Maryland Books

I am not sure what book the other reviewer was reading but it could not have been this book. This is a very light look at the Ravens. Nothing new is presented and the stories are oddly devoid of interest for one of the most colorful teams in the NFL. Very little research or effort was taken to come up with the so called tales. The musing from Tom Matte are just that, musing from off the top of his head. He probably jotted them down one afernoon, at least thats how it seems. The book although written for a middle schooler would not interest one. If you want a good Baltimore football book buy an old paperback copy of Fatso by Artie Donovan. Now he is someone who knows how to spin a tale.

If you are a die hard Baltimore Ravens fan...you'll love this book and want it to be part of your collection.

This book spans the entire history of the Ravens from the move to Baltimore from Cleveland...all the way up to the 2004 off season. So, yes, this is very current stuff. Nice to have all of this information and history in one place to refer back to from time to time.

Not much in the way of "New" or Previously unknown material for the Raven fan whose been through it all, but their are some lesser known tidbits of information, and all from Tom Matte who played for the Baltimore Colts and has done the Ravens radio gameday broadcasts since the inception of the team.

Some excellent photos are included, although I'd rather they were placed in the center of the book instead of being interspersed throughout.

All in all, I'd recommend this book highly for football and especially Raven fans.

This book could be 100 times better if there was half of the info and better organization. You buy this book to tell you "what are some good trips around the DC area" but it doesn't tell you that at all. YOU have to figure out where you want to go then this book gives you some basic info about every city or attraction in neighboring states. But I could get all that information from the internet! What I want is information organized by length (short trips, long trips), types of attraction, and "reviews" -- i.e., good or bad. There is almost none of that. It is just a catalog of every city in 7 states that has some tourist activities. No what is good or what is bad. What is good with kids? What about day trips? Or afternoon trips? Or trips with your dog? Nada. Kind of useless book, which is sad because a usefull book that was well organized would be great.

This guide is a great companion for anyone seeking unique and clever discoveries in the mid-atlantic region. The book dives into nature, history, unique facts and unknown charms that most travel guides hardly touch.

Book was good, however, needs to be revised due to various construction projects that have change the area.

Using Baltimore as an example, David Rusk believes cities and suburbs can only salvage themselves if they create metropolitan regional areas that are able to accommodate growth, deconcentrate poverty, and make central cities more economically competitive. Rusk's premise is that cities must become "elastic" in order to manage growth in tandem with the greater region. It is an attempt to use both fiscal and public policy as a tool to relieve the growing racial and economic disparity between the poor cities and the affluent suburbs. In this book Rusk outlines a strategy to help metropolitan regions become elastic and once again regain their competitive advantage. Recommended.

This book contains a lot of interesting information about Burt Rutan, his life, and his airplanes. Much of the information is taken directly from the Canard Pusher newsletters produced by Rutan Aircraft Factory, but there is some interesting information obtained via interview. My major complaint is the fact that the author obviously did not proof-read her book before publishing it. Grammer and spelling errors abound throughout the book, including incomplete sentences, where the reader is left hanging as the author starts a new sentence and new idea. The book itself is also organized in a very confusing and nonlinear manner.

Overall, I think that the book is worth its price on content alone, just don't expect a "quality" read.

I thought this was going to contain more than just recipes, but that's all it was. There is a photo at the beginning of each chapter, but that's it as far as the memorabilia, so I'm a little disappointed since this doesn't live up to the title.

An onteresting compilation of guy experiences while growing up in Baltimore. A guys book and great reading on the John since all the stories are short and unrelated.

The historical content is a touch light. The captions of the photos give the reader a wealth of detail about the locations and operations in the images but there could have been a lot more done on the history of this section of the B&O. The Great Strike of 1877 that started in Martinsburg, WV gets far too little coverage.
Having said that, it is a good picture book and full of interesting trivia, but if you're looking for a lengthy historical narrative, well that book hasn't been written yet.

Roland Oliver's second edition of this useful book offers good chapters on Africa in the 1990s and an essay about its future as well as and excellent overview of African history. Oliver is expert and thurough. The book is well organized and on the whole interesting. However, because it is an overview the book picks up subjects and drops them in a page or two often after offering just enough to generate genuine interest. This is of course to be expected, but would be more forgivable if the author had included a list of books to read for more information on specific subjects or a bibliographic essay. More troubling is Oliver's tendency to apologize too much for the colonial powers that divided and subjugated Africa. Still, the book is valuable and lives up to its billing.

The story of the construction of Camden Yards is well-told and there are also some good accounts of Baltimore Oriole history since the park opened, particularly the controversy surrounding Cito Gaston's refusal to let Mike Mussina pitch during the 1993 All Star Game.

I was very surprised though to discover as I read, that author Loverro is the biggest apologist for Oriole owner Peter Angleos on the face of the earth. Every one of Angelos's actions that have helped turn the Orioles into a lousy team today are defended at every turn for all intents and purposes. I really can not figure out Loverro's defense of Angelos overriding GM Pat Gillick who wanted to trade Bobby Bonilla and David Wells during the 96 season. Sure, Baltimore got to an ALCS where they got outclassed by a superior Yankee team, but what Loverro fails to grasp is that the Orioles mortgaged their future way too much in going for a postseason where they had little chance of going all the way.

I would love to see an Orioles beat reporter one day write a defninitve history of the Angelos years, one that recognizes how Angelos today acts more like George Steinbrenner than Steinbrenner himself. This book unfortunately, despite its virtues in other areas, isn't it.