Maryland Books

I like that this book is specifically about the area in which I live. There's lots of good info here. I wish there had been more flowers listed, though. I wanted to find a smorgasbord of pretty, interesting and different flowers from which to choose. (I'm not looking to plant trees, so I just skipped over that section.) I think this book is a pretty good resource for neophyte or relatively new gardeners in the Mid-Atlantic.

We recently bought our first free standing home on 1/4 acre in the Maryland suburbs of Washington. My original plan was to 'garden every inch', but I soon realized that was not a 'plan'. After going through several volumes and magazines in the library, I came across this book.

Its beauty lies in the fact that it helps the begginer to PLAN. The gorgeous pictures helped me decide which plants I like visually; the icons let me know immediately which plants do well in shade, sun or both; which are drought tolerant, which attract bees, which are scented, which are native; the list seemed endless. I also like the fact that the book includes water plants, trees, grasses and shrubs with the usual fare because we are fortunate enough to have dogwoods in our yards and now I know how to take care of them.

The reference guide includes contact information for area garden centers, including one about 15 minutes from where we live.

I hope readers can find a guide like this specific to the areas in which they live.

The best recommendation of all: after 3 renewals from the library, I finally decided to BUY the book - I'm definitely going to use it this spring and always.

Aside from providing a list and pictures of popular local plants, this book provides little useful information about individual species and their cultivation. Much of each one-page species description is pure boilerplate providing generic information on planting that is repeated over and over again throughout the book, rather than being stated once in a section on cultivation. Truly disappointing.

I was hopeful that this book might add a different aspect to my other quilting books. There are no instructions for the patterns...though any quilter with any experience could easily put the designs together. Also, the patterns are not to size, that is unless you prefere miniature quilts. All of the designs are sketched on a page, some have 2 to a page, and are all in black and white. There are no pictures of any of the completed designs. If you plan to use this book for quilting it would make for a complicated quilting motif.

Here is what I will probably do with it:
1. Make a copy of a design so that I can use colored pencils to help me visualize the pattern I want to make. (Keep the book clean!)
2. Make an enlarged copy (or 2) to make freezer paper templates to use in the applique design.

Someone only interested in the designs could also use them to make cards, embroidery, quilting motifs, and possibly decorate other artful crafts.

Having said that, had I seen this book in the store I would most likely NOT have purchased it but since I have I will make the most out of it. This is definitely not for a beginner quilter who would need and appreciate directions and guidance on putting the designs together. However, I think that it will be a helpful aid in the future.

This book is a great addition to the Baltimore Album style patterns you already have. There are no instructions just blocks showing the patterns. I enlarged them to fit my block size and many of them I have not seen any where else. There are also border ideas shown toward the back. I think this is a good book and a wonderful asset to any quilter's library.

I must say I respectfully disagree with the previous reviewer's comment that the information here is all available on the Internet and isn't specific enough to be really helpful. If you actually read the couple of pages devoted to each campground, you'll find details that definitely are NOT covered on the DNR Website or in any other readily available source.

On every camping trip, I take notes and annotate my map in preparation for our next trip. But each trip, I like to try a new place, so my notes don't always help! The info in this book is exactly the kind of information I would like to have before I go: what amenities are there, best loops, advantages and disadvantages of each area, and--most useful--the exact site numbers of sites that are especially good or especially avoidable (and why). I've found a number of very precise tidbits that have, IMO, been worth the purchase price.

Unfortunately, the author does little more than compile data that is otherwise easily available on the internet into one centralized place. While that does have some utility (hence the two stars instead of one), he does very little more than that; thus, the book offers little in the way of orginality or direction.

The book's title suggests that he's going to pare down all of Maryland's camping options into, gee, "the best" ones. But there are 50 listed in the book (ok, conveniently by region) and he doesn't go much further to opinionate (it's OK to have an opinion!) what the best choices are. For example, which would be, say, the top five for families with young children? For avid hikers? For sheer beauty, scenery, history, or isolation? While he uses a "star-rating" system that covers five sub-categories, it ends up being useless because he awards most of the camping sites either four or five stars in each category, thereby providing little meaningful distinction among them all. Also, does five stars really mean "can't miss" or is that just a level relative to Maryland?

He sometimes recommends a few campgrounds within each site, which is certainly on the right track to helping us out, but offers few concrete details and suggestions on anything else; for example, food options, maps, photos, itineraries, etc.

All in all, a wasted opportunity to cut through the chaffe to write a book that tent campers could really use.

The book provides practical advice and suggestions. I found the comprehensive check list of all the things that must be considered prior to startup quite useful. Also helpful are the phone numbers and addresses for various MD, VA, and DC government and economic development offices.

The book is a great resource relative to making sure that you don't overlook things that could be critical to your business. For example, I found the section of hiring and firing enlightening relative to potential impact on a new company's unemployment compensation rate. Who would know that the IRS would make your company chargeable for the unemployment claims of an ex-employee who voluntarily leaves for another job and gets fired after a few weeks.

I would highly recommend the book to anyone starting a small business. It is well organized and a quick read. It helps you know what questions to ask and who to ask. It is not intended as an in-depth resource book.

This has good basic business startup information, but about 1% of it is specific to va,dc and md.

This book provides a good chronicle of the events leading to and immediately following the Len Bias tragedy. Where it falls short is in its glowing portrayal of a certain University Chancellor, who prior to the tragedy knew full well what was going on in the Athletic Department, but after the tragedy pinned all responsibilty on others. This has come to light in the years following the publication of this book. In this respect the book missed the mark.

This story was a great account of the turning point of college basketball, in which the view began to shift more towards the personal and academic side of the athlete as opposed to the athletic side. I would read it all over again.

Can there be a book that is dull yet have some intrigue? Booth's book on his Civil War life was rather disappointing to read. It contained very little personal thought in regards to camp life and fighting in battles he was engaged in. He sometimes skipped his narrative to stop the story and give a quick history lesson on what occurred. Such was true with the Sharpsburg Campaign which I would have rather read his thoughts, reactions or what he was doing at the time. Booth's 1st Maryland is later disbanded and refitted for Cavalry in which Booth is involved yet his personal story is second to a history tale of the Union and Confederate movements surrounding the Virginia and Maryland areas. At times Booth intrigued me with his story of how they attempted to free Confederate hostages in a church held by tough Union forces in which Booth is shot in the leg and the quick skirmish ends in many bloody fatalities. Stories such as these was what I was looking for. What I tired of reading was how Lee left Pennsylvania or how Pope was turned around at 2nd Manassas.

Booth is less than descriptive on his movements at times which seemed blury and though he can talk about a battle historically, he certainly doesn't set the reader up for his involvement or easily explain his movements. I have found this true in other memoirs written by soldiers though this one can't be ranked like Sam Watkin's book or other well known Civil War biographies. This book is a quick read of 170+pages though if the battle histories were erased it and the book just focussed on Booth, the book probably would have been half of that. This book was rather dull and boring at times.

There are very few Civil War memoirs from Marylanders who fought with the Confederacy and "A Maryland Boy in Lee's Army" begins to correct that deficiency. As the introduction, written by a national park service historian, explains, George Wilson Booth was an extremely intelligent, sixteen year old Baltimorean who joined the Army of Northern Virginia in 1861. Booth begins by explaining that it was "at the request of somewhat partial friends" that he decided to record this period of his life in book form and he writes to show how bravely and valiantly men of the Old Line State fought in the Civil War.

Booth records his thoughts on succession on the first page, writing, "the dissolution of the Union was looked upon as a threatened evil, to be averted by mutual concession and forbearance." A few lines later he mentions slavery for one of the only times writing "that never for one moment did the question of slavery or the perpetuation of that institution enter into the decision of my course." Getting into the action, he records how he saw the first violence of the war in Baltimore when the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment came through and a riot ensued. Booth somewhat humorously relays that he "quickly realized [his] danger and was convinced that [he] was entirely out of place [as he] had no weapon save a penknife." From there his account proceeds chronologically.

Unfortunately, Booth's descriptions of major battles lack detail. He only records his own observations and assumes that the reader is familiar with all the major encounters. However, he did not intend to write a military history of the conflict, as is seen in his statement "I do not propose to say much as to Gettysburg." Instead, Booth provides an inside look and analysis of the Maryland units which fought in the Confederate Army and has frequent praise for them. He writes that "the 1st Maryland regiment was of so high an order and their record as soldiers [was] brilliant" and "there was more life and sprit in the average Maryland soldier than in a score of those from the interior of some of the Southern States." George Booth also gives detailed accounts of several small skirmishes and actions that he was involved with as when he describes the storming of a church in which Federal troops were barricaded and the time that a flaming, explosive-filled train was sent hurtling along the tracks in his direction.

Booth's descriptions of Confederate generals are even more useful. The Maryland soldier explains that Gen. Stonewall Jackson was "naturally so combative and earnest in his work that whenever brought into contact with the enemy his first and only promptings were to strike the blow." He later describes news of Jackson's death as "the saddest intelligence that could come to moral ears." Booth records that Robert E. Lee was "a bold soldier, a master of strategy and a vigorous fighter" in whom the army "had implicit confidence." Booth's keen observations are turned on nearly all major Southern military leaders, including J. E. B. Stuart, who is called "the Rupert of the Confederacy." In that same passage, Booth goes on to call Stuart, "like our great captains-the noble Lee and the lamented Jackson- . . . a devoted Christian, who illustrated in his daily work the teachings of Christ."

Booth lightens the tale of war with his wit and humor very effectively. At one point, he explains a situation in which his unit was nearly captured by the enemy by declaring "the jig came very near being up with us" and at another point some mosquitoes are called "the vilest, most ravenous and bloodthirsty of their kind." Booth also points out the irony of a Calvinist protecting his life by hiding behind a tree during one violent battle and records a Presbyterian officer as provoking the Calvinist by saying "if it is ordained you are to be killed, the tree will not save you." At many points his humor is much understated as when, after the war when asked if he were related to John Wilkes Booth, he "disclaimed any connection with the assassin of Mr. Lincoln, and remarked that it occurred to me to be a very unnecessary question, as it was scarcely probably I would acknowledge a relationship under existing circumstances even if it were true in fact."

Throughout, Booth is never far from his central argument over the valor of the Marylanders in and the Army of Northern Virginia and Confederates in general. He writes that the 1st Maryland Cavalry "[did] honor to the state which it represented" and "the work of the Maryland Cavalry . . . won . . . most distinguished notice." Of that unit's commander, Col. Ridgely Brown, Booth writes, "he was as true as steel and as gallant a soldier as ever mounted horse or drew a blade." While the author respected Grant for his gentlemanly treatment of the defeated Lee, he credits the Northerner's victory mainly to "his immense superiority in numbers" and not to any greater bravery in Union troops (106). But Booth shows himself to be fair and praises both the Federal infantry and cavalry late in the war, calling the later "superb."

Throughout the account, Booth is seen to be very intelligent and highly educated. As the introduction reveals, after the war he eventually became the comptroller of the B&O Railroad. In his memoirs, he shows knowledge of such diverse subjects as geography, theology, and history and, as Eric Mink points out in the book's introduction, as Booth's intended audience were the men who had shared his experiences, the account can be taken as being without embellishment. His diverse experiences, which include administering a prison camp and meeting the Confederate Vice President, make this account more valuable than most. The Civil War divided the nation and Maryland was split deeper than most states. The account of George Wilson Booth, a Marylander who sided with the Confederacy, can help historians understand the deep divisions in the nation.

I highly recommend this guide to anyone who will be traveling in the Northeast as well as Canada. This guide gives you everything from upcoming events for the year to where to stay & eat. The maps are easy to read and follow. I have been a reader of the Mobil Guide for many years and it is continuing to give the most accurate, up-to-date travel information. This is the MUST-HAVE for the Northeast traveler.

The book gives a good overview of the areas with many addresses. Anyhow I found it a bit too black and white. It gives useful maps, but no coloured pictures from the areas, which would make it a bit more pleasant to read.

This book is pretty much a joke of a guidebook. Most of the "trails" are things like bike paths and not really mountain biking... It pretty much misses all of the great trails in Maryland

I live in DC and it's difficult to find a good ride without taking an afternoon drive. This book is really thorough and helpful, with places I wouldn't have otherwise known about and more info than I already knew about other places.

This book is an outstanding work of scholarship in documenting how Olmsted's design principles were used to create a community. It is fascinating how the original design was maintained in spite of the fact that the original developer went bankrupt. This is the first book that I have found that doesn't dwell on Olmsted and Central Park but Olmsted and a neighborhood that still exists.

Though the title uses Olmsted's name as a valuable advertisement, the book does little to describe Olmsted's design values. This book instead details the genesis of a community and the exodus of Olmsted's values. While the book is a fine history of one community's development, do not purchase this book because of Olmsted's involvement on the project.

poor Photos from the 1950s-60s
innacurate descriptions of many homes
Too similar to older works on the same homes
Missing many important historic homes of Somerset
while listing insignificant ones
Reminds me of those books that locals pay to be in.

Researched and written by architectural historian Paul Touart and key members of the Somerset County Historical Trust and the Maryland Historical Trust, this book is an important document of early Maryland and early American history.

"Laced with navigable rivers and situated between the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay, the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland figured prominently in the early history of the Chesapeake region....
"[During] John Smith's voyages of 1607-1608...detailed exploration and observations were made of the country surrounding the Bay....
"Settlements were established during [late 1661 to early 1662], first at Annemessex and shortly after at Manokin....
"[T]he provincial council and governor, on June 8, 1668, appointed certain locations as 'ports of entry.' Restricting entry of goods from overseas to these sites gave the proprietor better control of the colony's trade. In Somerset County a site referred to as 'Deepe point att Randall Revell's' was designated the port of entry, and in October 1668 Randall and Katherine Revell conveyed twenty acres, 'a parcel of land called Sommerton,' to the Lord Proprietor for a county port. The site of this town is generally thought to be near the Clifton plantation house at the end of Revell's Neck. Although a plat has not surfaced for the early town, 'Somerton' or 'Somerset Town' was indicated on Austine Herrman's map drawn in 1670....
"[S]eventeenth century inhabitants of Somerset County included a small group of free black planters, who had arrived with the initial settlers....
"The architecture of seventeenth century Somerset County has not survived to modern times....
"During the relatively peaceful period between Queen Anne's War and the American Revolution, the tobacco trade slowly increased in value each year. Despite short recessions, modest increases in prices encouraged continued production. As a result of the brighter economic outlook, average wealth generally increased through the middle years of the eighteenth century, enabling some lower Eastern Shore planters to engage in more ambitious building programs. The result was a class of plantation architecture that has survived to modern times....
"...Finely crafted paneled interiors enhanced domestic life and offered elaborate settings for private as well as public functions....These buildings not only have survived to modern times in remarkable repair, but the standards of design and craftsmanship they set have lasted with them....
"The oldest extant houses in Somerset County are a small group of story-and-a-half, one- or two-room brick dwellings estimated to date from the first half of the eighteenth century. These houses share several early construction practices, including Flemish bond brick walls; tilted false plates in the roof; a large common room or 'hall' with a generous cooking fireplace; and decorated, exposed joists."

The book goes on to describe the inventory of individual houses in the county, ordered by location and estimated year of construction. This book is chock full of black-and-white photographs and detailed descriptions, including historical background and, in may cases, a early ownership; e.g., the Powell-Benston house, built around 1700.

If you have an interest in early American architecture, this book is for you.