Virginia Books

I suspect that anyone with even a modest interest in American history has heard of the battle of Hampton Roads between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (ex-Merrimac). The battle essentially ended in a tie with the two ships injured but still functional.

This book is the report on a symposium held at the Mariners Museum in nearby Newport News. Fittingly it was held on March 5, 2003, the weekend closest to the date of the battle (March 9, 1962) and the 141st year since the fight. The reports given at the conference were so interesting that they have been published in this book.

There are nine chapters that cover the battle itself, how the ships were built, fought, and finally lost. Most important is the aftereffect that the battle had on the navies of the world.

England which had been tempted to come into the war on the side of the south realized that her wooden ships could not face the Monitor (or more specificaly the several Monitors that were being built). In fact all of the navies of the world suddenly realized that their entire navy was obsolete. The future belonged to the steam powered ironclads. And this future lasted until World War II proved them dead and the submarine and aircraft carrier were now supreme.

In recent years the original Monitor has been found and major parts of the ship have been brought to the surface. The final paper in the book is a report on what had been done in the formation of the new USS Monitor Center museum located at the Mariners Museum.

This book brings out a tremendous amount of schlorship on the battle that is missed in the normal cursory treatments given in the history books.

Set during the American Civil War, The Battle of Hampton Roads: New Perspectives on the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia is the history of the first encounter between ironclad warships, the end of wooden warships, and the beginning of the machine-age navy. An anthology of essays by scholarly authors examine such topics as daily life aboard the USS Monitor, a historical debate of which side won the battle of Hampton Roads, and the battle as depicted in art. An insightful collection, enthusiastically recommended for college library and naval or civil war history shelves.

This book has pictures and it tells you all you need to know if you are doing a report on this and if you are doing history day on this, you're garrenteed an A+++++++++++++++.

Every time I see mention of "The Battle of Yorktown" I immediate do a mental correction since it was technically a siege. In August 1781, after six years of war, George Washington and his ragged, underpaid colonial army made a marathon march from New York to attack Lord Cornwallis at the Virginia port of Yorktown. With the help of the French navy, which had defeated the British at the Battle of Chesapeake Bay (as well as at strategic naval engagements in the West Indies), the rebel American army was able to entrap Cornwallis and his 7,000 men. Unable to break the siege and with his ranks decimated by casualties, illness, and desertion, Cornwallis surrendered two months later. The signing of the surrender document on October 19, 1781 effectively constitutes the end of the Revolutionary War and the beginning of the American nation (even though we reckon such things from July 4, 1776). However, ironically enough, few at the time realized the American victory at Yorktown would indeed be the climatic moment of the revolution.

In this informative and grandly illustrated volume for the American Heritage Junior Library, Thomas J. Fleming lays out the end game of the American Revolution clearly establishing for young readers that in the spring of 1781 the outcome of the war was still in doubt. With British commander in chief in America, Sir Henry Clinton secure in New York behind his fortifications, Cornwallis had ignored orders to secure South Carolina and had marched instead into Virginia. Fleming explains how this afforded the Americans an opportunity to surprise Cornwallis and defeat one British army in the open field before it could catch the colonial army between the two forces in New York. To add insult to injury, Fleming also shows how the British defensive position at Yorktown was not as bad as Cornwallis insisted, before detailing how the siege worked out. To be fair, Fleming also gives the French credit for prodding Washington into making his historic decision to abandon his watch on Clinton at New York and march south to attack Cormwallis's army in Virginia.

Still, it seems perfectly clear that Americans are not as enamored of sieges as they are of battles. The siege at Vicksburg was arguably more important to the final outcome of the Civil War than the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, but it is the latter than commands more attention (the Alamo being the exception that proves the rule). Sieges are usually parts of campaigns, such as the Peninsula and St. Petersberg campaigns/sieges in the Civil War, but it remains the battles that draw the most attention and receive the focus in volumes like this one. That makes this look at Yorktown all the more significant, because it deals with the larger strategic considerations of the war along with the tactical concerns of tightening the noose around the British position. Still, the are the assaults by the allied forces on two of the British forward redoubts that provides a sense of drama and accomplishment more than waiting for the inevitable outcome of the siege.

As is the case with all of these marvelous American Heritage Junior Library volumes "The Battle of Yorktown" is marvelously illustrated with period paintings, maps, etchings, cartoons, drawings, and the like. One of the few contemporary photographs shows a collection of Revolutionary War items from various museums that were worn by colonial soldiers. One of the treats is that key paintings are often done as full or even two-page spreads (such as John Trumbull's final version of the surrender scene). Being able to tell this story with 18th-century maps and paintings is quite something and will give young readers a much better sense of how Washington won the war than they will find in their American history textbook.

I met Ross Phelps in Prague in 1990. This is an amazing true story of personal strenght, will and courage. The book is definitely worth of buying it. Martin Kostal, Prague - Czech Republic

Knowing this family as I do and playing a peripheral role in their experience to support the patient, Ross Phelps, I can strongly recommend Elaine Phelps' narrative account of her son's determination to survive - in fact, thrive - in the face of a killer cancer. Ross' ongoing, 15-year battle with a pediatric bone cancer, osteosarcoma, is an inspiring story of personal will. This book will be a source of comfort and hope to cancer patients, their caregivers, their families and friends.

It is a blessing to live in Mossy Creek located hours North of Atlanta, where everyone who lives there wants to stay there. Neighbors help friends and arguments are usually settled amicably. Outsiders who move there are warmly welcomed as long as they treat others, as they want to be treated.

When the bride has no flowers for her wedding day, the groom tries to find them but it is the people of Mossy Creek who work together to fill up the church with roses and one woman donates her prize winning rose instead of entering them in the local competition. The owner of a ballet school and the owner of the funeral home are feuding and disturbing the newly bereaved. Tango lessons temporarily solve the problem and friendship finds a solution.

Even the children in Mossy Creek are kind hearted. John Wesley has been saving up all summer to buy his mother a birthday present but when a homeless hungry family of migrant workers passes through town, he gives them his money for gasoline and food. On an amusing note, the town bands together to save a tree from being torn down while Amos the chief of police tries to get Ida the mayor to admit she has feelings for him.

There are many more blessings in Katie Bell's column in the Mossy Creek Gazette; they are all tender, worn-hearted and uplifting as the ones in this review. Mossy Creek combines the atmosphere of an Anne River Seddons' novel with the magic of a Barbara Samuels' character study. The latest trip is worth the journey.

Harriet Klausner

THe Mossy Creek books aren't exactly cutting edge fiction, but they are a wonderful way to pass some time with characters that you know fairly well. Blessings is the 5th (I think) book in the series, and it is as wonderful as the rest. There is some small town pettiness and some small town loving-kindness, and an enjoyable time will be had by all.

I'm 30 years old and remember this book from the 1st grade. I loved reading about Blue Bug and learning the traffic signs. Now I have a 3 year old son of my own who loves Blue Bug. Wish I could find this book to buy, but will have to be content to get it from the library

It is very unfortunate that this title is out of print! This is a great book. Blue bug is an adorable character who has important information to relay to those who are able to read it!

As skillfully as early landscape architects planned the Blue Ridge Parkway to "lie lightly upon the land," author Tim Pegram has crafted a delightful journey in words to pay tribute to his years as a National Park Service park ranger and his endeavor to be the first person to through-hike the linear park's 469 miles. I don't know when I have enjoyed a book more! From the time I opened the box from Amazon and first held "The Blue Ridge Parkway by Foot: A Park Ranger's Memoir" in my hand, it has been a constant companion. I have chosen to read, and reread, it at a leisurely pace, much like Pegram's 41-day walk, or a relaxed drive along the Parkway. That way, I can stop at all the overlooks, savor each person, place, view, milepost, story, and insight, and look forward to what lies around the next bend, on the next page. Written in a personable, engaging style, this book is sure to become a treasured favorite of everyone who loves the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Tim Pegram captivates the reader with memories of his career as a parkway ranger, and his story of hiking the entire Blue Ridge Parkway. This is an extremely unique book that covers a subject on which few books exist. A must read for Blue Ridge Parkway lovers, hikers, fellow Park Rangers, and BRP history buffs.

There's a Navajo creation legend alluded to in the prologue that identifies five levels of worlds. In many ways that is what this novel delivers. There is a contemporary doctor going to work on a reservation for a year because she promised her grandfather who paid for her education that she would. There is the story of a corresponding Indian girl a hundred fifty years earlier who is sold into the white world and there are connecting strands, such as one involving the use of Indian "code-talkers" during WWII. These were Navajo's recruited for radio communications because their language defied the ability of the Japanese to decipher its messages.

I found the juxtaposition of the two major strands of narrative heightened the drama of each. And the switching of perspective among characters from one chapter to the next allowed readers to see the significance events in human terms. Some of these are fascinating. For example, Daago is a young Indian woman about to be married. Her tribe captures Mexicans for slaves. Then she herself (not particularly in love with the husband chosen for her) is captured by white men and won in a card game by a young military medical doctor. A hundred years later Lily Cabot Chase a rather spoiled Easterner lacking heart is sent to the "Rez" in Arizona for a year where she falls in love with an upcoming Indian politician.

Virginia Nosky keeps the story going. And if you are a romantic at heart you will cheer on the female protagonists as they step and misstep through their lives. The author's knowledge of Indian culture is thorough. We are in good hands when we are there. A few of the minor characters, such as the snobbish Larimer, the female doctor leaves behind, Moran, who kidnaps Daago, and Lily's hippie parents are painfully two dimensional. No doubt there are people like this, but their dialogue rings melodramatic or comically over the top. Minor quibbles.

On the other hand I found myself torn as to what I would do were I one of the two major female characters and anxious to read further to find out. The seduction scene (involving Daago) is very sensual and ends with a climax that is genuinely surprising. A later sexual encounter between Lily and a Navajo running for Congress is equally torrid. In fact, the last third of the book is a real page-turner. In the process of reading "Blue Turquoise, White Shell" I learned something about the Navajo people, history and the human heart.

In the Navajo myth of creation the daughter born to the first man and first woman is named "Changing Woman." Great inspiration for the central character female characters of this book. The modern variation may not have the weight of legend, but it certainly is more gripping.

Fate has a way of putting us where we are needed and when we pay heed to that urge, beneficial things happen. Fate had a helping hand in Virginia Nosky's latest novel, "Blue Turquoise, White Shell," by a sense of karma; the result being, varying degrees of satisfaction with life. The human will though, is a strong adversary to fate. Which will win in the end?

Lily Cabot Chase is the granddaughter of Cabot W.W. Chase. Both became doctors and both feel a sense of honor to fulfill a destiny they aren't quite sure of. The elder feels responsibility to a fellow soldier who'd died saving his life back in WWII, and young Lily Cabot is asked to spend a year doctoring on a Navajo reservation as a payback for her grandfather putting her through Harvard Medical School. The story centers around the young Cabot and her goal of finding her passion as a doctor on the reservation. She is surprised to discover more than her own passion, but a mutual one between herself and handsome Nicholas Nakai who is running for the seat of a newly mandated US Congressional district. He would be the first Native American Congressman. The battle for votes is intense, but his mind if torn to commanding thoughts of Cabot.

Meanwhile, another story plays out in the same setting. In 1862, Daago, a Navajo headman's daughter, is destined to be wed to the medicine man's apprentice of the neighboring tribe. She is apprehensive at first, but knows it is her duty. When she is captured by a slave trader, she becomes determined to eventually escape, no matter what the burden. Captain Nathaniel Cabot is a medical officer for the army who is new to the inhumane treatment of the native people. When he "wins" Daago in a game of poker, he is planning to set her free; however, Daago is desperate and cannot understand what he tells her. She only knows that he wants her and she will use that to her advantage.

Perhaps destiny was set for Cabot and Nicholas back in 1862, or maybe their fate was sealed by their own desires.

Virginia Nosky has a flare for weaving Native American customs into her books. This has a desirable effect, creating a vibrant setting that I just want to dive into. Her treatment of the 1862 portions of the book are spectacular and pulse with life. Her modern Navajo scenes are rich with traditions and the political race demonstrates truth. It is her understanding of human nature that really draws the reader in though. You will see yourself and your loved ones in the characters and know that this is a good read.

The Book of Common Prayer is the core of the Anglican identity. Since 1662, the standard bearer has been the primary Book of Common Prayer used by the Church of England; however, there have been many variations and developments, both supplemental liturgies and entire, new 'Books of Common Prayer' among daughter churches throughout the world. However, the 1662 Book of Common Prayer was itself the product of over a hundred years of development in the theological and worship life of the Church of England. Never was that development as varied and controversial as during the period between Henry VIII's break from Rome, through his Protestant successor Edward (or rather, through Edward's officials), back to the Roman Catholic Mary, and then to the Elizabethan period, in which a via media was attempted of sorts.

The 1559 Prayer Book was not the first; there were two predecessors -- one in 1549, and another in 1552, both done during Edward VI's brief boyhood reign. At this time, the Protestants who had been held back by Henry gained ascendancy, only to lose it again in 1553 when the young king died unexpectedly, and the people rallied to the Roman Catholic Mary, who reinstituted the Latin Missal and Breviary, used until her death in 1558, when the Protestant Elizabeth ascended the throne. The 1559 Book of Common Prayer is a revision of the 1552, only slightly, but given that the unbroken continuity of the Book of Common Prayer's usage dates from this book, it makes sense to be a significant text for study.

Elizabeth was a Protestant-Humanist, very much a character of the age, and this sentiment is reflected in the text of the Book of Common Prayer. However, the English have long been a traditional lot, and the similarities of English liturgies to Roman Catholic predecessors (particularly when compared with many continental forms of Protestantism) is no mistake. Indeed, Puritans would view the book as still too 'popish'. The Book of Common Prayer was long an instrument of state (indeed, it still is, in legal theory) and as such had more than just a theological significance. And, as an instrument of the state that was not always obeyed, sometimes the book was more honoured in the breech than in the observance.

Anglican scholar John Booty edited this edition based upon published by Richard Jugge and John Cawode in 1559. It is housed in the Boston Public Library (Booty gives history of the text and its provenance). Booty describes the variations in texts from the time, minor additions and subtractions, some of which were incorporated here, and others not. Booty did correct typographical errors and modernise spelling and punctuation to a minor degree (unfortunately, for the scholarly, often without note, unless the modern spelling changes pronunciation). Some of these are to conform to English standards that did not come into practice until the advent of the Authorised Version of the Bible (King James) in 1611.

In addition to the text of the Book of Common Prayer, Booty includes an interesting 50-page essay on the history of this version of the BCP, a good selection of notations, a reasonable bibliography (alas, out-of-date, but good up to its time), and a biblical index. The text incorporates actual rubrics ('rubric' has the old meaning of 'red print', which is so printed in this text, the notes of practice and ritual around the words). Those who follow Book of Common Prayer liturgies in their own churches will be intrigued with the similarities and the differences. Christians of other denominations will be interested in the borrowings and the variations. Historians will find this useful in many ways.

A worthy text.

This book is a valuable resource for all Anglicans, depicting the change back to BCP after the reign of Queen 'Bloody' Mary. Much is unchanged from the 1549 and 1552 editions, however there are some subtle differences, particularly in thought. This was the book which led to the more popular 1662 version, which is the basis of liturgy for the Anglican Communion.

Wasn't exactly what I thought, but is in excellent condition. It's small and easy to get through.

Because of my professional career, I collect quotation books about reading and literacy. And this collection by Bill Bradfield is the best I've found to date. Yes, he's got the standard oldies by folks like Emerson, Erasmus, and Shaw but he's also included up-to-date quotations from the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Malcolm X, and Stephen King. Granted, he included me in the list but I didn't need it -- I already knew what I said. At the price, it's the best bargain in quote books for anyone in education or libraries.

Written by anthropology professor and American West historical archaeology specialist Kelly J. Dixon, Boomtown Saloons is an exciting account of the excavation and analysis of four nineteenth-century Virginia City, Nevada saloon sites. Dixon personally participated the excavation projects, and offers a firsthand view of the evidence, and what its analysis tells us about the people and society of Virginia City well over a century ago. From the style of saloon architecture to reconstructed menu items, saloon serving ware, vices and amusements that saloons offered, and much more, Boomtown Saloons is a cutting-edge delve into the fine nuances of what archaeology can tell us about America's past.

Boomtown Saloons puts a humane and inclusive face on Old West culture. It was refreshing to see that there was more to life in Virginia City than Hollywood's interpretations.

This well written, informative, and entertaining book which should be a must read for anyone interested in the Old West.