Early Coal Mining in the Anthracite Region (PA) (Images of America) Review

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(More customer reviews)Dear to my heart---raised in an anthracite coal mining town. This book is the closest to reality I have read. Good pictures, good explanations. Would be a great gift for anyone interested in this heritage

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Four distinct anthracite coal fields encompass an area of 1,700 square miles in the northeastern portion of Pennsylvania. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, underground coal mining was at its zenith and the work of miners was more grueling and dangerous than it is today. Faces blackened by coal and helmet lamps lit by fire are no longer parts of the everyday lives of miners in the region. Early Coal Mining in the Anthracite Region is a journey into a world that was once very familiar. These vintage photographs of collieries, breakers, miners, drivers, and breaker boys illuminate the dark of the anthracite mines. The pictures of miners, roof falls, mules, and equipment deep underground tell the story of the hard lives lived around the hard coal. Above ground, breaker boys toiled in unbearable conditions inside the noisy, vibrating, soot-filled monsters known as coal breakers.

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The Naturalist in Nicaragua Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is one of the best natural history books ever writen. Thomas Belt lived in Nicargua for 4 years during the last century and his travel with in the country descrived the way the tropics used to be 100 years ago. Since he wrote the book, 98% of the low land tropical dry forest have been deforested.

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With an Introduction by ANTHONY BELT, F.L.S.

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Where The Water-Dogs Laughed: The Story of the Great Bear Review

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(More customer reviews)With this novel Price brings to a close a remarkable multigenerational saga set in the mountains of North Carolina, a remote corner of the world in which the brutal aftermath of the Civil War is up-close-and-personal and seemingly without end. But what an end to this four-volume feast of the senses! Price engages the reader in the rawness of human nature and lets us rise to the level of myth and timelessness, right alongside his characters, touching the best and worst in all of us and causing us to think about our own need for finding meaning and seeking redemption. Price skillfully and sensitively lets us share in the journeys of both Hamby McFee and the Great Bear; and his drawing us inside the minds of both of them, raised to the level of myth, is storytelling at its very best. Supporting the central story of Hamby and the Great Bear are richly textured themes that create the fabric of the mountains and her people---environmental, economic, societal, political, spiritual---and never once does Price lapse into a gratuitous or stereotypical treatment of these themes. These books will linger in your mind long after you read the last page, and I recommend you treat yourself to a real feast by reading all four novels in the order they were written: Hiwassee, Freedom's Altar, The Cock's Spur, and Where the Water-Dogs Laughed.

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River Of Earth Review

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(More customer reviews)In my opinion, River of Earth deserves to be celebrated among the best works of 20th century fiction. James Still not only evokes the setting in depression era Kentucky, but he also captures the spirit of the people and the point of view of his young narrator. This is not a sentimental rendering of an idealized past but rather a pure slice of life cut down to the bone with a real sharp knife. The story is full of humor and hard times, and the language is akin to poetry. "Where ARE we bound on this river of earth?"

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Growing Up in Coal Country Review

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(More customer reviews)A very interesting little book for anyone who grew up in or has an interest in the history of the Pennsylvania Anthracite Region. The stories in this book apply to so many thousands of families that lived there and tried so hard to make a living under the harshest of conditions. Life was anything but easy for the anthracite miner and his family - no medical insurance (but then medical care was almost non-existent), no paid holidays, just dirty and dangerous work. The book is brief, reads easy but generally does a good job of telling it like it was back then and in that place.

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Mules, Mines, and Me in Mexico, 1895-1932 Review

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(More customer reviews)This book tells the story of an American mining engineer and mine developer in northern Mexico from the 1890's to the 1920's, with the last entry in 1932. This is a true story, which makes it all the more remarkable. Morris Parker wins the first mine that he owns himself in a poker game in Chihuahua Mexico. That and many other colorful stories fill the book. He also knew Pancho Villa, and counted him a friend. Better than movies. I could not put this book down, but read it through over the course of a week. Highly recommended if you have any interest in the northern Mexico, Southwest U.S. region, the time, or in mining history.

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Alaska: Saga of a Bold Land--From Russian Fur Traders to the Gold Rush, Extraordinary Railroads, World War II, the Oil Boom, and the Fight Over ANWR Review

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(More customer reviews)Walter R. Borneman's "Alaska: Saga of a Bold Land" delivers exactly what it promises to deliver from its subtitle. The book is a complete history of the 49th State, from prehistoric times until the dawn of the 21st Century. Checking in at 540 pages of narrative, it is as big and daunting as Alaska itself. Though the book could have used more illustrations and perhaps some photographs to assist the reader, Borneman is a good enough storyteller to keep things interesting.
The story begins with a discussion of the migration of native tribes from Siberia during the last ice age. Borneman then flashes forward to Vitus Bering and the first Russian explorations and colonization of the territory. This is then followed by "Seward's Folly," the American purchase of Alaska, which, surprisingly, as Borneman demonstrates was much more widely supported than many historical accounts would indicate. At two cents an acres, it was certainly one of the great bargains of the 19th Century.
Moving into the 20th Century, the story focuses on the Alaskan Gold Rushes and American settlement, the Japanese invasion during World War II, the 1964 earthquake, and finally the production of oil and the resulting envioronmental controversies. Borneman's scope is expansive, and any reader of his book will come away with a very complete knowledge of the history of what remains the last American frontier.
Overall, a comprehensive and well-written account that will be particularly appreciated by history buffs.

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