Virginia Books

It's impossible for us today to imagine what a frightening proposition it must've been in the mid-19th century to sell your eastern farm or business and prepare to head west to start a new life. Maps were unreliable, distances were staggering, and stories about wild animals and Indians sobering. It wasn't quite like stepping off the edge of the world, but it probably seemed like it to many greenhorns.

So in 1859, Captain Randolph Marcy, under orders from the Department of War, wrote The Prairie Traveler. Marcy, who would later serve as a Brigadier in the Civil War, was an accomplished traveler in the west, and his guidebook was packed with useful information for the determined but inexperienced pioneer taking either the northern overland trail to Oregon or the southern Sante Fe one to California.

The book is great reading--and, not infrequently, helpful even today for the camper when it comes to advice about improvising shelter or lighting a fire from damp wood. For the mid-19th century reader, it provides essential tips on provisions, wagon-packing and animal-care, first aid (large doses of whiskey are the best remedy for rattlesnake bite), identifying good water (alkaline ponds are surrounded by yellow-reddish grass), improvisation (red willow bark is a good substitute for tobacco), collapsible camp furniture, and gun safety. The food section is especially interesting. Marcy recommends carrying lots of dried vegetables (one ounce of dry vegetables, when wettened, equals an entire ration), "cold flour," a concoction of flour, cinammon, and sugar which, when mixed with a bit of water, provides a pick-me-up (not unlike today's energy bar), and jerked meat (no need for salt; the prairie sun will dry buffalo strips in short order). He also provides a rather gruesome recipe for pemmican (powdered buffalo meat saturated in raw buffalo fat, sown up in a hide bag with the hair turned outwards).

Marcy distrusts and indeed actively dislikes Plains Indians, although he admires Delawares and Shawnees, and writes quite warmly of a Delaware friend of his named Black Beaver. So he spends a fair number of pages warning prairie travelers to be wary of approaching Indians. To better prepare them, he teaches the rudiments of sign language, teaches how to track Indians (scattered mustang manure rather than whole mustang manure indicates Indians on the move rather than just a wild mustang herd), and gives detailed instructions on how to sleep with cocked and primed rifles. It never seems to occur to Marcy that Plains Indians were a diverse group, or that their animosity might've had more to do with the white pioneers' presence than with the natural meanness he attributes to them.

A fascinating read!

Read this book and you will view things a bit differently on your next drive. As you effortlessly drive across a bridge over a river at 65 MPH, your thoughts may well travel back to Captain Marcy's advice on how to cross a river with wagons pulled by mule-team.

This book is essential to any author, movie director or Living Historian who wants to "get it right". THE PRAIRIE TRAVELER is chock-full of information about overland travel in the mid-19th century, and covers almost any possible, practical, useful subject related to wilderness travel. Although it is written in 1850's American English, it is actually a fairly easy read with very little "culture shock".

For those of you with the cerebral agility to remove the mental straight-jacket of "Political Correctness", THE PRAIRIE TRAVELER will accurately picture the Frontier society as it existed at the time. It was a very good society in most ways, with the limitations that 19th century people were born into and educated with. Those pioneers did advance themselves, bit-by-bit, away from the limitations they were born into, and the result is the 21st Century America we live in today. We stand on their shoulders, advanced as far as we are today, because of the small advances they made in their generation.

A 21st century man condemning a 19th century man for being the product of his times reflects the mental and educational limitations of the 21st century man.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and bought some for friends who like history. The reading is easy, though you will find a dictionary helpful with some of the archaic words. I have relatives who crossed the prairie in 1848 to California; I have a much better understanding of what the trip must've been like.
For those who love American history, esp. the old west I highly recommend this book

A good insight into the mind of an inhabitant of the new world in the 1800s. Very unpolitically correct to the point of being amusing (section on 'Indians'). I read this book on a long camping tour and liked in a lot. There are some sections that are more like lists, and arenot as interesting, but you can skip over them.

A fascinating assemblage of facts and information for the overland emigrant of the mid-1800's to successfully complete the long, arduous journey to the west coast. Captain Marcy includes everything one can possibly imagine: from types of wagons, livestock, food, provisions and medicines to fording rivers, selection of campsites, types of saddles, packing, tracking, guides, guards, etc. and habits of Indians. The itineraries at the end of the book detail the mileages, availability of water, grass, wood, road conditions, etc. along several different routes to the Pacific. With our many modern day conveniencies traveling across the country, we tend to dismiss the hardships and sacrifices our pioneers endured while traversing the continent. This little book puts it all into focus.

In this terrific reference, Dr. Mindell provides more than we are led to believe from the book's title: "Prescription Alternatives"! Aside from giving us well documented natural alternatives for prescription drugs, Dr. Mindell gives us the vital information: 1) to protect ourselves against prescription drug abuse, 2) to avoid becoming an adverse drug effects (ADE) victim; 3) to live a fuller, healthier life through his "Six Principles for Optimal Health"! This well researched book, with its extensive bibliography, is a MUST HAVE book for every family seriously seeking to achieve and maintain a high standard of health! In a word: ESSENTIAL!

Earl Mindell and Virginia Hopkins have each written extensively about alternative health and nutrition. They teamed up for Prescription Alternatives, "a tool for easily and immediately accessing information about how the drugs you are taking affect your body, the steps you can take to counteract these imbalances and what alternative treatments are available."

They start with a description of how we've become a nation of pill-poppers and present drug statistics, such as "140,000 Americans die each year" from adverse drug effects and that "at least 11 million people are abusing prescription drugs." They also explain the unrelenting pressures put on medical doctors by the drug companies, medical schools, and state medical boards. Mindell and Hopkins include lists of factors than can affect drug levels, and explain how to prevent common problems with prescription drug use. They offer hints on how to prepare for surgery and decrease your chances of having an adverse drug reaction while hospitalized. They also explain how to read the drug inserts that come with prescriptions and include a glossary of common medical terms.

The bulk of the book is devoted to extensive details about the most-often prescribed drugs. They discuss a dozen kinds of diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, herpes, and osteoporosis. They list the drugs usually prescribed for each condition, then present detailed information about each drug, including what the drug is supposed to do, possible side effects, interactions with other drugs, interactions with foods, what imbalances in the body may result, and what nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, should be added to the diet while taking the drug. Each section concludes with natural alternatives to the drugs and tips for helping your body heal itself. They also explain how the body systems work and how lifestyle changes can help prevent many diseases.

All their explanations are in easy-to-understand layman's terms.

The authors say that "when you start taking any type of drug, you are heading down a long road full of potentially dangerous drug interactions and side effects." Prescription Alternatives is a scenic byway that will help readers avoid that long road.

Earl Mindell and Virginia Hopkins have provided one of the most important books of the CENTURY. So many of us listen to our doctors and take the prescriptions offered without THINKING. It is time for pill-poppers to wake up to the motives of the pharmaceutical companies, and to the very dangerous risks we take when we pop a prescription pill without investigating its long term effects.

This book has become a Health Bible for me and my friends. I tell people about it every day. If there is one thing you do for those you love, let it be to buy them this book.

Prescription Alternatives provides live-saving information. It informs us of the risks we take when we blindly accept any prescription our doctors offer. It provides us with all of the alternative choices that won't just suppress or mask a symptom but will change our health in the best and safest way possible. When are we, as a nation of consumers, going to take back the responsibility of maintaining our health? Don't take my word for it, read up on the facts for yourself. Then go out and buy a copy for every one you love! The natural food and supplement stores will love you for it!

This is an easy to read book on natural alternatives to over the counter and prescription drugs. Particular attention is paid to the hazards of drug interaction which can lead to poor health. (The "cure" being worse than the disease.....). The book is well organized, with a good index. Drugs are profiled by type, covering the gamut from NSAIDS to Narcotics. Each drug is discussed. The author tells you: what the drug does in your body, what conditions it is prescribe for, side effects, when you should NOT take the drug, and interactions with other drugs and food. If you must take a drug, the author offers information on supplements that balance out or minimize the potential damage to your body. And of course, the natural alternative to taking pharmaceuticals - specific, herbs, vitamins and minerals, and diet, are given. The author does sermonize from time to time, but this is a minor flaw in an otherwise excellent book.

Purchasing Prescription Alternatives, Second Edition, by Earl L. Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D. and Virginia Hopkins, M.A., may just be the best investment you can make in your health.
Drug companies spend more than a billion dollars each year on advertising. They sponsor talks in medical schools, providing free meals and medical supplies to students. They also fund most of the medical research going on today and keep doctors' offices supplied with "free" samples. Between drug companies and the pressures put doctors by HMO's, it's no wonder that most people who go to see a doctor walk away with a prescription to be filled.
Sometimes those prescriptions are essential, particularly in the cases of sudden, acute illnesses. But often they do more harm than good. Mindell and Hopkins's goal is to "teach you how to be a knowledgeable and conservative drug user, who knows how to ask the right questions and get the necessary information to stay healthy."
They explain that nearly one million people are "injured" by drugs every year, and "at least 11 million people are abusing prescription drugs." They caution that having FDA approval doesn't mean a drug is safe, reminding readers that "those FDA-approved drugs are killing at least 140,000 people a year, just in hospitals."
The bulk of the book is a detailed listing of hundreds of drugs prescribed every day, including those for heart disease, digestive disorders, asthma and allergies, pain relief, diabetes, insomnia, prostate problems, osteoporosis, eye diseases, and herpes. They also include antibiotics, antifungals, and synthetic hormones.
Mindell and Hopkins start with a description of the disease or ailment and its causes and effects on the body. They then explain how it could be prevented in the first place, making their book useful also for people who are currently healthy. Following that is a list of the drugs that can be prescribed, using both the brand names and generic names. An explanation of how each drug works in the body comes next, along with information on side effects. They then discuss all the interactions each drug has with other drugs, with nutritional supplements, and food. Lastly, they provide information on natural alternatives.
"You absolutely cannot count on the FDA, the drug company, your physician or your pharmacist to keep you safe from dangerous drugs and their interactions," say Mindell and Hopkins. Prescription Alternatives will give readers all the information they need to make wise choices about which, if any, drug is best for them, as well as helping them avoid the adverse consequences that can result from simple human error in obtaining and using prescription drugs.

This was a great book. My only wish is that I would have found it 2 years ago when my son was diagnosed. This is a book that is written for "normal" families that have been attacked by this stupid disease known as Type 1 diabetes. I will recommend it to anyone I come into contact that has a newly diagnesed child. Thank you for writing this book.

The first exposure I had to the Loy family was when I read the book "Getting a Grip on Diabetes" written by this author's two sons who were both diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when they were six and seven. They mentioned in their book that their mother had also written a book, and I couldn't wait to read about living with diabetes from her perspective. I was not disappointed! Her writing style is so conversational and easy to understand. It was nice to read about how she and her family dealt with different aspects of parenting kids with diabetes. My 13-year-old son was just diagnosed three months ago, so this book helped me to get more comfortable with our new life with diabetes. I thoroughly recommend reading this book.

I have read quite a few books on Type I Diabetes since my now-10-year-old son was diagnosed 5 years ago. This book and the one by Ms. Loy's sons, Getting a Grip on Diabetes, are by far the best ones I have read. Helpful information in a readable form with suggestions that are easily incorporated in to anyone's life. This is the book I have shared with friends who have had children diagnosed with diabetes.

When my 4 1/2yr old was diagnosed in 2002, I was so scared that the fun part of his life was over. I bought 10 books & decided to read this one first. I was so happy & relieved to read about this great woman's calm approach to her boys diabetes. Both of her boys were diagnosed before 7 & continued on to do great things with their lives. This is a must read, it will relieve some of your worries & give you hope that life does go on & your child WILL be just fine.

When my daughter was diagnosed with diabetes last May, our dietician lent me a copy of this book--it helped me so much! I didn't know anything about diabetes at the time and was frightened out of my mind! Ms. Loy has so many fantastic coping ideas--I've put many to use--this book is a wonderful tool--especially for parents of newly diagnosed children.

What a wonderful resource for anyone interested in exploring the beauty of Virginia via bicycle! I love it and plan to get good milage out of my small investment. The writer has done the hard work by furnishing all the needed details for forty rides scattered throughout the state. All a rider needs to do to enjoy any or all of them is to add bicycle and pedal.

As someone who bicycled through Rockbridge County for years, I know firsthand the beauty of the Goshen Ramble (#29) and the fun that comes with the Rockbridge Challenge (#31). I eagerly awaite Jim's next effort--hopefully Pennsylvania. Jim's descriptions of the sights, eateries, and technical details in "The Basics" are accurate. Here's looking forward to doing the Burkes Garden Ramble (#39) and eating at Spanky's in Lexington! This guide will accompany me when next I travel to Virginia--whether by bike or car.

This is the guidebook that should be in every bikers' saddlebag!
Mr. Homerosky has managed to pack an abundance of information on 40 rides in just a bit over 200 pages. The ride and route information is clear and concise and a delight to read. I like the way the author gives the rider the oppurtunity to tailor the rides to his/her level; the rider can 'go the distance' or opt to
cut it short without missing the best of what the ride has to offer. I like his notations and footnotes that point out the local interests: and the mentioning of local bike shops and watering holes are a huge plus.

Whether you're a cycling tourist, recreational rider, or competitive cyclist, there's something for everyone in this guide. Mr Homerosky profiles 40 different routes on pavement all across the beautiful state of Virginia from the sea to the mountains. It's obvious he's ridden each one from his descriptions and knowledge of the terrain. His use of title words for each route is especially clever. Each route has a description, map, cue sheet, and when warranted a profile of elevation gain and loss. Pretty neat, and very useful. He also includes contacts in each community so you can further explore the area, or can be helpful for the non-cyclist on your trip.
A must have for any road cyclist wanting a dependable guide of road routes in Virginia.

I bought this new guidebook without much expectation. Boy, was I surprised! Road Biking Virginia may very well be the best written guidebook I ever read. The author takes the reader through the ride, noting scenic and historical highlights as well as areas of caution. I found the narratives addicting, and couldn't put the book down until I read every one. I thought I new a lot about my state - but I actually learned a good deal more. The maps are excellent and the directions are straight-forward and easy to understand.

If there is one flaw, the author doesn't seem to like city riding and doesn't offer any it his selection. But the book does offer fabulous road routes (I've done many myself) emphasizing Virginia's great back roads. Everyone should try the Goshen and Rockbridge rides and at least once in your life, you need to make the trek to Burkes Garden. What a great destination and ride.

I've waited a long time for a road ride book for Virginia. Fortunately, I now have one and it is good. I highly recommend it to all Virginia cyclists. Happy Riding,

Steve

Awesome. He uses exactly the writing style I love - everything is nested in a broad view of the sweep of Western Civilization - and he quotes the great authors at length for each point (like Augustine! and Lewis!). The book examines deeply each of the classical Seven Deadly Vices, with the following pattern.

First, it demonstrates the ways in which a given vice is far worse than the reader had previously suspected. Then, it shows how that vice is much more prevalent in society than he could have imagined. Finally, it shocks the reader by (partially) revealing the extent to which the vice is operative within himself. Pretty convicting.

Some of Guiness's cultural analysis is particularly interesting. Check out this section from the chapter on envy:

"Envy is less often traced at the public level where it has enormous consequences in many areas - for example, the excessive egalitarianism of all socialism and some forms of modern democracy, the excesses of affirmative action, the barely concealed appeal of progressive taxation and much advertising, the twisted motivation of therapeutic victim playing, the rage for rights and entitlement, the destructive tearing down by gossip columns and television 'gawk shows,' and the fact that any Western societies are becoming increasingly angry, fueling a disturbing culture of rage."

You'll love owning this book.

This book is a must-read! I was skeptical at first because I didn't see the vital importance of learning about the seven deadly sins and seven virtues, but I could not put this book down after starting. I love the way the sins and virtues were compared- I recommend it to everyone, it really opened my eyes. The only word of caution is that it is slow in the beginning, but stick with it and you will be rewarded.

Guiness uses classical and modern literature to take the reader through the topics of the seven deadly sins and seven Beatitudes of Christ. A must read for the college freshman or sophmore getting ready for lit. classes. Provides and excellent framework for interpretation of some of the world's greatest literary minds.

Os Guinness has put together an incredible collection of essays, quotes and works on the subject of moral clarity. The foundation for the study is the comparison of the "seven deadly sins" and how they contrast with the moral principles laid out within the "Sermon on the Mount" from the New Testament. While this study may not be unique, the presentation is so well done that the result challenges conventional thinking through ideological dichotomies that leave no doubt that morality can be defined as a moral standard.

What is amazing is the diversity of opinion presented. From Bertrand Russell and Friedrich Nietzsche, to Soren Kierkegaard and CS Lewis, from Isaac Newton to Calvin and Hobbes, the philosophy and moral presentations leave the reader with the task of sifting through the often opposing worldviews. Interspersed throughout are hundreds of quotes, poetry, and depictions of moral values - both post modern and ancient.

Each chapter looks at one of the "deadly sins" and it's "Beatitude" counterpart, and includes study questions and guidelines for further reading. This book could easily be the basis for a long study of philosophical morality from across cultural and generational perspectives. The study questions themselves are thought provoking and generate far too much to ponder and digest in one reading.

I would consider this book "very highly recommended" in every respect. This one will stay on my shelf, for repeated readings, for years to come. The index and citations alone are worth the price. I can also see this book as the foundation for study groups and further research. Simply put, it is well worth the time to read, review and consider.

This is a helpful collection of editorial articles, quotations, and excerpts from classics of literature or Christian devotion, accompanied by thoughtful questions for reflection and discussion. Each of the seven deadly sins is addressed by several descriptive excerpts and then countered by complementary virtues.

For those who appreciate Richard Foster's two anthologies of Christian devotional classics, "Devotional Classics" and "Spiritual Classics," this is an excellent volume to invest in. I actually found the content more accessible and more enjoyable to read for some reason.

Williams obstetrics is a very distinguished textbook of obstetrics, and enlightens and guides the physician. Every new edition is more breathtaking than the previous one, I can't wait to have it on a CD or better, a PDA..
Kadin Dogum uzmanlik dalinin en onde gelen kitaplarindan olan Williams Obstetri kitabi, her kadin dogum uzmaninin sahip olmasi gereken gercek bir bilgi hazinesi...

This is a true study guide and will help not only in preparation for exams but will help understanding the textbook better.

This is the most comprehensive obstetrics text that you can find, Whether you are in training as a residnet or practising OB. Excellent Reference text. Well laid out with detailed index.
Excellent!no need to buy anotehr Ob text.

There is perhaps no medical specialty that has more misconceptions, "wives tales" and variation than Obstetrics. Williams Obstetrics is more exhaustively comprehensive than any other text for general Obstetrics. Williams has long prided itself on presenting "evidence-based medicine" - separating the wives tales from medical knowledge obtained from published studies from peer-reviewed journals. Perhaps there are those who prefer their Obstetrics with a little voodoo. For those who want to know the most up-to-date scientifically based Obstetrics, Williams is your book!

I am looking for a cd rom of thisbook, may be you can tell me if this cd exists? if yes how can I get it?
best regards Dr` Roman Korobochka MD

This book is called, The Warlord's Puzzle by, Nicolas Debon.

Once there was a warlord who ruled china. One day an artist gave the warlord a one of a kind beautiful blue tile. But then. . . The artist broke it. Then the warlord said that the artist should get a punishment. The artist says that whoever solves the puzzle of the blue tile will get a huge reward. Then the warlord agrees with the artist. Later on, everyone knew about the big reward and how to get it. While everyone in line were waiting for their turn, the artist secretly searched for clever people in line. At the very end of the line, a poor peasant and his poor son were fishing for some tasty yummy supper. "What are all you honorable people doing?" asked the peasant. "We are waiting to solve a puzzle for the warlord," answered the scholar. Then the peasant and his son joined the line with the others. When they got to the palace, there were two giant pillars with dragons on it, but the poor little boy got frightened. "Enough!" roared the warlord "Artist, these two offend me more than all the rest. They will share your punishment. It was the peasant and the little boy's turn. While the little boy was trying to solve the puzzle, he was singing a thoughtful riddle. Then the warlord shouted with happiness. They solved the puzzle at last!

This book shows that no matter how poor you are you can still be smart. All of the rich people came to the palace, but they didn't solve the puzzle. The person who solved the puzzle wasn't any of the rich people. The person who solved the puzzle was the peasant's poor son.

I think the warlord should have tried to solve the puzzle by himself. He is forcing his land to solve the puzzle. The warlord is being very selfish. He just wants the puzzle to be solved for himself. If the warlord kept on trying he could have solved the puzzle by himself.

I liked the way the little boy was brave and gave it a shot to solve the puzzle even though he could've gotten a punishment.

By Valerie

Fine color drawings by Nicholas Debon bring the Chinese topics to life. Warlord's Puzzle tells of a fierce warlord in China who receives a ceramic tile as a gift, but sentences the man to punishment when it's shattered. The artist poses an unusual contest as the solution for the problem.

The Warlordýs Puzzle is a traditional Chinese tale that proves you do not have to have money or power to have intelligence. An artist gives a warlord a gift of a blue tile, and then drops it on the ground and breaks it into seven pieces. A contest is held that will reward anyone who can fix the tile, and the one who ends up solving the problem will surprise readers. The book has a mathematical twist because the pieces break in the shape of a tangram puzzle.

The author has found many ways to capture the interest of readers in this unique story. First, the characters of the book come alive through the beautiful pictures. Each page is rich in color and shows the emotions of the characters throughout the story. The words on each page are also arranged in unique ways to help give emphasis to the text and interest readers. Some of the phrasing of the sentences is difficult for young readers to understand, so some explanations may need to be given while reading. Overall, this is a very interesting and creative book that could lead into many different types of discussions.

A Chinese warlord receives a ceramic tile as a gift and promptly sentences the artist who made it to death when the title is shattered into seven pieces. The desperate artist proposes that a contest be held. Whoever is clever enough to put the tile fragments back together will be asked to live in the warlord's palace -- and his own life would be spared. After an enormous multitude of people fail at the task, a little peasant boy figures out a novel and unexpected solution. Virginia Pilegard's The Warlord's Puzzle is a delightful, highly recommended picturebook story that is gorgeously illustrated with the full color, museum quality artwork of Nicholas Debon.

I can highly recommend this book to parents and teachers. It's well-written with characters that come alive through some of the nicest children's book art work I've seen this year.

We used the tanagram puzzle pattern at the end of the book, and went on to make up our own, too. I think it's an excellent introduction to geometry.

Plus we talked about ancient China vs. China today.

You hear a lot about "math across the curriculum" and this book is such a great example of how that can work well for kids.

Outside of the classroom, my son wants to read this book at bedtime, too!

I just bought this book based upon the previous reviews and would like to set some of the facts straight. A reviewer stated that in this book, especially on the section about Putnam County, there is a large section about Jack Whitaker and even a map to his house in Hurricane. There is NO SUCH THING! First, Mr. Whitaker won the lottery in 2002...this book was published in 1998!!! To clarify this inept review, there is NO MENTION of Mr. Whitaker winning the lottery in any part of this book. Otherwise, this is a great factual representation of West Virginia.

By the author, E. Lee North (north444@aol.com).... West Virginians are the friendliest people in the country, and it was a pleasure interviewing and dealing with Mountaineers. This is my third book on West Virginia and it really is an incredible state. Just think --Wheeling is the only city to have been the capital of two different states and not now a capital of any; it was also the site of the last battle of the Amer. Revolution (Ft. Henry). These facts are well covered in "The 55."

Part of WV is N of part of NY state, part is W of Pt. Huron, Michigan, part S of Richmond, and it extends E to within 39 mi of Wash., DC. So it might be called a northern, midwestern, southern, or eastern state! (And has been.)We present just about everything you'd want to know about the Mountain State, including tables showing each county's percentage of women, minorities, income, home values, etc., and "Notables" for each county. There's a map of the whole state, and maps of every county.Actually, this book is probably the first popular history of all the counties of a state.

The Notables are quite interesting -- from Governor Cecil Underwood (imagine, elected WV's youngest governor in 1956, and her oldest in 1996) and Senators like Robert Byrd, Jay Rockefeller, and Jennings Randolph to sports stars like Jerry West and Sam Snead, writers Pearl Buck, Alberta Hannum, and Mary Lee Settle; military leaders Stonewall Jackson, Jesse Reno (Nevada's city of Reno is named for him)... well I'm just scratching the surface here. We do have a comprehensive index...

I owe a lot to our wonderful relatives down in Wheeling, and to Ye Olde Alpha tavern, our perennial gathering trough. And to the good folks at West Virginia University Press and Library.

By the author, E. Lee North (north444@aol.com).... West Virginians are the friendliest people in the country, and it was a pleasure interviewing and dealing with Mountaineers. This is my third book on West Virginia and it really is an incredible state. Just think --Wheeling is the only city to have been the capital of two different states and not now a capital of any; it was also the site of the last battle of the Amer. Revolution (Ft. Henry). These facts are well covered in "The 55."

Part of WV is N of part of NY state, part is W of Pt. Huron, Michigan, part S of Richmond, and it extends E to within 39 mi of Wash., DC. So it might be called a northern, midwestern, southern, or eastern state! (And has been.)We present just about everything you'd want to know about the Mountain State, including tables showing each county's percentage of women, minorities, income, home values, etc., and "Notables" for each county. There's a map of the whole state, and maps of every county.Actually, this book is probably the first popular history of all the counties of a state.

The Notables are quite interesting -- from Governor Cecil Underwood (imagine, elected WV's youngest governor in 1956, and her oldest in 1996) and Senators like Robert Byrd, Jay Rockefeller, and Jennings Randolph to sports stars like Jerry West and Sam Snead, writers Pearl Buck, Alberta Hannum, and Mary Lee Settle; military leaders Stonewall Jackson, Jesse Reno (Nevada's city of Reno is named for him)... well I'm just scratching the surface here. We do have a comprehensive index...

I owe a lot to our wonderful relatives down in Wheeling, and to Ye Olde Alpha tavern, our perennial gathering trough. And to the good folks at West Virginia University Press and Library.

WVU Press has re-issued this book in 1998, an expanded history with latest information on every county's vital stats -- pct minorities, ages, income, et al. Very complete, even listing several "notable persons" for each county. Complete with maps and photos.

There's plenty about Putnam County, including the map showing Hurricane and the home area of Jack Whitaker, who won the biggest one-winner Powerball prize on Christmas Day 2002 ($314.9 million)... just the tax on Whitaker's winnings paid off one-third of the Mountain State debt for that year.

"The Fifty-Five"is the bible for West Virginia's counties.

"There's a land of rolling mountains, where the sky is blue above." After coming to West Virginia four years ago for college, I not only became attached to "Country Roads" and being a Mountaineer, but I truly fell in love with the state and everything wholesome its heritage represents. Just as I enjoy waking up every morning to turn a new page in my Bed and Breakfast daily calendar, or curling up on a snowy evening with a cup of hot cocoa and a book on family owned gourmet restaurants, I've enjoyed leafing through the pages of "55 West Virginias", full of state history and statistics. A perfect book for those as in love with the state as I, the weekend traveler, or the world traveler, I think you, too, will find E. Lee North's Guide to West Virginia's State Counties as charming as you will the state itself.

This remarkable collection demonstrates once again how Ballard is one of literature's best kept secrets. Fourteen intelligent, intense and vividly written short stories challenge our theories of the recent future. It is one of the mysteries of our own time that someone casting as long a shadow as does Ballard, is virtually unknown in his native England, let alone America. This book, with its visions of dystopia, contains some very intriguing ideas: A middle east guerrilla has an idea for ending the fighting there, only to discover that the UN has a quite different agenda. World War III is played out against the larger concerns of President Reagan's health problems. The index from an unknown and perhaps suppressed autobiography provides tantalizing details to the life and times of one of this century's most anonymous titans. Ballard shines brightest in the short form; these stories are no exception. Enjoy!

I'll let the scholarly types explain all the deep insight contained in these stories. All I can say is this is the collection I hand out to people who want to explore Ballard's work. Some great stories in there.

These are some of the most creative short stories I've read. Ever. A sailor wrecks his chemical-laden ship on a remote Caribbean island, and the island environment reacts surprisingly well. A young assassin escapes an English mental institution and begins targeting astronauts. A man locks himself in his house and locks the rest of the world out...forever. Intelligently written, well-researched, and ever fascinating, these stories represent Ballard at his visionary best. I couldn't put it down!

J.G. Ballard is a rare find, a dystopian with a very, very dry sense of humor. The future isn't the bestiality of "1984" or the state mandated hedonism of Huxley's vision. Rather it comes from the constant tidal pressure of creeping suburbia puncuated with moments of surreal violence sputtered out of a TV set. Kind of like life. I recommend it highly

Ballard novels have never really impressed me - they seem too unfocused and convoluted. I am a big fan, however, of his short stories - generally well-written, interestingly plotted, and providing just the right amount of alienation, making even a mundane situation seem like an otherworldly experience. "The Best Short Stories of..." is a great place to start, with many fiction and sci-fi classics, a great representation of the short story form. "War Fever" is a worthy follow-up. I don't know why it took me so long to try these stories, but they are definitely worth it. Here, he doesn't really go out of his way to write in any established genre (sci-fi, horror), but his stories seem to drift that way ever so slightly, as if trying to just tread the edge of such. He uses some interesting variations with form as well, seeing what the reader will accept as a story: a questionnaire? An index? Both are equally valid, and Ballard uses them to great effect. Give this collection a try and see how well the stories hold up to his more classic works. I think you'll find that his output from the mid to late '80s was just as good.

Writing about race, specifically about the black race, in American entertainment is a dicey business--at best.

Then, not unlike a latter-day Alexis de Tocqueville or even Gunnar Myrdal, along comes Melvin Patrick Ely. Mr. Ely has written a well researched, passionately dispassionate analysis of the origins of the entertainment industry's racial miasma.

He takes us back to minstrelsy; on to the advent of radio before networks; then into the networks' formative years when an iconic show ruled the ether: "Amos'n'Andy". He informs us that even in 1930 blacks vigorously, if ineffectually, protested the show.

Mr. Ely has deconstructed more than a few of the racial myths that even today swirl around the "Amos 'n' Andy" radio program. He has eloquently put into context the television episodes and the NAACP's reaction to them.

He is objective and he is clear. Be forewarned, however, that this is not a coffee table book. It is written at 2nd to 3rd year undergraduate level, ie the book is not unlike a history text book, and all that that implies.

But it is, above all, lucid. And highly recommended.

History, well-researched and engagingly written, is as fascinating as the greatest fiction, if not more so. Melvin Ely combines a professor's concern for factualness with thorough, ground-breaking research and a novelist's way with narrative into an unfailingly entertaining work that is also of great and lasting academic, social and cultural importance. Ely has delivered a fascinating show business yarn with absorbing insight into human nature, sometimes noble, often naive, and occasionally downright repugnant. While not afraid to add an edge of attitude or a clear point of view when he chooses, the author still eschews easy answers and the predictable pedantics and prejudice of an ideologue of any political persuasion. With subtle surety, and never a trace of condescension, Ely ultimately shows us ourselves--good, bad and ugly--in an absorbing saga of American life and culture.

At a basic level, this book is a detailed, well-researched history of America's longest running (1929-1960 on both radio and television) comedy show. Ely does a fine job of describing the factors that led to the show's great popularity and the successful efforts of its creators, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, to maintain that popularity.

At a more sophisticated level, however, the book provides an intimate view of one of the great political events of this century, the American Civil Rights movement. Because Amos `N Andy was the only nationally popular series prior to 1960 featuring black characters, and because its creators and principal actors were both white, the show repeatedly drew both praise and criticism from the press and various organizations seeking to promote their own political agendas.

Ely describes in detail how Gosden and Correll went to great lengths to keep the show from being viewed as racist, yet in the long run they failed. As he points out,! that failure may have caused the major networks to shy away from shows featuring black performers and delay their introduction into television for another 20 years.

Having listened to Amos `N Andy on the radio as a child and subsequently watched it on TV, I like many other white Americans, was dumbfounded when the NAACP decided to attack it for being racist. For me at least, Gosden and Correll succeeded in their objective of establishing their characters as human types, not racial types. Sapphire was the spitting image of my best friend's mother, and Algonquin J. Calhoun came to typify every crooked lawyer (Is that redundant?) I later had the misfortune to meet.

Unfortunately, Ely touches only peripherally on the black sitcoms of the 80s and 90s (e.g., "The Jeffersons" and "In Living Color") which I (and many other Americans) personally found to be racist.

Despite dealing with a highly emotional topic, Ely has produced a lucid, objective and thought-provoking work! . His shortcomings consist of his failure to take into consideration the effects of the other great events of the period (the Great Depression, World War II, etc.) and his seeming assumption that all Americans cared about the Civil Rights movement. In fact, I think that more people (both black and white) cared more about putting food on the table and raising their families well.

There are few phrases in the English language as divisive as "Amos 'n' Andy." It is frequently a euphamism for humor at its most racist and simplistic. Yet could a program based on little more than a handful of stereotypes be able to thrive on radio for more than 30 years? This book answers that question by putting "Amos 'n' Andy" into perspective, through the evolution of the program, its roots in the minstrel shows, and its context within its own time. Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, the white creators of the program, are portrayed quite fairly in this book, and their motives are also presented in a fair way. Their goal was not to offend, though inevitably they did, but rather to entertain. This book shows how the core characters were portrayed in their own circle, the mythical Mystic Knights of the Sea lodge, and how they were portrayed beyond that inner circle, as the characters would intermingle with other blacks, and also whites. Also worth reading is the efforts by the Pittsburgh Courier and a few other black newspapers to boycott the show as early as 1931. More interesting, is how those attempts stalled, only to regain momentum 20 years later, with the advent of the television version. The phenomenon of "Amos 'n' Andy" is more complex than it would seem, as it tells us more about American society and racial relations than perhaps any othe program ever. This book is not just about "Amos 'n' Andy," but rather about ourselves. And for that, it should be a must-read. I was able to finish this book in two days it was so engrossing.

As the title indicates Ely's work is frankly a work of social history, not a performance biography, and is less interested in exploring "Amos 'n' Andy's" significant impact on the broadcasting medium than in viewing it as window into mid-20th Century American racial attitudes. Analysis of the program's content focuses on that perspective to the exclusion of all others, and detailed examination of the original scripts is confined primarily to the first two years of "Amos 'n' Andy."

Ely therefore fails to discuss in any detail the evolution of the characters and their relationships beyond 1929 -- and this is perhaps the book's greatest flaw, given that the characterizations and the dramatic sophistication of the program evolved substantially between 1929 and the mid-1930s It's unfortunate that Ely shortchanges this period of the program's history, as it in fact coincided with the peak of the program's popularity, and in my view an understanding of the evolution of the characters during the 1929-35 period is essential to an understanding of the series' appeal. (I have, in fact, read all of the scripts for the first decade of the series as part of my own research into "Amos 'n' Andy's" history.)

While Ely occasionally draws conclusions regarding the program's content that are contradicted by a detailed reading of the original 1930s scripts, and sometimes tends to over-interpret in his examination of public reaction to the program, in general his account is balanced and thoughtful, and his research into the African-American response to "Amos 'n' Andy" presents the definitive study of this aspect of the series.

Ely also deserves much praise for avoiding the self-indulgent deconstructionist jargon which tends to dominate current academic studies of popular culture -- his book is a rare example of an academic work which is both scholarly and extremely well-written. I'm very pleased to see the book is back in print.