Confessions of a Barbarian: Selections from the Journals of Edward Abbey, 1951-1989
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Barbarian he is not
  • The closest thing to an Abbey autobiography
  • He wrote too much fiction and not enough journalism
  • Don't Waste Your Money
  • An Essential Companion for any fan of Ed Abbey's
Confessions of a Barbarian: Selections from the Journals of Edward Abbey, 1951-1989
Edward Abbey , and David Petersen
Manufacturer: Little Brown & Co (T)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0316004154

Amazon.com

Few have cared more about American wilderness than the irascible Cactus Ed. Author of eco-classics such as The Monkey Wrench Gang and Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey reveals all his rough-hewn edges and passionate beliefs in this witty, outspoken, maddening, and sometimes brilliant selection of journal entries that takes the writer from his early years as a park ranger and would-be literary author up to his death in 1989.

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars Barbarian he is not.......2007-01-06

Confessions of a Barbarian is an inside look at the philosophy and ideas of one man. It also is a deep read into his ideas about women, love and lost relationships. The journals are well written and full of thought out prose, plays on words. It is excellent for any writer to read. Abbey uses many word plays and word games throughout the journals. He also philosophizes on life in general as well as his travels throughout his life. It was extremely interesting and well written.

5 out of 5 stars The closest thing to an Abbey autobiography.......2006-03-21

This book is a nicely edited version of Ed Abbey's journals, and, as an Abbey fan, I found it very illuminating. Here we get to see Abbey as he sees himself instead of the Abbey the we see through his books. The men went through a lot and put himself through a lot, and it is very amazing to watch him mature through his writing from his early twenties until the weeks before his death at the age of 62. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to know more about how Abbey experienced his own life and writing in contrast to the persona developed as the cult hero of the Monkey Wrench Gang and Desert Solitaire.

4 out of 5 stars He wrote too much fiction and not enough journalism.......2004-09-15

I thrustfully agree with the previous critics who begrudge Abbey for his pathetic sex-obsession. And it's pretty dispiriting to watch Abbey degenerating into a grumpy old man. But there's great stuff in here, page after page.

ED SAID: "I hate the rich and powerful, and those who support *them* while not *of* them---servile and sycophantic natures: the servants, lackeys, court jesters. They I despise more than any other."

ED SAID: "Judy---her death. Just too goddamned cruel and unjust and absurd and unnecessary to be borne. As Bobby Kennedy used to say (and how sweet *his* memory now seems), this is 'unacceptable'. (Oblivion. Annihilation. Nothingness.)"

ED SAID: "Inbreeding. My Gawd, even the country-western singers are singing songs about country-western songs. Just like the highbrow literati, writing their novels about writing novels."

ED SAID: "There *must* be a Gawd; the world could not have gotten so f*cked-up by chance alone."

1 out of 5 stars Don't Waste Your Money.......2002-04-19

This is the most self-absorbed author I have ever read. Perhaps this was not a good book to begin with, having never read any of his others. He is endlessly amused at his own wit, endlessly fascinated with his own horniness. His women are a sad parade of vaginas; world-shaking events reduced to how they will affect his own narrow, hedonistic world. The sad part is that I agree with many of his opinions on religion, the environment, business, etc. Unfortunately, his "look, Ma, I'm writing!" style of expression gets quite tedious. This is pseudo-intellectual, verbal vomit...don't waste your money like I did. (Sorry, Abbey-lovers)

5 out of 5 stars An Essential Companion for any fan of Ed Abbey's.......2001-06-05

First of all, I can't believe I haven't already written a review of this book, since it has long been one of my favorites. These journals are incredibly well-written; a lot of it reads as well as anything he ever had published. I have all but one of Ed's books ( the first one, Jonathan Troy, which is impossible to find unless you have in the neighborhood of $7,000 to spend on a rare copy ) and I count this as one of my top three. Ed was a real man, a genuine human being who was mad as hell about a lot of things worth being mad about, a dreamer and romantic, a Great Voice howling in the wilderness of a civilization gone stark raving mad. Plus he mentored a lot of folks, including me 21 years ago with his great book Desert Solitaire. We need Ed's voice now more than ever, and if he can't be here the rest of us will have to read ( and re-read and re-read!) his words to keep his vision alive.
Birding Babylon: A Soldier's Journal from Iraq
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Birding in war zone
  • Enjoyed hearing about his birding experiences in Iraq
  • Birding Babylon-Simple Beauty in Wartime
  • A nice perspective on a terrible war
  • I love this book
Birding Babylon: A Soldier's Journal from Iraq
Jonathan Trouern-Trend
Manufacturer: Sierra Club Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1578051312

Book Description

Early in 2004, a National Guardsman from Connecticut arrived in Iraq for a year's posting. Sergeant First Class Jon Trouern-Trend had been a birder since age 12. So naturally he looked for birds--and found them in surprising number and variety around Anaconda Base in the Sunni Triangle, where he was stationed: old-world warblers near the laundry pond, kestrels at the dump, wood pigeons by the airstrip, owls on the cement bunkers. And whenever he got "outside the wire"--collecting water samples from the Tigris, delivering supplies to schoolchildren, at a forward operating base in Mosul, or on a trek to the ruins of ancient Babylon--his lifelist grew longer.
From nearly day one until he left Iraq, Trouern-Trend wrote about his sightings in an on-line journal, which attracted thousands of readers and was excerpted in the press. Now some of the highlights of his "Birding Babylon" blog are collected in this small, beautiful volume, designed to resemble a birder's journal. In a Preface, the author looks back on his experience--and ahead to what the future might hold for the rooks, doves, storks, bulbuls, and sparrows of Iraq, and for its people.
This little book cuts through the politics of war like birdsong, reminding us of our imperishable connection with nature; of how birds and their journeys tie the world together; of the persistence of life even in a wasted land. It's a small act of grace.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Birding in war zone.......2007-07-16

This started out as a soldiers blog, and has more of a travelogue feel, rather than a war correspondent feel of it. The author is most interesting when presenting his walks around the camp, and finding birds in back of the laundry camp and travels. And exotic birds they are: such as Squacco heron, Greater spotted eagle, Egyptian Vulture, purple swamphen, whiskered tern, and blue-checked bee-eater. What is missing however any introspection about the war, Sadam's effect on the environment, or contrast of being in a war zone and observing nature.

5 out of 5 stars Enjoyed hearing about his birding experiences in Iraq.......2007-05-01

Being a bird enthusiast, AND having a son in the US Army inspired me to buy (and read) this book. I had originally bought it to give to my son (who enjoyed watching birds...mostly raptors....as a child), I decided to read it myself and was amazed at the species of birds this soldier was seeing over there. Sounds like (in addition to his mission) he did have some downtime and had some positive things to say about the region, which was nice. It has to be hard to be away from your family and friends for so long....and Jonathan found a way to stay busy and keep upbeat. Kudos to him, and God Bless our military!

5 out of 5 stars Birding Babylon-Simple Beauty in Wartime.......2006-08-18

This is a small, beautiful book. The natural phenonomena and bird-life that Jonathan Trouern-Trend desribes with such simple elegance in Birding Babylon is both comforting and poignent as it all takes place in Iraq near the beginning of our most recent conflict there.

I salute Mr. Trouern-Trend, both as a fellow "birder" as well as a poet. His writing is spare and unembelished, yet the warm sentiment he awakens in the naturalist' heart is undeniable. Here, again, poignance was the feeling he inspired, as well as admiration for a job well-done.

I love this little book. I bought 3 more copies as soon as I read it to give to friends.

Thank you, Sergeant Trouern-Trend. I salute you! Beth Hall, San Diego, CA

5 out of 5 stars A nice perspective on a terrible war.......2006-06-12

Because I am a birder, a friend bought me this book. It is perfectly aimed, not a pure birding, and no ranting about the war. Shows the power of nature and appreciation of nature to put a lovely perspective on even the most ugliest of wars. I wanted to know what the birds he referred to looked like so am ordering the birds of the middle east. one might wish photos or more realistic drawing of the birds, but I think that would detract from the journal-like nature of this cute little book.

5 out of 5 stars I love this book.......2006-05-05

This book is great! Part birding journal, part soldier's diary, and fully a reminder that Iraq isn't just a place on a map or in the newspaper. It's a quick read and you really get the feeling that you are just reading the author's notebook that he had in his back pocket while on patrol--really interesting. There's also a list of the 122 species that he saw while in Iraq, which was very enlightening--it's not just a desolate war-torn area over there--there are real signs of life! And the book itself is a really pretty hardcover book; there are even illustrations of all the different birds he saw.
Drawn to Nature Through the Journals of Clare Walker Leslie
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Drawn to Nature Through the Journals of Clare Walker Leslie
Drawn to Nature Through the Journals of Clare Walker Leslie
Clare Walker Leslie
Manufacturer: Storey Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1580176143

Book Description

Reveling in the wonders of nature doesn’t have to be reserved for vacation. By simply taking a few minutes to look up and observe the hawks hovering over their nest at the top of a city apartment dwelling, or to look down and note the variety of weeds growing in a small patch of earth, or just to glance through the window and appreciate the shapes of the clouds moving by, anyone can connect with nature—anywhere, anytime.

Clare Walker Leslie, author of the bestselling book Keeping a Nature Journal, has spent 25 years teaching and showing people how simple and rewarding it is to notice and record local nature. Nothing is more inspiring than the pages of her nature journals, which feature her daily recordings of small, but amazing natural events she’s seen while walking the dog, sitting in a park with her children, or driving around city streets.

Drawn to Nature features a selection of Leslie’s journal pages, arranged to inspire the reader to do as she does: look up, look down, look out and around, bring bits of nature indoors to observe and study, or take your eyes for a walk around the neighborhood. Using a combination of quick, impressionistic watercolors with more detailed pen and pencil drawings, along with the written word, Leslie invites readers to share in the pleasure of her nature watching, and to experience the joy of seeing and connecting with nature wherever they live, amidst the whirl of daily life.

For journal keepers, nature lovers, birdwatchers, artists, and anyone interested in using nature as a source for self-reflection or meditation, this book will be a welcome companion and source of inspiration.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Drawn to Nature Through the Journals of Clare Walker Leslie.......2006-09-22

Nice book. Used it to teach nature journaling at a children's camp this summer. Compact, good example of "how to" journal.
The Buccaneer Explorer: William Dampier's Voyages (First Person Singular) (First Person Singular)
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • The Genius Pirate and Explorer
The Buccaneer Explorer: William Dampier's Voyages (First Person Singular) (First Person Singular)
William Dampier
Manufacturer: Boydell Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1843831414

Product Description

William Dampier [1652-1715] is the most remarkable seaman that England produced in the century and a half between Drake and Captain Cook. They each circumnavigated the world once; Dampier did so three times. He commanded the first government-funded voyage of discovery with a specific mission to report on matters of government and science. A good seaman, but a bad commander, he spent most of his life as a privateer, buccaneer, or pirate, and his career culminated in the capture of the great treasure galleon sent each year from the New World to Spain. But he was also a great writer, author of the first major English travel book, A New Voyage Round the World, and of scientific treatises and descriptions of natural history. His expedition to Australia was in many ways disastrous, with his ships being lost; but the book that came out of it, A Voyage to New Holland, is rich in evocative accounts of the peoples and places he had found or visited. He was not afraid to record things he could not explain, for `better qualified persons who shall come after me', and his books were reference works used extensively not only by subsequent voyagers but by modern scientists who continue to cite his observations. This edited account of his voyages gives an admirable picture of this fascinating and unorthodox figure in his own words.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars The Genius Pirate and Explorer.......2007-09-20

As a descendant of William Dampier, I am collecting everything about his life and works. The more I read, the more impressive are his achievements.
Rogue River Journal: A Winter Alone
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Hot and cold
  • Rogue River Journal: A Winter Alone
  • Great story...
  • We're never alone, even when we're by ourselves
  • It's all about remembering
Rogue River Journal: A Winter Alone
John Daniel
Manufacturer: Shoemaker & Hoard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1593761058

Book Description

In November of 2000, after the presidential election but before the final results had been handed down by the Supreme Court, John Daniel climbed into his pickup, drove to a remote location in Oregon's Rogue River Canyon, and quit civilization. The strictures were severe with no two-way human communication — not even with his wife — and no radio, no music, not even his cat. He would isolate himself in a cabin sure to be snowed in soon after his arrival, intent on hearing no human voice but his own until spring thawed the road. This experiment in solitude was an attempt to clarify his identity while pursuing daily life without the distractions of the world at large. Daniel had spent a week or two alone before, but this would be an entirely new challenge, and as he drove off into the mountains he felt a fear-tinged freedom. Rogue River Journal chronicles his journey in solitude, a season of memory, and his search for a coherent place to stand on the earth.

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars Hot and cold.......2006-11-25

The book has four themes: journal and musings while in the Oregon wilderness, auto biography, and father's biography. It's tough to write an interesting journal - face it, most lives aren't that interesting. Daniel has led an interesting life, but not that interesting. I enjoyed spending time with him in the wilderness, became bored with his reflections on his self-absorbed youth, and had to go for my own solitary walk to escape his musings on current politics - sorry, not interested in ruminations on Bill Clinton and Monica, the decriminalization of drugs, and the merits of Bush and Gore.

The sections on his father and the labor movement were fascinating and hope that Daniel can work through the emotional issues enough to write a full, more dispassionalte biography.

There are plenty of great nuggets to mine here, for example his experience as a choker in Washington forest, and having many fathers, that make the book worth reading. But often I could almost hear Franz Daniel saying, that's enough John, now get out and DO something.

5 out of 5 stars Rogue River Journal: A Winter Alone.......2006-10-02

I was encouraged to read this book by the cover quote from Mary Oliver and was rewarded appropriately. A beautifully written, thoughtful journey of self discovery. And a special gift at the end for anyone exploring their own path in becoming a writer, the author offers insight and direction that resonates as true.

5 out of 5 stars Great story..........2006-08-25

This is a great 'get-away' book. It conveys what it must really be like to be alone in the wilderness for months, in a beautiful place, and the journey of a person's thoughts without the distractions of modern life. It also is a powerful story about the author's relationship with his father. Highly recommended.

4 out of 5 stars We're never alone, even when we're by ourselves.......2005-08-01

I loved this book, and I'm glad the author brought us along on his journey. I have often wondered what it would be like to take off for awhile, and leave the bustle of everyday life behind.

From reading I discovered that I would never really be alone, because all of the people that I have been fortunate to know have shaped my life. They are part of me, and hopefully I am part of them. Our friends and family are there in spirit all of time - good and bad. It all makes up a portion of the fabric which is us, which makes nothing bad. It's all good.

The natural setting for the adventure is top-notch, and I do plan on exploring the Rogue River. I certainly need to bring my fly-rod.

Thanks for sharing your life with us, John.

4 out of 5 stars It's all about remembering.......2005-06-06

Poet and nonfiction writer John Daniel spent four and a half months living by himself in a cabin in the Rogue River canyon of southwestern Oregon. Though his original intent was to go there to write, he did some nature observation and terrain exploration as well. He chose to make his retreat during the winter of 2000-2001, beginning just after election day. We who were stuck back here in civilization can only envy his self-made cocoon of quiet, blissfully removed from the incessant media analysis of the Bush-Gore-Florida quandry. We can merely shake our heads, remembering.

Memory comes into play quite a bit here. After taking care of his immediate needs and taking in the natural world around him, Daniel spends much of his alone time considering the past. Or two pasts, really: his father's and his own. Something he sees or thinks about at the cabin will remind him of something else from the past, and he follows that tangent. He writes about his father and traces the man's work in the American labor movement as well as his struggle with alcoholism. At the same time, he reveals much about his own life and about growing up in a 1960s culture that was both anti-Vietnam and pro-drugs. "Rogue River Journal" is as much about Daniel's voyage of self-discovery as it is a temporary escape from society. By the end of his sojourn, it seems as if he has come to terms with all of it: his relationship with his father, his own varied and sometimes illegal activities of his younger days, his writing career, even the choice to enforce this self-imposed confinement. Daniel gets *very* personal, yet this is not a pure autobiography. It's funny, it's sad, it's thought-provoking, it's Life.

Daniel writes, "I thought I might find two books here -- one about the experience of solitude, the other the story of my coming of age and my father. From the start though, the two wanted to loop and weave together, and I saw no reason, and see none now, to discourage their union." (p. 301) The result honors both men. Obviously Franz Daniel passed the story-telling gene onto his son John. He has a knack for offering vivid descriptions and the tales to go with them, knowing just when to bring one segment to a temporary close so that we'll want to turn the page to discover what happened next. Baby Boomer readers will have no problem reminiscing on their own, inspired by Daniel's candid ruminations. This book is more contemplative than most "Walden" wannabees.

John Daniel uncovers two truths for us: We need occasional solitude in order to understand who we are as individuals. And we also need distance from the past in order to comprehend its contribution to our personalities and lives. Thanks for the reminders, John!
Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac: A Naturalist's Journal for 2007
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac: A Naturalist's Journal for 2007
    Aldo Leopold
    Manufacturer: Pomegranate (Cal)
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Calendar

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    John Muir's Last Journey: South To The Amazon And East To Africa: Unpublished Journals And Selected Correspondence (Pioneers of Conservation)
    Average customer rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    • Good.....but
    John Muir's Last Journey: South To The Amazon And East To Africa: Unpublished Journals And Selected Correspondence (Pioneers of Conservation)
    John Muir
    Manufacturer: Island Press
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    ASIN: 1559636416

    Book Description

    "àa rich and fitting tribute." -PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

    "With previously unpublished journal entries and letters, this volume captures the original mountain man's final trek." -OUTSIDE

    "I am now writing up some notes, but when they will be ready for publication I do not know... It will be a long time before anything is arranged in book form." These words of John Muir, written in June 1912 to a friend, proved prophetic. The journals and notes to which the great naturalist and environmental figure was referring have languished, unpublished and virtually untouched, for nearly a century. Until now. Here edited and published for the first time, John Muir's travel journals from 1911-12, along with his associated correspondence, finally allow us to read in his own words the remarkable story of John Muir's last great journey.

    Leaving from Brooklyn, New York, in August 1911, John Muir, at the age of seventy-three and traveling alone, embarked on an eight-month, 40,000-mile voyage to South America and Africa. The 1911-12 journals and correspondence reproduced in this volume allow us to travel with him up the great Amazon, into the jungles of southern Brazil, to snowline in the Andes, through southern and central Africa to the headwaters of the Nile, and across six oceans and seas in order to reach the rare forests he had so long wished to study. Although this epic journey has received almost no attention from the many commentators on Muir's work, Muir himself considered it among the most important of his life and the fulfillment of a decades-long dream.

    John Muir's Last Journey provides a rare glimpse of a Muir whose interests as a naturalist, traveler, and conservationist extended well beyond the mountains of California. It also helps us to see John Muir as a different kind of hero, one whose endurance and intellectual curiosity carried him into far fields of adventure even as he aged, and as a private person and family man with genuine affections, ambitions, and fears, not just an iconic representative of American wilderness.

    With an introduction that sets Muir's trip in the context of his life and work, along with chapter introductions and a wealth of explanatory notes, the book adds important dimensions to our appreciation of one of America's greatest environmentalists. John Muir's Last Journey will be must reading for students and scholars of environmental history, American literature, natural history, and related fields, as well as for naturalists and armchair travelers everywhere.

    Customer Reviews:

    3 out of 5 stars Good.....but.......2006-11-03

    Muir's journals were good but I didn't care for the introduction to the journals in each chapter by the author. The intro's went into way to much background detail. I would have been fine with less intro.
    The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, 1906: A Facsimile Reproduction of a Naturalist's Diary
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    • A beautiful book
    • what are your opinions on this book?
    • The best nature notebook I've ever seen!
    The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, 1906: A Facsimile Reproduction of a Naturalist's Diary
    Edith Holden
    Manufacturer: Henry Holt & Co
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

    GeneralGeneral | Essays | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | England | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
    ReferenceReference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
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    3. Favorite Poems Old and New Favorite Poems Old and New
    4. Handbook of Nature Study Handbook of Nature Study
    5. A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning

    ASIN: 080501232X

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars A beautiful book.......2007-04-20

    I had some of the stationary years ago, and didn't realize until I was at a second hand booksale the other day that the artwork was from a book. What a treasure of drawings!
    And how wonderful to think that someone a)saved it and b) had the courage to reprint it exactly as it was, handwriting and all. Worth it just for the artwork, plus you get a view into the world of the women of that time. Having just seen the film "Miss Potter" and how hard it was for a woman to be taken seriously as an artist in England, this book is a delight to find.

    4 out of 5 stars what are your opinions on this book?.......2001-11-07

    i have a reseach paper due on this book and i need to make direct quotes on it. please help! thanks.

    5 out of 5 stars The best nature notebook I've ever seen!.......1998-01-09

    Charlotte Mason was an educator in England in the last century, and one of her main educational methods was to have every student keep a Nature Notebook or Nature Diary---a record of the natural world as the children observed it first-hand. The student's Nature Notebooks were filled with poetry, prose, line drawings and watercolors.

    "The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady" is the perfect example of a fully developed Nature Diary. The author went out amid the English countryside and recorded what she observed---the flowers, trees, birds, insects.

    The artistry of the drawings and watercolors in this is absolutely breathtaking. If you're looking for an introduction to the idea of Nature Diaries, or you simply enjoy a book of true grace and beauty, then this is the book for you.
    Circle of the Seasons: The Journal of a Naturalist's Year (Library of Nature Classics)
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Circle of the Seasons: The Journal of a Naturalist's Year (Library of Nature Classics)
      Edwin Way Teale
      Manufacturer: Dodd, Mead
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      GeneralGeneral | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books
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      2. A Naturalist Buys an Old Farm A Naturalist Buys an Old Farm
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      4. The Brendan Voyage (Modern Library Exploration) The Brendan Voyage (Modern Library Exploration)
      5. The Story of Painting: From Cave Painting to Modern Times The Story of Painting: From Cave Painting to Modern Times

      ASIN: 0396090168
      A Naturalist in Indian Territory: The Journals of S.W. Woodhouse, 1849-50 (The American Exploration and Travel Series , Vol 72)
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        A Naturalist in Indian Territory: The Journals of S.W. Woodhouse, 1849-50 (The American Exploration and Travel Series , Vol 72)
        S. W. Woodhouse
        Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma Press
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Paperback

        GeneralGeneral | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | 19th Century | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
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        AnthropologyAnthropology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books | Cultural | Ethnobotany | Ethnology | Evolution | General | History & Philosophy | Physical | Primitive | Religious | Sociobiology
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        ASIN: 0806128054

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