No comments about ParisSmarts (Take a Trip... City Smarts!).

No comments about Insight Compact Guide Paris (Insight Compact Guides Paris).

4 comments about Devil's Island: Colony of the Damned.

1. This book is a disappointment. It is not a serious work of scholorship. It has no notes, no index and is written in a rather breathless style that involves lots of exclamation marks and purported quotations of conversations that took place 75 years ago. The work also lacks structure and needed a good editor.

   Save your money.




2. If you are seeking fascinating history and a well researched book, try this one. However, as the previous reader mentions, the book is not well written and it would have been nice to see his sources.



3. Devil's Island was originally published circa 1934. It told of Dr Dreyfus'ordeal. The book you are listing is 1988. Is that an update of the original Devil's Island?



4. Before I review this book, I should say that I am a student of French history who is particularly interested in the French colonization process in the Caribbean and South America. Consequently, the prison colony in Guiana has come to my attention.
   
   After reading the book twice I've decided that I disagree with the other reviewers. No, this is not a sequel to or revision of the 1934 work about the Dreyfus affair, in response to another reviewer's question. Miles's work is a more all-encompassing one that includes information about the voyage from France to Guiana, the reasons why the convicts were sent there (among others) and the conditions within the colony. The work also explores the psychology of the French government and its motivations in attempting to keep the colony alive.
   
   I think what turns off some readers is the fact that this book is not academic. Don't get me wrong, Miles's research is very thorough, and contrary to what the other reviewers have claimed, there is a very long bibliography in the back of the book where all his information can be found. Miles's language is far from sophisticated, and I did notice a couple of grammar errors, but who cares? The book gets across its message in a clear, accessible, ENTERTAINING manner, which a more academic, sophisticated work may not be able to as effectively. I have always enjoyed entertaining histories, and so do most people, considering the types of history books that sell en masse.
   
   All things considered, I think it's only fair to give this book four stars. I was truly entertained by this book, and it did a great job of opening my eyes. Miles obviously put an enormous effort into it and I believe I succeeded. I also appreciate the photographs of the penal colony, prisoners, and other penal memorabilia. This book is easily worth the money, or at least a trip to the library.

No comments about On the Road to the World Championship 1923-27 (Pergamon Chess Series).

1 comments about To Travel Hopefully: Footsteps In The French Cevennes.

1. Written by the author of A Twelvemonth and a Day, and named as one of the "100 Greatest Scottish Books of All Time", To Travel Hopefully: Footsteps In The French Cevennes is a powerful work of travel writing about the journey through Southern France, from Le Monastier-Sur-Gazeille to St. Jean-Du-Gard. Accompanied only by a donkey named Anatole, Rush contended with territorial hunters, massive downpours, hunger, and the hazard of getting lost. Yet with help from his friends, he gradually transformed the perils of his trek into a spiritual quest and a singularly unforgettable travel memoir. Very highly recommended, To Travel Hopefully is a thoroughly "reader friendly", armchair travelogue.

No comments about Cool Hotels France (Cool Hotels).

1 comments about Michelin Charming Places to Stay: 1000 Hotels and Guesthouses in France for Less Than 80 (Charming Places to Stay in France).

1. This is the first no-brainer best guide to elegant yet inexpensive accomadations. It helps to dispel the myth that France=TROP CHERE! The hotels and B&B's listed are inexpensive, but not run-down holes in the wall. They are chic, "charming" inns that won't break the bank.
   The accomadations are listed organized by region and city, and every selection includes a Michelin perk regarding the location, establishment, food, attractions etc. BUY THIS BOOK if you are searching for the right way to travel France.

No comments about Fishing in France, IGN 916 (IGN 900 Series Thematic Maps).

2 comments about A Time We Knew: Images of Yesterday in the Basque Homeland (Basque Series).

1. "A Time We Knew: Images of Yesterday in the Basque Homeland" is the product of a fascinating collaboration between photographer William Albert Allard and the dean of Basque-American literature, Robert Laxalt.

   In the fall of 1967, Allard spent two months in the Basque country of northeastern Spain and southwestern France, capturing with his camera the everyday life of the people who lived there. Although Allard spoke no Basque and was linked to the Basque country only through his Basque wife, his stunning photos evoke the tremendous power of the Basque landscape and people: the haunting flanks of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques at evening; the gloomy mountains of the northern coast of Spain just at the approach of a storm; a rough-hewn woman with a scythe at Behorleguy, on the frontier between youth and age, in whose face is reflected the painful past of the ancient Basque people. From a technical point-of-view, these incredible photographs are so good that they could truly be "images of yesterday": the color is brilliant. Alas, though, "yesterday" in the Basque country is no more. The years since 1967 have seen the heavy industrialization of both the French and Spanish sectors of the Basque homeland and the gradual passing of the ancient ways Allard captures here.

   Laxalt's contribution to this book is his prose vignettes, some of the best of his characteristically exquisite prose-poetry. A second-generation Basque-American whose father grew up in the French Basque country, Laxalt knows the region as well as probably anyone in the United States. While one cannot miss the heavy dose of romanticism in his prose ("Girls slender as reeds walking hand in hand down the lane, singing an ode to spring in soprano voices pure and light as air") and even pastoralism (exacerbated by the fact that the Basques are some of the world's greatest shepherds), it is obvious that Laxalt is a remarkable writer.

   A poetic look at "yesterday" in the Basque country. Get it on your shelf.




2. The Basque people are certainly an interesting race; it is believed that theirs is one of the oldest languages in Europe. Where they came from and how they ended up in northern Spain has been a point of contention between anthropologists for some time. They suffered terribly during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930's; the famous painting by Picasso represents some of the suffering in the Basque city of Guernica. The people of that city had the dubious distinction of being the first in history to have been the victims of the deliberate terror bombing of civilians. The Euskadi Ta Askatasuna or ETA has been engaged in a decade's long struggle to create an independent homeland for the Basque people out of the Basque areas in Spain and France.
   This book is a collection of photos taken in the Basque regions in Spain and France. It is a rugged, yet beautiful land; most of the buildings are very old. While there are some modern devices displayed in the pictures, the majority could have been taken decades ago and some perhaps over a century ago. People are meeting over drinks, coffee and traditional food. Some of the beautiful pictures of the villages in the valleys could have been taken at the turn of the century.
   When people appear in the photo, one thing is clear. The Basques are a very proud people, they have lived on and worked their land for centuries and will continue to do so. Rugged mountains and terrain breeds rugged, hardy people and that certainly describes the Basques. No small set of photographs with associated explanations in a book can truly describe any culture, especially one this old. However, it can both literally and figuratively give you a snapshot and that is done very well in this book.

No comments about Karen Brown's France: Charming Inns & Itineraries 2005 (Karen Brown Guides/Distro Line).