Context Is Everything

"Hudson Valley Voyage weaves Reed Sparling's prose around Ted Spiegel's vibrant photos (plus a healthy dose of historic images) to firmly place the stretch of New York state along the Hudson River from Manhattan to Saratoga in social, historical, natural and scenic context. As most of us are already aware, the region is rich in all categories.

Several of Spiegel's pictures are justifiably offered in full- and two-page spreads. They are grouped by seasons, and brim with people interacting with their surroundings. What delightful smiles on the faces of two Newburgh fishermen with their prize striped bass, or the whirling Dutchess County Fair goers on the spinning spring ride. The message clearly is the Hudson Valley is more than a pretty place, it's a human environment as well.

The eight chapters of history and overview don't particularly link with the Spiegel photos, but they come with plenty of historical pictures of their own. The chapter about the 19th century, for example, includes a watercolor and ink depiction of a night boat on the Hudson, 1871, by Samuel Ward Stanton.

Sparling's writing is meatier than is usually found in a coffee-table book; his diligent research shows. His work gains further credibility with the abundance of original source material. The reader can judge for himself Gen. Winfield Scott's "fixed opinion" from 1860, which every West Point cadet was obliged to memorize, or the "forever wild" clause in New York's constitution in 1894 that afforded unprecedented protection to the Adirondack State Park.

Early Dutch who settled in the river valley encountered beaver everywhere. Adriaen Van der Donck in 1655 marveled at the unusual creature: "The form of a beaver resembles the shape of a cucumber which has a short stem, or a duck that has the neck and head cut off, or like a ball of yarn wound in long form and flattened a little, being often thicker than long...."

The historian is boldly current; Sparling includes then-New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's address to the United Nations in October 2001, following the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers.

The book has maps, a listing of 90 cultural, historic and recreational sites and a timeline but no index.

"Hudson Valley Voyages" attempts to be three books in one; however, its hard-to-hold-in-your-lap-and-read format means it will likely be seen by most as a pretty picture book, and not a useful history, much less one with instructive source material. But the publisher is to be commended for trying.

"Hudson Valley Voyage: Through the Seasons, Through the Years," photographs by Ted Spiegel, text by Reed Sparling. Published by Involvement Media, Fishkill, NY, 2007, hardcover, $36.95. Calendar of photographs by Ted Siegel, $11.99.