulted in a well written and readable book.
   
   Severin's research and resulting drawing together of threads makes for a different sort of book. Rather than a mere recounting of his own voyages he seeks out the connections between people, places and history that makes the past vastly more interesting. His own particular concerns are worth following as they inevitably lead the reader to places that one may never have thought of as being connected. Severin is a skilled story teller/social historian whose books are suitable for all ages and should appeal to a wide range of interests.



3. Tim Severin's books have never failed to engross me and this one is no exception. In it, he looks at the story of Robinson Crusoe and examines what is known about the origins of the story and then goes to explore for himself. The result is a rewarding voyage of exploration without leaving the comfort of the air conditioning.
   
   It is widely accepted that the story of Crusoe is based upon the real life adventure of Alexander Selkirk on Juan Fernandez Island. Severin tracks down what is known about this flash in the historical pan and then explores his island and his relationships to other people who enter his story. Selkirk's adventure took place in the Pacific but Crusoe takes place in the Caribbean. Selkirk also had no man Friday to accompany him. So it is that the areas in the Carib which might have influenced Crusoe are also examined. So too are the people with whom Daniel Defoe may have been in contact.
   
   Severin puts forth the hypothesis that the story of Selkirk may have been the inspiration for Crusoe but that the actual tale of the novel is based upon several other real life exploits of other people.
   
   Reading this book will not solve the world's great problems nor will it add to your bottom line. It will simply broaden a few horizons and provide for some pleasurable musings.



4. This is not the first such voyage of literary detection upon which Tim Severin has embarked, though it is the first I have read.
   
   What Severin presents you with is a narrative mix that alternates between his retellings of the primary sources, the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century published voyage-narratives that were Defoe's potential sources for his novel Robinsion Crusoe, and accounts of Severin's own "in the foot-steps" travels around the relevant locations.
   
   In both these areas of narrative Severin's prose makes for an entertaining and compelling read. He is apposite and insightful without pretence. In his historical judgment, he occasionally seems intemperate and one-sided; his treatment Captain Shelvocke seems particularly severe. This is because, ultimately, he writes more like a journalist than an historian, but his portraits of historical characters certainly bring them to life for the reader.
   
   In describing his contemporary travels, Severin's observations are equally acute, often poignant and occasionally hilarious. A particular treat is his account of Grand Cayman, a hugely amusing study of petty officialdom in a small, rich, self-important but essentially dysfunctional, offshore haven.
   
   The book's conclusion is not earth-shattering or at all unexpected. Crusoe isn't Alexander Selkirk, though the latter's contemporary celebrity doubtless made him a significant influence upon Defoe. Crusoe is a fictional composite who owes a little something to a variety of historical seafarers. Severin also shows us the historical prototypes of Man Friday, a component entirely absent from Selkirk's story.
   
   The nearest to "finding Crusoe" Severin gets is to identify the historical man to whom the fictional hero Crusoe is said to owe the most.
   
   I won't spoil things by naming him, but I was fascinated to read about Severin's prime suspect. Although Severin never makes this connection in his book, it is blindingly obvious that his candidate for Crusoe was, in fact, also the source for Rafael Sabatini's great swashbuckling hero, Peter Blood.
   
   None of this matters because, with Severin's excellent narrative, the pleasure is in the journey rather than the final destination.
   
   I will tell you, however, what Tim Severin does not: Robinson Crusoe and Captain Blood are one and the same!



5. 
   Those reader's who have read some of the author's fictional books may be surprised to know that he has written even more factual books, all with a historical feel to them. Tim Severin has done many exciting things in his life, not least tracing the route of the remarkable Marco Polo, by motor-cycle, while still a student at Oxford. Since then he has been both explorer and traveller, author and film maker. He has recreated a number of journeys and voyages from the pages of history. Not simply for his own enjoyment but also as an aid to proving whether they were possible, or simply just myths
   
   In this particular book Tim Severin attempts to trace back to the real Robinson Crusoe, who spawned Daniel Defoe's fictional character. The book is well written and interesting and at times reads like a travelogue, with the author taking us to many strange and sometimes inhospitable places in his attempt to solve the mystery of the island castaway.
   
   Severin takes us, among other places to the island from which the Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk sailed. Selkirk being one of the favourites for the character of Robinson Crusoe. Daniel Defoe is also paramount in the author's investigation and through Defoe Tim Severin exposes other characters from the period that may have sparked the idea for Defoe's book. Tim Severin narrates a good tale and the book is both interesting and informative.

2 comments about A Brit Among the Hawkeyes.

1. The great Iowa historian (who, ironically, happens to be a British Lord), has produced an absolutely wonderful Iowa book. All 210 pages will amuse you and delight you. When he's not in London debating in the House of Lords and having tea with the Prime Minister, Lord Acton is a denizen of Iowa City, Iowa, spending his time in the coffee house of Prairie Lights Bookstore or researching Iowa history in the reading room of the State Historical Society Library. This research resulted in the recent Iowa State University Press book, "To Go Free: a Treasury of Iowa's Legal Heritage." But "A Brit..." is a quicker and more personal read. It's dedicated to Patricia, his wife and a University of Iowa law professor. It begins with letters to his brother, Edward, in which Lord Acton relates that Iowa, indeed, is not flat. But Richard learns a lot more about the Hawkeye State after his marriage to Patricia and his move to Cedar Rapids. He writes about his visit to "The Field of Dreams" (outside Dyserville) and he discovers the joys of the Iowa State Fair, where after a day of eating turkey drumsticks and walking through the pig barns, he develops "an acute case of Iowa State Fair sore feet." But it's not all Iowa in this book, as Lord Acton switches to London and includes essays on the joys of riding London's black taxis and relates the history of "White Curly Wigs and Black Stuff Gowns." There's also a wonderful section of the book on the author's childhood in colonial Southern Rhodesia (today's Zimbabwe), where Richard grew up with nine siblings. There's a lengthy essay on the dear family friend, the eccentric British writer, Evelyn Waugh, who would journey to Africa to visit the Acton family. From Africa, it's back to London, where Richard relates the story of the downfall of Margaret Thatcher and explains the peculiarity of "The Prime Minister's Question Time." "A Brit..." wraps up with a fine section on various matters Iowan and American, including the author's visit to "The Mall of America" and his frustration with trying to understand American's tolerance of "non-dairy creamer." He delves into the origin of the state's nickname, Hawkeyes, discusses the state's first Thanksgiving and tells the story of the infamous "Cherry Sisters," who took vaudeville to a new low in the early 20th century. And no Iowa historican has gone to such effort to relate the story of Bonnie and Clyde's several forays into the state (although they met their end in Louisiana). There's also an essay in the book about the surreal (and true) story of the mysterious Opal Whiteley, who was the child of an Oregon lumbercamp family, but believed she was Princess Francoise d'Orleans. And for those who may believe the author is the one who came up with the phrase "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," there's an essay in which Lord Acton explains that the words actually came from his great-grandfather, the first Lord Acton, who uttered the famous phrase on April 5, 1887. The book includes a marvelous cover drawing by Iowa City artist Wiley (another parody of Grant Wood's "American Gothic"), the creator of the nationally syndicated cartoon "Non Sequitur." For Iowans, ex-Iowans, British citizens, or anybody else, for that matter, Lord Acton's new book is a fun read and a great way to learn some history in the process. The book is a true joy all the way through.

   Dennis Reese Iowa Public Radio, WSUI-KSUI




2. Richard Lord Acton is a member of the House of Lords in London where he spends half the year, and the other half of the year he spends in Cedar Rapids, Iowa where his American wife is a professor of law. His observations of life in general, and Iowa in particular, are the basis of this book.

   He looks at life in Iowa with an eye full of amazement and wonder. He talks about his difficulty driving on the wrong side of the street, but has settled that problem by driving 5 miles under the speed limit so he has a "margin to think". His favorite bookstore in the whole world is Prairie Lights in Iowa City and he tells us why. He also discusses holidays and his problem with the 4th of July.

   Part of the book deals with his life in London and I learned a little about British law. Another part deals with his childhood in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). All of it was fascinating.

   He obviously loves Cedar Rapids and when you read the account of his experience at the post office, you'll understand why.

   He talks about his visit to the Mall of America, the movie Jurassic Park and "finding America on a Halloween hayride".

   Now it would be perfect if his wife would write a "companion" book on her 6 months a year in London.

1 comments about Nature Walks in & Around Portland: All-Season Exploring in Parks, Forests & Wetlands.

1. One of the nicest things about this book is it includes a small map of the Portland Area with all of the locations marked. Many books do not include this simple feature which makes it very nice to find walks near you or in a particular area. All of the directions for getting everywhere are very clear. Each walk includes a small map, distance, time required, best time to go, highlights, terrain, and commentary. It is also really good about stating whether or not a hike is good for wheelchairs and strollers.

No comments about Maine Lighthouse: A Pictorial Guide.

5 comments about England for All Seasons.

1. "Cloudy with outbreaks of rain at times. However, there will be drier interludes."

   Thus might an English weathercaster ambiguously predict the day's weather, as noted in the first chapter of ENGLAND FOR ALL SEASONS, the third book in a series by travel essayist Susan Allen Toth on her ongoing romance with England and all things English. (The other two books in the series are MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH ENGLAND and ENGLAND AS YOU LIKE IT.)

   Granted, for someone residing where the climate is livable year round, say Los Angeles, CA, such a weather prediction might not offer much inducement to make the eleven-hour trip across The Pond. However, if living in a place with beastly humid, hot summers and teeth-chatteringly frigid, snowy winters, say Downer's Grove, IL, there's a lot to be said for England's temperate climate, however uncertain its application.

   ENGLAND FOR ALL SEASONS is chock full of so many of Susan's reminiscences and recommendations, all presented in her usual humorous and relaxed style, that it's hard to summarize the book without writing a review of similar length. The twenty-five chapters cover a multitude of topics. The art of garden visiting, and the temptations of the "sweet trolley", a.k.a. the restaurant dessert cart. Buying books in England, and the exploration of literary landscapes, i.e. the exploration of those locales in which the country's legion of authors lived and wrote about. "Lolloping" around London, perhaps best translated as a relaxed peregrination to the city's numerous attractions, including some of the major museums (Transport Museum, Imperial War Museum, Theatre Museum, National Portrait Gallery) and grand historic houses. Then there are those quirky depositories outside the capital devoted to the oddest of interests: bagpipes, thimbles, ceramics, plasterwork, waterways, oast houses, lawn tennis, stained glass, and (!) lawnmowers. Susan whisks us away on a tour of the Thames as it meanders its way through London. Then it's off to the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall, the Scottish island of Mull (popular Skye's "shy sister"), and the Welsh island of Anglesey. If you're a creature lover, you'll be delighted on field trips to various animal sanctuaries for donkeys, otters, seals (near the village of Gweek), and owls.

   It's apparent that the author escorts the armchair traveler well beyond England's boundaries deep into Wales and Scotland. This is not because England is wanting in things to do or see, but rather in recognition of the fact that many, if not most, of her fellow Americans are woefully insensitive to the distinction between England and Great Britain. Bloody Yanks.

   I can conclude with no better than Susan's very words, because my several trips to the United Kingdom would cause me to advise the same:

   "But, when I finish a book, I'm a little sad, too. Writing about my trips reminds me that they're over; I will never have exactly that experience again... Perhaps that touch of sadness has to do with my realization that places and people change. Travelers know this. Perhaps we take those snapshots because we know that even if we return to this precise spot, it will never be exactly the same... I want to urge everyone who dreams of going to England, go NOW."




2. Ms. Toth is at it again -- making one long for a visit to the isle of book shops and tea rooms, great theatre and lovely gardens. This, the third volume in the series, has particularly good information on theatre-going, museums, and London transport.

   While I enjoyed the book, I do have some reservations about recommending it. Again there is a heavy emphasis on gardens, with a LOT of specific information about what flower species are present and where they're located in various gardens. I think the author writes very well on literary landscapes and I would like to have had more than one short chapter. I do wish the author and her husband would branch out a bit -- in the three books of the series they visit many of the same areas many times over -- Cornwall in particular -- but totally neglect others. My only other complaint, and it sounds silly, is that Ms. Toth seems a bit of a ninny in this book, though she was very charming in the other two volumes: she intrudes, rather rudely I thought, on a priest teaching a class; she does not know that European VHS tapes do not work in U.S. machines; she is several times 'unsettled' by images which turn out to be statues or sculptures; she is a bit more condescending toward people who don't share her philosophy of travel.

   While the author gives valuable contact information for various agencies, I do hope that future editions will include online resources as well.

   If you love England, and especially if you love English gardens, this book will delight you. While not as charming as the author's first book about visiting Great Britain, My Love Affair with England, it is still loaded with good information and fun anecdotes.

   No index.




3. a really great book on England. "England for All Seasons," describes mainly the writers trips to England mainliy London and the wonderful places to walk there. What athe transportations is like, the museums, and theatre district. It's about England and for anyone to read who has been there or would like to go. It really describes the author's impressions of it and her travels some of her experiences there. It's definitly not a guide book. It has a wonderful secion on English gardens too and much more. Its a great book.



4. Having read Susan Allen Toth's first two England books last spring before a trip to the UK, and her third, "England for All Seasons," shortly before a return trip to London last month, my reaction to this book was somewhat mixed.
   
   On the one hand, I already knew the author's tastes in travel and writing run to gardens and obscure coastlines and drives on narrow winding roads, and so I was prepared when the time came to skim over her lengthy descriptions of those three things. In "England for All Seasons," that accounted for about one-third of the book, and it felt very much like her earlier books. On the other hand, I was pleased to find a number of places to go and resources to check out that were new to me, and also to see that there was more about London in this title than I recall in the earlier two books.
   
   Having read all three books now, I think "England As You Like It" was probably my favorite, perhaps because it was also the most practical. Of course, since this book is ten years old now, much of the information can be replaced, as I said in an earlier review, with a red rubber stamp reading "Use the Internet!" A decade on, Susan Allen Toth's books are now travel literature more than they are how-tos, and if your tastes run to a personal view of England and affectionate descriptions of what keeps bringing her back, "England for All Seasons" deserves a place next to the other two volumes.



5. This is the second book by Susan Allen Toth that I have now read, having read England As You Like It first. Both are delightful, confortable reading with easy to follow instructions for the individual traveller and show a great love of the country, its gardens and its history and culture. Thank you Susan.

3 comments about Frommer's England 2007 (Frommer's Complete).

1. Apart from the 2 chapters about London, this book is useless as it doesn't provide much information for other major cities in England.



2. It's probably too much to ask any one book to cover all of England in detail. But Frommer's has packed this 784-page monster with all the information they could in an attempt to do just that. Did they succeed? Mostly. For starters, they offer over 20 "Best of" lists that help you zero in on the finest the country has to offer in all sorts of categories ranging from museums to pubs and everything in between. Basic travel information is offered for those completely new to the country to help you start off on the right track. There's even a short offering to help you learn a bit about art and architecture so that you can better appreciate what you will see on your visit. And, of course, there are four suggested itineraries for complete trips. Finally, the remaining 700 pages detailed information on the various geographic areas of England.
   
   Without diminishing the rest of the book, I found the "Best of" lists and the itineraries a great starting point because it helped me zoom in on the part of England that I would most want to visit. From there, I started worrying about the specifics of what I would do there and that's when the rest of the book started to come in handy. But I also purchased the The Unofficial Guide to England (Unofficial Guides) and found that I often went back and forth between the two. For information on the Cotswolds, Lake District, and some other aspects of the trip, I found Frommer's to be the most helpful. At the same time, when it came to reviewing the sight-seeing attractions in London I preferred the content and format that the Unofficial Guide used. It's not that Frommer's didn't cover it at all, or that the coverage was poor. But comparing the two, I definitely found the Unofficial Guide easier to use for touring London. Leaving London aside, Frommer's has certainly put together the most comprehensive guide you will find on England. It has every city you could possibly be interested in as well covering the Lake District, the Cotswolds, and other rustic areas of interest to tourists.
   
   In summary, I found the Frommer's Guide to be highly useful and I certainly recommend it to anyone planning a trip to England. I also believe that no one book will have everything when covering a place as diverse as England, so don't limit yourself to just one book.



3. Comprehensive, no frills, gives you what you need to know, but somehow more dense and less flashy than other books of this type. It's informative, but a bit like some sort of catalog. Good to get and read but I don't think it's the best choice on the market or one you'd want to take with you after you've gleaned everything in it you want to know.

1 comments about Timpson's Leylines: A Layman Tracking The Leys.

1. John Timpson became fascinated with a stone which was supposed to be a leyline marker, and his fascination led to his study of ley lines which blends everything from beliefs in prehistoric ancient meetings to 'new age' beliefs that they are landing sites for UFOs. Timpson's Leylines is a metaphysical study which is hard to neatly categorize: there are many theories and there's much folklore about the origins of leylines: the author's exploration of history, myths and folklore results in a lively coverage indeed.