As a person born and raised in the rural Adirondacks (many would call it wilderness), and the offspring of a summer Sport and a longtime native (complete with Native bloodlines), I loved this book and photos, especially since it was written by another native. There are those that still argue that my pedigree isn't impeccable due to my mother's only living there during the summers of her youth, and full-time since her marriage to my father ("If your cat has kittens in the oven, you wouldn't call them biscuits!"), but my heart has always been there, in particular in those places that have have been truly preserved, not developed into some Disney-world version of the place or neglected (I think they call it "preserved") into something that it never was, not even in pre-European times when large areas of the land were cleared by the Native peoples to facilitate their hunting. In fact, I would argue that I have a uniquely priviledged viewpoint as I grew up hearing about my paternal ancestors' lives there as well as how my mother's family came to call the place "home", at least during the summers.
I see lower-rated reviews for the book on this site and will have to see why that is, but my guess is that readers are attempting to comprehend a people and a culture based on this thin book of photos, only 128 pages. Every picture does tell a story, and Donald Williams points out the details a casual observer might have missed, explaining them beautifully. Believing that any one book on the Adirondacks could do it all would be like rating a restaurant based on a platter of appetizers called a "sampler" or understanding an entire country and its people based on a one-day bus tour. Many of Donald Williams' descriptions match up with my memories (although I am not ancient: Time passes less quickly in that place on the planet), and other stories were simiar to those told to me by my father and grandparents. I have my own stack of old pictures and writings, only one photo a duplicateof those found in this book. To experience more, it is necessary to read more, a lot more, in essence, to get off the bus and have a look around for yourself. The Adirondack experience is a huge world to explore, more than could be covered in a lifetime:12 counties, 2.7 MILLION acres, cities, towns, hamlets and wilderness over 200 years (more if you like geology and other scientific studies), but this is a wonderful taste that captures some of the flavor of the experience. I'd recommend using it as your starting point and planning your exploration route from here. ( )