Ivy (PBSmaven) - reviewed on 3/30/2009 + 107 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 6

I'm torn about this book. I purchased it with the hopes that I'd learn more about the history of Bisbee, Arizona. Bisbee is a tiny mining town just 25 minutes or so south of Tombstone, Arizona. I've visited a few times and plan on visiting there again soon. So with that in mind, I was hoping to get some background and history on the town, maybe some juicy stories. No such luck. This book, although beautifully written, was more about the authors life. He talks about the desert, the various desert plants (he spends chapters on that), his time in the Army at Ft. Huachuca and other aspects of his life. Finally, about 3/4 of the way through the book he begins to talk about Tombstone (briefly) and Bisbee. This is definitely not a history book on Bisbee at all, but more of an autobiography but geared more towards naturalists then historians. I will say though, that his descriptions of the Arizona desert are the best I've ever read. It's worth a read for anyone planning to visit Southern Arizona or anyone who really loves the desert. It's very accurate in that respect and he does write extremely well. Too bad he didn't give the reader more information about Bisbee itself. He should have named this one "My Trip Through the Desert and Down Memory Lane".

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