5 comments about Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage.

1. Aptly named, this is a stunning story of courage, strength and perseverance. Good medicine for a nation of whiners.



2. This account of Shackelton's expedition to Antarctic is a read like no other. I could not put this book down,nor could I believe the constitution each person on the crew had to continue forth under such insurmountable odds. The author, Lansing has provided a compelling book. His research of events are smoothly seamed together captivating the reader. Even if ones interest usually doesn't lean toward the topic of explorer, I promise you this book will consume you. Its message is especially good for any of us who may be feeling "overwhelmed" by what our lives are tossing our way... you will be giving thanks at the comforts you have by comparison to this expeditions minimal articles to provide their continued existence. As another reviewer mentioned, buy the hard or soft-cover not paperback version as these include all of Hurley's photographs which are essential to this book-seeing is believing and you won't believe what this photographer captured. Enjoy, you will share the events of this book over and over with many.



3. The true story of Shackleton's exploration is an amazing testament into the power of strong leadership. Shackleton's leadership skills helped the entire crew to overcome seemingly impossible circumstances to achieve the end goal. This book chronicles a life lesson for all of us to know and understand. Although parts of it are hard for the non-seaworthy to understand, the book is still a good read. I found it hard to put down.



4. The extraordinary record of Ernest Shackleton and his company of the "Endurance". They set out for the South Pole, but their shp was caught in pack ice, and eventually destroyed. Read how Shacckleton and a few members of his crew set out in one of the ship's boats to find rescue for the remaining men. Courage and loyalty in the extreme.



5. This book was exactly what I wanted and it arrived in great shape. The service was excellent; thank you!

5 comments about Black Wave: A Family's Adventure at Sea and the Disaster That Saved Them.

1. I can't believe all the great reviews on this...maybe these people read the book and it is different from the experience of listening to the CD. Jean and John not only put their own lives at risk but risked the lives of their three children (who had very little choice in the matter) to boot! I felt bad that the teenage son was unable to be with his friends at home in CA and instead was dragged around the world...exposed to violent seas and dangerous PIRATES all because his mom and dad apparently were bored with their lives (and marriage it seems) and needed to put some "zest" in it. I am sure they will make a movie out of it...but I will pass on it!



2. Couldn't put this one down. It is written from two points of view, that bring the reader to the same conclusion. As a sailor, I find the narrative extremely interesting, and well written from an experienced wind sailor's perspective. Not to give away the later part of the story, I found it chilling, and poignant. The government employees involved deserve kudos from the sailing community as a whole for the timely and courageous responses. This fine story gives an excellent insight into those of us who voyage in our own boats, or live aboard boats as our life style. I thoroughly recommend Black Wave to sailors and non-sailors alike.



3. John and Jean Silverwood decide to put their busy daily lives aside and take their four children on a round the world adventure at sea. The Silverwoods feel as though the fast pace of life in San Diego has pulled the family in too many directions. They purchase the Emerald Jane and set of on an once-in-a-lifetime adventure with Ben (14), Amelia (12), Jack (7), and Camille (3). Using the sea and new ports as a school and hoping to satiate John's seemingly endless need for adrenalin, the Silverwoods also have to manage worries about pirates, unfriendly ports, balky generators and whatever the sea throws at them. The close quarters of the catamaran make clashes inevitable as Ben, missing his friends and diversions in California becomes sullen, Jean worries and John slips into old habits and the dream voyage threatens to become a battle of wills. However, the beauty of the sea, the sea life, new ports, discovering new friends and discovering new strengths within themselves, the Silverwoods keep on their journey until the unthinkable happens. The Emerald Jane hits a reef and the family`s survival depends on the lessons learned at sea.
   
   
   
   This is an engrossing book that kept me hooked right till the end of the first portion. The portion about the Julia Ann and her crew and fate, not as interesting. I also had bit of a hard time with Jean's excusing John's behaviors (selfishness?) and putting herself down in comparison. That said, this is as much a tale of a family's growth as a tale of a journey



4. Even though it is apparent from the picture of the handsome, healthy Silverwoods on the back cover, that the family lives and through their harrowing shipwreak, the book is so riviting a read, that I couldn't put it down until everyone was home safe in California. Jean's interesting method of flashbacks and forwards, helped me to understand the state of mind of each of the family members which made for an uncomfortably but thrillingly close identification during the worst of the crisis. Her willingness to make her own and the family's foibles visible to the reader made it easy to know and accept them as the vulnerable people they are in spite of their decision to undertake this adventure in the first place, which for most of us, is way out of our sphere of comfort. John's impressionistic style and his research on their counterpart ship, many years earlier, punctuated their experience with a universality and timelessness that might otherwise not be noticed. It is always great to have a book that keeps you awake!



5. I have followed the adventure of the Silverwood Family through personally knowing them and reading in the San Diego Union & Readers Digest. When I heard their book had been published, I bought it immediately. Jean did a superb job in describing the details of the family and the whole voyage. I read it cover to cover without stopping.

5 comments about Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs.

1. Whether you are a fan of the show or have never heard of the Bering Sea let alone the successful series, this book is a must. Written by two captains of the show, they share their lives from when they were kids to the present day. The book will, like the crab pots they use, ensnare you and hold you captive until the end. It is a fantastic read of what really happens to crab fishermen and what they go through to give us that sort after delicacy on the restaurant table. If you have seen the show, then this book is a must as the book is more realistic and more gritty. If you have not, then read the book anyway, just to get an insight of a day in the life of a crab fisherman.



2. One of the best books I have read in a very long time. I couldn't put it down!! If you are a fan of the Hillstrands and of the series "The Deadliest Catch", you will absolutely love this candid look into the world of crab fishing on the Bering Sea--one of the world's deadliest occupations. Johnathan and Andy share an intimate account of their personal and professional lives in a way no one else can. I can't recommend this book more highly.



3. Die-hard fans of Discovery Channel's The Deadliest Catch will enjoy this book. It's a sort of dual biography of Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand, and it fills in many of the details the show has never discussed. Their complex relationship with their father, how they came to own the Time Bandit, the nature of their business partnership, etc., are all detailed. The book has an interesting structure, with chapters alternating between Johnathan and Andy, as Jonathan drifts alone on a disabled small fishing boat.
   
   That structure is clearly the work of their co-author, Malcolm MacPherson. In fact, it would be much more accurate to say the book is "by Malcolm MacPherson, based on interviews with Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand" than to say, as it does on the cover, that it's "by Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand, with Malcolm MacPherson."
   
   This is made clear right from the first page. Anyone who's watched the TV show knows that the Hillstrands have distinct manners of speaking, and they are not formal, nearly academic manners. MacPherson writes the brothers' chapters in a single, formal voice-- which is clearly his-- with occasional bits of each brother's actual words thrown in. At times, the effect is almost comical.
   
   I would have preferred that the book be written in the brothers' distinctive and authentic voices. However, having said that, the book is an entertaining page-turner as it is. In addition, it contains a large amount of information about crab biology and behavior, the economics and politics of the fishing industry, and the difficulties of remaining in a business that is rapidly industrializing.
   
   I enjoyed the book a great deal. It's a quick read that will please any fan of the Hillstrands and the TV show.



4. After watching the program "Deadliest Catch" for the past 3 years , I was excited to get to read the Hillstrand's book. Although I wasnt crazy about the format, it was enlightening to learn about the lifestyles of Alaskan crab fishermen, during both on and off seasons. I am constanly impressed with the overwhelming sense of family these guys have and how important it is to them.



5. Can't go wrong with this book. You don't want to put it down once you get started. Be prepared to read some of it over and over again as you say to yourself "I can't believe this really happened".
   
   Modern day adventure at its best (because its true).

5 comments about Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia.

1. This is a great book. It is brilliantly written, very funny, and thought provoking. I highly recommend it!



2. This book was wonderful! As for the negative reviews it received, I think these were written by the people who didn't quite grasp the premise of the book. I felt like I was vacationing with the author, she was so descriptive with her tales of traveling to the foreign countries she wrote about. In Italy, she let you experience the food and drink through her narrative and in India, you got to experience the spiritual awakening she unravelled and then in Indonesia, (my favorite)she taught you about the politics on the country and the people and culture that she encountered. It was like being a fly on the wall in all her journeys. I definately recommend this book. It is a very spiritual, therefore "deep" book but if you are up to it, then go for it...you will only better yourself for reading it!



3. That said, this book is really entertaining! She does a fabulous job in Italy, but Indonesia is by far the best, most moving part. A little disappointed in Bali because i wanted it to culminate with something more meaningful than her getting laid finally. Nevertheless, lovely book and charming writer. I'd love to travel with her sometime and can't wait to see how they do the movie! Enjoy!!!



4. I wish I could have traveled the world for an entire year and pigged out on pasta to get over my divorce. Instead, I was forced to drink too much and eat a lot of chocolate and tell anyone who would listen what an a-hole my ex was.
   
   I enjoyed reading about the food in Italy, but that was about it. I was kind of disappointed, after all the good hype about the book.



5. did i mentioned that loved it!!! loved it!!! loved it!!! loved it!!! loved it!!! loved it!!! loved it!!! loved it!!! loved it!!! loved it!!! loved it!!! loved it!!! loved it!!! loved it!!! loved it!!!

5 comments about Dead Lucky: Life After Death on Mount Everest.

1. Being a connoisseur of human folly, I'm a fascinated spectator of high altitude mountaineering stories.
   
   And on a mountain that, by it's very nature, seems to attract an inordinate proportion of sociopaths & narcissists, I'm not really surprised when I realize some mountaineer I'm reading about is self-centered, emotionally immature, and/or lacking the normal social connections & human motivations most of us have.
   
   And I'm afraid this guy is among them.
   
   One review I read said, "Mr. Hall seemed almost detached from the story he was penning", and I sensed that from the get-go, and couldn't even force myself halfway through the book.
   That reviewer also said, more or less, that she was disappointed that he failed to describe his fellow climbers in any way that would give you a sense of who they were & what it was like to be on a team with them.
   And then, what's the point?
   
   It's very disappointing, because by his interviews, and the fact that Andrew Brash calls him "friend", I'd assumed he had some measure of humility & gratitude about the importance of other people to him.
   But I guess not. It's like he fails to really see & connect to other people completely.
   
   The humanity you find in the books by Krakauer & Kodas seem to be completely missing in this book.
   
   And as for the author's professed religion... Sadly, I've noticed that many western Buddhists I've come across seem to miss the forest for the trees. They're all hung up on the trappings of rituals and a facade, that they seem oblivious to their attachment to the most ridiculous desires that even most non-Buddhist materialistic people don't attach themselves to... And some actually seem to use their religion to justify what appears to be the exact opposite of right action.
   
   And it's very ironic really - because it seems to me that the aspiration & commitment to climbing Mount Everest is by its very nature, the ultimate of what Buddhism teaches to stop... being attached to a highly impractical diversion, claiming to oneself that it will bring some kind of fulfillment of happiness, when in reality it seems to be the epitome of needless suffering.
   
   But using religion to one's own purposes & for appearances, or being a religious hypocrite, is not something self-proclaimed Buddhists have a monopoly on, of course. Seems that every religion has its share.



2. This is an excellent book- very well written and hard to put down. I have read many books on climbing and Everest, and this is one of, if not the best. His survival is incredible, and it's nice to read how histhoughts and love of his family kept him going (and played into whether he would attempt the climb at all) at a time when so many people only think of themselves. I highly recommend this book.



3. This is much more than just a story of a climb to Mt. Everest (which is a inspiring story on it's own!). This is a story about the strength of the human spirit. There is no scientific explanation for his survival. It is obvious the strength of his mind/spirit is what brought him down from that mountain. The story was written well and enjoyable to read. Although I enjoy the outdoors, I am not a mountain climber, and I found this book so inspiring!



4. I got this book a year ago thru a friend from Australia when it first came out over there. I read it in one sitting and could not put it down. For those who have read Beck Weathers Left For Dead, Lincoln Hall goes even further into the fight for living after the physical part is gone. I have all of Lincoln Hall's books he has wrote, and along with Blood On The Lotus this is his best writing.If you are into the physical and mental demands of what climbing Everest is about, Lincoln really blows you away with his own mind trip that night as he lay there in a fantasy world of his own.Excellent read..



5. Over two years ago, Lincoln experienced the best and the worst of Mt Everest. He was reaching the summit when he got a severe case of altitude sickness. His group attempted to revive him, but when that failed he was left for dead, very close to the summit. As fate would have it, a group of climbers making their way up, saw him in desperate need of help and ultimately saved his life. He writes about his horrible ordeal in this amazing book.
   His hands and feet were absolutely covered in frostbite. He has had some limbs and toes and fingers amputated, and various other surgeries as a result of his experience up there. He refers to May 26, 2006 as the day he died, and writes in here the pros and cons for climbing Everest. He puts his family on both lists; on the con - the fear of leaving his wife and kids without a husband or father and on the pro list, the idea to show them that he was willing to take a chance to live out his dream. He describes the bitter cold and all the thoughts running through his head. It's a book that takes you through different emotions - triumph, fear, relief and everything in between.
   Whether you like mountain climbing or not, this book is a great read. It is moving and interesting and it's good to see a happy ending. I really enjoyed this and hope you will too.

5 comments about Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe (P.S.).

1. A truly terrifying and detailed eyewitness account of Magellan's voyage westward around the world by sea. It is not hard to get sucked in by Magellan's political persistence, and his entire crew's efforts at survival as they stepped off land they knew to a waterworld larger, deeper, and yet more inhabited than anyone knew. No modern reader can understand what it meant in the 16th century to board a ship to a world where entire continents and oceans were unknown, and longitude was uncalculatable. It was far more daring than the oft-compared space travel, where all the "heavenly" bodies are well-known, and location is calculated down to the last centimeter. At the same time, I found the story equally frightening for describing what still exists in large measure: leaders of countries competing brutally for money, luxury, and indulgences, exploiting the bravery and suffering of loyal common men, poisoning the natural curiosity between cultures. And through it all, women figuring prominently ... as sexual chattel. What we now know is that the world is round, most of it navigable waters. But the lands are populated with scientifically advanced savages. Magellan's story may not make you seasick, but it will surely make you dizzy.



2. This is a fascinating read, full of details (politics of the time, how ships operate, torture, sexual mores of various tribes around the world, etc.). The story of the first voyage around the world is so amazingly dramatic one would say "too far fetched" if it were fiction. Every page is so rich with detail that you want to just slow down as you read. The only slight flaw is that the characters do not come quite as alive as I would have liked. But everything else about this book is so good, it's well worth reading.



3. this is one of the most exciting adventure/discovery books i've ever read. it was a page-turner from beginning to end.



4. I'm on an explorer kick these days, so I've read a lot of bios of them. (Check my list, "Books About Explorers," for more recommendations.) This is (narrowly) my favorite of the lot. Bergreen's a terrific writer, and Magellan's voyage never lacked for drama. It's carefully researched and fun to read.



5. Bergreen weaves together standard primary sources (logs and diaries from a couple of key shipmates that have been preserved and cited many times) with secondary sources in a way to make this oft-told tale seem fresh. Magellan's trip around the world was a triumph and a tragedy, a triumphant success because of his leadership and strength of character, and a tragedy he did not survive due to (as well) to his character.
   
   Bergreen mentions the recent theory (in 1421: The Year China Discovered America --see my review ) that Magellan was following in the footsteps of the ancient Chinese "Treasure Ships" in sailing through the Strait, but does not come down decisively on the side of the theory. However, some of Magellan's actions described in Bergreen's book as he was searching for the strait make sense only if in fact Magellan knew what he was looking for based on a map or reports from a previous visit.

5 comments about Wind, Sand and Stars.

1. Having just finished this book I feel compelled to write a review. This book is about more than flying and the adventures of the French Airmen of that era. This book is a flight into the author's views of self-fulfillment, discovery, and his opinions on humanity, specifically the willingness of certain individuals to sacrifice themselves for a cause. The author relates tales of near misses with disaster and the feelings of redemption and a renewed sense of appreciation for life. There are also times when he feels himself completely isolated from the world below since he is constantly teetering on the brink (naturally, flying was much more dangerous back then)
   One theme that is constantly brought up by the author is the value of human relationships and the constant struggle to make them work. The only thing truly valuable we attain in life are hard-earned friendships, especially those that share a common sense of hardship.
   Overall this is a very insightful book with a lot of truth. Flying is the cover theme, but the pages and words reveal so much more.



2. Like many of his contemporaries, European aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900 - 1944) was seeking the meaning of life in the post World War I world. He looked for it and often found it outside the bounds of quotidian existence. His job as a pilot for Aeropostale, the French air mail service, offered him a unique perspective as he encountered the elements up close and personal in small planes he guided over vast deserts, oceans and mountains, and through fog, storms and, in a memorable account, a cyclone. His survival depended upon a heightened awareness of nature's elements. His was a life lived large and he knew it; he pities the poor bureaucrat's confined existence; he pities even more the child who with the right "gardener" could become a prince or another Mozart but who is groomed rather to lead a circumscribed life.
   
   His narrative never bogs as he connects the concrete elements of nature with abstract sentiments. He renders his adventures vividly, especially the climatic chapter in which he and his mechanic survive a crash in the Sahara with almost no provisions. A year after that, in 1936, he goes off to Spain and the Civil War to learn why it is that mankind reaches the flash point of war and willingly puts itself in harm's way. That experience and the lessons it divulges comprise the last chapter. Among his often surprising observations is the note on how wild geese flying overhead can stir domestic birds below.
   
   The author speaks in the idiom of a masculine age and a self-assured European culture. The idiom is noticeable but does not diminish the vision or lyricism of the book. I read the 1967 Harvest edition of the book that offered a translation that preserved the authentic voice of the book.



3. It is not exaggeration to say that the reading of four books--one of them "The Little Prince" by St. Exupery--changed my life. It would also not be an overstatement to say all my reading now is done to try to find another title or two to add to this list. (Maybe, though, the changing of my life is of little consequence. . .it slips away. . .it slips away. Maybe now I read to have another title to suggest to my children. They still, I hope, have much of life left. Let their changing begin.)
   
   So, I suggest the "Wind Sand, and Stars" to them.
   St. Exupery writes so convincingly of what the human spirit could achieve:
   "To be a (man) is precisely, to be responsible. . .It is to feel, when setting one's stone, that one is contributing to the building of the world."
   and so devastatingly about what is has achieved:
   ". . .war is won by him who rots last--but in the end both rot together."
   There is wisdom in this book; wisdom in all his books.
   
   I worry, though, that my suggestion will go unheeded. St. Exupery was younger than both my grandfathers. Yet he writes of a world foreign, maybe unknowable, to me--a world, despite its ugliness and hatred, with nobility and honor. I can't imagine, as St. Exupery relates in one tale, a world where an enemy Arab army--forced into a very temporary, very awkward alliance with French soldiers--appeals to the French for a resupply of ammunition spent in that defense. And the French officer--in gratitude for that temporary support, yet knowing the ammunition would likely be used against his own men--complied!
   
   This past world seems so unreal to me, who reads. How will it seem to my children (and the rest of their generation who foolishly) don't?
   
   So, I suggest this to you this generation and, also, I warn.



4. A wonderful, wonderful autobiographical work by the French aviation pioneer. Antione de Saint-Exupery was among those first who flew the scheduled air mail runs over the Sahara in the 1920's and 30's. Engine failures, crahses, and falling into the hands of hostile Bedouins was not uncommon. Those stories alone would make for fascinating reading.
   
   Add to that the author's genuine talent as a poet philospher, and this is a unique and great piece of historical literature. Saint-Exupery finds magic and value in everything . . . the lights of his primitive dashbord at night, the world scrolling under him while in flight, the hallucinations while dying of thirst face down in the desert sand. And his observations of people! - the love-hate relationship with the Arabs of the desert, a pair of little princesses living in fantastical (because the author makes it so) house in a remote jungle village, the heroics of Spanish revolutionaries and patriots.
   
   The adventure aspects rival any fiction I have read . . . flying while held stationary in a tremendous offshore windstorm off the South American coast . . . the magic of nightfall while in flight . . . slamming into the Libyan desert floor while flying blind.
   
   As he is wont to do, Saint-Ex frequently treks off into the motivations and worth of mens' efforts, and the human situation in general. But always good stuff, some of it ingenious. Thoughtful, posing many truths and questions.
   
   A wonderful work. I had to read it in English, and doubtlessly something has been lost in the translation from French (transl by Lewis Galantiere). Still, not to be missed.



5. What genre is represented by "Wind, Sand and Stars"? A memoir, a novel, a moral tale, an essay, a travelogue? It is difficult to put a label on this book, because it has a bit of each genre. Antoine de Saint-Exupery, a pilot and a poet, best known for his beautiful tale "The Little Prince", which enchanted generations of children and adults, wrote about his experience as a pilot. This is the surface of "Wind, Sand and Stars". There is much more to it, though.
   
   The book was published in 1939. It is hard to believe that on the brink of a great war in Europe, when it was already obvious that the war is inevitable, and many writers created the premonitory visions of doom, Saint-Exupery wrote with great tenderness and faith about the power of humanity.
   
   The job and life of the airplane pilot are for the author an occasion for metaphores. The flights require attention and precision in addition to the observations of nature, the rocks, sand or sea underneath, the stars, moon and sun in the sky above. There is a lot of joy in seeing the Earth from above, but the loneliness adds to the philosophical quality of long flights. Because in the 1930's the airplane technology was not very sophisticated, there were many sudden, unexpected accidents. The constant danger and many lurking traps are described with examples: the accidents of the author's colleagues, Guillaumet and Mermoz, as well as his own in Sahara, and their struggle to survive in the snow, mountains, and desert, without water, food, and rest, show humanity in a most beautiful way. As Saint-Exupery says, in the words of his fellow pilot Guillaumet, who survived in the glacier: "What I did, no animal would ever do".
   
   Saint-Exupery believed in the power of human mind and emotion, in the connection between all human beings - which is obvious when he writes about his experience with Beduins, so different and strange for the French pilot, who could not understand their culture, yet living according to equally valid moral principles and helpful in need. He criticized materialism, and although admired technology and civilization, warned against it becoming a goal in itself.
   
   Banal? Simple? Maybe, but all of us need such positive, however trivial, life philosophy, once in a while, to escape from our daily life, to reconnect and rethink our purpose.

5 comments about Long Way Round: Chasing Shadows Across the World.

1. I enjoyed Ewan and Charley's first trip, and was excited to see that they were on another adventure. Having been to Africa myself, I was especially interested to see how the boys fared. I was very disappointed in the amount of time that the boys and the crew spent bickering with each other. Here are these two rich guys, on the trip of a lifetime, and they are complaining constantly! While their side trips to introduce us to various charities were moving, the amount of time spent complaining about the roads (did you think the roads in Africa would be pristine?), the amount of time on the bikes (should have planned better!) each day and about each other (this isn't your first trip, so you should know about everyone's little quirks) made the book a bit unenjoyable. I would have loved to read more about the places visited, the people met along the way and the sights, smells, sounds and tastes. Get over yourselves and RIDE!



2. Great book that should be a companion to the DVD set. I do recommend that instead of this book you buy the illustrated edition. MOre pictures and the same verbage. But, buy at least one of them.



3. I only watched one episode of the TV series as it was yet another "adventure TV" with full supporting cast. Spotted the book in local library so decided to give it a go, BIG MISTAKE. Why oh why are not books clasified for content as are movies? Where do these two apparently well educated authers get off with their constant use of four letter expletives? They will no doubt say it is a reflection of the real world, I find it insulting and uncalled for. I gave up half way through what was in fact a good read as I could not put up with the filth that they presumably believe to be clever.
   
   Roger
   Spokane, Washington



4. This was an amazing book. Both men tell compelling stories and convey their sense of wonder about what they see and hear.



5. One of the great things about the best travel writing is that it not only makes you want to travel, you actually want to be there with the author.
   
   Not only did I not want to travel after this book, I have decided to avoid Ewan and Charley and give most of Asia a wide berth. They are miserable characters and you actually wish something bad would happen to them.

5 comments about Boone: A Biography.

1. An over long development of the life of a very significant figure in American (Kentucky) history. Speculation as to Boone's thoughts and feelings while traveling the wilderness alone are pure nonsense. Division of labor, Boone was the hunter, hence the other members of the community depended upon his skills for meat. It doesn't take but a few months for wildlife to flee from an area when humans invade their territory.
   One of the funniest bits for me was when Morgan discussed the pollution of the Ohio river. In the 1750s? Bambi should not have pissed in the river.
   Extract historical fact from a modern tendency to humanize personages in terms of current concepts and this could be a valuable book. For Boone and his contemporaries the essence of their lives was survival.
   Writing as a Small BusinessSins of the Fathers: A Brewster County NovelGuns Across the Rio: A Texas Ranger in Old MexicoNatchez Above The River: A Family's Survival In The Civil WarUnder the Liberty Oak



2. What strikes me as the greatest accomplishment of Robert Morgan in this biography of Daniel Boone is stripping away the myth and describing the person. I read a recent biography of Kit Carson that did the same thing. As such, both authors have done readers a great service.
   
   Boone himself was a complex figure. He was a great success as a trapper and explorer. He routinely failed as a businessman and land speculator. He was lucky and he made his own luck. Despite being so well known to Americans, he died in Missouri at 86 and pretty much broke. His story was such that he was mentioned in the works of poets and writers. James Fennimore Cooper based a number of novels on his life and exploits, Natty Bumppo, "la longue carabine," the Pathfinder, Hawkeye [in Last of the Mohicans], and so on.
   
   The book does a nice job of relating his family background, his childhood, and his increasing interest in trapping, hunting, and exploring. He fought in the French and Indian War (serving with Braddock on this ill-starred campaign) and the Revolutionary War. He was instrumental in helping the process of development of American interests in Kentucky. His relationship with Native Americans was complex. He respected them and developed some friendships and was even adopted after his capture at one point. But he also fought against them.
   
   His business efforts, designed to provide security for his family, routinely ended in failure. Land that he thought had been given him in Kentucky was lost through court action; he once lost $20,000 as he was going back to Virginia to deposit this and finalize land claims; and so on.
   
   And, a stunning realization. . . . He went with a group of explorers and visited the Yellowstone area while he was in his mid 70s! How many 70 year olds would be able to cross half a continent in 1809 and return?
   
   This book is a wonderfully balanced view of the life of Boone. For those who want to know the man more than the myth, this is most rewarding. Some nice features: a genealogy at the outset, a brief chronology of Boone's life. More maps would have been useful, to place his travels and life in a broader geographic perspective. Nonetheless, a fine work.



3. Morgan has writen an excellent book on Daniel Boone. The myth is thrown out the door and the facts are presented in a prose that is both enlightening and poetic. Boone influenced many writers and poets including Walt Whitman and HDT. Boone is the original woodsman. He lived in a time when America truly was wild. It is amazing that he lived to be 86, when one false step caused one to loose their hair. He was held in great respect by the Shawnees and held many of their beliefs in regards to nature. I would have loved to have ridden with him and Simon Kenton.



4. You could make a pretty good argument that Daniel Boone is the most noted American historical figure at this time, and probably throughout our history. There have been hundreds upon hundreds of books, articles, poems, songs, movies, plays and stories featuring him as the central subject since even before his death in 1820. It is possible that more people have heard of George Washington, but I doubt it. Few men or women have captured the imagination of an entire people as this one individual. In many ways, he has become, and been used as a symbol of the young American Republic, and indeed rightfully so, both the good, and to a lesser extent the bad. Quite a lot of information that most of know of Boone is pure legend, or at worse, pure myth. With all the material out there, why on earth did Robert Morgan choose to write another biography? The reasons here may be multiple, and actually have little to do with this review, but lets all be grateful that this author did choose this particular man as the subject of his first biography.
   
   Boone: A Biography, by Robert Morgan is a well crafted and certainly, as far as I can tell, well researched bit of work. The author has gone to great lengths to clear up and separate myth from reality. This was no easy task. There are great gaps in Boone's life, where so much is actually unknown or has been clouded by well meaning biographers, movie makers and the public in general. Morgan has been very quick to point this out, and when he does delve into the area of speculation, something all or most biographers must do from time to time, he lets us know. What is so absolutely fascinating, for me, is the fact that the truth, in this case, is so very much better than fiction when it comes to Daniel Boone. What the man actually accomplished in his life is so much more impressive than all the "tall tales" we have all heard since childhood. The "real" Boone is much more exciting and much more dynamic than the "fairy tale" Boone.
   
   With this book, we not only get the benefit of a well written biography, we also get another chance to savor the prose of the author of Gap Creek and eight other wonderful novels, as well as twelve volumes of poetry. Folks, this man can write! His description of the country which Boone explored is absolutely worth the read alone. Another aspect that separates Morgan's work from many other biographers is his attention to the women of that era, not only Boone's immediate family, but many of those women around him. This is an aspect of frontier life often overlooked. The author has also given quite a bit of attention, and given a good account, of his subject's relationship with the Native Americans, who played a major role in his life. I also appreciated the way the author has included the names of many of the common people he dealt with on a daily bases. He has not only included the famous of the time, but the not so famous. This, to me, is quite refreshing. If I want to read a book on the life of say, George Washington, then I will pick up a biography on him. Truthfully, I am much more interested in Joe Nobody, who happened to live up the hollow, and helped Daniel skin a deer once, on such and such a day.
   
   What I did not realize, was the tremendous influence that Boone had upon our literature of the time, and consequently the literature of our time. Thoreau, Cooper, Whitmen, Emerson, Lord Byron, Faulkner, Guthrie, and many, many others were influenced by Boone the man and his deeds. His life also had a major impact over one of our first major schools of art, the Hudson River School. (Being a bit on the romantic side, this is one of my personal favorites).
   
   I have read quite a number of biographies and stories about Boone over the years, and will quite likely read more, given the time. This work though, stands at the top of my list of informative and enjoyable reads on the life of a very unique American and indeed, is one of the better biographies I have read over the past couple of years.



5. 
   
   In 1729 there were paid scouts in Kentucky over fifty years before Boone. Even earlier there were a few hunters and trappers. That is not soon after the first to arrive. Morgan does a good job with his character of Boone. The people liked and trusted Boone. They knew he did know where there was good land for hunting. The long-hunters killed game for their skins and not caring that they weren't eaten. By Ruth Thompson author of "The Bluegrass Dream" and "Natchez Above The River"

5 comments about The Travels of Marco Polo.

1. A very remarkable book written in the 13th century. Many secrets were reviled when Marco returned. And may interesting explanations of things like the origin of cinnamon.
   
   Marco writes well enough of his travels and you feel that you are there. You can actually follow the trail if you have a map. He describes the flora and fauna of each region and describes the economics and industry of the region.
   
   Example: "The women of the superior class are in like manner free from superfluous hairs; their skins are fare, and they are well formed."
   
   It is interesting to see how little has changed from Marco Polo's 13th century and now.



2. Marco Polo purportedly spent 17 years travelling to the courts of Kublai Khan and, as an emissary for Kublai Khan, then throughout the Far East. Whether it actually happened or not is up for debate. I went into this text with an open mindset and have accepted that Marco Polo did indeed go on this trip with his father and uncle, but not to the extent as surmised. Instead he travelled and added stories he collected from traders and others to fill in gaps or points of interest to him. The book is broken into four sections now. Part One is his trip to the Great Khan's courts in Cathay (China). Part Two is his travels throughout the provinces of Cathay. Part Three concerns going to Japan, Southern India, and the Islands of the Indian Sea (Java, etc). Part Four is travelling into the 'northern countries' (Russia, etc).
   
   In general, Polo gives very brief descriptions of most regions, accounting for their religious beliefs, money used, fealty to the Great Khan Kublai. There's some intriguing customs (visitors will be taken into a home and the man of the house leaves until they are gone but the visitor has full access to the household including the wives, daughters, sisters, nieces), talks of cannibalism, dress, unfamiliar animals they encountered, and contributes to the whole messy history of Prestor John. It does get repetitive and dry after a while. Polo's talk of Kublai Khan is almost obsessive and he was obviously completely enamoured of this new culture. Overall, it was fascinating to read although I had to push myself through some parts due to repetitive descriptions. Any history buff should read this story about one of the purported most well-travelled explorers ever, not to mention he was possibly the biggest best-selling authors before the printing press was invented.



3. I believe I got what I paid for. There were much better books of great detail, but they cost much more. I would suggest saving your money until you can buy a much more comprehensive book. The reading and information provided in the book was light and was gone over very fast. I question some of the facts contained there in.



4. It has been a pleasure to revisit the travels of Marco Polo. I was transfixed by these stories of travel and adventure when I was a child, and never questioned the veracity of the narrative. I know today that the narrative has been corrupted over the centuries, that "The Travels" can scarcely be used as an historical reference, and that a more tantalizing and complete manuscript has probably been lost to the ages. Still, there are glimpses and insights within the narrative that could only have come from first-hand experience, and these describe an enormous, exotic world that titillates even today, while readers in the 13th and 14th centuries must have been enthralled.
   
   I was most keen this time around to Polo's descriptions of the cultures and wildlife he encountered, of the whales and lions and leopards and bears--he even describes a white bear, and the people who hunted it were surely of the group often called Eskimos. He describes dog-sledding in the far north and the cannibalistic practices of the people of Java far to the south, both of which are extant in our current era. There are also the fascinating observations of the Mongol Empire, of that group of nomadic people who somehow rose up, like an event in an Isaac Asimov novel, to conquer much of the known world.
   
   Somewhat depressingly, though, are Polo's observations of the tensions that existed between the Islamic and Christian worlds, tensions rooted in the competition for hegemony over trade in the Far East. Seven hundred years later, these tensions are still acting themselves out.
   
   This translation by Ronald Latham from 1958 includes an introduction that puts Marco Polo's life in context with events and includes footnotes to help the reader make sense of the myriad manuscripts that make up the travels of Marco Polo. This is a somewhat dry read; even Latham comments on the paucity of skill employed by Polo's chronicler. Once I put my mind in context with the narrative, however, I was able to roll with the repetition and sycophancy and enjoy the text.



5. Imagine a very boring person went through something fascinating. This person came up to you, started to talk about this incredible journey of theirs, but talking in this monotonous voice without changing pitch or showing excitement at any moment.
   
   That's essentially what "Travels of Marco Polo" is. It's an INCREDIBLY interesting book and a fascinating tale, but can it possible be said in a more dry and flat way? There is no energetic spark that makes this adventure jump off the page. Perhaps this is due to the times, but I suspect the translation is a bit literal and bland as well. The writing never changes tone, even in parts that are clearly exciting and amazing. All the facts are there, but the reader is forced to put too much energy just to make it interesting.
   
   Marco Polo had a most fascinating journey. Any history buff should snatch this book off the shelves (unless they decide to read the even longer, more annoying records that I'm sure can be found floating around), and anyone interesting in Marco Polo should as well. It may be dull at times, but it's still incredible, fascinating, and a riveting tale.
   
   Recommended to heavier, more able readers.