Charles Nordhoff (2) (1830–1901)

Okay. So I read this ALL the way through. It is quite interesting from a comparative religion / utopianist society point of view. I thought it was pretty good, especially where it describes such groups as the Shakers and various German-based communistic societies. Plus, it has some excellent illustrations of the various societies' villages, living quarters, etc. It definitely deserves more than 2 stars, so i will give it :

I liked this book. My copy wasn't really well printed, there must have been inking problems during production, but the writing and the story-telling were particularly good. The descriptions of conditions encountered were very well crafted and I got a good feeling for what Mr. Nordhoff himself had been feeling and experiencing. It was obviously a very important period of his life that he was telling us about. Yes, it's a book about another century than the two I have the pleasure to show more experience and, yes, it was a different world, but writers like this bring parts of it current for their readers. One of the descriptions that might surprise a lot of today's readers is that which he makes of the Cape Cod area. This book is a treasure. show less

Great book and the observations about communism are spot on. The reason ibleave off a star is that towards the end, the examples become less descriptive and thorough in their analysis.

As a 3rd generation Californian, who's lived throughout the state, I find this book fascinating. To read what people in the 1880s thought and wrote about California is really interesting. And the vignettes about everyday life in the latter part of the 19th century paint interesting portraits.