Maryland Books

This book is extremely well-written and covers ancient Judaism from the earliest times up through the beginnings of merkavah mysticism in the Talmudic period. It's not a huge book, and one might think it too slender to effectively cover the topic. But the writing is economical and very readable, and the opinions presented are contemporary and take advantage of the latest scholarship.

It's unfortunate that this title is so expensive -- especially considering the binding is of the cheapest kind. For this money we deserve signature binding, or at least better glue. Still recommended, most highly!

This is the second time that I have taken an illustrated, sightseeing tour through a small colonial town on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It was as informative and absorbing as my first tour of an Eastern Shore town with Mindie Burgoyne's book, "Snow Hill."

I grew up in Maryland, just north of Washington, D.C. and we always thought of Maryland as being in two parts: where I lived and east of us somewhere was the Eastern Shore.

We never knew much about the Eastern Shore except that we thought that it was old, "behind the times" and on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay. And so it was, in a quiet but elegant sort of way. Now, through Ms. Burgoyne's books, I'm learning more about the Eastern Shore that now rises as a gem of Americana, quite preserved in its simplicity and its modest grandeur.

The authenticity of this book rests upon Ms. Burgoyne's extensive, personal research in the accumulation of archival and cotemporary photographs, plus her research of facts for her editorial comments. In Ms. Burgoyne's hands, these photographs and facts make this book a truly historic document. I would certainly recommend "Easton, Then and Now" to anyone interested in the Eastern Shore of Maryland and to anyone who would like to take a stroll through a historic part of colonial Maryland that has changed "Now," since "Then"...but not that much.

Antonio Granados,
353 Snowball Dive
Levittown, PA 19056

Great Genealogy find, wonderful story of the first Willett's in Maryland followed by 12 generations into the 1980's, also indexed in back by names making things easy to find. Includes charts, pictures of people, crests, tools, copies of original handwritings, maps. First part describes European Ancestry of the Willett families. Many Willetts moved to Kentucky & Indiana.

This eloquently written book is more than biography, it is an evocative social-study of one family's travel from a Chesapeake Bay backwater to modernity. Brice and Shirley Phillips were born and raised on a remote island-promontory jutting into the sea on the eastern side of Chesapeake Bay. They grew up in the crab-processing business. While preserving that, they gravitated to the seafood restaurant business, one thing including much hard work led to another, and they prospered. Their son pioneered crab processing in the Phillippines, Malaysia and mainland Asia, and the Phillips enterprise is now respected globally.

But the story is more than economic. Author Cathell depicts the Phillips as genuinely decent people, employers who valued their employees, treated them well, were reciprocated by loyalty in return, and this mutual benevolent synergy was very key to furthering the success of their business including abroad in Asia. The book is a sweet sociological portrait, too. Imagine grizzled old Hoopers Island watermen being transported to distant Asia, some of whom on their first plane rides, to exchange crab-harvesting experiences with counterparts there. That's depicted. Brice served in Europe during World War II while his young bride awaited back home and his letters to her are touching. Those are depicted too, especially Brice's descriptions of angst about prospectively being transferred to the Pacific Theater for the expected invasion of Japan in 1945. Great was the relief when the two atomic bombs ended the war, saving lives of many Americans and Japanese alike.

In sum, this book is a really good yarn as well as a time trip. Highly recommended.

The book is great. $450 is a rip off. Do what I did and go to save our seminary dot org and buy it there. You will be much happier with your purchase.

My husband, who hung around airplanes and airports in the '30s and 40's, liked this best of the six books he received for Christmas. It has loads of pictures and interesting information about Fairchild.

Well written book. Gave us information we were looking for and a need for more.

I purchase several of this series of photo-books on East Baltimore neighborhoods - Fells Point, Highlandtown, Dundalk, Essex, and Patterson Park. Each book is a unique collection of old photograph's appropriately annotated. Anyone growing up in these neighborhoods or currently living there should really appreciate the efforts of the authors in collecting old photos, many from the 1800's. Even found a couple of photos of old friends, relatatives of friends that make these books even more valuable to me.

This book is a neccesity for anyone looking for fantastic wild flower sites within driving distance of the D.C./Baltimore area. It is co-written by Chris Fleming, field botanist with the Maryland Natural Heritage Program and popular teacher of Wild Flower I.D. at the Audubon Naturalist Society in Chevy Chase, MD. Each site is described by the wildflowers you can expect to see in every season and directions are given as well as any info needed about gaining access to the site. Learn where to see one of the largest stands of Giant-flowered trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) you will ever see or visit the only known site in Maryland to observe the beautiful Fringed Gentian (Gentiana crinita). This book will keep you busy for many weekends of wild flower exploration.

Here is a booklet that captures a piece of Americana from a Fire Department aspect. It documents that many towns and small cities needed a dedicated force of solid individuals to protect their communities and standard of living. All of this is becoming forgotten today as people assume that someone will always volunteer and be there to save their behinds.