This book is for people who have visited ghost town sites and were disappointed because there was "nothing left." It takes up where other ghost town guidebooks end. Readers are guided around a site in Sherlock Holmes fashion and use techniques of historical sleuths to identify forgotten pieces of the past-even if all that's left is rubble. Its techniques are valid in any western state, including Alaska. It truly is a whole new way to explore ghost towns. Anyone who has purchased ghost town books in the past might well want to add this book to their collection.