Roadside History of New Mexico (Roadside History Series)

Folks, this is a wonderful book, and works best as a supplement to a good traveling guide (my recommendation is Fodor's New Mexico [see my review]). Now, I will admit that traveling guides usually have a brief sketch of the history of locations, but Roadside History expands that and the photos are priceless. Strongly recommended


Fascinating!   May 2, 2002
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

This book is really fascinating. I was thinking about getting another book on the history of New Mexico but I wasn't quite sure about it. The sales clerk at a bookstore in Sante Fe recommended that I get this one.I didn't even see it until she pointed it out to me. Boy, am I glad she did!
Once I started looking at it at the bookstore I found it so interesting that I could literally not stop reading it.I guess that was a good sign that I should buy it.
My boyfriend and I have never been to New Mexico- and as we drove through little towns along the way I opened up the book and read about the history behind each town. It was very informative and helpful.
It has great black and white photos and neat drawings that depict the historical events in a fascinating fashion.
Every town is mentioned- even tiny ones that no one has ever heard of such as: Wagon Mound, Maxwell, Embudo, Watrous, Valmora, Tatum, Dora, Lingo, White Rock, etc....
It mentions Los Alomos and the Manhattan Project, Taos, Albuquerque, etc...
This book gives a history of each town, how and when it was founded, by whom, and in some cases how the town got its name.
I highly recommend this book. You won't be disappointed.


Wonderful for History Buffs   June 12, 2001
apoem (Bosque Farms, NM USA)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful

This book guides the traveler/reader to interesting places in New Mexico that are also historic. It is set up so that someone driving along a road can read about the various towns and sites along that road. It is a great book that I found very useful to read and use.

Ginger


Definitely a book about New Mexico   October 1, 2005
Mike Smith (Albuquerque, NM)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

I like this book. I do. But I'm just not crazy about it.
It's a fairly handy reference, and has a good index, and it especially has a lot of good information on a lot of southern New Mexico towns like Radium Springs and Fort Seldon. Factually, it's great.
The way it divides the state up into sections however seems somewhat random--into areas that were into cattle, areas that were affected by the railroad, et cetera--and unless you are very familiar with these areas, you may find the book awkward to use. The book also passes over New Mexico's best ghost towns--Hagan and Tejon and the others on La Madera Road--but it's full of facts, and is pretty readable.
If you are looking to build a small New Mexico library, definitely get this book.
But if you just want one book on New Mexico, get Robert Julyan's "The Place Names of New Mexico." It's better organized and has more of the places you mighr want to know about.


New Mexico History   January 20, 2009
Paul Garland (El Paso, Texas USA)
Fair. Not too bad really. Kind of home made. Sort of like what your inlaws might do.