I liked this book a lot more than I wanted to. It's almost annoyingly well-written, everything flows with a folksy charm. Really it should feel drawn-out, with no character introduced (and they are ALL characters) that isn't then given a page or two of their backstory. However I really enjoyed it. And then, just about the point that I was getting bored, it finished. There are some appendices and notes that I haven't read this time, but I probably will if I read it again.