Book Description
Meticulously researched and illustrated with color photographs,
Insects is a landmark reference book that is ideal for any naturalist or entomologist. To enhance exact identification of insects, the photographs in this encyclopedic reference were taken in the field -- and are not pinned specimens.
Insects enables readers to identify most insects quickly and accurately. The more than 50 pages of picture keys lead to the appropriate chapter and specific photos to confirm identification. The keys are surprisingly comprehensive and easy for non-specialists to use.
Insects features:
- Detailed chapters covering all insect orders and the insect families of eastern North America
- A brief examination of common families of related terrestrial arthropods
- 4,000 color photographs illustrating typical behaviors and key characteristics
- 28 picture keys for quick and accurate insect identification
- Three indexes -- common family names, photographs, general index
- Expert guidance on observing, collecting and photographing insects.
Almost 80 percent of all named animal species are insects and closely related arthropods. This book is required reading for anyone interested in entomology.
Customer Reviews:
Great for Novice and Advanced Entomologists Alike.......2007-09-06
The descriptions of each insect family and the many color photos of representatives of each family are interesting and memorable. This book gave me a fun overview of most insect families, and has a nice picture key that is much easier to use than conventional keys. I am a novice to insects, but as I learn more and more, I have no doubt that I will continue turning back to this book with its wealth of information and photos. This book is truly an intellectual gem - fun to read, and packed with interesting information. A MUST-HAVE for anyone interested in insects.
A top basic reference pick for serious science libraries........2007-05-08
Stephen A. Marshall's INSECTS: THEIR NATURAL HISTORY AND DIVERSITY isn't for the general-interest holding so much as the college-level collection catering to entomologists or students of such. Insects of Eastern North America are the focus in a jam-packed colorful reference displaying insects within their order and including notes on their introduction, habitats, coloring and more. It's the professional's solid reference to identification and habits, making it a top basic reference pick for serious science libraries.
Great Reference.......2007-05-07
My wife and I have a landscaping company and teach gardening. I have been looking for a complete book insects, not just the problem ones. This book has great pictures of the life cycle of the insect not just the adult or larve. Another great book is Garden Insects of North America by Whitney Cranshaw.
Very Happy Customer.......2007-01-09
The book arrived in a timely manner, and was in perfect (new) condition. It was purchased for a Christmas gift, the person receiving it was happy, too! It's an excellent book, well worth the price!! Lots of photographs and information to aid in identifying insects. The best part is that Amazon had this book for sale 20 to 30 dollars less than the first place I has seen it for sale.
Beautifully Photographed Book.......2007-01-04
I bought this book for my entomologist husband and was very impressed with the book.
Book Description
More than 370 edible wild plants, plus 37 poisonous look-alikes, are described here, with 400 drawings and 78 color photographs showing precisely how to recognize each species. Also included are habitat descriptions, lists of plants by season, and preparation instructions for 22 different food uses.
Customer Reviews:
Up to the usual Peterson Field Guides standards.......2007-03-23
Although this book is well written and organized, I have one minor complaint...
If you are going to depend on a book to decide whether or not you can eat something without poisoning yourself, the pictures next to the plant descriptions ought to be in color rather than black and white sketches.
excellent seller and product.......2007-02-13
Item as described and received in a timely manner... an excellent buying experience!
Wonderful.......2007-01-10
This is a very comprehensive book that I am learning much from. It is exhaustive in showing edible plants, many that I didnt realize.
Not quite as good as the medicinal.......2006-08-17
The pictures aren't good enough to make identification easy. Good information if you have another book to identify the plants with.
perfect choice.......2005-09-13
As usual the Petersen Guide did not disappoint me. It's exactly what I wanted for plant identification
Book Description
In 1922 an Irish-American adventurer named Robert Flaherty made a film about Inuit life in the Arctic. Nanook of the North featured a mythical Eskimo hunter who lived in an igloo with his family in a frozen Eden. Nanook’s story captured the world’s imagination.
Thirty years later, the Canadian government forcibly relocated three dozen Inuit from the east coast of Hudson Bay to a region of the high artic that was 1,200 miles farther north. Hailing from a land rich in caribou and arctic foxes, whales and seals, pink saxifrage and heather, the Inuit’s destination was Ellesmere Island, an arid and desolate landscape of shale and ice virtually devoid of life. The most northerly landmass on the planet, Ellesmere is blanketed in darkness for four months of the year. There the exiles were left to live on their own with little government support and few provisions.
Among this group was Josephie Flaherty, the unrecognized, half-Inuit son of Robert Flaherty, who never met his father. In a narrative rich with human drama and heartbreak, Melanie McGrath uses the story of three generations of the Flaherty family—the filmmaker; his illegitimate son, Josephie; and Josephie’s daughters, Mary and Martha—to bring this extraordinary tale of mistreatment and deprivation to life.
Customer Reviews:
A Nightmare in Muted Tones.......2007-09-30
The Long Exile could easily have leant itself to melodrama. It's a harsh story, well told, and definitely worth reading.
The arc of the Inuit history - their millennium-long adaptation to their environment, the cultural ripples caused by the earliest European arrivals, the eventual idealized view of their hard but "simple" and "happy" existence romanticized accidentally by Robert Flaherty in "Nanook of the North", and the Hudson Bay Company's and Canadian government's determination (after two hundred years of trying to make the Inuit dependent upon the HBC) to enforce an about-face and compel the Inuit to live solely off the land - all of that encompasses countless individual tragedies that could have been played out at full volume. But Melanie McGrath chooses a different approach.
Writing with calm and control, she lays out the story of the creator of Nanook. Without passing judgment she describes the child and Inuit mistress he left behind at the end of filming, and how different their daily lives became than the lifestyle memorialized in the film, even as the rest of the world began to take "Nanook" as the absolute Inuit reality. With occasional understated phrases of incredulity, McGrath describes Flaherty's son growing up in an environment where whites representing competing agendas (the fur trade, religion, the government, and the educational and medical establishments) all competed to decide what was best for Inuit peoples, without ever asking the Inuit themselves. And when it would have been possible for her to raise her narrative tone to an indignant screed as she describes the relocation of Inuit to the Arctic Dessert (as far from their native landscape as New York is from Cuba), if anything McGrath becomes even more understated.
The harshness of the landscape, the desperate determination of the Inuit to survive, and the psychological and physical toll unfold with careful pacing and calm demeanor, and are all the more powerful in the telling because of that. In fact, it is only as the book nears its conclusion and you begin to hear individual narratives from some of those actually involved in the forced relocations, that you realize the full stark horror of the experience. That McGrath ends the book on a note of triumph is indicative of her admiration for the Inuit, but also an even stronger testimony to her control in not romanticizing them throughout the book.
Ultimately, this is a human tragedy, and The Long Exile does a fantastic job at boiling this story - which could have been all politics and posturing - down to the intimate, human level. Which leaves us to draw the conclusions ourselves.
High Arctic Horror Story - On TWO Levels.......2007-08-05
While all the reviews I have seen praise Melanie McGrath's The Long Exile for being fascinating, well documented, and different, none of them looked at the second level. At bottom, this is the story of how the government of Canada manipulated people through the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). While most of us in the west think of police as enforcing the law, the RCMP was used to implement social and political policy, deploy civil service directives, and herd people to where government departments thought they would more good for the political agenda. That this has never been the subject of investigation is a horror story in and of itself. The RCMP lied to the Inuit, they got them to give up their homes on false pretenses, treated them like dirt on their awful journey, did nothing to help them in the dire straits the RCMP placed them in, lied again about going home, trapped them into a hopeless, miserable life, and of course, denied all of it.
Yes, it's fascinating that the high arctic is actually a desert where the Inuit can't find enough snow to build a winter home. Yes, it's fascinating that this whole fifty year story has a common thread through Robert Flaherty and his Nanook of the North, Yes, it's astonishing that anyone can live in these conditions - and how they do it is both spellbinding and heartrending. But the political aspects are at least as horrifying, especially in seemingly peaceloving, friendly Canada.
This is an excellent book for more reasons than a snowy cover would indicate.
Book Description
This full-color text explores the United States and Canada with a fresh, logical approach. The authors examine the regions of the United States and Canada using a thematic approach, via such topics as agriculture, industry, and population. This topical framework provides an insightful perspective for students to learn the similarities and differences that characterize the regions of these countries. Chapter 1, "Introduction," provides basic geographic background and places the United States and Canada in a global perspective. Then coverage of both countries is incorporated into each topical chapter, concluding with a separate chapter (14), "The Canadian Difference," which looks at Canadian-specific issues, such as the English/French language debate.
Average customer rating:
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Empire of the Bay: An Illustrated History of the Hudson's Bay Company
Peter C. Newman
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
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ASIN: 0670829692 |
Book Description
Lists nearly 600 shortline and regional railroads in the United States and Canada. Includes line history, locations, radio frequencies, and locomotive data.
Customer Reviews:
Not getting what you expect.......2007-07-15
Published 21 years ago, this reference to a rapidly changing category of data (shortline railroads) is woefully out of date. Worse, as advertised, buyers assume they are getting up to date information. Far from it. Kalmbach Publishing should be embarrassed to even offer it without a date on the cover.
Dated and missing things.......2007-01-05
The short-line world has changed quite a bit in the years since publication. It's time for an update. What the guide does provide is interesting and generally accurate. Edward A. Lewis is perhaps the countries best authority on the subject and has managed several shortlines for many years. I suspect the problems of the book come from Kalbach trying to make it too small - it's glove box format. I'd rather have more information in an 81/2 x 11 format. It has locomotive rosters, capsule histories and other data. What is missing is train operations. Knowing this changes, perhaps the next edition should have an accompanying database of this information, updated by users as it changes. Another missing item are maps. As another reviewer has noted, the photographs could be better.
Black-N-White Pix; 1955??.......2003-01-11
if a train watcher of any kind you need this book but the black and white pix, or lack of many pix as well as lack of any maps at all shows a distinct lack of effort by Kalmbach; very dissappointing
Great on data and pictures - maps are sorely lacking.......2000-05-30
American Shortline Railway Guide is a great help for any train buff. Over 500 short lines are described: history, current status, number of engines (some lines with full listing), cars, as well as address of owner and radio frequencies. I especially liked the many pictures accompanying the text. There is really one drawback only: The book does not contain any maps. You will need a train atlas or a Rand Mc Nally on the side, unfortunately. Other interesting details are lists of abandoned and non-operating lines as well as addresses of ownerships companies. A must-have for US train buffs, especially in conjunction with the Train-Watchers Guide to North American Railroads (also by George W. Drury).
Book Description
Featuring the BRM’s trademark trivia, fun facts, amazing origins, and unknown histories, this book dips into every national park, monument, site, and trail (more than 150 in all), exploring such exciting phenomena as Yosemite’s firefall and the wild horses of Assateague, along with practical strategies for dodging that rampaging bear or moose. Printed in backpack- or pocket-friendly size with sturdy, waterproof cover, this brisk guide is ideal for both the outdoors type and those who prefer to travel by armchair — or throne.
Customer Reviews:
A Different Sort of Travel Guide: Fascinating Park Trivia.......2007-05-19
This latest Uncle John publication proclaims on its back cover "It's time to hit the Trail!" Hit the history books is more like it. This wonderful little volume is full of fascinating trivia about the national parks and monuments found in the US and Canada. Each chapter is brief enough to be read during a single trip to the throne room of your house, and for the most part the prose is enjoyable enough to keep you coming back. Favorite stories for me were "The Great Pig War" in which the US and England nearly managed to go to war over a dead pig (San Juan Island National Historic Park) and the Mojave National Preserve's "lonely phonebooth."
For the most part the history and folklore seemed accurate enough, though the authors did slip a little when they wrote that Ansel Adams had saved King's Canyon with pictures of its Giant Sequoia Grove. There is no such grove in King's Canyon proper. General Grant Grove is now administered as a part of King's Canyon National Park, but it has been protected since 1890. In any event, King's Canyon was preserved because it so closely resembled Yosemite. On the other hand, virtually every other element of the book is accurate. Indeed, this is one of the few sources I have ever read that correctly notes Hot Springs Arkansas is the oldest National Park, dating back to 1835, long before the Yosemite Grant or the creation of Yellowstone National Park.
So, by all means get this rather unusual travel guide. It probably won't help much with actual trip planning, but it is nice for whiling away the time between trips: especially that portion of the time when you are otherwise preoccupied.
Uncle John is still producing.......2007-05-06
Interesting tid bits about National Parks. Suggest you read this before visiting the parks. You might decide to change your routings, in some cases.
Book Description
William Osler was born in a parsonage in backwoods Canada on July 12, 1849. In a life lasting seventy years, he practiced, taught, and wrote about medicine at Canada's McGill University, America's Johns Hopkins University, and finally as Regius Professor at Oxford. At the time of his death in England in 1919, many considered him to be the greatest doctor in the world. Osler, who was a brilliant, innovative teacher and a scholar of the natural history of disease, revolutionized the art of practicing medicine at the bedside of his patients. He was idolized by two generations of medical students and practitioners for whom he came to personify the ideal doctor. But much more than a physician, Osler was a supremely intelligent humanist. In both his writings and his personal life, and through the prism of the tragedy of the Great War, he embodied the art of living. It was perhaps his legendary compassion that elevated his healing talents to an art form and attracted to his private practice students, colleagues, poets (Walt Whitman for example) politicians, royalty, and nameless ordinary people with extraordinary conditions. William Osler's life lucidly illuminates the times in which he lived. Indeed, this is a book not only about the evolution of modern medicine, the training of doctors, holism in medical thought, and the doctor-patient relationship, but also about humanism, Victorianism, the Great War, and much else. Meticulously researched, drawing on many new sources and offering new interpretations, William Osler: A Life in Medicine brings to life both a fascinating man and the formative age of twentieth-century medicine. It is a classic biography of a classic life, both authoritative and highly readable.
Customer Reviews:
A Biography for all Doctors to Read.......2007-09-05
This is one of the most absorbing and readable biographies of Sir William Osler. Michael Bliss' book is considerably shorter and easier to read than the monumental Pulitzer Prize winning book by Harvey Cushing, Life of Sir William Osler.
As a retired general practitioner, Sir Willam's life and example is particularly close to what I have been practicing for the past forty years. When one reads this account one can begin to fathom this great man's ability, perception of human suffering, natural curiosity and dedication to the patient's welfare. This book reveals to us some of his other unique abilities and qualities namely his bibliophilia,vast reading, writing close to 170 papers, teaching scores of students, and having the honor of holding responsible and prestigious positions in the fields of medicine and the humanities. In addition to all these were his literally developing Johns Hopkins Hospital and University into the best in the world in his time and marshalled the achievements of hospitals in Philadelphia, Montreal and Toronto. As Regius Professor at Oxford from 1915 to 1919 he was a towering giant . He therefore stands in my eyes as the greatest doctor of the 19th.,20th. and perhaps the 21st. centuries. Not Sydenham, not Hunter, not even Lister could do all that Osler managed to do and do so with so much energy, dedication and humility.
We doctors who were not with him on hospital rounds, clinical demonstrations,lectures, lunches, teas and dinners and amazing conversations with him are very envious of those who were blessed with these opportunities.
He set a living example to his protege the way a doctor should live and work to earn that mark of nobility that the profession has had for centuries. He was the healer of all healers and inspired many to literally follow his foot steps. To mention two such would be too few but the likes of Harvey Cushing and Wilder Penfield come to mind and they both became superb neurosurgeons even though their hero, Osler , was an internist. I was astounded to read the great numbers of international luminaries who were treated by him. He ministered to doctors and their families, medical students and staff and was thus a doctor's doctor both as a teacher and physician.
His love of little children, the youth, the aged and his own extended family was exemplary to say the least.
How sad that such a doctor left the world at a mere 70 years of age. Three great nations, Canada, the U.S. and Britain all claim him as their own son. That honor and adulation no one and no doctor has the distinction of achieving. He served all of them so well.
We all stand in awe of this stalwart of modern medicine and Michael Bliss has opened our eyes to this individual so well.
A Brilliant Biography of a Brilliant Doctor.......2006-04-30
Despite almost a century since his death, William Osler persists as the `the grand old man of medicine', a life devoted to doctoring and doctors, who has supplied inspiration for many generations of physicians in the United States, Canada, Britain and the Continent.
Osler's life was a remarkable achievement as a medical teacher, (important in America in giving medical students real medical experience, as clinical clerks in hospitals) physician, prolific author, councillor, researcher and mentor to literarily thousands of men and women embarking on the profession in the medicos. It was the philosopher and great teacher, William James, who commented to Osler, marvelling and his energy and interests. Osler replied, that he was terribly conscious of time that it was a commodity he wished he could buy more of, as there was so much he could do with it. (p. 502) Osler's zest for work and unbounding passion for medicine set the standard for medical women and men in the twentieth century.
After reading Michael Bliss's brilliant biography of the pioneering neurosurgeon, Harvey Cushing, another remarkable medical man, and Osler's first biographer, it seemed only natural to read about Cushing's mentor. Both biographies are first rate and it really would be a disservice to compare them, because both works are thorough, educational, inspiring and definitive contributions to the greats of medical history.
Osler is the author of the currently classic text, The Principles and Practice of Medicine, which became the core textbook for students and practicing physicians during his life. It became a yearly task for the doctor to revise later editions, (sixteen in all) and in present time, for modern doctors, according to Bliss, has now become patient-centred and a historical document of the state of 19th century medicine.
Osler is famous for his bedside manner, the notion of empowering patients and autonomy in clinical practice. The man's faith in medicine and the legendary "aura" of healing that surrounded him, causing patients to regain the faith in their own healing ability, has caused a renewed interest in humanities joining forces with science, a proper balance, ensuring an optimal treatment and outcome for the patient.
How did the man accomplish so much in one lifetime? Similar to the 18th century philosopher, Immanuel Kant, people close to him could adjust their clocks to the second by the philosopher's movements. Osler was the same: his day was usually planned down to the minute, rising at seven and retiring by ten-thirty everyday.
He was also a man born with writing disease, never a day would go by without putting pen to paper, as his articles, correspondence, speeches and books certainly reveal. A consummate bibliophile, his collection of medical texts and related subjects, at the end of his life reached eight thousand, taking many years to catalogue, ending up being donated, as was his wish, to McGill University.
An excellent biography of an extraordinary man of medicine.
A Real Eminent Victorian.......2004-02-22
William Osler remains an iconic figure in American medicine. Osler is taken often to epitomize the physician who brings a crticial and scholarly approach to the bedside in conjunction with compassion and empathy. In this very well written biography, Bliss traces Osler's life, his achievements, and examines how he assumed iconic status and whether or not this status is deserved. Bliss is particularly well equipped to undertake this task. A well known specialist on Canadian history, he has written other fine books on medical history in a Canadian context.
Bliss presents Osler as a product of the rising British Victorian middle classes. The remarkable son of impressive parents, Osler was the son of an English naval officer turned Anglican minister and his equally intelligent wife. Raised in rural Ontario when this part of Canada was still a frontier, Osler's parents inculcated respect for learning, dedication to hard work, and clearly taught the value of community service. William Osler was not an outlier in this family. One of his brothers became a prominent businessman and two other brothers became important figures in Canadian law and politics. An early interest in natural history (biology) lead Osler to medicine. Trained in then provinicial Toronto and Montreal, he finished his education in some of the great teaching hospitals of Europe. Spotted by his mentors in Montreal as a future star, he was brought back to McGill to teach at the modest medical school. At McGill, Osler launched the career of careful clinical observation, pathologic correlation, and teaching that would propel him to the apex of his profession. His growing reputation led to appointments at the University of Pennsylvania and then to the nascent Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. At Hopkins, he became the first Professor of Clinical Medicine and introduced the teaching methods that revolutionized medical education in the USA. Relatively little of what Osler did was truly novel. Clinico-pathologic correlation has been standard method for expanding medical knowledge for decades and the clerkship method of teaching had been used in Britain and continental Europe for some time. Osler carried these methods to new heights. In his clinical practice, in his teaching, and in his great textbooks, Osler summarized and codified almost all of 19th century medicine. He was not a notable scientist, though his description and characterization of several important clinical conditions was very valuable, but he brought the best science of his time to the bedside and set clinical medicine on the course of drawing from systematic scientific work. In terms of his personal accomplishments and the example he set for his numerous trainees, his impact on 20th century medicine was immense.
Osler's reputation as a fine physician was deserved. Bliss shows him to be an warm and compassionate individual who was regarded often with great affection by his patients. Blessed with a generous and kindly personality, he enjoyed a wide circle of friends and a happy family life. In important respects, Osler exemplifies some of the most important and most admirable features of the Victorian period. His sense of virtue and service was very strong but he was not a prig and had relatively liberal values. Traveling in Germany towards the end of the 19th century, he noted and deplored rising anti-Semitism. He appears to have been devoid of overt anti-Semitic feelings and had a number of Jewish trainess, all of whom he appears to have treated with his usual combination of high expectations and civil behavior. Alone among the faculty at Hopkins, he supported the admission of women, though he did not really believe in female equality. Bliss spent years immersed in Osler's extensive writings and tremendously extensive correspondence, clearly likes and admires Osler, and his regard for Osler is reflected in the tone of this biography.
Osler was also that quintessential Canadian, the provincial boy who achieves fame on the wider stage of the USA or Britain. At the peak of his fame, he was the best known physician in the English speaking world and something of a minor celebrity.
Like all fine biographies, this book is about more than its central subject. It is valuable on the development of Canadian society, the growth of universities in the USA and Canada, the history of medicine, and the devastating impact of WWI.
This will be the standard biography of Osler and it is worthy of its subject.
the good doctor.......2002-09-18
This is, quite honestly, a hefty tome, but no less may be expected when writing about the greatest American physician who ever lived. Bliss presents us with a detailed, well-paced, and engaging biography of Dr. Osler, from his childhood days in Canada to his final years at Oxford. Being both a student of medicine and a Baltimorean (currently), I took a special interest to the chapters devoted to his post as the first chief of medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Unlike the time-honored work by Cushing, Bliss's book is no hagiography; it makes no false overtures about Dr. Osler's iconic grandeur, instead letting the reader discover for himself (or herself) that Dr. Osler was, in fact, as great a man as people say he was. (All that being said, I still value the two-volume Cushing biography, and there is no way I will rid myself of the precious first-edition set I snatched up last year at the Maryland Historical Society bookshop!)
One need not practice Oslerolatry (that is, the veritable worship of Dr. Osler expressed by many of the older faculty at Hopkins and elsewhere) to appreciate this book, though having an interest in medicine and/or medical history may help. Critics often lament that American doctors no longer have any professional integrity, and that taking the Hippocratic Oath is a sham. Read this book, and discover how great the American physician can be...and THEN lament that they don't make them like they used to.
Absolutely delightful!.......2001-02-02
Any attempt to describe the life of such an illustrious personage, as one could imagine must be a rather daunting task. However, Michael Bliss's smooth-flowing rendering of Dr. William Osler's life is made not only manageable, but a sheer joy to read.
Of course this book will be compared with the innumerable number of other writings about William Osler, most notably of course the Cushing version. And Bliss clearly acknowledges the plethora of carefully collected documentations and personal correspondences that Cushing had accumulated in crafting his tale. However, I think this book stands on its own as a unique rendering of Osler mainly because of one simple fact. Bliss has had the luxury of time on his side to not just document the time and lives and the state of Medicine in the late 19th century, but most importantly, he relates it to the current, modern day state of affairs in those areas as well. He has woven a story that encompasses through the life of the great Osler, the tremendous influences of 19th medicine on modern day medicine. Even if one is not in the health-related professions or the biomedical sciences, one cannot miss the fact that this is a book as much about humanism as it is about medicine.
Biography, like history is riddled with biases, especially if it is about people and events that have revolutionazied mankind. This is particularly so in regards to William Osler, whose life and work have been immortalized, and a man who had acheived a legendary status even during his own life time. Bliss's work is as unbiased as it could possibly be given the already intrinsic biases about his subject. In this sense, this book is also unique from the previous biographies of Osler.
Overall, this is a most enjoyable read. This is definitely a "page-flipper" that takes you into the life, struggles, and triumps not only of Osler, but in a sense, of the entire human race.
Book Description
The well-known author of this best-selling book focuses on landscape appreciation of the regional geography of the United States and Canada. He emphasizes the description and interpretation of North American landscapes, including their development. Issues such as ecosystems, urban changes, agriculture, and inland waterways are all visited in depth. Up-to-date maps and information make this book different from any other on the market; it covers such topics as: the North American continent; the physical environment; population; cities; regions; the Atlantic Northeast; French Canada; megalopoli; the Appalachians and Ozarks; the inland South; the Southeastern coast; the Heartland; the Great Plains and prairies; the Rocky Mountains; the intermontane West; the California region; the Hawaiian Islands; the North Pacific coast; the boreal forest; and the Arctic. Not only an excellent desk reference for geographers and geologists, this book can be an excellent addition to any home or school library.
Book Description
Considered North America's most “European” city, Montréal is known for its culture, sophisticated population and its amazing architectural history. The latest title in the hugely popular Then and Now series takes readers to Québec's largest city, Montréal, for an amazing past and present tour which includes the following.
• A rich historical overview written by Alan Hustak (a journalist for the Montréal Gazette) describes Montréal's development from a fur trading outpost on the banks of the St. Lawrence River to its present incarnation as the business and cultural center of Canada.
• Originally named Ville-Marie, the settlement became known as Mont Royal, after the tallest of the hills overlooking the river valley. Readers will marvel at how much this modern metropolis has evolved in its history.
• Dozens of photographs show how some of Montréal's most important landmarks looked long ago and how they look today.
• Fascinating side-by-side then-and-now images of popular destinations like the Windsor Hotel, St. Ann's Market, Christ Church Cathedral, and Montréal Harbor showcase Montréal's finest architecture and views.
Though much has changed since the city was first settled in the 17th century, readers will agree that Montréal's charm will never fade.
Customer Reviews:
Attracting, at first..........2006-07-07
A fascinating juxtaposition of photography, but it appears that Alan Hustak forgot to walk and to take time in a large area of the city: the book concentrates a lot on the Western area of the Montréal where the English culture is more at ease, but goes with timidity on the Eastern side of the St-Laurent street. For instance, the book mentions and shows the two English based university, and Hustak rewards their multicultural aspect, but both francophone universities, UQAM and Université de Montréal, are entirely forgotten.
Although the writer is said to be living in Montréal since 1967, it looks like he had some difficulties meeting with the French culture. The author even tends to diminish the importance and the huge contribution of this culture in the city.
On another aspect, a few camera angles of the contemporary photos are sometime disappointing in relation to the original.
Books:
- Inside Hitler's Germany: A Documentary History of Life in the Third Reich (Modern History)
- Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language
- Jack London : Novels and Stories : Call of the Wild / White Fang / The Sea-Wolf / Klondike and Other Stories (Library of America)
- Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels
- Karl Marx: Selected Writings
- LATITUDE ZERO: TALES OF THE EQUATOR
- Learning by Designing Pacific Northwest Coast Native Indian Art, vol.1
- Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children
- Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King
- Massacre Along the Medicine Road: A Social History of the Indian War of 1864 in Nebraska Territory
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- Field Guide to Wild Flowers of Southern Europe
- Inbound Tourism to the Middle East and North Africa: Special Report Number 23
- Credit Derivatives: Instruments, Applications, and Pricing
- Club Board Member's Guide: How to Become an Effective Member of Your Club Board
Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America (Kaufman Field Guide Series)
Caterpillars of Eastern North America: A Guide to Identification and Natural History (Princeton Field Guides)
Evolution of the Insects
Borror and DeLong's Introduction to the Study of Insects
Secret Weapons: Defenses of Insects, Spiders, Scorpions, and Other Many-Legged Creatures
