Virginia Books

Any American who has ever been puzzled by Korean manners, any Korean who has ever been confused by American behavior, should buy this book. As a longtime student and sometime resident of Korea, I especially appreciate the comprehensive treatment of every aspect of daily life, from birth to death, job search to friendship. These concrete matters, which take up the bulk of the book, are prefaced by an opening chapter exploring the foundations of Korean and American culture. Contrasting but not comparing the Judeo-Christian tradition with Confucianism sets the stage for understanding why Americans send written invitations in advance of important events like weddings while Koreans tend to invite guests orally much closer to the date. The authors provide practical guidance for newcomers to either country, visitors, and the increasing numbers of people ties to both countries by marriages or business agreements. The book is well organized, well written and an excellent guide to both cultures.

This book was amazing!! It accurately gave the reader a view of 2 distinct cultures in the East and West. It is well-organized, well-written, and easy to read. It is by far the best book about culture there is and a must-have for Americans living in Korea and vice-versa. But above all, it will help you understand the people. It will definitely make your life a whole lot easier!!!

This book is delightful and uplifting. I read it with my 13 year old and he enjoyed it very much, and he doesn't usually like to read!!! The stories in this book hold good life lessons. It would be a great read for anyone, but especially for young people. This would be a great selection for a middle school group reading club or class.

What a wonderful story of southern values and a tribute to a family life style that is a thing of the past. If your Dad ever told you that "you ain't got a lick of sense" or that "you ain't never going to amount to nothing" you will both laugh and cry with Connie as she shares her families' love and devotion to each other, their family farm and to their treasured rural culture.

This is one of the first apologies of the raison d'etre of the Church of England and why it is neither Roman Catholic nor Reformed in the way the Protestant churches on the continent were. Jewel came after Cranmer, but before Hooker and should be considered one of the architects of Anglicanism even as he envisioned a Reformed Catholic Church of England.

John Jewel wrote his Apology in the mid 16th Century in support of the nascent Church of England. In it, he deftly expresses that the foundation for the Church of England as a separate entity from the Roman Catholic Religion is not a novelty but is found in the Scriptures, in the writings of the church Fathers and in the early Church and even Jewish tradition.

For Jewel, he and the Church of England were remaining faithful to the faith handed down from Jesus, the apostles and church Fathers. It was the Roman Catholics and not the Reformational Christians that had rebelled and turned from the true faith. Jewel and others saw themselves as returning to the ancient faith based on Scripture.

He makes this solid case in his Apology by rarely making a point without referencing Scripture or a Christian Father or both. In that sense, this book serves as a Biblical Study and church history lesson. He also is adamant in attacking the practices of the Roman Catholic leaders and doctrines of religion that he saw as anathema to the gospel. These include the exaltation of the Pope, private masses, masses said in Latin, purgatory, indulgences and attacks on Protestants. His criticisms are targeted and are not necessarily anti-Roman Catholic; in fact, Jewel pleads for a blessed Christian relationship between the Roman Catholics and Protestants rather than animosity.

The case is made for the Protestant church then and Christians at anytime to separate themselves from the established religion when it represents doctrines of man in conflict with the ancient faith received from Christ and the apostles.

Jewel pulls no punches and is at times antagonistic. The writing is stimulating and enjoyable, while it is always enlightening. I think that Anglicans today would especially appreciate this book.

The copy I read was edited by John Booty and included helpful references. I do not know if all versions will include them or not; either way, the original text is excellent.

Shakespeare On Spirituality: Life-Changing Wisdom from Shakespeare's Plays

This book is a must for anyone interested in Albemarle County, Charlottesville, Fluvanna County and Thomas Jefferson.

With superior research and almost 50 years of knowledge, Ed Lay lays out a lasting foundation for anyone wanting to learn more about our extraordinary part of America.

Pictures and text help to describe his thoughts and the architecture.

Buy this book!

Toby Beavers
Fine Virginia Farms & Estates
http://www.Charlottesville-Area-Real-Estate.com

Beautifully written and thoroughly researched, this book offers a glimpse into the history of the architecture of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia. Additionally, the reader can learn of the fascinating personalities who have lived and worked within the walls of these works of art. It is a lifetime endeavor and a real treat for the local, the traveller, the Jefferson enthusiast and the historian.

Virginia Walters is a teacher at my daughters' elementary school, Condit, in Bellaire, Texas. She is a kind and loving teacher that all children fondly remember. Her first book is a winner with my kids. Every parent who has tired of hearing that dreaded phrase, "Are we there yet?" will benefit from it.

Our three year old son just loves this book. An entertaining yet educational book focusing on spacial relationships, a detailed narrative, and mathematical skills. The text is a rhyming, yet unusual narrative. The book includes a large map in the front and a smaller map with each section as the father and son travel to Grandma's house. Each section ends with "We have XX more miles to go" declining from 100 to 10 in steps of 10. Highly recommended.

This is by far the best text devoted to the history of Arlington national cemetery I've seen. It begins with a detailed hisory of how the Washington-Lee family aquired the property, and the government seizure during the Civil war.. The property was used as a burial ground in part to prevent Robert E. Lee family from returning. The book goes on to list numerous notables now buried there and includes a brief but informative biography of each, most have pictures of the gravesite. Finally the book lists the many memorials inside and around the cemetery and the offical requirements for burial at Arlington.. A Fascinating book, I've read it several times and find something new every time I pick it up. Well worth purchasing for the history buff, or the casual tourist who wants to learn more about our most important national shrine.

I first found this book in it's first edition in 1994 after a trip to D.C. After picking it up from the library, I really wished that I had it when I was in D.C. I read it from cover to cover and learned so much about Arlington. I picked up the second edition during a visit to ANC in September, 2001. Every grave marker and memorial of renown is mentioned and the history behind the larger monuments is very good. It would be really nice if color pictures accompanied the text. I hope that Mr. Peters continues to update the book every now and then.

The illustrated biography of one of England's major 19th-century illustrators has about 180 of Tenniel's illustrations along with 30-40 other related ones. This outstanding, comprehensive, definitive work covers both Tenniel's biography and his artistic career. The career focuses on the two major factors of Tenniel's classic illustrations for various editions of "Alice in Wonderland" and his political and social cartoons appearing in "Punch" magazine for decades. The illustrator's style, caricature, and perspective are discussed in relation to political and social events and issues of the time, including Tenniel being caught up in the social controversy and legal proceedings surrounding "Punch" articles allegedly denigrating the Irish and Tenniel's related illustrations often picturing Irish men with simian-like or other animal-like features. But for the most part, Tenniel was a popular and successful artist because he portrayed with unmatched, unfailing skill and ingenuity England's image of itself as the world's leading colonial and commercial power with an enviable domestic political system. This included critical cartoons of some of England's policies and practices and leading politicians which were a part of the modern-day English political and media tradition. Tenniel's position among the handful of England's top illustrators is secure, and does not have to be supported by argument or claims. The art historian and Tenniel authority Morris mainly fills in the ground for Tenniel's acknowledged pedestal. For collectors, besides the numerous illustrations in the text tracing Tenniel's career and exemplifying his imagination and versatility, there is an appendix "A Guide to Tenniel's Unidentified Punch Work."

One cannot think of classic children's literature without including Lewis Carroll's Alice books, and one cannot think of Alice without the splendid illustrations of Sir John Tenniel. Indeed, the images of the little girl confronting monsters, mad characters, and suspensions of logic are familiar even to those who have not read the books (or had the books read to them). Tenniel's Alice illustrations are his masterwork, but there was much more to him, revealed in _Artist of Wonderland: The Life, Political Cartoons, and Illustrations of Tenniel_ (University of Virginia Press) by art historian Frankie Morris. For over a half a century Tenniel was a staffer at the magazine _Punch_, producing miscellaneous drawings, fanciful initial letters, headings, and more, eventually graduating to the big weekly cartoon which was a staple of the magazine. At his passing in 1914, it was recognized that he would be best remembered by his Alice illustrations, but he would not have been pleased that what he thought of as a secondary career of book illustration should have eclipsed his political cartoons. In her book, Morris corrects the balance, giving Tenniel's biography, then spending six chapters on aspects of the Alice illustrations and five more on the _Punch_ cartoons. Her book is big and handsome, and has plenty of example illustrations.

Tenniel was invited to _Punch_ by its first editor in 1850. At that time, the magazine had been in existence only nine years, but had already become a mainstay in presenting the conservative, middle to upper class views of Victorian England. It was not long before Tenniel moved up from doing small pictures to doing a title page, and eventually to the full page weekly cartoon that was to make him famous. At a Wednesday staff dinner, the subject and treatment of the cartoon would be discussed, and Tenniel would take the ideas and make them his; Morris shows how he simplified and intensified one image after another. It was often turned into a banner for different causes, handed around for group comment, pasted onto kiosks, or copied in other papers internationally. Lewis Carroll asked for Tenniel to do the illustrations for the first Alice book in 1863. Carroll was a fan of _Punch_ and the drawings therein. It was a nearly perfect partnership of author and illustrator. They were of the same class, both frank and honest, both lovers of the theater, Shakespeare, toys, and pantomimes, and especially they delighted in children. Morris's interpretation of the pictures will be of interest to anyone who loves the Alice books. For instance, there is much about how important pantomimes were to both Carroll and Tenniel. Carroll loved the holiday entertainments, as part of his affection for his child friends, and Tenniel called upon stage representations of pantomime characters to interact with Alice. There were, for instance, chess games in some pantomimes with human pieces; many of the chessmen Tenniel depicts are not chessmen at all, but are people dressed up in chessmen costumes. The same could be said of his Humpty Dumpty, or the leg of mutton to whom Alice is introduced.

Morris shows that Tenniel's political cartoons are important guides to British thought and sentiment of their times, and they have been frequently reproduced to illustrate history books. There are many that she shows here, and each has an explanation to put it into historical context; we require that, because they are from a strange and distant land and time. It is not so with the Alice illustrations, which come from a strange and distant fantasy source, but whose realistic representation of a bizarre world is beyond explanation. In this they are timeless classics. Any Alice fan will enjoy this good-looking volume, which is sure to become a main reference to Tenniel's life and art.

This is a book well-worth the time it takes to read it, which is something that cannot be said of many books on the market today. Full of vibrantly-penned short stories and poems -- the kind that Jesse Stuart wrote and that become classics -- each holds the reader's interest from start to finish by grabbing his/her mind and heart and weaving it into the tale. Not being a native West Virginian, I'm free to say that Mountaineers take this writing business seriously, and as a result, aspiring writers can look to stories like the ones in this book as good examples of How to Write. If you're partial to downhome stories or smalltown life in coalmining regions or other stories along that line, buy "Backcountry..." you won't be disappointed.

I was one of the students who is thanked for the "preliminary" work in the first couple pages of Backcountry. This book was fully and entirely constructed as the sole purpose of a course at West Virginia University. We, the students, with the aid of Professor James Harms, chose the authors we wished to include, the work for each of those authors, sought reproduction rights from the publishers, and wrote the short biographies on each author.

We felt that it would be something really special to tap the poet laureate of West Virginia, Irene McKinney, to write the introduction to the book - we also decided to include some of her work in the book. Happily she accepted.

We worked long and hard on this book and were all very excited that it would someday be released, available and, in turn, earn each and every one of us at least a partial editing credit.

When it was finally released, we received no credit outside of the easily missed page (not even in the official acknowledgement), nothing aside from a complimentary copy from the University thanking us for "involvement in the project which eventually produced Backcountry," and the surprise that McKinney had "edited" the book.
She did not.

I cannot see how our product is different from this book and why the "James Harms with the students of English 271" editing credit became Irene McKinney.

It is quite possible that the publisher made a mistake (a big mistake), or that I am missing some drastic difference between our book and this book. But, if neither is the case, then who is at fault?

I do not wish to accuse Dr. McKinney of theft, do not seek to be paid, or to otherwise downplay what is an exceptional collection, I only seek an explanation.

In other words, buy this book. As ONE OF ITS CREATORS, I can speak very highly of its content. Maybe if a second pressing comes, the wrongs will be righted.

Passive aggressively yours,
Colin

I suspect that anyone with even a modest interest in American history has heard of the battle of Hampton Roads between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (ex-Merrimac). The battle essentially ended in a tie with the two ships injured but still functional.

This book is the report on a symposium held at the Mariners Museum in nearby Newport News. Fittingly it was held on March 5, 2003, the weekend closest to the date of the battle (March 9, 1962) and the 141st year since the fight. The reports given at the conference were so interesting that they have been published in this book.

There are nine chapters that cover the battle itself, how the ships were built, fought, and finally lost. Most important is the aftereffect that the battle had on the navies of the world.

England which had been tempted to come into the war on the side of the south realized that her wooden ships could not face the Monitor (or more specificaly the several Monitors that were being built). In fact all of the navies of the world suddenly realized that their entire navy was obsolete. The future belonged to the steam powered ironclads. And this future lasted until World War II proved them dead and the submarine and aircraft carrier were now supreme.

In recent years the original Monitor has been found and major parts of the ship have been brought to the surface. The final paper in the book is a report on what had been done in the formation of the new USS Monitor Center museum located at the Mariners Museum.

This book brings out a tremendous amount of schlorship on the battle that is missed in the normal cursory treatments given in the history books.

Set during the American Civil War, The Battle of Hampton Roads: New Perspectives on the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia is the history of the first encounter between ironclad warships, the end of wooden warships, and the beginning of the machine-age navy. An anthology of essays by scholarly authors examine such topics as daily life aboard the USS Monitor, a historical debate of which side won the battle of Hampton Roads, and the battle as depicted in art. An insightful collection, enthusiastically recommended for college library and naval or civil war history shelves.

This book has pictures and it tells you all you need to know if you are doing a report on this and if you are doing history day on this, you're garrenteed an A+++++++++++++++.

Every time I see mention of "The Battle of Yorktown" I immediate do a mental correction since it was technically a siege. In August 1781, after six years of war, George Washington and his ragged, underpaid colonial army made a marathon march from New York to attack Lord Cornwallis at the Virginia port of Yorktown. With the help of the French navy, which had defeated the British at the Battle of Chesapeake Bay (as well as at strategic naval engagements in the West Indies), the rebel American army was able to entrap Cornwallis and his 7,000 men. Unable to break the siege and with his ranks decimated by casualties, illness, and desertion, Cornwallis surrendered two months later. The signing of the surrender document on October 19, 1781 effectively constitutes the end of the Revolutionary War and the beginning of the American nation (even though we reckon such things from July 4, 1776). However, ironically enough, few at the time realized the American victory at Yorktown would indeed be the climatic moment of the revolution.

In this informative and grandly illustrated volume for the American Heritage Junior Library, Thomas J. Fleming lays out the end game of the American Revolution clearly establishing for young readers that in the spring of 1781 the outcome of the war was still in doubt. With British commander in chief in America, Sir Henry Clinton secure in New York behind his fortifications, Cornwallis had ignored orders to secure South Carolina and had marched instead into Virginia. Fleming explains how this afforded the Americans an opportunity to surprise Cornwallis and defeat one British army in the open field before it could catch the colonial army between the two forces in New York. To add insult to injury, Fleming also shows how the British defensive position at Yorktown was not as bad as Cornwallis insisted, before detailing how the siege worked out. To be fair, Fleming also gives the French credit for prodding Washington into making his historic decision to abandon his watch on Clinton at New York and march south to attack Cormwallis's army in Virginia.

Still, it seems perfectly clear that Americans are not as enamored of sieges as they are of battles. The siege at Vicksburg was arguably more important to the final outcome of the Civil War than the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, but it is the latter than commands more attention (the Alamo being the exception that proves the rule). Sieges are usually parts of campaigns, such as the Peninsula and St. Petersberg campaigns/sieges in the Civil War, but it remains the battles that draw the most attention and receive the focus in volumes like this one. That makes this look at Yorktown all the more significant, because it deals with the larger strategic considerations of the war along with the tactical concerns of tightening the noose around the British position. Still, the are the assaults by the allied forces on two of the British forward redoubts that provides a sense of drama and accomplishment more than waiting for the inevitable outcome of the siege.

As is the case with all of these marvelous American Heritage Junior Library volumes "The Battle of Yorktown" is marvelously illustrated with period paintings, maps, etchings, cartoons, drawings, and the like. One of the few contemporary photographs shows a collection of Revolutionary War items from various museums that were worn by colonial soldiers. One of the treats is that key paintings are often done as full or even two-page spreads (such as John Trumbull's final version of the surrender scene). Being able to tell this story with 18th-century maps and paintings is quite something and will give young readers a much better sense of how Washington won the war than they will find in their American history textbook.