The American Canoe Association's River Safety Anthology

Charlie Walbridge has done an excellent job of looking at past whitewater accidents and helping us all learn from them. This book helps you improve your WW judgment without actually having the near-misses and accidents you would normally need to get smarter and more worldly. Every parent of a paddler ought to buy their kid this book, but you might not want to actually read it yourself because then you might think paddling is more dangerous than it actually is.

I have heard others in the canoeing community refer to this book as the "book of the dead" which it is, but I had never read it. My curiosity finally caught up with me and I bought a copy for myself. For being such a small book, it is very powerful. It is a compilation of true life story after story of both novice and experienced canoers and Kayakers who have lost their lives partisipating in the sport they love. In my opinion, it is a must read for anyone who dips their hulls in the water. This book really flows from one account to another, as the author recounts the details of each mishap. I have seen many of the mistakes I have made on the water in this book, and now realize how lucky I have been, because the same outcome could have happened to me. As the author noted, running rivers has become far safer than it ever has been in the past, but everything in life has risks, crossing a busy street, driving to work in traffic, etc... But this book has oppened my eyes to the fact that you can never be to prepared or to aware of river conditions. I give this book a 5 star rating, you will not be dissapointed in it.