Maryland Books

I live in California, but went to school in Baltimore for a time, and visited frequently when I lived on the other coast. I love Baltimore. Period. With the rich and vibrant cultural and historical resources the city offers, I didn't think it would be possible to write a boring book about Baltimore. Well...

I just finished the book about an hour ago, and, like the other reviewer thus far, had to struggle to do so. I am not sure about the author's intent in writing this book. On one hand, he is nostalgic about the good old days, but in the next sentence bemoans the treatment of members of the various ethinc groups from which the city's fabric is woven. And there is a limited cast of characters that keeps reappearing...and reappearing.

At times I had the feeling that Mr. Olesker was attempting to impress me with his connections among the notables of Baltimore. If you really want a view of the people who make up this wonderful community, I'd recommend the highly entertaining fiction and non-fiction stories of Rafael Alvarez or the beautifully written and illustrated chapters from the city's history from The Baltimore Book, New Views of Local History, published by Temple University Press.

I was assigned this book for a Sociology class I am taking and being a born and raised in Baltimore, I was looking forward to reading about my hometown. Mr. Olesker attempts to tell a witty and poignant story about the melting pot that is Baltimore City, but simply winds up trying to write far beyond beyond his capabilities. The book was annoyingly overwraught with side story after side story without ever really coming to the point. I found that I was not the only person in my class who felt this way and it is unfortunate as I believe that the teacher will continue to use this as assigned reading. This book was frustrating to read and I had to force myself to the end, something I do not enjoy doing with books. If you want to truly learn about Baltimore city, come and visit us. Stop in any one of the local bars or restaurants downtown and you will surely find a local who is more than willing to chat with you about this wonderful city.

Don't be fooled like I was. The July 2007 date listed as the release date for this map book is the date ADC slapped a new cover (and new ISBN) on their 2004 edition of the maps. This item is due for an update and you should hold out for the 6th edition.

This book was extremely disappointing to me. I found so many incorrect statements that I wonder about the parts with which I am not familiar. Maryland history is of great interest to me, therefore I was anxious to read Builders of Annapolis. In the very beginning of the book it is written that settlers of Maryland were mostly Catholic. It takes very little research to determine that is an incorrect statement. The errors went on from there -- too numerous to enumerate. The author had such an interesting idea for writing about some of the early Annapolitians. Why didn't he do a better job with his research? I am sorry I bought this book.

Should the media uphold journalistic standards? I think so. But in this article, Barbara Matusow simply tries to whitewash violations of these standards. She particularly applauds National Public Radio for going to "great lengths to make sure that its Mideast reports are accurate and balanced." She admits that some of NPR's critics, such as CAMERA, disagree. But this article clearly takes NPR's side. And she is totally wrong here. NPR is heavily biased and its reports are intentionally inaccurate, unbalanced, and misleading.

Matusow actually does quote someone who mentions that news organizations are wrong to claim that criticism they receive from both sides is proof of their fairness. Journalists ought to be reporting the truth, not merely misleading their audiences and annoying those on all sides by spewing taunts and lies.

The Arab fight against Israel has been overreported. Plenty of words have been wasted on it. And I think that rarely in human history has there been as much disinformation as there is on this issue. The media ought to be ashamed of themselves. And Matusow ought to be especially ashamed. She could have exposed the media's bias and negligence. Instead, she falsely implied that the real problem is not the media but biased readers, viewers, and listeners!

Although I am glad to have information about the interesting buildings that this book describes, the new edition is little better than a bad Xerox copy. The text is clear but the photographs are very badly reproduced. In many cases one cannot see the architectural details which are being described in the text. The bad photocopies of the illustrations defeat the purpose of a facsimile edition and make this book a disappointment that I would not recommend buying.

Most of the Chandler materials in this book and its second printing contain substantial errors of fact and interpretation about Chandlers in early Virginia and Maryland. Dr. Tucker now agrees. See my article in "Tidewater Virginia Families," Volume 9, Number 3, November/December 2000, pp. 140-151 and my other articles in TVF - 2000 and 2001. Additional articles clarifying many early Virginia and Maryland Chandler families will be published in 2002 and (likely) 2003.

Unnecessarily confusing and condescending. A good commercial outline will teach you more.

I bought this book because I thought, while flipping through it at the store, that it listed lots of interesting sites. But when I got home I did a quick read-through of area I'm familiar with and discovered these authors know nothing about correct directions or facts.

For example, I found a listing for a covered bridge in Pennsylvania that I used to live next to. Armed only with this book, no one will ever find it. That's because it's about two miles west of it's listed location and it's on a completely different road. Not to mention there are no signs to aide lost tourists.

Then there's the mention that the Appalachian trail runs through the Catskills in New York "from Pennsylvania to Vermont". While anyone with an atlas can see it goes nowhere near the Catskills on its way from New Jersey to Connecticut. Did these people even visit these sites in person?

I wish I had read more of this book before I bought it and wasted my money.

Entry 4387.

Please note that Mary Ellen Culler is the third wife of Charles Herman Culler, Jr., and is not the mother of any of his children. Sara J. Culler is his daughter by his second wife Betty Marie Lewis Culler. This was a very serious error on the part of the author, which leads me to wonder how many other errors are in this book.

I bought this book with high hopes, since the other books from this publisher are very good. This one was a major disappointment for two reasons. First, although it has some interesting pictures, the captions have little or nothing to do with the pictures they accompany. Instead of describing the buildings or people in the picture, most of the captions contain general information and only a cursory reference (if that) to what is shown. Second, there is a lot of padding. You wouldn't believe how many pictures in this book are of signs. If you're talking about a church, I want to see a picture of the church, not the sign in front of it. They also repeat the same basic facts about Fort Washington several times, sometimes almost verbatim. This book really could have used some serious editing and rewriting. Please don't judge the other books in the Images of America series by this one; most of their products are very good. This book, however, is a major disappointment.