Customer Reviews:
Stunning black and white masterpiece.......1999-05-22
Published in 1979, Yosemite and the Range of Light is 116 impressive prints demonstrating the mastery of Ansel Adams. The book contains poster classics like "Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite Valley, 1944, Moon and Half Dome, Yosemite Valley, 1960, and Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada, from Lone Pine, 1944." Non students of Mr. Adams will discover many "unseen" photographs that are beautiful in their own right but did not have the mass-market appeal of his classics. Too valuable to be a coffee table book, this collection is the archetype for fine art books. My copy is a family treasure.
Book Description
Sampling twenty-four of the most scenic and least physically challenging trails within the park, this guide features spectacular hikes accessible by paved road, and all are easy to find. This indispensable guide provides accurate hike descriptions, easy-to-follow maps, and concise trail information for the author's favorite trails. With hikes varying from half-hour strolls to full-day adventures, it has something for everyone.
Customer Reviews:
Good, but not always accurate.......2007-05-24
This is a handy little book to carry around Yosemite. It's suggested hikes are great.
I did find at least one error. The hike to Sentinel Dome tells you to "continue around the base of the dome on your left (west)" which is virtually impossible. There is no trail there. I finally gave up and hiked back to the trail head and spend the rest of the time down the road at Glacier Point. I found out later that I should have gone right, not left, around the base of the dome.
The hike to Vernal Falls is described well, but the author doesn't mention that from the footbridge at the base of the falls it is 100 yards to the Vernal Falls Viewpoint. I found it out later. If you've gone as far as the footbridge, you might as well enjoy the view slightly further up.
In spite of a few problems, I recommend this book for families and causal hikers.
Good Guide for Our Family.......2007-05-09
This guide was helpful as we planned our family vacation. It gave basic needed info, such as length of hike, type, facilities, etc... with distances and difficiculty easy to understand. A must when doing this with kids who have limited energy. It helped us out!
Mid Week or Off Season Only.......2005-12-13
Visiting Yosemite National Park should top the "to do" list of any outdoor enthusiast in California. It is famous for its scenic wonders: stunning waterfalls, giant sequoia trees, and imposing walls of granite. Unfortunately, most of us can only spare a few days for a trip to this grand park. Multiple short day hikes therefore offer the best approach to exploring all Yosemite has to offer and Suzanne Swedo's book is an excellent place to start.
This book describes some of the classic Yosemite Walks including the trails to Vernal Falls, Glacier Point, Lembert Dome and the Mariposa Grove of Sequoias. These walks are classics because they feature world class scenery, and if you do them on a summer weekend you are likely to share the trail with thousands of tourists from all over the world. Fortunately Swedo also includes hikes to lesser known gems like Chilnualna Falls and the Tuolumne Grove of Sequoias. Still, if you want to avoid the crowds, these trails are best explored mid-week or during the off season. That said, this book, like the trails it describes, provides a lot of bang for the buck. It is well worth the price if you are planning a visit to Yosemite.
Customer Reviews:
Very useful and a great value.......2007-09-27
I used this for my first visit to Yosemite. It was very accurate and a great guide even if you're not a photographer. You should use it in conjunction with the free trail guide for the off road hikes. The trail guide has difficulty ratings for the hikes. We went to the top of Vernal falls and it was more difficult than the impression I got from the book. That was my fault not the author's. Great photos in the book too.
A necessity in Yosemite!.......2007-08-02
This book is great, and we were so glad that we purchased this book before arriving in the park. We read it before our trip, and marked down the hikes we wanted to do, and found great spots to drive to as well! We went to almost ever spot in this book, and got wonderful pictures! Even the rainbow in the waterfall picture came out perfect. We were so glad we found this book, because it made finding everything much easier! Definitely purchase this book!
Great Book.......2007-07-03
This was a great book for our recent trip to Yosemite and I highly recommend it. It sent us to the perfect viewpoints at the perfect times so the light was just right. It saved us a lot of time because we didn't have to try to figure it all out on our own. Even if you're not interested in taking photos, it's a great resource to help you figure out the best times to see the sights in Yosemite, and it contains beautiful photographs. It made us want to return to the park in the winter. Every book store and gift shop had stacks of this book, so it's obviously very popular. We thought it was great and kept it handy the entire trip.
Great book not only for photographers.......2007-05-13
This is very useful book - not only if you a serious photographer.It will take you to many amazing places in Yosemite - no matter whether you wanna go there to take your best pictures or just admire the view. It is small enough to have it fit in your backpack when hiking, and very rich in Yosemite info. I love it and it's highly recommended.
A mandatory photo-guide.......2007-03-29
I go to Yosemite evey 2nd year or so to shoot landscapes for a week. I saw this guide on my first trip. The author lived in the park for years, and has shot it in all seasons and weather conditions. I think there is literally no aspect of photgraphy in Yosemite which is not clearly addressed. If you want to shoot good pictures in and around Yosemete, this book will cut down planning and running around to minimum and guide you to some of the best photos you've ever taken. I cannot say enough good things about it.
Book Description
For sixty years, Ansel Adams photographed among the great peaks of Yosemite National Park and the High Sierra range:the "range of light." Inspired by their grandeur, their wildness, and their primeval mystery, he made photographs that were to become the icons of America's national park ethic. His reverence for these places#151;the same reverence that fueled his commitment to environmental activism#151;illuminates each image. Yosemite Falls, the brooding majesty of Half Dome#151;we can no longer experience these "holy places" without seeing them through Ansel Adams' eyes. During his lifetime Adams published seven books of images from this region; this new book bringstogether in a single volume the finest photographs from this vast body of work. Alive with anecdote and insight, his writings serve as backdrop for the images, and John Szarkowski's introduction provides testimony to the enduring impact of Adams' Yosemite vision.
Customer Reviews:
Saint Ansel, Who Art in Heaven, Hallowed Be Thy Name.......2007-09-25
Ansel Adams is SO, like, awesome!!!
These photographs are simply breathtaking! Ansel Adams had this uncanny knack for taking the beautiful mountains, trees, clouds and waterways of the High Sierras, and making them look beautiful. It's so amazing contemplating an Ansel Adams photograph: How he took something only visually stunning and transforming it into something so visually stunning is simply astounding!
How DID he do that?
Exceeded my Expextations.......2006-07-22
This is a beautiful book. I suspect the pints are as high in quality as Ansel would have wished them.
I'm glad I bought this book and will enjoy the pictures contained within it for many years.
Excellent, uncompromised beauty.......1999-07-22
Really great photos of mounatin scapes in and about Yosimite. Waterfalls, forests, mountains and sky. Typical Ansel, most flawless.
Average customer rating:
- The Other Reviews Are Not About The Book
- People should really learn Yosemite Native American history
- A thrilling excursion into the heart of the West
- Savage Dreams
- No romanticism here
|
Savage Dreams: A Journey into the Landscape Wars of the American West
Rebecca Solnit
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Nevada
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
West
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Conservation
| Environment
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Living on the Land
| Ecology
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
| Architecture
| Hunting & Fishing
General
| Conservation
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Environmentalism
| Conservation
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Reference
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Nature & Ecology
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Ecotourism
| Specialty Travel
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
Yosemite
| California
| States
| United States
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Business & Investing
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Outdoors & Nature
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Travel
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Storming the Gates of Paradise: Landscapes for Politics
-
A Field Guide to Getting Lost
-
As Eve Said to the Serpent: On Landscape, Gender, and Art
-
Wanderlust: A History of Walking
-
River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West
ASIN: 0520220668 |
Book Description
In 1851, a war began in what would become Yosemite National Park, a war against the indigenous inhabitants that has yet to come to a real conclusion. A century later--1951--and about a hundred and fifty miles away, another war began when the U. S. government started setting off nuclear bombs at the Nevada Test Site, in what was called a nuclear testing program but functioned as a war against the land and people of the Great Basin. Savage Dreams is an exploration of these two landscapes. Together they serve as our national Eden and Armageddon and offer up a lot of the history of the west, not only in terms of Indian and environmental wars, but in terms of the relationship between culture--the generation of beliefs and views--and its implementation as politics.
Customer Reviews:
The Other Reviews Are Not About The Book.......2007-03-02
Wow, take a moment to read the other reviews of this book.
I picked this book up off a bargain table, and months later happened to take it with me when I was visiting Yosemite without knowing 1/2 the book was about Yosemite. That was kind of a thrill.
Solnit's historical and writing skills, her ability to build a world stage of activity and its interconnectedness with her narrative are extraordinary.
As a landscape artist and photographer, I find this book to be a great resource. Understanding the history of Yosemite is frankly consciousness shifting.
As the other reviewer says, nuclear weapons are our oyster.
Indians, big bangs, Central Park, Fremont and the Heart of Darkness. How about that.
People should really learn Yosemite Native American history.......2007-01-10
If people would really read the TRUE history of Yosemite Indians they would find something interesting. First the Miwoks in the area were friends and workers for James Savage and Charles Webber, the founder of Stockton. The Miwoks had a working relationship with both white men and they dug gold for them. The real Indians of Yosemite were Mono Paiutes who tried to fight off the invasion, and not Miwoks. They were allied with the white invaders and they called James Savage "White father". I am a descendent of the original Indians of Yosemite and there is a problem. The defintion "Some of them are killers" for Yosemite was fabricated in 1978 and is not the original meaning of Yosemite. The real meaning was "The Killers" or "The Grizzlies" because the Miwoks were afraid of the Ahwahnees. It was Chief Bautista and Russio, who were helping the Mariposa Battalion, who coined that term "Yosemite" for the Indians in Yosemite Valley which they were afraid to enter. It is because the Miwoks were once enemies of Chief Tenaya and the Ahwahnees. 30 years Yosemite National Park Service hired a person named Craig Bates who was married to a Miwok woman and had a 1/2 Miwok son who created that new defintion. So it is increble that ONE person changed the meaning and defintion of one of the most important and well known parks in the whold world...and no one noticed. The Miwoks were actually the scouts and guides for James Savage and the Mariposa Battalion, but you would not know it because the information was controlled by the "Indian expert" at Yosemite, which causes wrong information to be written...like the actual defintion of Yosemite. For the real story read Lafayette H. Bunnell's Discovery of the Yosemite to find out the truth.
A thrilling excursion into the heart of the West.......2004-05-19
If you have an open and inquisitive mind, no matter what your political outlook, you will enjoy this exploration of western America and our relationship with this unique landscape. Solnit weaves discussions about the settlement of the west by Euro-Americans, native American rights, nuclear testing, and other critical issues, with ruminations about H.D. Thoreau, John Muir, country music, landscape painters, and other intriguing topics. This is an excellent book about an important subject that will delight you if you let it.
Savage Dreams.......2004-01-15
This book is classic eco paganistic 1/2 truths and full tripe. Solnit carries on a dreamy and irresponsible massive 'feel good' opinion piece about the handfull of people harmed by our successfull development of our deffensive nuclear weapons. The author fails to note that our development and limited use of our weapons saved millions of lives.
If you are currently a eco pagan, here is more for your religion. If you want a full account of the history of our deffensive development of nuecs, don't waste your time reading this novel. However, if you want further insight into the basis that drives our planet's new pagan eco religion, then this book will help you to understanding their factualy fictionist journey into politics.
No romanticism here.......2000-02-06
Solnit's juxtaposition of the insidious nuclear poisoning of Nevada to the making of Yosemite National Park (that she shows has been "loved to death" since it was first discovered by whites more than 150 years ago)makes this book a must for all environmentalists. Solnit deals directly with themes of conquest and redemption in historic efforts to both tame and use these lands. Readers gain specific understanding about two places that are, after all, national icons. However, the deeper themes so well-developed in this book are being played out no less dramtically all across the country.
Book Description
Frommer s Yosemite and Kings Canyon/Sequoia is packed with all the facts, tips and descriptions you need to have perfect park vacation, in a pocket size guide:
- The most memorable natural wonders, from majestic Yosemite Falls to Kings Canyon's towering sequoias.
- Great places to stay in and near the parks, ranging from historic lodges to family-friendly motels plus a complete campground guide for each park.
- A fully illustrated nature guide to help you spot and identify condors, bobcats, wildflowers, and more.
- The best hikes, from ranger-led interpretive walks to challenging backcountry overnights.
- Detailed, accurate park and trail maps
Download Description
Frommer s Yosemite and Kings Canyon/Sequoia is packed with all the facts, tips and descriptions you need to have perfect park vacation, in a pocket size guide: The most memorable natural wonders, from majestic Yosemite Falls to Kings Canyon's towering sequoias. Great places to stay in and near the parks, ranging from historic lodges to family-friendly motels plus a complete campground guide for each park. A fully illustrated nature guide to help you spot and identify condors, bobcats, wildflowers, and more. The best hikes, from ranger-led interpretive walks to challenging backcountry overnights. Detailed, accurate park and trail maps
Customer Reviews:
you get what you pay for.......2007-03-29
I wish this guide had colorful maps. I originally bought it looking for information about hiking and trekking activities in the Parks and was somewhat disappointed by the monochromatic maps with poor information about trail distance or duration.
Well-organized, succinct and useful. Not comprehensive........2005-12-31
This guide is very succinct, affordable, and accessible. It's not at all comprehensive, yet is still one of the most useful guides to the region due to its brevity and organziation. Plus it covers both Sequoia/Kings Canyon and Yosemite.
Planning: A nice job is done. There is a lot of detail on roads into the parks and hotels, information lacking in the more specialized hiking guides. It covers most of the big park highlights you don't want to miss if you're only visiting the region once or twice. This is not the sort of guide that will tell you where to find solitude and remote regions. It is also one of the best guides to have if you don't want to rough it the entire trip. I like to space long backpacking treks with a visit to a nice restaurant-this guide offers a lot of variety on this end. The same goes for hotels, if you're not into backpacking or looking for a place just after getting on/off a plane.
Hiking Trip Descriptions: Pretty minimal. This book spotlights the more popular trails but does a fairly decent job of highlighting don't miss items.
Maps: Non-topographic but highly readable. The printing is crisp and highly readable. Useful for planning short day trips.
Overall this is a pretty useful guide. As the price is great you can easily buy this to supplement a more specialized hiking guide and map. Note that Frommer seems to put out a new edition every couple of years. I don't think very much could have changed, so an older edition will do just fine.
Book Description
For centuries, the Yosemite Indians have been gathering acorns, drying and storing them, and pounding, winnowing, sifting, leaching, and cooking them in a highly evolved, elegant, and skillful process. _It Will Live Forever_ looks at Julia Parker, a Kashaya Pomo woman who married into the Yosemite Miwok tribe and is still practicing this traditional art as Indian women have done for generations. Along with demonstrating the various steps of acorn preparation, Julia reminisces about her life, from her early experience of being sent to Indian boarding school to her current job of demonstrating acorn preparation at Yosemite National Park.
_It Will Live Forever_ remains the only source of intimate descriptions of one of the most vital aspects of traditional California Indian life. It has sold more than 5,000 copies.
Customer Reviews:
Great book, but a couple of corrections should be made about Indian people........2006-02-25
This is a great book, but a couple of corrections should be made in reprint. Love the preperation of acorns, but Chief George Dick and his relative Lancisco Wilson were Paiutes and not Miwoks. Captain Sam on his 1928 California Indian Application which is a public document anyone can get at the National Archives states that he and his wife Susie Sam were Paiutes from Mono Lake area. On thier applicatons many of their children and grandchildren write that they are both Paiutes. The book is great and the author is one of the top writers about Indians of California, but that is one teenie-weenie problem that hopefully can be fixed in re-print. The rest of the book is a must read.
The only guide for processing acorn!.......2001-09-22
As a friend of Julia Parker, I know her gentle spirit to be true to the Old Ways. She grew up in the last days of the government-sponsered "Indian Schools" which basically stripped native children of their heritage and turned them into little white kids. So on the surface this book is a guide to processing acorn in the ancient ways of the native California Indians, but it's also testimony to Julia's spirit and the rediscovery of the life skills and spirituality of her people.
Acorn is central to The People -- it is the primary staple food of the Indians of California and sustained them through the winter. A bad crop of acorn meant possible starvation, so the food is treated with respect and tradition throughout the process of turning it from a bitter nut to a sweet flour for making soup or bread.
The book is beautifully photographed and gives detailed instructions for how to make acorn both the traditional way with a granite mortar and sand pit and the modern way with a blender and kitchen sink. I have watched the Indians of Yosemite Valley make acorn many times and have made acorn myself, so I can assure you that the instructions will help even beginners make acorn for themselves.
The absolute best guide to acorn processing.......1998-09-28
I spent years learning how to properly process acorns, so that they were yummy to eat. I tried all the recipes in the wild edible books, and my own experiments. Reading this book gave me the simple but crucial details I was missing to turn out good acorn every time. Its not hard, you just got to do it right. This book is the only one I know of that will show you all you need to know. Otherwise its a fairly bland book, with a little too much heroine worship by the author.
Food for bodies and spirits in Native woman's account.......1997-06-04
California Native Americans used acorn as a staple food, and still reverence it. "One must create a relationship with the tree, one must understand the ground which cherishes the fruit so lovingly." But that understanding is not mere words, it is a vast array of knowledge -- and a special technology of place. Julia Parker, Kashia Pomo, who married into the Yosemite Mono/Paiute family headed by elder Lucy Telles, spent many years learning the lifeways that Lucy taught by example.
Julia tells anthropologist, writer, and friend Beverly Ortiz the story. of acorn preparation through a seasonal round. It is Julia's story, but it is also the story of California Native women over thousands of years. Many photos (by Raye Santos, of Julia preparing acorns; family activities and people from the Telles and Parker family albums; and from 19th and 20th century Yosemite National Park Service collections) make clear the intricate technology these women developed. The process, followed step by step from the story and photos, is shown as part of a life-and-seasonal cycle. The acorns, gathered from the ground, should be dried for a year before being shelled and pounded into meal and flour. The meal is then leached of bitter tannin in shallow sand basins, then separated and cooked with hot rocks in water-tight woven baskets.
The careful explanation of each step in the long process of food preparation is enlivened by Julia's personal recollections of traditional family life, and the cultural/spiritual/social meanings of all the activities. This is a fascinating way to understand Native lifeways, full of life and meaning. Readers will understand, from this woman's inside view, why the book's title -- It will live forever -- is true. This is not an academic account of a dead past; it is a lifeway still alive. At Native events in California today, women still take the time and trouble to prepare this traditional food and experience their closeness to the earth, and their cultural survival as a people.
There is enormous contrast between this lively account of Native women, maintaining life, and the distancing, dead accounts by male anthropologists and historians, which mount Native cultures and lifeways with a freezing academic objectivity, as if they were bagged specimens dead and long gone. This book is highly recommended for young people, as an alternative to the deadly, boring, and incorrect accounts prepared for young people that purport to present archaic Native societies. Those awful books form a minor industry among textbook publishers. This book is a delicious antidote to such multicultural poisons. -- Reviewed by Paula Giese, editor, Native American Books (http://www.fdl.cc.mn.us/~isk/books/bookmenu.html)
Book Description
Yosemite is a world-famous destination that has attracted celebrated photographers such as Eadweard Muybridge, Edward Weston, and Ansel Adams, along with environmental organizations, rock climbers, and tourists. Yosemite in Time puts this park in a new light with re-photographs of some of the most enduring images taken at Yosemite, and three essays by noted cultural critic Rebecca Solnit. The photographs and essays reconsider the iconic status of Yosemite in America's conception of wilderness, examining how the place was appropriated by its early Euro-American visitors and showing how our conceptions of landscape have altered and how land has changed — or not — over time. Arresting and incisive, Yosemite in Time is an intimate reconsideration of a park that millions of people hold dear.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful photos along with a brief history........2006-09-06
Having read many books on Yosemite, I always find a new take on the material to be refreshing. And while there are other books which use rephotography (taking a new photo in the exact same location as an old photo), the photos in this book are nonetheless spectacular. There are several tri-fold pullouts which are pieced together panoramic views incorporating both new and old photos. The book isn't all photos, as there are quite a few pages of text, telling the story of how the book came to be and about the history of yosemite's photographers.
Yosemite Native Americans - History is always RE-written by those who won the war...and those who helped........2006-07-19
I liked the idea of re-doing Eadweard Muybridge photos. I was amazed at how the photos were re-done. To see how they looked years later was very interesting. Sadly, History is always written by those who won the war...or those who helped with that war. In the book it states that the Miwoks were the original Native Americans of Yosemite Valley. That is really not correct. The Miwoks were the ones who were the guides and helpers of James Savage. Chief Bautista of the Miwoks and James Savage were actaully allies. Other groups that later became Miwoks helped James Savage scout out the Yosemites and guide them to the hidden camps of the Yosemites, who were in fact Mono Paiutes.
That is a sad chapter of the TRUE history of Yosemite. That now the Miwoks are claiming to be the original Indians of Yosemite when they were the ones who assisted James Savage and the Mariposa Battalion.
That is the truth and you can read that in Lafayette H. Bunnell's book "Discovery of the Yosemites". Bunnell was the only man to meet Chief Tenaya.
Read that book first, but get an unabridged first print or older print of that book.
Book Description
A vivid account of America’s first environmental cause célèbre, which illuminates our attitudes toward fundamental questions of growth, development, and our place in nature.
The building of the O’Shaughnessy Dam and Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in the middle of Yosemite National Park–despite the availability of less expensive, less technically challenging, and less politically complicated possibilities–set off a defining controversy in American environmentalism. From the early 1900s to 1913 Americans argued about proposals to dam the Tuolumne River and transform the extraordinary Hetch Hetchy Valley into a giant source of water and hydroelectric power for the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a story of intrigue replete with political scandals and suspect tactics played out in the corridors of Congress, in San Francisco’s City Hall and its corporate boardrooms, and in the national media. The colorful cast of characters includes Theodore Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, and John Muir, as well as a host of political bosses, West Coast boosters, East Coast patricians and publishers, big-business interests, newly formed environmental groups, and the American public.
Simpson also takes us through the building of the enormous dam and the extensive tunnels and aqueducts that carry water to the Bay Area, and the even more controversial hydroelectric project that still fails to deliver the “public” power that Congress mandated and about which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled. He recounts conversations with an array of people currently involved in the ongoing controversy over whether to manage, refurbish, repair, and enlarge the system, or to tear down the dam and restore the valley to its prior splendor. Simpson concludes with a reflection on what all of this reveals about American attitudes toward growth, development, and environmental stewardship.
Customer Reviews:
Forgot the story of the Native Americans of Hetch Hetchy Valley........2006-02-25
The problem with a lot of books written about Hetch Hetchy is that they leave out the original Native Americans of Hetch Hetchy Valley.
The Paiute Indian people were the original owners of Hetch Hetchy, but no one, especially the Yosemite National Park Service, does not want to mention that. Why is that?
Why do stories written about Hetch Hetchy always start AFTER the the Raker's Act. There were Indians in Hetch Hetchy before that. The Native Americans of Hetch Hetchy Valley were Paiutes.
Where is that in the story of Hetch Hetchy and Yosemite National Park? The story of Captain Jim of the Hetch Hetchy Paiutes. The story of Joseph Screech the first European to enter Hetch Hetchy Valley meeting Paiutes there.
In fact here is something the Yosemite National Park Service does want people to know. The original Indians of Yosemite and Hetch Hetchy ended up in Paiute areas.
The truth is out there, but the injustice continues. The history of the true Indians of Hetch Hetchy should be included in all stories of Hetch Hetchy...the Paiutes.
A lively account of controversial battles which continue into modern times.......2005-11-07
After the great earthquake and fire of 1906, San Francisco was in desperate need of a reliable water source - and proposals were made to damn the Tuolumne River and transform the Hetch Hetchy Valley into a giant hydro-electric supply for the city. Others protested the changes to the environment. The two groups sparked one of the biggest controversies in American environmental history, and Damn! Water, Power, Politics And Preservation In Hetch Hetchy And Yosemite National Park charts the conflicts and eventual resolution, from changing attitudes towards growth and water issues to the American public's evolving interest in preservation. A lively account of controversial battles which continue into modern times.
The Waters of Empire.......2005-09-09
Portions of this book will be of great value to anyone interested in the history of the environmental movement, and the shifting political realities that environmentalists have had to deal with over long periods. Simpson explores the history and issues surrounding the Hetch Hetchy dam at Yosemite National Park, which was built to supply San Francisco with water and power even though the site was already protected within the national park. The unsuccessful fight against the dam, which flooded a beautiful valley that was the near-equal to the tremendous Yosemite Valley nearby, was the first major battle conducted by the American environmental movement. Simpson starts with a history of the national park and the twisted politics that resulted in the construction of the dam and its reservoir. This leads to some real insights into environmentalist history in America and the politics of the early 20th century, when the fight for and against the dam took place over several contentious decades.
After this enlightening start, the majority of the book covers the politics and issues behind water and power utilities in modern San Francisco. There is much to be learned here, though the specifics on San Francisco's unique challenges and practices become rather tedious and may not be that enlightening for anyone outside of the region. However, one of the great insights of this book is how San Francisco behaves like an empire, controlling far-away colonies for the extraction of resources that it can't obtain locally, especially fresh water. All of this was accomplished through strong-arm political tactics and flaunting the wishes of both the Federal government and millions of affected citizens. [~doomsdayer520~]
Book Description
Follow in the footsteps of Ansel Adams with this all-color guide for photographers. Over 70 pictures YOU can take, plus maps and tips.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful Vistas.......2007-06-08
Great pictures. Although the author wrote it to help others get great pictures, I will never get back to Yosemite and these picture are wonderful for my memories.
only good for mediocre snapshots.......2007-04-05
I agree with other reviewers, that this book is good only for getting "snapshots", not really good photographs. If you want stunning photos, even from a compact camera or superzoom, check out Frye's book on the same topic.
PhotoSecrets Yosemite Review.......2007-02-19
Nice book. Very informative with very detailed instructions of where and how to take some awesome photos.
Pretty good value, very succinct........2006-08-17
I read both this and the Frye book before visiting Yosemite. Both had good info, but the Frye book went into a great deal more detail. It also had general photography tips, similar to those covered in more detail in "Understanding Exposure".
I enjoyed both, but carried this one in the park, since it was smaller, lighter, and had all the info I needed.
If you haven't read "Understanding Exposure" or learned the basics of photography, get the Frye book. If you don't need that refresher, and don't need areas outside the park itself covered, get this book.
Better yet, get both!
This book is gonna be a great help........2003-03-18
I read the blistering negative first review of this book and almost didn't buy it. It would definitely have been my loss. I can see where Photosecrets of Yosemite is going to be a great help in several ways: Taking better photographs, of course, but also in deciding what, when and where to go to view the sights. I don't know what else you could want in a book of this type. There are lots of beautiful photos with suggestions as to how to do your own. I see nothing wrong with the quality of the book itself -- I don't know what the first reviewer was even thinking! I bought three other books to help plan our Yosemite trip: Complete Guidebook to Yosemite, Photographer's Guide to Yosemite, and of course, Frommer's -- ya' gotta have a Frommer's wherever you go. All four books are excellent and will definitely add to the planning of our trip -- and I'll certainly have them along with me on our vacation. Thanks, Andrew Hudson -- I really like your book.
Books:
- You Can Hear Me Now: How Microloans and Cell Phones are Connecting the World's Poor to the Global Economy
- A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (Official Guides to the Appalachian Trail)
- A Yellowstone Album: A Photographic Celebration of the First National Park
- Accumulation of technetium-99 in the Irish Sea? [An article from: Science of the Total Environment, The]
- Adventures with a Texas Naturalist
- Adventuring in the Chesapeake Bay Area: The Sierra Club Travel Guide to the Tidewater Country of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., from Baltimore ... Capes (Sierra Club Adventure Travel Guides)
- African American Family Life: Ecological and Cultural Diversity (Duke Series in Child Develpm and Pub Pol)
- Animal Habitats: Dicovering How Animals Live in the Wild (Facts on File Natural Science Library)
- Aprendiendo A Decir Adios
- Assessing The Sustainability And Biological Integrity Of Water Resources Using Fish Communities
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Cradle of Flavor: Home Cooking from the Spice Islands of Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia
- Zoom
- The White-Haired Girl: Bittersweet Adventures of a Little Red Soldier
- They Just Don't Get It: How Washington Is Still Compromising Your Safety--and What You Can Do About
- The Savage Garden: Cultivating Carnivorous Plants
- Wuthering Heights
- Whiskey River
- Grob's Basic Electronics: Fundamentals of DC and AC Circuits with Simulations CD
- Title Insurance 101: Principles and Fundamentals of the Title Insurance Process
- European Marketing Forecasts 2004/2005