Washington Books

As the headmaster of and a former history teacher at a private prep school I have studied numerous accounts of early American history and Richard Ferrie's work is by far one of the best I have read. I particularly liked the fact that he started out with a quick introduction (note, the facsimilie of the 1781 broadside before the intro. ends with the Latin phrase "Laus Deo!" The aluminum cap on top of the Washington Monument has the same phrase which means, "Praise Be To God"), followed by a picture of the "Key Players" with a cameo on each (which was divided into sections containing the American, French, and then British forces). Mr. Ferrie followed this up with a timeline of the major events before Yorktown and then the Yorktown campaign itself. The first chapter did an excellent job of setting the stage by giving a quick overview of the war and the events immediately before Yorktown. I also appreciated the appendices which gave more background material for those so interested. This overview was an excellent way to introduce the whole war and its glorious end to new students of this time period.

Most history books hold you hostage to their chronology by not letting you know where they are going with their narrative as well as drive all but the most serious reader away with exhaustive detail. History text books are usually worse and dry as dust (no wonder many students don't like history). Not so with this little gem. Right from the get-go you are gripped with a quick moving story that is hard to put down! Even though you know the ending, like all good story tellers, he keeps you on the edge of your seat wanting to now HOW Washington and the French pulled it off.

I only wish the author had gone into more background on the significance of the battle of Cowpens and how afterwards the patriots were able to harrass Cornwallis and drive him to the sea at Yorktown (instead of getting wiped out). Clinton, the commander-in-chief acknowledged (when Cornwallis was chasing the patriot army), "...here the royal army was again stopped by a sudden rise of the waters, which had only just fallen (almost miraculously) to let the enemy over, who could not else have eluded Lord Cornwallis' grasp, so close was he upon their rear..."

Although this book was written for children, I HIGHLY recommend it to adults as well. This is a must read for junior or senior high school students. It will give you a great overview of the war, the character of the major individuals, and a sense of excitement that textbooks, unfortunately, fail to deliver.

Well done Mr. Ferrie!

PS I completely disagree with the criticism by another reviewer who did not like the antiquated maps (not enough detail for him)...frankly, I thought they added character to the book. If you want detail, you can always use an atlas or go to Mapquest.com! :)

Ferrie creates a refreshing, approachable, and exciting vehicle for examining the events and issues around the Battle of Yorktown. Unencumbered by patriotic propoganda, extremely well researched - reveals the issues and life as it truly was for those involved (on both sides and at all levels) in the struggle for American freedom. Highly recommended for elementary school and up!

A Review in the December issue of the Norwegian-American newspaper, Døtre av Norge, a publication of the Daughters of Norway..

Let me begin by saying that Katherine Larson is a member of Nina Grieg Lodge #40 of the Daughters of Norway in Poulsbo, Washington.

Katherine worked with the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle and the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, Decorah, Iowa, to develop a major exhibit on woven coverlets from major museums in Norway and the United States that was or will be shown as follows:

* Nordic Heritage Museum, Seattle, Washington, September 13-November 11, 2001;
* The Plains Art Museum, Fargo, North Dakota, May 16-July 14, 2002;
* West Vancouver Museum and Archives, West Vancouver, British Columbia, August-October, 2002.

The first forty pages of Katherine Larson's book are a cultural history of Norway using weaving and coverlets as a unifying theme. Katherine writes extensively and well about the isolation and self sufficiency of rural life in Norway. Although the precise dates that many techniques and technologies arrived in Norway from abroad are not typically known, she does try to frame such introductions in terms of centuries. More importantly, she discusses why weaving was so important to the development of the culture.

My favorite chapter in the first section of the book is titled, "More Than Just a Cover for the Bed," in which she describes the arrangement of farm households, the psychological boost from colorful additions during the long winter months and the cradle to grave use of coverlets, including baptisms and funerals.

Katherine uses historical photographs of women and their equipment; color prints from paintings in the National Gallery and line art of plants used for dying wool, of weaving techniques and of weaving patterns. She presents about 130 high-quality color photographs of finished coverlets, either flat so you can see the entire design or a close up section or in use on a bed. In addition there are many, many black and white photographs of more whole coverlets. Some of the detail drawings would also be useful for embroidery and knitting.

The later chapters of the book are devoted one each to the various types of Norwegian woven coverlets. Some of these are pan-Scandinavian and others even pan-European, but the essence always comes back to what Norwegian women had, wanted to have and were willing to create for their homes from roughly the middle ages to modern times.

Each valley or district in the country had a favorite technique and pattern for its coverlets, providing a rich visual texture to the book. The weaving styles and techniques covered include tapestry/billedvev, square-weave/rutevev, bound-weave/krokbragd, other weft-faced styles, knotted pile/rye, (reversible) double-weave/dobeltvev, and overshot/tavlebragd or skillbragd.

The appendices and closing words include a brief afterword about her family's immigration experience, a conversational and a literal table of equivalent of weaving terms among English, Norwegian and Swedish; notes; a glossary of textile terms in English; a bibliography; and a proper index.

This book is NOT a beginner's how-to. It is a highly readable cultural reference book about weaving. It would be a useful addition for anyone making hand-woven textiles, anyone who likes to apply older techniques in modern textile settings (not just weaving), and anyone interested in the cultural history of Norway and for Norwegian-Americans. In short almost everyone interested in Norway.

I was pleased to find my own family's two dominant weaving styles in the later chapters of the book: Danish weave, common in southeastern Norway, and overshot weave, mostly the Monk's Belt pattern. One of my maiden great, great aunts was a professional weaver and both my grandmother and aunt also wove.

there are many publications about american coverlets, this one attracted me because it concerns coverlets from another weaving tradition.

another reviewer has done a first rate job of detailing many of the books historical strengths. i am adding my review to include the patterns and designs.

this is not, as the other reviewer noted, an instruction manual. but it is a superb design resource, for many other fiber arts as well as weaving.

the photos are fantastic. the examples are inspiring--i'm mentally designing a color pattern sweater from one coverlet, and several beaded pr jects from others. some coverlet designs would translate very easily into several kinds of embroidery.

the author notes the similarities in design among scandanavian, russion, other european and mid-eastern weavings. what i found interesting is the similarities between some of the coverlets and american patchwork quilts. all crafts borrowed freely from one another--lace patterns were made into embroidery, and vice versa, weaving patterns were used in knitting, etc., so finding simialr elements is common. but the designs of several coverlets in this selection could pass for patchwork in their arrangement. since morwegian settlers are credited wtih introding the log cabin to american in the colonial era, i wonder is they also influenced the design of 18th and 19th century quilts.

this is a wonderful book, that would be of use and interest to norwegians and non-norwegians, anyone who designs for any textile craft, and the general reader who is interested in how our forbears lived.

i can only hope that another edition will be brought out.

This is an informative (and nicely written) look at 19th century American literature in terms of the ways it understands the ideas of deafness and hearing. The theoretical matrix of DuBois's color line may be less necessary and less useful here than the social historicist theory Krentz is developing as a base for reading both deaf and non-deaf authors in their negotiations of the imaginative--and perhaps the real--space of deafness. May be engaging to anyone appreciating American literature and/or interested in concepts of deafness, as well as to academics in these and related fields.

This is an original and provocative book. Addressing W. E. B. DuBois's concept of "the color line" in the 20th century, Krentz argues that 19th century American literature grappled with a "hearing line," i.e. a contested boundary between hearingness (the author's coinage) and deafness. He examines how this hearing line appears in work by deaf authors and also in the canonical authors of the century. The readings of Melville, Twain, Cooper, and others open new perspectives on their works that should be of interest to anyone concerned with the construction of American identity. The deaf authors included are contextualized in their literary and social locations as they articulate a deaf "I" or "we."

Throughout the work, Krentz engages current literary theory on gender, race, class, and colonialism. Deaf American culture intersects with these theories, but also presents challenges to them. The similarities and differences between deaf experience(s) and those of other oppressed groups deserve serious thought by anyone interested in the dynamics of self-definition for oppressed groups. Krentz emphasizes the positive sense of deaf identity and community that emerged in the 19th century, as authors responded to the complexities of American identity at that time.

I have read all of the Earl Emerson books. The Yellow DogParty is by far the best. The plot is extremely strong and the depth at which the writing goes is endless. Check this book out.

"Yellow Dog Party" is the sixth Thomas Black mystery by Earl Emerson. Floyd Boyd, Jimmy Canfield, Denny McCallum, and Rex Ronquist hold an annual beer bash and party in honor of Canfield's yellow dog who was killed by a Ritz Cracker truck. They call it the Yellow Dog Party. These 4 friends who are successful businessmen ask PI Thomas Black to find 4 women with whom they want to have "dream dates." When Black finds the first woman, she is in a coma in an Oregon hospital. As he and friend Kathy Birchfield are leaving the hospital, they are abducted by 3 masked men. Kathy is able to run, but Thomas is assaulted and hung from a tree. Luckily for him, the branch snaps and he is spared. He begins to hunt down these 3 men and find out why they wanted to kill him. As he searches for the other 3 women, it becomes clear that one of the 4 men has an ulterior motive. Then Denny McCallum is found murdered in a hotel room. This novel also deals with the relationship of Thomas Black and Kathy Birchfield. Kathy announces that she is engaged to her boyfriend, Philip. With the possibility of losing her, Thomas finally tells her that he loves her and they kiss. The next books will have to deal with this situation. "Yellow Dog Party" is one of the best of the Thomas Black novels and is highly recommended.

Even though Sau-ling Cynthia Wong notes that "no other Asian-American writer since has been able to match Mori's community portraits for mellowness," his portraits of Japanese-American life just before World War II show the strain of a double identity at that time. (Even the title itself serves to illustrate the cultural binary.) Mori's prose is sparse, yet it is not cold. In all of the characters, from Sessue Matoi, the philosopher who "must be drunk and sober at the same time," to "the woman who makes swell donuts," there is a warmth and humanity throughout every story, even while the hints of the coming war begin to appear

This book was suppose to come out in print in 1941, but due to the attack on Pearl Harbor and anti-Japanese propaganda, it postponed its release until 1949. Toshio Mori is a master of storytelling. These collections of short stories should be with such classics as Hemingway and Saroyan. Yokohoma, California is both heart-felt and humorous. It is one of the best books on the Asian American experience.

These Zagat guides are just great, and this one is no exception. They are pithy, witty, and above all useful. I don't go out without consulting them.

This is an indispensible reference guide for dining in the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis areas. It is easy to understand and navigate with reviews of most restaurants in terms of food, decor/ambiance, price etc. The reviews are right on for the restaurants I have tried. Also very handy are the crossreferences for many categories such as brunch, parking, late night dining etc. Probably the best feature is another index listing the "best" restaurants for various occasions as identified by readers.

Highly recommended, I get a new one every year.

This book enjoys a well-deserved reputation as a classic in the field of Jewish studies. The author maintains that "Only in Israel and nowhere else is the injunction to remember felt as a religious imperative to an entire people." What follows is a brilliant discussion of the meaning and selectivity of memory in Jewish religious tradition. Yerushalmi then shows how secularization radically transformed the meaning of memory and history for Jews. Writing of the rise of Jewish historiography in early 19th century Germany, he notes: "For the first time it is not history that must prove its utility to Judaism, but Judaism that must prove its validity to history, by revealing and justifying itself historically."

This work has four major chapters each of which deals with a certain period of Jewish history, and its approach to Jewish Memory. In the first chapter Yerushalmi explores the Biblical and Rabbinic Foundations for writing history, and remembering it. This is the stage when the process of remembering is connected with the recording of, and participation in history.
In the second phase, the Middle Ages Yerushalmi outlines the major division which dominates the work, between processes of collective memorization through ritual and religious practice which are not connected with everyday historical happening- and between the writing of history which is connected with historical happening. Yerushalmi says that from the time of the fall of the Second Temple and most especially in this period of the Middle Ages, the Jews remember without remembering historical events. The 'collective Zakhor' or command to collective remembrance ( which he says distinguishes the Jewish Religion) is done without writing the history of the people. The history of the people is avoided. The writing of history is considered by Rambam a low form of intellectual endeavor. The process of collective remembering is done through the living of the Jewish holidays each of which connects up with some historical memory. It is done through Memorbuchs of communities which have suffered in the Crusades.
In the third period which comes immediately after the expulsion from Spain i.e. in the beginning of the sixteenth century there is somehow a return to looking at the actual events of contemporary history but this by framing them in world- historical narratives.
The last period Yerushalmi writes about is the modern one in which there is a return to attending to the events of Jewish history. Here the writing of history, what he calls 'historiography' becomes once again a subject of Jewish interest. And this as certain other processes of collective memorization are breaking down i.e. as the Jews are moving away from being a 'faith- community' in the fullest sense of the word.
Yerushalmi here does not go into the question of conflicting narratives of Jewish history. And the very interesting question of the way different kinds of Jews today construct different kinds of narratives of Jewish history as a whole.
This work has a brilliant introduction by Harold Bloom.
The work itself is recognized as a classic of modern Jewish scholarship.
I conclude with one small piece of Yerushalmi 's writing.

"When I spoke earlier of the coincidence of the rise of modern Jewish histiography and the decay of Jewish memory, I had in mind the specific kind of memory of the past, that of Jewish tradition. But hardly any Jew today is without some Jewish past. Total amnesia: is still relatively rare. The choices for Jews , as for non- Jewsis not whether or not to have a past, but rather-what kind of past shall one have."

Zioncheck is a frantic political-coming-of-age tale: a West Coast cousin to Michael Chabon's The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, with all of the latter's suspense and angst but with none of its gangsters or sex. Like Chabon, Campbell seems to have a knack for honestly portraying idealistic personal relationships and for communicating a sense of time and place in an unselfconscious way. Although the story occasionally detours to accommodate reality, it maintains a sense of nervous, jangling momentum, like an errant shopping cart rolling towards a shiny new car.

The account of Marion Zioncheck's rise and fall - presented, for the most part, in brief vignettes which preface each chapter - is particularly well-written and does a good job of contrasting the author's claustrophobic, first-person view of local politics with the sort of dramatic, polished political biography that comes with years of hindsight.

In the end, the book succeeds - as a cautionary tale for DIY politicians, a comedy of errors, a story of love and possibly an elegy to youthful idealism. If, like all things political, it is a complex, sometimes contradictory success, it is never a compromise.

Zioncheck for President is an eccentric memoir that takes a grassroots, leftist political campaign and turns it into a political romp anybody can enjoy (Mo Rocca's cover blurb isn't wrong!). Campbell manages a rare trick for a liberal writer -- he maintains a respect for his own politics and ideologies while not shoving them in the faces of his readers. His self-awareness and his dry sense of humor are spot on, and his story-line is funny, bizarre, tender, and oddly suspenseful. Just as interestingly, this is one of the most tightly structured memoirs I've ever read. Written almost like a novel, all the "characters" of this non-fiction work seem to echo off each other, reflecting larger ideas than just their idiosyncrasies would suggest. Highly recommended.

Whether you are a first-time skier or someone seeking a unique backcountry adventure, this book will compel you to strap on your skis and get outdoors.
It details critical information on avalanche hazards. At a glance comparisons of difficulty ratings, surface conditions, and elevation gains. Complete permit and fee requirements. One hundred-six reader-friendly maps that are very useful.

This book is a must have for hiking Washingtonians. To start with the way the contents is set up you can quickly locate the area you want to hike. For each hike there is the distance, time, elevation, elevation gain, season when to hike, kind of hike and map number listed on the first page. Plus each hike has a simple map. There are a lot of day hikes, the kind I like to do in here, just a few 8 hour or more. This book along with "Don't Waste Your Time in the North Cascades" are essential for the weekend hiker in Washington.