Washington Books

The innovation of railroads in the early nineteenth century transformed America from a nation covering the eastern seaboard to the country it is today spanning from Maine to Southern California. "The West The Railroads Made" is an anthology of stories, illustrations, and photographs (some of which are color) to tell the tale of how the pioneers of this technology were essential in transforming America in the country it is today. "The West The Railroads Made" is highly recommended for locomotion enthusiasts everywhere, and for any community library collection for Railroads or American history.

More than any other single factor, railroads made the West the way it was and is in many respects today. The Federal government undeniably had a major role too. But the Louisiana Purchase, offers of free land, troops for security, and such, were government measures related mostly to setting the stage. It was the railroads which accounted for the details of Western development; details which caused settlers to lead their lives in certain ways and make decisions about which opportunities to pursue. Thus did the railroads play an incomparable role in how the West was developed. "The railroad was foreground, everything else was background," is the way the authors put it.

The co-authors steeped in Western history with academic and professional backgrounds go into all aspects of the railroad's effects. Railroad lines not only determined the location of towns, but also the layout of them. In their earliest stages, roads in Western towns were oriented toward the railroad depot. Furthermore, the railroad depot was the first experience settlers and immigrants had of a town; and as a place for the receiving and shipping of goods, a town's economy and in some cases its existence depended on the depot.

Railroads adapted as they changed the West by their presence. The original few early lines tied all parts of the West together internally and with the cities and states of the eastern parts. The value of land, the farms growing corn and wheat in such quantities that it affected the diet of all Americans, mountains of ore for Midwestern and Northern factories, and transport of large numbers of persons for rapid growth in many inviting areas were all major economic and sociological developments directly related to the railroads. As the West became more developed and their original roles faded, the railroads adapted by promoting tourism based on the natural wonders of the West and travel to major cities and other vacation areas.

The work is based on innumerable facts colorfully related; which facts were taken from the authors' scholarly knowledge and interest in Western history. Another part of the book's popular style are the hundreds of illustrations enhancing the text. A map of one early Western town, for instance, demonstrates the town's streets leading in straight lines from the railroad depot so people and goods can move easily to and from this hub. Color travel posters complement text on the different railroad lines' playing up the West as a tourist destination. Railroad documents, prints, and photographs are other sorts of illustrated materials. The assorted visual matter is so bountiful it spills over into the back matter of notes, bibliography, and index.

Wetlands and Urbanization: Implications for the Future Editedby Amanda L. Azous, Richard R. Horner* Lewis Publishers, 2000, 338pages. Reviewed by Helen Engle, National Audubon Society, Washington Environmental Council, WA Native Plant Society, People For Puget Sound; the urban lovers of wetlands.

Wetlands, as every schoolchild knows, are those wondrous places of important resources like frogs and tadpoles and cattail spears and yucky channels to muck about in with boots and little boats.

Wetlands, as the editors of this important compilation of wetlands research and monitoring data point out, are the absolute basic building blocks of a healthy ecosystem -- from flood storage and pollutant trapping to groundwater recharge and discharge, shoreline stabilization, food chain support and critically important habitat in the lives of fish and wildlife of uncountable species.

Scientists Amanda Azous and Richard Horner recognize the value their encyclopedic collection of charts, tables, and citations to the citizen organizations' highest environmental priority campaigns. And so, as `citizen scientists' we turn to this good work for the references we need as we work with agencies and consultants and as we educate the public -- young and old -- about the vital functions of wetlands. Not to mention our role in educating land managers and authorities who set regulations and restrictions.

The book includes descriptive ecology of freshwater wetlands in the Puget Sound Basin; and separate chapters deal with your favorite creatures among macroinvertebrates, amphibians, birds, and mammals. And how these populations are impacted by development's impacts on water quality, soil quality, and hydrology. Human values are included -- as our wonderful swamps and marshes turned to sumps for industrial and highway runoff, it seeped into our consciousness that we actually valued the beauty of those wetland places. Not to mention the excitement of birding, botanizing, herpetologizing and whatever. . . .

The book points out that the decades of intensive studies of upland birds -- of the forests and fields -- had no counterpart in the species-rich wetlands. Our nearby urban wetlands provide resting, feeding, breeding habitat for a wide diversity of birds --including of course waterfowl -- and provide high quality passive recreation in densely populated urban areas. The data collected and referenced here is invaluable.

This book is a treasure trove -- even if you only read one chapter. If you can't buy it, ask your library to put it on the shelves. Its timely values for us in the age of "Restore the Salmon" are the comprehensive guidelines for wetlands management, not only for urban managers but for the home gardener, farmer, and ephemeral-flowing-ditch-watcher. The native and recommended non-invasive plant species, for instance, is a beautiful list. A comprehensive source of support material, definitions and glossary, and guides of all kinds make this the book for our organizations to use.

Visit some of our favorite wetlands (we have field guides to them), and see if you don't fall in love with what some people still think of as just yucky mosquito factories.

* Besides Amanda Azous and Richard Horner, the Puget Sound Wetlands and Stormwater Management Research Program Team also included Klaus O. Richter, Lorin E. Reinelt, and Sarah S. Cooke. Other authors include Marion Valentine, Ken Ludwa, Brian Taylor, and Nancy Chinn. Numerous federal, state and local agencies, academic institutions and other local interests participated in the research program.

Wetlands and Urbanization: Implications for the Future Edited by Amanda L. Azous, Richard R. Horner* Lewis Publishers, 2000, 338 pages, $89.95 at Amazon.com. Reviewed by Helen Engle, National Audubon Society, Washington Environmental Council, WA Native Plant Society, People For Puget Sound; the urban lovers of wetlands.

Wetlands, as every schoolchild knows, are those wondrous places of important resources like frogs and tadpoles and cattail spears and yucky channels to muck about in with boots and little boats.

Wetlands, as the editors of this important compilation of wetlands research and monitoring data point out, are the absolute basic building blocks of a healthy ecosystem -- from flood storage and pollutant trapping to groundwater recharge and discharge, shoreline stabilization, food chain support and critically important habitat in the lives of fish and wildlife of uncountable species.

Scientists Amanda Azous and Richard Horner recognize the value their encyclopedic collection of charts, tables, and citations to the citizen organizations' highest environmental priority campaigns. And so, as `citizen scientists' we turn to this good work for the references we need as we work with agencies and consultants and as we educate the public -- young and old -- about the vital functions of wetlands. Not to mention our role in educating land managers and authorities who set regulations and restrictions.

The book includes descriptive ecology of freshwater wetlands in the Puget Sound Basin; and separate chapters deal with your favorite creatures among macroinvertebrates, amphibians, birds, and mammals. And how these populations are impacted by development's impacts on water quality, soil quality, and hydrology. Human values are included -- as our wonderful swamps and marshes turned to sumps for industrial and highway runoff, it seeped into our consciousness that we actually valued the beauty of those wetland places. Not to mention the excitement of birding, botanizing, herpetologizing and whatever. . . .

The book points out that the decades of intensive studies of upland birds -- of the forests and fields -- had no counterpart in the species-rich wetlands. Our nearby urban wetlands provide resting, feeding, breeding habitat for a wide diversity of birds --including of course waterfowl -- and provide high quality passive recreation in densely populated urban areas. The data collected and referenced here is invaluable.

This book is a treasure trove -- even if you only read one chapter. If you can't buy it, ask your library to put it on the shelves. Its timely values for us in the age of "Restore the Salmon" are the comprehensive guidelines for wetlands management, not only for urban managers but for the home gardener, farmer, and ephemeral-flowing-ditch-watcher. The native and recommended non-invasive plant species, for instance, is a beautiful list. A comprehensive source of support material, definitions and glossary, and guides of all kinds make this the book for our organizations to use.

Visit some of our favorite wetlands (we have field guides to them), and see if you don't fall in love with what some people still think of as just yucky mosquito factories.

* Besides Amanda Azous and Richard Horner, the Puget Sound Wetlands and Stormwater Management Research Program Team also included Klaus O. Richter, Lorin E. Reinelt, and Sarah S. Cooke. Other authors include Marion Valentine, Ken Ludwa, Brian Taylor, and Nancy Chinn. Numerous federal, state and local agencies, academic institutions and other local interests participated in the research program.

This is a fantastic book about Huskies football history. I am a big husky fan and I learned a ton about former players from Greg's book. It gave a lot of really neat insight into their opinions of the program and their personal experiences. This is a MUST READ for any Washington Huskies fan! Thanks for writing a great book, Greg !!!

If you are a bonafide Husky football fan, you must read this book. Tells the players inner thoughts and what motivated them. His players are unanimous in describing Coach Don James as a man of integrity, loyalty and are proud to be part of his legacy.
K. Wong, M.D.

This book is a great read. The topic is fascinating (to me, at least). Some of the material is a bit intricate, but the author does a great job of explaining it. He liberally uses footnotes to explain details which to an economist might be pedestrian but to a lay person such as myself are not obvious. (One ongoing topic is the exchange rate between pounds sterling and dollars, and how that relates to the price of gold and the cost of shipping gold between the UK and the US. He does a great job of walking the reader through the process and the arithmetic.) I highly recommend this book, and particularly recommend it to anyone who wonders what the Federal Reserve Board really does.

In Kazuo Ishiguro's novel The Remains of the Day, a blue-blood guest unmercifully grills James Stevens, the head butler at an English estate. The pompous guest is trying to demonstrate that uneducated people should not have the vote. "My good man," he asks, "do you suppose the debt situation regarding America is a significant factor in the present low levels of trade? Or...is the abandonment of the gold standard...at the root of the matter?" Stevens, aware that the question is meant only to baffle him, replies that he has no idea. Poor Stevens! Anyone without a degree in international finance would have an equally difficult time answering such an abstruse question. That's why this intriguing business history book by William L. Silber is so worthwhile: He brings global finance to life by spotlighting America's 1914 money crisis and by explaining how then-U.S. Treasury Secretary William McAdoo used this portentous episode to establish the nation's financial supremacy. We suggest you read this illuminating work of economic history to understand the seminal events that established U.S. monetary policy.

A very educational, historic book. After having visited Mount Vernon in VA, my kids and I were excited to find a kid's book about it. The book depicted George Washington's estate wonderfully and kept everyone's attention through the antics of "Liberty", George Washington's cat.

A charming glimpse of 18th century Mount Vernon through the eyes of a fictitious cat named Liberty. Captivating for children and adults.

Yoon's words and pictures tell of a time when people were interned for the way they looked and their ancenstry. She allows the reader to be drawn in by the helplessness that must have been felt by Japanese Americans during WWII. Her descriptions are haunting and will never let you forget the words of those that were interned. She has a way of writing that conveys her deep feelings for those who were imprisoned and pulls the reader in emotionally. This book expresses feelings that I hope will never be felt again.

Yoon's words and pictures tell of a time when people were interned for the way they looked and their ancenstry. She allows the reader to be drawn in by the helplessness that must have been felt by Japanese Americans during WWII. Her descriptions are haunting and will never let you forget the words of those that were interned. She has a way of writing that conveys her deep feelings for those who were imprisoned and pulls the reader in emotionally. This book expresses feelings that I hope will never be felt again.

This is a masterpiece on the four US helicopter pioneers -- Sikorsky, Bell (Arthur Young), Piasecki, and Stanley Hiller. Only faults to the book are (1) that it primarily focuses on the pioneers (hence the title), not the machines, and (2) he has nothing at all good to say about Hughes helicopters. In fact, it's pretty well damning. I think it should've been a little more objective. Also doesn't cover Charlie Kaman, who was also one of the early pioneers and still active today.

Whirlybirds is very well written account of the early history of the helicopter, and its pioneers. Filling a long needed gap in aviation history, this book tells how four men looked into the future of vertical flight, and turned it into a reality. This book is a must have. Jay Hendrickson

An excellent book on the History of the White House and the people that have lived and worked there. Great pictures, past and present, and an easy to read narrative. The White House furnishings themselves could be a museum and they key ones are detailed. In addition it gives an overview of many of the well and lesser known events that have taken place. Also interesting to read about family life of the President's during the past 200+ years.

this book took you back through the times the each president lived there

we bought the book for friends returning home to germany. when we looked through it, we knew we also would buy one for ourselves. it somehow grabs the spirit of the puget sound.
buy it.

This book does a terrific job of capturing the beauty of the Seattle area. It's a perfect blend of landscapes, lighthouses, animals, city landmarks, mountain ranges, and waterways in each season.
Even though it is titled "Wild Seattle" it encompasses much more including Skagit Valley (tulips), the San Juans, Deception Pass, orcas, the Olympics, Cascades, and plenty of written information as well.
It's my favorite Seattle book!

Stacey has many talents of the great game of life and believe it or not, they are almost all useful to the Californian Mountainman. His book is very funny it is very hard to put it down when nature calls.

Gebhards writes of his experiences in lucid prose expressing his love for the wilderness with philosopical insights punctuated with humerous anecdotes. He traces his enchantment with the "Wild Thing" from his boyhood in the Mississippi bottom lands to the formalization of his education at Utah State University to his employment as an Idaho fishery biologist, mule skinner, folk musician, reluctant politician, winter survivalist, camp cook, wilderness meteorologist and wild river runner. His tales are loaded with humor sometimes wry and other times raucous. A modern mountain man, Gebhards' love of the Rocky Mountain wilderness is unrelenting as it is passed on to the reader.