Puzzles, Mysteries, and Reviews

This "illustrated history" offers a concise and readable overview of "America's most famous battle and the turning point of the Civil War." Although the target audience is older children and young adults, the book provides a nice visual summary of the Battle of Gettysburg for almost any reader.

Just in time for travel season, National Geographic has added another title to its collection of national park-related books. This one entices with a promise to reveal the "Secrets of the National Parks."

Just in case I wasn’t aware that I very badly need to do more birding in the Southwest, a copy of Birding the Southwestern National Parks by former Park Service employee Roland Wauer arrived in my mailbox. Now I find myself checking plane fare to Las Vegas, El Paso, and Los Angeles. This may be one of the most expensive book reviews I’ve ever written.

Anyone heading to Big Bend National Park in Texas for the first time would benefit from a guidebook to suggest ways to enjoy the park, and Enjoying Big Bend National Park, A Friendly Guide To Adventures for Everyone moves you in that direction.

The National Park Service manages over fifty sites connected with the American Revolution or Colonial America, and they offer valuable glimpses into the birth of our nation. Whether you're a serious history buff or one whose memory on the subject is a bit rusty, odds are you've never read much on that subject from the British point of view. You can bridge that gap via an entertaining and enlightening book, The Long Fuse: How England Lost the American Colonies, 1760 – 1785.