5 comments about A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf.

1. One of John Muir's earliest works, this book traces his travels from Indiana to Florida, continuing on to Cuba, and ending up in California. At times, it is fascinating stuff. As he left in 1867, just after the American Civil War, he encounters many suspicious Southerners, although most are cordial to him. Muir wrote this as a journal of discovery, I think, to document the different flora and fauna he encounters in a part of the country with which he was not familiar. But this book is just as interesting as a social study - in other words, what was life like in America in 1867? How did the people act? How did they treat him? What were his impressions? If you have ever wondered about what America was like 150 years ago, you will find some answers here.
   
   Additionally, Muir has some fine moments of nature writing. Sometimes he delights in just stopping and observing: "I used to lie on my back for whole days beneath the ample arms of these great trees, listening to the winds..." He calls the birds he observes "feathered people from the woods and reedy isles." And despite being a God-fearing man, he disagrees with those who take a fundamentalist view of nature, ridiculing the claim that the world was made especially for man..."a presumption not supported by the facts," says Muir.
   
   Overall, I enjoyed this book. At times there is a little too much discussion on botany for my tastes, but that was OK. Muir's journal is rich with interesting anecdotes. With this journey, the founder of the Sierra Club was well on his way to making his mark in the world.
   
   Four stars.



2. The title sums up quite a bit of the review for me. Not only was he a brilliant naturalist and visionary, but he was a better than decent science and adventure writer. This book, thousand mile walk to the gulf, is from Muir's younger days when he basically dropped out and went exploring. He walked from Wisconsin to the gulf, shortly after the war, and literally slept wherever. Hedges, roadsides, the occasional house. His observations on reconstruction South are all the more insightful because they are unadulterated (is that a word?) by any agenda, and have the overpowering reality of truth.
   
   While his time in the Sierras is what he is most famous for, and the mountains more rugged and inspiring, this pre-Jenkins "Walk Across America" is a tamer warm-up for reading his journals from Yosemite days. I highly recommend it myself, it gives a bit of botany and a lot of background on Muir himself.



3. John Muir (naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club) left his home in Indiana at age 29 and "rambled" 1,000 miles through the woods of the southern US ending in Florida in 1867/68. It was just 2 years after the end of the Civil War and he ran into "wild negros" and long-haired horse-riding ex-Confederate bandits who would "kill a man for $5". He passed through uninhabited stretches of burnt out fields and deserted farms and was often seen as a northern interluder mistrusted by his southern guests. He lived mostly on stale pieces of bread, almost dieing of starvation while camping in a graveyard outside of Savannah, GA. He caught malaria and was bed ridden for 3 months, cared for by a kind family in Florida.
   
   This is a snapshot of the south right after the war and the contrast between Muir's beautiful nature writing and the devastation of war are just as striking today as they must have been for the many people who encountered this unusual walker in the woods. Muir's writing is under-stated - the book was published posthumously and is more a diary than a finished book, which gives it a truthfulness and matter of factness. Fundamentally a Romanticist world-view - the power of nature and mans relation to it - Muir delights in finding, sampling and discussing plants, animals and geography. The genre is best compared with Robert Louis Stevenson's Travels With a Donkey in the Cevennes and Thoreau's The Maine Woods.



4. After an accident in a carriage factory while working as an inventor left him temporarily blinded, John Muir vowed that he would break the moorings of life in Indianapolis and embark for wilderness places to study plants. His intention, which he later acknowledged as foolhardy, was to find his way to a tributary of the Amazon and float down that great river. He never made it to South America. He was lucky enough to survive a bout with malaria and be diverted to California.
   
   It's hard to imagine a much more dangerous undertaking than to set off alone soon after the Civli War to places unknown in the heart of the South. He was warned repeatedly by kind strangers and knew quite clearly of the dangers ahead: the guerilla bands of roving white bandits, displaced and desperate former slaves, a migration of rattlesnakes, the alligator-infested swamps, and the worst of all: catching malaria from mosquito bites (the thing that did catch up to him). It shows how single minded he was in his desire to study and learn about the natural world. As the blacksmith who took him in along the way characterized him: what a tough-minded man he needed to be in order to subordinate the dangers to what he wanted to do.
   
   Some do get rather tired of reading Muir's descriptive passages, but for anyone with a love of plants, this book offers a very unique and special view of the native vegetation along the route that he took to Florida. The cultural observations are less common, but they are keen and say a lot about the times: the people and how simply they lived. Then, there are some amazing experiences such as the time he spent in the natural refuge of the St Bonaventure graveyard in Savannah waiting for a parcel from his brother to arrive. There's a prophecy by a friend along the way about the coming prevalence of electricity long before the light bulb was invented. And, there are Muir's observations that plants do have secret lives, unknown to man, who tends to blow himself up out of all proportion to the rest of Creation.



5. I did not receive this product. One week after I ordered it I got an email stating that I would not receive this book & my account was refunded. Not sure what the deal is.

1 comments about Homegrown/Handmade: Art Roads and Farm Trails.

1. I'm a group tour director in eastern North Carolina, so I was excited when I learned of this book. What a let-down! There's absolutely nothing new here. The title seems to promise something unique, something "Homegrown [and/or] Handmade." While perhaps 10% of the places listed here actually do sell homegrown or handmade items, the rest are the common, everybody-stops-here, places included in every guide to this region. Paid for with tobacco settlement money, this purports to be an effort to inject something new into the economy of the former tobacco lands. (This means that western North Carolina isn't even mentioned!) If there are five tobacco-farming families represented here, I'd be surprised. This book seems like it is either paid advertising for a mixed bag of local establishments or was put together by people who never left their laptops. Tax payer's money has already been wasted on this -- don't waste yours!

5 comments about Odyssey to Ushuaia: A Motorcycling Adventure from New York to Tierra del Fuego.

1. The reader should not expect to learn much about any of the Latin American countries that the author visited. This is a book about what goes on inside a Yankee motorcyclist's head, not about Latin America. The author seems ill-informed about the places he travels, so can say very little about them.

   One star because it is very well written, very readable.




2. I have never read a "Travel" book before, let alone a "Motorcycle Travel" book so I may not be qualified to say that this is more of a tale of adventure than a guide of any sort. That said, this book has been a page-turner that has me looking for something similar to replace it now that it is over. Andre's makes you feel like you have been on the road (and off the road) and conveys, often at his own expense, a sense of the ups and downs of his relationship with his two riding partners.
   This is not a Moto-Travel reference. It is not a guide to where to stay or what to eat. It is a true-life tale of a dream come to life. I hope to follow in Andres, Peters and Robert's footsteps some day.



3. The author describes his journey through the eastern and southeastern portion of the U.S. and on to Mexico, Central and South America with two riding companions he met over the internet. Although the story doesn't really begin until he and his riding partners reach Mexico. His humor stands out throughout the book and his shenannigans with the local woman are quite entertaining. He does dicuss the route and the difficulty at many border crossing along with the problems that arise while travelling south of the border. The sometimes difficult relationships he has riding with two people he doesn't know well and the difference in riding abilities. As I said it's not a travel guide, if you are planning a trip down south, it may give some insight on various questions one may have. A worth while read for any adventure tourers.



4. He tells some pretty good stories here and there. Some good advice is given about border crossings. However, it was annoying how he letcherously pursued the women along the way. Ick.



5. If you're interested in a book more about feelings of a poorly organized motorcycle trip than learning about riding thru the Americas, this one's for you.

4 comments about 239 Great Places to Escape to Nature Without Roughing It: From Rustic Cabins to Luxury Resorts (Special-Interest Titles).

1. It is a nice overview and selection in helping choose a beautiful location yet away from the crowds if you desire. Thank you Fodors



2. The book is a good idea that disappoints. By covering all 50 states plus all the Canadian provinces, there is very little for each state. Typically, a state gets 2 to 4 entries. This concept might work better in a set of regional guide books.



3. A further addition to the title in the form of a subtitle stating 'Within the USA' would keep travelers from anticipating a world-wide coverage of such nature spots: be that was it may, any journeying within the U.S. will relish this gathering of romantic lodges, cabins, out-of-the-way scenic park areas and more. Don't expect a single paragraph of description here: each listing includes multiple paragraphs describing the lodging, surrounding areas, price range, and outdoors services nearby.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



4. A very interesting book. Some of the places are REALLY isolated. I'm always a little bit cautious about being so cut off from civilization, in case of a medical emergency. However, if you are young and healthy, the book is filled with great ideas.

5 comments about American Notes for General Circulation (Penguin Classics).

1. Especially when you realize that some things haven't changed about America. Nevertheless, true or not, is a great book by Dickens. Reading it you get a great sense of the author as well as how he observed the world. His humor really shines through, as does his familiararity. No matter if you agree with the book or not (and sometimes I do, other times I don't) this book is nevertheless a great read for any Dickens fan.



2. I must regretfully confess that this book, so promising in its circumstances, amounts to a profound bore. The opportunity to see a distinct American epoch through the eyes of a Charles Dickens is one that I lusted after. Yet, as Goldman and Whitley's introduction to the Penguin edition rightly observes, the book is "extremely disappointing in its omissions and pervasive flatness." That "flatness" ought to have concerned me upon first reading the title. "American Notes for General Circulation" is hardly an inviting description of what's inside. Not one to judge a book by its cover, though, I dismissed this minor oversight and dove in. However, while Whitley and Goldman go on to suggest that "American Notes" is somehow "fascinating as a record of the ways in which the foremost creative writer of his day responded to the most exciting social experiment of his time," that "fascination" is merely superficial and fails to last beyond the book's mildly humorous opening scenes of a sea journey to Boston.
   
   The book's problems are its redundancy and timidity. Dickens seems to be exclusively interested in reporting on every hospital and prison in America, which he does for at least the first third of the book. While some of his descriptions and observations in this portion of the narrative reveal the character of one of literary history's most compassionate figures, this too grows stale as Dickens fails to overcome his peculiar infatuation and look beyond. Even when he does move on, in DC, Cincinatti and elsewhere, some of the most controversial issues of his day -- slavery, Native American negotiations with the US government -- are mentioned only fleetingly as Dickens turns increasingly inward and elaborates for many pages on the most forgettable and mundane experiences common to any journey or vacation, whether it be a cruise through the Caribbean in 2004 or a trip on a riverboat up the Mississippi in 19th-century America, a river that meets with Dickens's intense disdain.
   
   Some of Dickens's observations on the functions and implications of the American democratic system as well as generalizations on the mannerisms of Americans go far to show how little has changed since Dickens came to Boston in 1842, but rarely rise to the lyrical intensity or vivid portraits one would expect from a powerhouse such as Charles Dickens. The letters included in this edition demonstrate just how much Dickens held back in the writing of the book, which leads me to wonder just why people like Washington Irving found it so objectionable as to never speak to Dickens again. Surely the book offers some less-than-flattering ruminations on the people and corruption surrounding him, but had Dickens's book reflected the more aggressive tone of his letters, "American Notes" may have been as much of a classic today as it might have been an unconscionable offence to Irving or the American journalists who panned it at the time.
   
   Unfortunately, the book is incapable of engenering much more than the relatively tame emotional response it received upon its release, and if its sales were impressive (which they were), this was due chiefly to the author's name and not to anything that is said between the front and back cover. Whitley and Goldman make the excellent point that some of Dickens's high-profile American friends -- Longfellow, for one -- may have influenced his impressions to such an extent that they diluted the final product. This is a case in which Dickens's fame hindered the sincerity of his work. For a more entertaining and memorable reading experience, try Parkman's "Oregon Trail," Steinbeck's "Travels With Charley" or Least-Heat Moon's "Blue Highways". For a great travel-read from a time and place far beyond 19th or 20th-century America, try Marco Polo's truly "fascinating" "Travels".



3. Perhaps because I have read so much of Dickens' fiction and enjoyed it so thoroughly, I had certain expectations that simply cannot be met in a work of non fiction.
   To be sure, Dickens' account of America in the 1800s is interesting and his penultimate chapter railing against the institution of slavery is fantastic, but the book seemed a bit verbose (not a surprise, I suppose) and contradictory at times. He makes many observations worth knowing about in relation to Transatlantic studies, but truth be told, certain ideas begin to become repititious fairly early on.
   While I feel Dickens' observations are/were valid, I think Fanny Trollope's "Domestic Manners of the Americans" is a much more enthralling read-- an account imbued with wicked humor and wit. In fact, Dickens was very much influenced by Trollope's account of America.
   Without question, Dickens is the King of Victorian literature and I am a HUGE fan, but if you want his best...go for broke with "Dombey and Son," "Bleak House," or "David Copperfield."



4. I had eagerly looked forward to reading this work. I had expected that Dickens would provide a rich Pickwick Papers-like cast of American characters. Instead Dickens writes of conditions, of scenery, of things but not really of people, not in the way anyway he writes about them in his novels. This made the book disappointing on the 'experiential level'.
   In terms of American vs.British conditions he does have interesting things to say. He strongly opposes Slavery and so will not travel to the slave - states. He notes a uniformity in American social opinion and condemns this, and a certain lack of manners. But he also see that in terms of democratic principles the United States is ahead of Britain.This is surprisingly a quite humorless work, again lacking one of Dickens defining virtues as a writer.



5. Charles Dickens left London for America in the cold January of 1842. He left behind several children and such bestsellers as "Pickwick Papers"; "Oliver Twist:, "The Old Curiosity Shop" and "Nicholas Nickleby."
   He and his wife Catherine Hogarth Dickens would journey to the land of their Yankee cousins for six months. This long journey resulted in a short account of the famed novelist's time in the United States.
   The passage from Liverpool took 18 days with storms and heavy rain to propel the Britishers forward to the land of the free and home of the brave! Dickens visited several cities. He had good and bad things to say about America. Dickens:
   a. Visited Boston and New York insane asylums and homes for the indigent.
   He also visited prisons. Dickens was a liberal social reformer and thought the treatment of the insane could be improved. He did not think much of American penology believing the prisoners should be worked harder.
   b. From the East the Dickens party traveled West. They passed through Louisville, Cincinnati and Sandusky. Dickens complained about pigs in the streets of these burgeoning cities. He thought Americans bold and brassy with an inordinate patriotism manifestly condescending to foreigners.
   c. Dickens traveled to St.Louis complaining of the isolated life found in log cabins and the hot temperatures of North America.
   d. Dickens disliked the partisan American press; he thought Americans were ruled by mobocracy and often used guns and fisticuffs when they were not necessary!
   e. The travel in stage and by train was difficult in this era in the new American nation. Dickens often comments on how miserable he was!
   f. Dickens saves his greatest wrath for the abominable practice of chattel slavery in the American South. In his journey to Virginia he comments on how run down the farms and homes were. Like the earlier English visiotr Fanny Trollope he is to be commended for his hatred of slavery which was the curse of American life in the antebellum period.
   g. Dickens also hated the American propensity to spit tobacco juice everwhere in sight including the floor of the US House of Representatives and in the Senate Chamber!
   Dickens also toured Canada which at that time was ruled by Great Britain. He is much less critical of Canadians!
   Dickens is critical in many pages of the book. The book was not liked in America and little read in England. Dickens also was appalled at the lack of copyright law protecting him and English authors from the pirating of their literary efforts. Dickens would write his next novel "Martin Chuzzlewit" in which the hero travels to America only to be greatly disillusioned by this experience.
   Dickens returned to America late in life amending some of his earlier harsh views about the 1842 visit. Slavery had been then been abolished.
   It should not be forgotten that Dickens was also very critical of society in Great Britain! This greatest of Victorian novelists was a man who believed society needed to improve in education, care for the poor giving people more equitable justice and a higher standard of living. Dickens failed to realize on his 1842 tour that America would take time to grow as a nation and society. Some of his pointed observations, though, such as our love for elections, guns and military titles still stand!
   American Notes is dry reading in many places. It is valuable for how a famous author saw America when he and the United States were both young.

2 comments about A Guide to New Jersey's Revolutionary War Trail for Families and History Buffs.

1. New Jersey has been called the great "Crossroads of the American Revolution" because of its important strategic location between New York and Philadelphia, a fact well recognized by George Washington when he based his military headquarters in Morristown. This significance is superbly portrayed in DiIonno's Guide by numerous and fascinating vignettes detailing the locations, some now forgotten, of the events that shaped our country's history. For American Revolution history buffs, especially those interested in New Jersey history, this book is a real page turner.

   As a kid growing up in New Jersey I had only been taught the basics of what happened here during the Revolution. I had heard the names and stories of famous places like Trenton, Princeton, or Morristown. But these were only the tip of the iceberg. After reading the guide I was surprised to discover that New Jersey is filled with countless places, events, and people connected to the Revolution that have somehow been forgotten by the history books.

   For example, does anyone today know about the Battle of Springfield from which the classic image of Patriots skirmishing with Redcoats comes from? Or about the infamous Baylor massacre? Or the retreat of the American Army through Bergen County that inspired Thomas Paine? And what about names like Erskine, Lord Stirling, and Reverend Caldwell? And lets not forget George Washington's Secret Weapon!

   These stories are here in this book and they make for a great read. After reading several pages I was inspired to seek out these places and view them firsthand. Exact locations are provided in the guide. In fact, I learned that several of them were right in my own backyard. Down the street from where I live are places once occupied by Washington, Lafayette, and Cornwallis.

   The book is also the perfect reference guide for a family or school fieldtrip. Seems to me like a great way to get kids interested in American History... or anyone else for that matter.

   So go buy a copy and "Give em the Watts boys!"




2. First off, I am not History Buff nor do I have kids, but this book is very cool anyway...
   
   When you think of the revolutionary war, you think of Virginia, Massachusetts and Philadelphia. But New Jersey is just as important and in many ways more important than those states, however because it is so corporate and developed, you would never know this.
   
   The author does a great job of telling the story of the "unsung hero" of the revolutionary war (NJ).
   
   Whereever you are in NJ, there is a good chance there is a piece of history not too far - in fact, I live in Franklin Park and work in Warren and there are many places covered in his book that I had no idea existed that are a stones throw from both my office and my home.
   For example there is a house that dates back to the early 1700's that is at the end of a road right across from the National Starch and Chemical world HQ's that is at the end of an industrial road. Seeing it is very surreal - this is the only second place in his book I have gone to see so far, but I plan on going to many more (and hopefully dragging my fiance as well).
   
   Overall anyone who is interested in american history and who lives in or around NJ, this book is no doubt a must have.

5 comments about Hatteras Blues: A Story from the Edge of America.

1. This is a very well researched book about the history of charter fishing off Hatteras Island. The author combines archive research with annecdotes collected from his repeated trips to the island. The reader also has a feeling of sadness as the author's wife slowly succumbs to MS while he is doing his research.
   
   Well worth the time to read.



2. I have been visiting the North Carolina outer banks since 1970. I did not think anyone had as much love or reverence of this special place as I, but I was wrong. Tom Carlson in Hatteras Blues has established himself as a true devotee of these narrow islands off the Carolina coast. He captures the lure of isolated and wind-worn beaches and ever-changing off shore waters where fishermen (and women) from the smallest North Carolina towns to the largest international cities have searched for prize bill fish, bull drum, cobia and a host of other species for several decades. The reader is absorbed in the story of the Fosters and others who fought the harshness of life on the outer banks to create a thriving charter fishing industry that today is being challenged by corporations and those uncaring of the outerbanks special culture. Carlson is a waterman by birth and a "Banker" by choice. Hatteras Blues is a heartfelt story of great loss, love, spirit, transformation and hope set in one of the most magical places on planet Earth. Rates with Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea for bringing to life the conflicts, the turmoil and the serenity of what it means to be a part of the sea and the coast. Highly recommended.



3. Great book. I love to hear the stories of the people in this book, of course the fishing is always good. The weather and the constant movement of the cape was and is totally intriguing.



4. HATTERAS BLUES: A STORY FROM THE EDGE OF AMERICA is part biography and part regional history: it uses the experiences of one long-time fisherman on North Carolina's outer banks to reveal the issues of a fading industry and the development of Hatteras Village in the heart of Hurricane Alley. Tom Carlson's involvement with his subject leads him to the heart of a family and a town's struggles and faith in a warm first-person survey which at times reads with the quiet drama of fiction.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



5. A compelling storyline full of facinating bits and pieces about North Carolina's coastal heritage. It's a must read for NC fishermen.

1 comments about Streetwise Houston Map - Laminated Center City Street Map of Houston, Texas - Folding pocket size travel map with integrated metro light rail lines & stations (Streetwise).

1. I really like these simple easy to use maps. They are well put together and highly functional. I am very familiar with Houston, but i still carry this map, because sometimes frankly you just what to be sure where something is located. The only draw back to these streetwise maps is that they only highly light the central city, which is fine if that's the only place you'll be driving, but if you need a map of the entire city then this may not be your best bet, but they are great for the most traveled areas of town. Overall, I am a huge fan of these maps.

5 comments about Sandstone Spine: Seeking the Anasazi on the First Traverse of the Comb Ridge.

1. From the moment I saw this book on the shelf, I couldn't wait to get to a computer and order it from Amazon. I neglected to write down the name, but was able to find it with a search. This book is one I had a very hard time putting down. Roberts is a fine writer, however, some terminology will most likely have you pining for a dictionary! Roberts has you feeling the burn of the climb and the heat of the desert, along with the blisters on ones' feet! I am just about done with it, and already ordered "In Search of the Ancient Ones" for my next read.



2. I enjoyed reading "The Secret Knowledge of Water" and "House of Rain;" both books written by Craig Childs. So,I bought and read this book because Greg Childs acted as photographer in this traverse of Comb Ridge. And, Indeed, the photos are good. Unfortunatly, David Roberts, the author and traverse participant, comes off as needing total control of his hike companions. The writing seems choppy and more a personal journal than an adventure.



3. After reading David Roberts other book "In Search Of The Ancient Ones", I had to pick this one up as well. As a native Southwesterner and interested in ancient southwestern Indian history, I was eager to read about his trek across the "The Comb" with two friends. There was some interesting tidbits on how they went about placing their water caches and meetings with some of the locals before and during their trip. It was a fairly interesting read if you are an outdoors person but I as far as the Anasazi ruins, while several are mentioned, it would have been more interesting if more photos were included. Like a few previous reviewers I did find it annoying to read about David's arguments with his fellow companions as they all seemed to be instigated by David himself. I got the impression that he thought he was the "leader" of the group and the others were supposed to listen to him and follow "his" rules. It wouldn't have been too bad except he brings it up about 4 or 5 times throughout the book which I thought was a little excessive. Also, he makes a few remarks about others he has met or traveled with in the back country of the Southwest which, to me anyways, he thinks that we are not worthy of visiting these ancient ruins. Because others have vandalized ruins (which has been going on for about a hundred years now)does not mean that there some of us who are just as interested in the Anasazi and want to experience the thrill and wonder of finding an undiscovered site on our own or visit some of the ruins that are accessible, without looting them or damaging them. He gave me the impression that he is one of the "elite" who is one of the few who is knowledgable and because he's done some extensive backcountry travelling, "qualified" to visit these sites. Overall I thought the book was a good read. Not as good as his earlier one, "In Search Of The Ancient Ones." (Which I highly recommend). You should consider "House Of Rain" by Craig Childs.



4. The photography draws me into 'Living With Wolves' with a yearning to be there. Jim Dutcher and Helen Cherullo uniquely reinforce my beliefs towards the reintroduction efforts of the White Mountain Apache Tribe Sensitive Species Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.



5. I particularly enjoyed this book because I've canoed the San Juan River many times. It took me back to strenuous climbs up San Juan Hill, where the layers of rock are turned up, as one geologist states, "like layers of bedding." "Baseball Man" was also an often seen and photographed site. I hope all of the sites that he explored will remain protected from the collectors of artifacts, so that many generations will be able to see them and think on what life might have been like there, more than a thousand years ago.

2 comments about Exploring Martha's Vineyard by Bike, Foot, and Kayak, 2nd.

1. I've been vacationing on the Vineyard for about a decade - but only last year picked up this great book, packed with terrific suggestions on places to go to see the "real" Vineyard -- on foot, on bike and even on kayak. The format is easy to follow - providing local history, step-by-step directions, and details on what you'll see along the way, such as the types of flowers, birds and trees. There seems to be a wide variety of activities (I didn't try any of the kayaking options), geared to people of all ages and fitness levels. The book is very well-researched, and since the summer I've recommended it to many Vineyard residents as well as to vacationers - there's something in it for everyone. I did found it helpful to tear out pages of interest and bring them with me, as the book is a sizable one. But I will be using it for years and years.



2. A DETAILED MUST HAVE GUIDE FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO EXPLORE THE VINEYARD'S WATERS, PATHS, AND TRAILS. EXCELLENT MAPS, LOCAL HISTORY, BOTANICAL AND WILDLIFE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE COMBINED TO ENHANCE EVERY ADVENTURE. A GREAT GIFT FOR A NEWCOMER TO THE ISLAND.