I got this hardcover from the ongoing book sale at the Pelham NH public library. (They have a great selection, and they don't have fixed prices - it's a "pay what you think it's worth" operation!)

This book's a delightfully quirky blend of actual maps, photos, engravings, and other artwork, with SF or supernatural elements deftly inserted in the same style. The cover image shows a typical example: an engraving of New York City's East River with the new Brooklyn Bridge - under assault by "Rosie the River Monster"! Other images include zombies, kaiju, Martian war machines - and/or Vilnar the Destroyer (the gorilla-in-a-diving-helmet from a notorious B-movie). I enjoyed the many variations on the theme, and found some of the images quite lovely on their own - vintage travel posters, among others. There's the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, with "lost world"-type dinosaurs and other creatures; the Great Chicago Fire being started by Martian war machines; the conference at Yalta enhanced by luchador Santo; the Oklahoma Land Chase, in which the many people on horseback or in wagons are actually fleeing a T. rex; and a beautiful travel poster for the Grand Canyon, complete with sight-seeing UFOs. And so much more!

Perhaps the funniest entry in the book is the classic image of "Tokyo and Mt. Fuji" - which has no monsters in it at all, as the commentary notes that "Tokyo has never experienced a problem with monsters". Yep!

I plan to take this book to this afternoon's BookCrossing Meetup at Panera. If nobody claims this one I'll retrieve it to release elsewhere. Hope someone enjoys it!

*** Released for the 2019 Four Elements release challenge. ***

*** Released for the 2019 Science Fiction release challenge. ***

I could not resist this one; I snatched it up immediately!

Definitely a fun read! This would make a great coffee table book. My personal favorite chapter was the bit on the War of the World's broadcast, which-- well, I won't spoil it ;)

Hmm hmm hmm... I thought about adding this to my pile of books to bring to the meet-up today (I only have three!), but something tells me it wants to be in one of the local restaurants ;) Putting it on reserve to take it there the next time I go.

Finally releasing this! It's hard to believe it's been so long since I've been to Riverworks. It's on one of the cool little shelves built into the brick wall in the back.