High Country Names. Rocky Mountain National Park, by Louisa Ward Arps and Elinor Eppich Kingery, assisted by Hugh E. Kingery. Denver : The Colorado Mountain Club, 1966. Illustrations, maps; paper cover. Price, $4.95.

Although the Rocky Mountain National Park includes only a part of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, it is the portion most frequently visited and is perhaps the most interesting historically. High Country Names is much more than a mere gazetter; it gives a lively account of how peaks, passes, and other topographical features came by their names, their significance, and, in the case of personal names, what is known of those for whom the names were given. Although the authors disclaim "scholarship,” the evidences of their research would clearly justify that appellation. They are professional librarians, wise in the ways of documentary materials both printed and manuscript; moreover, they have consulted living authorities; and above all, they have drawn upon their own very considerable knowledge of the region. The thoroughness of research and the excellence of presentation lead one to hope that the team of Arps and Kingery will carry on and cover in a similar way the rest of Colorado’s High Country. It should be added that this place-name book makes good reading for any lover of mountains, even if he has never visited the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Moreover, it might even induce him to go there.

Francis P. Farquhar