National parks make obvious topics for books, and those books generally tend to be either coffee-table-sized photo books or smaller guides to the parks. Crater Lake & Beyond is something of a hybrid, being a large-format guide that shows off the landscape in full color while weaving natural and human history between the photographs.

Jim Turner, a historian who has written extensively about Arizona (where he lives) and Grand Canyon National Park, does a nice job with the narrative backdrop to Crater Lake National Park. Within the 84 pages between the covers, you'll find sections on the volcanics behind Crater Lake and the park's geology in general, the climate, and early visitors, including a party of prospectors who, in 1853, are believed to have been the first whites to see the lake.

"On the evening of the first day, while riding up a long, sloping mountain, we suddenly came in sight of water, and very much surprised, as we did not expect to see any lakes, and did not know what we had come in sight of and not until my mule stopped a few feet from the rim of Crater Lake did I look down, and if I had been riding a blind mule I firmly believe I would have ridden over the edge to death and destruction," said John W. Hillman, one of those prospectors, 50 years later.

The book contains the ubiquitous section on the campaign to turn Crater Lake into a national park, and intriguing spots in the park that you'll want to visit when you reach the park. Somewhat of a surprise, the author also spends some time on describing regional attractions, such as the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon, nearby Oregon Caves National Monument, the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway, Klamath Lake and Klamath Falls, and more.

A nice job is done by Jay and Sue Newman in capturing these landscapes with their cameras.

At 9 inches by 12 inches, this cross between a magazine and a guidebook can be cumbersome if you would like to stick it into your daypack to have at hand while hiking around Crater Lake. And the lack of a table of contents is somewhat irksome if you're interested in being able to quickly focus on the history of the park, or the geology, or to learn where you might find the first wildflowers to bloom in spring.

But if you're stocking your personal national park library, at $14.95, this title is worth it.