Virginia Books

Safe Streets illustrates why we cannot depend upon the government for our safety.

Trusting that the police will be there in time of need is foolish.

Equally foolish is to believe that new or existing laws will prevent a suicidal maniac from murdering your entire family at the neighborhood Mall.

This is our country and we must take responsibility for our own and our family's safety.

[...]I highly recommend Safe Streets to anyone who believes that the government will be responsible for their safety.

If you are a women, you need to read this book. If you are anti-gun, you need to read this book. If you do not know YOUR role as a citizen of America, you need to read this book. Mr. Longenecker reaches back into the era of our Founding Fathers, grabs the term 'Sovereign Citizen,' whips it back through time, places it squarely in front of our eyes and says 'This is who you are!' In the short span of 204 pages, he teaches us what our 'Fathers' knew and warned us about. He describes the theft of our authority to run our lives and how our 'abdication' has weakened our resistance to aggression and therefore has increased crime. I encourage all women to read this book to help you see the connection between freedom and the safety of your families and even your own body. Today, Freedom, is largely taught in the home. As women, that is largely our venue. It's in our homes that much of freedom's lessons are learned or not learned. 'Safe Streets' endeavors to point out the assaults on our authority as heads of households under the guise of some benefit 'for the children.' 'Safe Streets' clearly explains that The Second Amendment to our Constitution is NOT ABOUT GUNS! It is about freedom, and your authority to run your own lives, to manage your own household and keep your families safe. Who is the head of your household? You think it is you? Guess again. You're being replaced. 'Safe Streets' shows us how ever increasing government infringements on your sovereignty have and are this very minute stealing your freedom, authority, safety and wealth. And how to stop it.

Safe Streets In The Nationwide Concealed Carry of Handguns by John Longenecker is one of the first publications from his new Libertarian and pro-gun publishing company, Contrast Media Press. His hard hitting articles can be read at his web site called Good for The Country and have been picked up by numerous media outlets and web sites. In fact, they are always insanely popular whenever they are posted on various pro-gun and pro-freedom websites. If you enjoy Longenecker's energetic writing style, then you will definitely love Safe Streets In The Nationwide Concealed Carry of Handguns.

Safe Streets In The Nationwide Concealed Carry of Handguns discusses how government enforced dependency is destroying the American spirit, our independence, and is actually one of the root causes of violent crime. Longenecker successfully shows how private ownership of guns does not only benefit gun owners. He shows how gun ownership combats crime, protects our liberties, and helps preserve the independent spirit that makes America the greatest country on earth.

It is a complicated theme, but it is also so simple that it should be common sense. The fact that it is somewhat complicated shows exactly how far we have fallen. That is where this book comes in. It was not only written for patriots, liberty advocates, and gun owners. It was written for the non-gun owner or anyone who a wakeup needs call. Hopefully, they will realize the enormous benefits that gun ownership has on society and that the fight to control our guns is not only about guns. It is about control.

This is one of those books that you truly have to read, because a few paragraphs in a review could never do it justice. However, I will hit on a few parts that really stood out.

The Gun Control Formula

Longenecker discusses how gun control is actually social engineering and is the blueprint for all of the attacks against individual freedom, sanctity of life, and the interests of the United States of America. In the book, you will learn how gun control is also a threat against marriage, religion, and many other parts of our everyday life.

Armed Citizens - Citizen Authority Or Vigilante

Longenecker discusses how citizens who uses a firearm for self-defense is acting on citizen authority and is not a vigilante. This section of the book is one that you may find yourself highlighting paragraphs so that you can use them later in a debate with an antigun co-worker or friend.

Victim Disarmament Zones

Longenecker discusses how Victim Disarmament Zones (also known as Criminal Protection Zones and Criminal Empowerment Zones) leave law-abiding citizens defenseless against criminals. He also discusses several recent incidents where innocent unarmed people were slaughtered in Victim Disarmament Zones.

The CPR Corollary

This part of the book is by far my favorite, and worth at least twice as much as the price of the book. Longenecker was one of the first paramedics in Los Angeles, and was on one of the first panels discussing bystander CPR. As a paramedic for large city myself, I could really relate to the concept of the CPR Corollary. In this section, Longenecker discusses how citizens carrying handguns is identical to citizen CPR prior to the arrival of first responders. He also discusses how many doctors and medical professionals initially opposed citizens learning CPR and wanted it left to professionals. Thankfully, common sense prevailed and CPR was taught to bystanders. As a result, lives have been saved.
This is similar to concealed carry and how may law enforcement officials and government officials oppose armed citizens and want the responsibility for your own safety be left to professionals. Thankfully, common sense is prevailing again, and more states are either passing or improving their concealed carry laws. As a result, lives are saved.

Safe Streets in The Nationwide Concealed Carry Of Handguns by John Longenecker should hold a prominent place in your home library. It is not just a book; it is a tool that can be used to change minds and to help preserve our liberties.

Safe Streets In The Nationwide Concealed Carry of Handguns by John Longenecker is one of the first publications from his new Libertarian and pro-gun publishing company, Contrast Media Press. His hard hitting articles can be read at his web site called Good for The Country and have been picked up by numerous media outlets and web sites. They are always insanely popular whenever they are posted on various pro-gun or pro-freedom websites. If you enjoy Longenecker's energetic writing style, then you will definitely love Safe Streets In The Nationwide Concealed Carry of Handguns.

Safe Streets In The Nationwide Concealed Carry of Handguns discusses how government enforced dependency is destroying the American spirit, our independence, and is actually one of the root causes of violent crime. Longenecker successfully shows how private ownership of guns does not only benefit gun owners. He shows how gun ownership combats crime, protects our liberties, and helps preserve the independent spirit that makes America the greatest country on earth.

It is a complicated theme, but it is also so simple that it should be common sense. The fact that it is somewhat complicated shows exactly how far we have fallen. That is where this book comes in. It was not only written for patriots, liberty advocates, and gun owners. It was written for the non-gun owner or anyone who a wakeup needs call. Hopefully, they will realize the enormous benefits that gun ownership has on society and that the fight to control our guns is not only about guns. It is about control.

This is one of those books that you truly have to read, because a few paragraphs in a review could never do it justice. However, I will hit on a few parts that really stood out.

The Gun Control Formula

Longenecker discusses how gun control is actually social engineering and is the blueprint for all of the attacks against individual freedom, anctity of life, and the interests of the United States of America. In the book, you will learn how gun control is also a threat against marriage, religion, and many other parts of our everyday life.

Armed Citizens - Citizen Authority Or Vigilante

Longenecker discusses how citizens who uses a firearm for self-defense is acting on citizen authority and is not a vigilante. This section of the book is one that you may find yourself highlighting paragraphs so that you can use them later in a debate with an antigun co-worker or friend.

Victim Disarmament Zones

Longenecker discusses how Victim Disarmament Zones (also known as Criminal Protection Zones and Criminal Empowerment Zones) leave law-abiding citizens defenseless against criminals. He also discusses several recent incidents where innocent unarmed people were slaughtered in Victim Disarmament Zones.

The CPR Corollary

This part of the book is by far my favorite, and worth at least twice as much as the price of the book. Longenecker was one of the first paramedics in Los Angeles, and was on one of the first panels discussing bystander CPR. As a paramedic for large city myself, I could really relate to the concept of the CPR Corollary. In this section, Longenecker discusses how citizens carrying handguns is identical to citizen CPR prior to the arrival of first responders. He also discusses how many doctors and medical professionals initially opposed citizens learning CPR and wanted it left to professionals. Thankfully, common sense prevailed and CPR was taught to bystanders. As a result, lives have been saved.
This is similar to concealed carry and how may law enforcement officials and government officials oppose armed citizens and want the responsibility for your own safety be left to professionals. Thankfully, common sense is prevailing again, and more states are either passing or improving their concealed carry laws. As a result, lives are saved.

Safe Streets in The Nationwide Concealed Carry Of Handguns by John Longenecker should hold a prominent place in your home library. It is not just a book; it is a tool that can be used to change minds and to help preserve our liberties.

None of the CDC, the National Academy of Sciences, nor DoJ were able to find that ANY gun control reduces VIOLENT CRIME, MURDER, SUICIDE or ACCIDENTS in any significant manner.

None. There it is -- gun control doesn't work. No emotion, just science.

Obviously the NICS/Brady background check must do SOMETHING, right? No, it isn't even enforced on criminals so there cannot be any compelling reason for it:

Less than 100 criminals are prosecuted each year for Brady/NICS violations -- and the vast majority of these are because the authorities needed to arrest or prosecute a criminal but can't make the real charge stick, or needs a "predicate felony" for a conspiracy or RICO charge.

So gun control doesn't work and it just interferes with the right of every law abiding American to self-defense and to protect his/her family.

This books explains the evidence and makes the case.

I had been hoping for a more happy read. I know that not all search and rescues end happily but this book has many grim endings and some graphic details. I had a hard time reading certain sections and can't imagine what it was like for Beth Barkley to live them.

Because of her amazing courage and perseverence I could not put the book down. I'm glad I read it but I don't think it is a book I would re-read because it is so sad.

It doesn't have anything to do with reviewing the book but I came away wondering why on earth someone willing to face machine guns, hostile populations and sleeping in a tent in an Armenian winter had to worry about whether she could afford to take off work to go on these missions of mercy. You couldn't pay me enough money to do what she does. Why should anyone have to use their vacation time and be set back financially to do this?

I expected more technical information about training dogs, but was captivated by the stories and adventures. I wish there had been pictures of the White Shepherds. My 10 year old and 12 year old (boy and girl) liked the book very much.

The stories in this book could almost stand on their own. I can't imagine doing this dangerous and time consuming work for free, and for so many years! The copy of the book I got has a White Shepherd on the front, much more interesting than the picture shown here. I read it all in one night, couldn't put it down!

Being and animal lover it was more than anything the stories about the bonds forged between the dogs and their "persons" that drew me in. I'd always looked at dogs sniffing through rubble and thought "that's all there is." How wrong I was. Search and Rescue gave me a glimpse into the years long training, the poignant and oftimes funny adventures, the sacrifices and fortitude on the part of both person and dog that it takes to do this work. I was fascinated by the interactions between peoples of all nationalities, how they worked together all over the world, and the inside workings of the governments behind the scenes. What touched me the most was what Search and Rescue came to mean to one courageous woman and her three white German Shepherds. Search and Rescue will bring smiles, tears and understanding to all who read it.

I enjoyed this book VERY much since I do search and rescue but THIS IS NOT A TRAINING BOOK but a true story of a woman and her two dogs. if you are looking for a training book I would suggest the the book by Susan Bulanda called "Ready, the training of a search and rescue dog" it is a very good book. I used it to train my current SAR dog. Happy Searching!!!

omgaw yall have just gott to read this book the way mrs naylor describes everything is on the mark!!! i think this is the best book a teen could ever read cuz it shows how hard and also how fast life can go if u dont slow down!!the thing tht made me look at this book was the titles and the author i love mrs. naylors books but the title just made me take a double glance once i picked it up the cover was BEAUTIFUL!!!well yall have to read this I LOVE IT!!

THIS IS A WONDERFUL BOOK. I LOVED IT. IT IS NOT LIKE ANYTHING I HAVE READED BEFORE.I WOULD SAY THIS IS A BOOK ANY YOUNG WOMAN OR MAN FOR THAT MATTER WOULD ENJOY READING. I WOULD NOT LET ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF ABOUT 10 READ IT BUT OTHER THAN THAT IT IS A GREAT BOOK. I REALLY ENJOY IT...

I read this book as part of the requirements for an adolescent literature course. Surprisingly, I liked it. Like all teens, Beth faced the pressures of being herself, pleasing her family, fitting in with friends, and still working hard in school. Like many Appalachian young adults, she knows that education is a way to leave the poverty-striken life her family has, even if she should decide to live nearby.

I liked the character of Beth because she showed strength--strength to adhere to family ties while defying what was expected by the family, the grit to work create a better life for herself, and yet the ability not to compromise her plans for her future.

I would not recommend this for a high school reading list, but if my teenaged daughter wanted to read it, I certainly would not find it offending.

I loved it! I live in a small town in West Virginia, like the main character and I know what it's like to look out your window and see the beautiful mountains. I also know what it was like for Beth with her parents wanting something for her that she didn't want.

I think that every teenager should read this book. Beth just displays to me that she is such a hard worker and she tried everyday to keep her family in good health and helping her mother. I wanted her and Harless to get married all through the book. I think that they should make a movie about the book and Beth should be played by Katie Holmes. Hey, it's a thought! Thanks!

I had to read this book for my History of Slavery class, thought by the author. Dr. Morgan gave excellent insight in addition to his book. I would suggust this book to anyone for anytype of reading, pleasure and required.

Morgan's analysis will give anyone who wants to know more about slavery an immense amount of material. Comparing the Chesapeake and Lowcountry areas of the American colonies during the eighteenth century, Morgan discusses the economic and cultural sides of the different slave institutions and discusses black-white encounters. No matter how one may try to define slavery in one, distinct way, Morgan shows there is always an exception to that definition. I know Morgan worked for many years to produce this book and that this book is the culmination of an immense amount of research and analysis, but this book would make a larger impact if it was shorter. By the time I was done reading this mammoth book, I had a hard time remembering all the topics he brought up. For any history student, like me, it is worth reading, but make sure you give yourself plenty of time to understand it.

I had the pleasure of listening to this author lecture to in class during my senior year of college. Having the opportunity to discuss this book with the author made Slave Counterpoint come to life. Slave Counterpoint makes the topic of Antebellum slavery captivating for those interested in learning about the early days of slavery in the Cheasapeake Bay region. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who has a sharp curiosity about early colonial history and wishes to be engaged in an honest account of events(I would recommend reading this book a couple of chapeter at a time).

Philip D. Morgan's exhaustively researched and extremely detailed text seeks to compare and contrast the social structure and overall formation of the slave systems of the Chesapeake, VA and Lowcountry, SC regions during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Morgan does not adopt a narrative approach: he offers numerous discussions-all of which are deftly integrated into his descriptive analyses-of how black cultures changed over time. Morgan spends the 700-odd pages eschewing monolithic portrayals of black culture at almost every opportunity, preferring to investigate complexity and contradiction rather than to resort to pithy judgment. This is an excellent, important read.

I have read no better detailed study than this book. Long but worth it due to the rich detail.

This is a simply fascinating work that weaves business history, marketing theory and techniques, economic differentiation, and overt and unconscious racism. The most interesting dimensions (for this unapologetic Son of the South) is the isolation of the feelings and thoughts of nostalgia that the Quaker Oats image of Aunt Jemima invoked and Manring examines in detail. He follows the work of James Young and illustrator N.C. Wyeth's creation and adaptations of the image from conception to modern politically correct adaptation.

I'm not sure I completely buy into Manrings total thesis, since as a child I always just thought of Aunt Jemima's big old smile as normal, and after all, who doesn't like pancakes? Her image to me meant "proud," "good cooking," and "skilled" not contented servitude as Manring proposes.

Still, this is a fascinating and challenging read.

Prof. Manring has accomplished something rare: an academic book free of jargon, a cultural history free of polemic, and a thorough analysis that never drags. She writes clear, lively prose -- this is a book for the general reader as well as the student of American history. Brava!

This book and its contextualization of Aunt Jemima or the mammy stereotype, as I refer to it, is well-written and thought-provoking. The material has been very helpful to me in exploring how this particular stereotype of black women functions in American culture and I will be using it as a key reference in my dissertation. Thanks.

Slave in a Box is a great study of the racism and sexism embodied in the birth of advertising. It is not only provocative but also chock full of great facts about the era--from the importance of paper bags in marketing to the story of an African American who actually wrote for minstrel shows. I am writing because I am a historian and used the book in my Industrialization of America class. The class generally hated it, because it is so detailed, but despite their response I recommend using it in a course. Our discussion was painful--black students said the book was "depressing" and white students denied that race had anything to do with the power of this trade name (they harped on the convenience, as if the stereotype was irrelevant!). I learned so much about them and so much about what we all need to do as teachers that I think it was a very valuable experience.

Very often, histories/studies of Aunt Jemima and the mammy stereotype are simply descriptive; this book does a great job of showing how Aunt Jemima's image and products were designed to complement/support ideal white femininity. My only criticism is that Aunt Jemima's presence on television and radio wasn't discussed enough. A great read for anyone interested in issues of race, gender and domesticity. I have recommended this book to many people, and continue to do so.

The work of Virginia Wilson in this book is to be praised. People with RLS will get so much out of this book, it is easy reading for everyone. Because of her hard work and dedication I have learned so much about RLS, having it myself after 11 back surgeries I can now tell my doctors to read the symptoms of other people that I have been complaining about for years. Because of this book I am taken seriously, I take her book to my doctors and have them read some of the pages. One of my doctors (Whom I admired dearly) put me on myopex, now I can sleep a few hours at night, compared to no sleep at night before. I don't dread bedtime anymore. Virginia, I can't thank you enough for what you have done for me and hopefully for so many sufferers. I read your book all day and thank God not all night. God Bless. Joan D'Agostino

This is a must read for RLS sufferers and their family. I have been suffering from RLS and its "cousins" for at least 23 years. For the most part, doctors have never taken me seriously. This book says it all. It describes the syndromes, the reactions of freinds, family, and the medical community (we are imagining it all), and offers some help and comfort. The latter in knowing what we knew all along: we have a real ailment that is making our lives miserable! Pressure your doctors to look into this disease. Change doctors if you must until you find someone who listens. It was infuriating for me to learn that Dr. Daniel Picchietti, a noted expert in the field referenced in this book, has been working at Carle Clinic, where I have been a patient for 17 years, and no one ever told me about him or refered me to him. I have an appointment now. Thank you so much, Virginia! [Footnote: I did see Dr. Picchietti and found relief. Daily doses of Mirapex have been a great help. For once I am being taken seriously and treated that way. Get help, fellow RLS sufferers.]

The work of Virginia Wilson in this book is to be praised. People with RLS will get so much out of this book, it is easy reading for everyone. Because of her hard work and dedication I have learned so much about RLS, having it myself after 11 back surgeries I can now tell my doctors to read the symptoms of other people that I have been complaining about for years. Because of this book I am taken seriously, I take her book to my doctors and have them read some of the pages. One of my doctors (Whom I admired dearly) put me on myopex, now I can sleep a few hours at night, compared to no sleep at night before. I don't dread bedtime anymore. Virginia, I can't thank you enough for what you have done for me and hopefully for so many sufferers. I read your book all day and thank God not all night. God Bless. Joan D'Agostino

Virginia Wilson pins it down it down to a t when she gives an excellent and concise overview of RLS and how it affects it's victims. She and the doctors who wrote with her also give hope to the millions of those afflicted with what I call the scourge of my life, RLS. The book is a good source of info and places to get help. As a health care professional I felt the book was a good source for medical professionals and laymen.

This book lit a fuse for me. I have suffered from Restless Legs Syndrome for 30 years, and until I ran across this book, I had basicly given up on any help. I received the book three weeks ago, saw a neurologist at the Swedish Hospital's Sleep Disorder Clinic in Seattle two weeks ago, and am set up for a sleep test in two weeks! I am so thoroughly excited about all this & have this book to thank. I was only 8 years old when this syndrome started taking over my nights and I have been labelled "dysfunctional" ever since. I can't and rarely try anymore to sleep at night (daytime sleep comes a little easier for me). I have hurt myself and my husband with my flying legs, it has made me doubt my own sanity, and just the possibility that they may be able to help just makes me emotional! I wish to thank the author, Virginia Wilson, for writing her story and sharing it. If she hadn't, I don't know how long it would have taken me to realize they are learning about it. I have since ordered the book for my three brothers, who are already checking into seeing a neurologist also. It runs strong in my family - in fact, two of my four children seem to have it too. Very valuable info - I loaned it to my family doctor, who obtained some valuable info and a little insight on the subject. Thanks again!

Since I am originally from New Jersey, I felt I needed a book on snakes specific to Virginia. I am not one to kill snakes because I know they serve a purpose in nature. I also find them interesting from a distance. This book has been helpful to me for identification purposes and has also spared the life of a Mole Kingsnake that my husband thought was a copperhead! I would highly recommend this book!

Didja know that some juvenile snakes may not look anything like adults? Wanna identify them all, positively? Wanna know EVERYThing about them, where they hang out, what they like to eat, when and where to find them?
THEN BUY THIS PUPPY!!! You will not be disappointed. My name is in the library book 4 times in a row, back in my borrowing days - now I own one.

Great book for anyone in Virginia who wonders about snakes. I enjoyed it and reccomend it. It helps puts to rest worries about whether a snake is "dangerous" or not, and generally adds insight into these much maligned reptiles. It is also going to be a big help when my grandchildren visit me in the Roanake area from Manhattan and ask about "Mr. Snake."

I checked out this book from the library and liked it so much I had to have my own copy! It's a great reference book and has good pictures of the snakes and maps of the areas of Virginia they are found in. The text is informative and has subtle humor in places. These guys really like snakes, and it is contagious, even to someone who really doesn't like them! It has helped my daughter's fear of snakes greatly.

I was so glad to find a snake book that's centered on our area. I have a field guide for the broader East Coast but this is a neat one in that it centers in on species right here. The maps are full-page maps (with VA counties delineated) showing with dots where the particular species has been seen. I wish they had also used color or gray-scale to shade the counties rather than just the dots but having the counties shown is so neat that I'm willing to get my colored pencils out and shade in the maps when I need to. The descriptions of the snakes are terrific too. They cover description (colors, patterns, sizes), habitat, range (beyond VA borders), habits (what they do during the day, night etc), reproduction, food, enemies, success/failure of keeping them in captivity, and folklore which I find interesting too. A great reference on snakes. There are photographs too - all at the center of the book, about 54 in all, as well as line drawings in other places of the book

The book begins with Henry Stoddard writting his thoughts and experiences while living in the silver mining town of Virginia City, Nevada, On January 1, 1900. What follows is a grand tale of life and love in a booming mining town!! Any fan of Historical Fiction will love this book!! I read it while I was vacationing in Virgina City, Nevada and it made me feel as if I was there in all the excitement of the COMSTOCK LODE!!!

The book says the author was Richard S.Wheeler. The real Author was a man by the name of Dickey Dey. For many years he was the private secretary of Mr. John Mackay.

This really an interesting report on the working of Virginia City and more about the people and characters that lived there than it is about mining.

A must read for all fans of the Comstock Lode.

I discovered Richard Wheeler a month ago. What a great discovery! He's an intelligent novelist who develops rich characters and weaves his narrative into the history of the old west. He educates and entertains.

Sun Mountain is an excellent read and strongly recommended. Learn about Virginia City, Nevada during its heyday. And what a heyday it had! Its roots are solidly in the pre-railroad days when everything had to be hauled hundreds and hundreds of arduous miles over the Sierras from California during the early days of that state. Then came the railroads and transformed Virginia City, as they transformed every town they touched. Wheeler instructs the reader on the Comstock Lode and the technological innovations developed there that changed mining around the world. He deftly covers the full gamut of human nature and existence in such a place at such a time.

If you have yet to read a Richard Wheeler novel, Sun Mountain is an excellent place to start.

At last: a historical novel with a sense of humor. Undeniably acknowledged as a master storyteller and flawless in his knowledge of the historical West, Wheeler fully unveils yet another talent from his already amazing repretoire: humor. While the real stars of Sun Mountain are the Virginia City's silver mines, narrator Henry Stoddard nearly steals the show with his sly perceptions of the city's inhabitants and his inept campaign to leave bachelorhood in a near womanless town. His search to find true love and the city's innovations to unearth its riches made me smile-one with affection, the other with admiration.

I can think of few historical novels-as-memoirs of the American West that are as memorable as Richard S. Wheeler's SUN MOUNTAIN--Brian Garfield's WILD TIMES comes to mind but few others. Wheeler's narrator, Henry Stoddard, a newspaperman with the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, was present at the beginnning of the Comstock silver boom in Nevada in the 1860s and was there at the end of it two decades later. He witnessed every significant event and knew every personage, from young Samuel Langhorne Clemens to the forgotten miner--Welsh, Irish, Chinese--who spent his days in the hellish mines wresting the silver ore free to make other men rich. SUN MOUNTAIN is an unforgettable, powerful, touching novel set in a tumultuous time and a story that could only be told by this towering figure in Western fiction.

This book is a welcome breath of fresh air in a world that seems to pretend that death never happens. It does, and this book reminds that denial will cheat us from what matters in life. My experience as a physician reminds me every day that death is an essential part of life. The book is filled with moving stories about people's confrontation with death and lessons to help us lead a richer life.

Although I am an RN and have wrapped many patients for the morgue in my day, I still fear death and if I will feel anything when I am dead. This book was affirming, validating and inspiring. It will help me live my life. How does so young a person have such insight into this topic? Of note an article entitled "Could the clinically dead feel pain" in ABC Science Online is fascinating. Thankyou Virginia. Buy the BOOK!

I bought this book because I am starting to volunteer at a convalescent home. I recommend it for anyone who is going to comfort the terminally ill.

The book's true stories and descriptions of what extreme life-saving measures doctors often resort to, have made me want to have a very specific advanced medical directive. Artificial breathing / ventilation and feeding tubes are not for me!

Virgina understands that remembering is part of healing.
I also use Write from Your Heart, A Healing Grief Journal in my classes. It is good to find books such as these.
For the children I teach I use After the Tears, A Gentle Guide to Help Children Understand Death.

A powerful and positive call to action that inspired me to "make death part of life".

Like most Americans, I come from a family in which the very thought of death is always put off until it's much, much too late. Ms. Morris's book changed all that for me. It defanged the "death monster" and turned it into a facet of life that I will think about, talk about and prepare for with my family and friends in a manner that will ease the passage of the dying invididual as well as those who love that person.

I never thought a book about death could be so life-affirming!!

I was really intreged by this book because it was understandable, interesting, and filled with facts about this amazing man that I've never read or heard about before.

Thomas Jefferson is to me: one of the most admirable people in history.This book has an amazing fictional aproach but yet it is still factual and educational and you can still be one of the biggest Jefferson buffs out there and not have to do years of studying.This book is to me the most animated biography that mosturizes dry facts to fertile entertainment.

As a life long Jefferson fan, I enjoyed this book immensely, but am concerned that Bober does not offer a critical analysis of her subject. She says that one of her goals in writing this book is to make Jefferson appear more human. While she goes into great detail about Jefferson's family values and other interests aside from politics, she omits any mention of his mortal flaws which are exactly what make him human. Any reader can tell that Bober reveres Jefferson like a Revolutionary God (and indeed he was one), but she is unable to maintain any degree of impartiality as a biographer.

For instance, Bober enthusiastically discusses the various ways Jefferson tried to bring an end to the peculiar institution of slavery through his writings, but she never questions why if this was so important to him, he failed to take advantage of his executive power as president to ensure that the Louisiana territory he purchased in 1803 remained slave free? Why didn't he fight harder to retain the clause prohibiting slavery in his original draft of the Declaration of Independence? The Jefferson of Bober's imagination is not capable of such double standards or inconsistencies in character.

Bober only briefly mentions that while Jefferson professed to be against slavery, he owned several hundred slaves at Monticello and his other plantations. Why was his rhetoric inconsistent with his actions? Bober conveniently ignores the fact that Monticello was built entirely by slaves. (This I know because I have a degree in history, but a less informed reader would be misled). Jefferson may have thought that ending slavery was a good idea, but he did not pursue this cause with the same passion with which he fought for the freedom of white Americans from the British.

Bober dismisses the notion that Jefferson had an affair with his slave Sally Hemings and instead suggests that the president's nephew was the father of Sally's children, yet Bober's evidence to support her argument is scant. In fact, she spends as little time as possible on this topic, preferring to discuss Jefferson's contributions to his country. While this approach is refreshing when compared to the massive number of volumes out there on "Jefferson's scandals," Bober has neglected an important part of Jeffersonian history. Recent DNA testing has proven that Sally Heming's children were fathered by a Jefferson male which could be Thomas or possibly someone else.

All this said, Bober does an excellent job of bringing Thomas Jefferson to life and articulating his accomplishments in a meaningful way. It's a shame that her work is decidedly unbalanced and therefore irresponsible from an historical point of view.

A magnificent book for an incredible man. Told in story book fashion, as all history should be, Bober's writing style is a mesmerizing tribute to the subject.It is a shame that a man of Jefferson's character and vision would probably be unelectable in today's visionless sea of pluralism and status quo where the details of the day outshine the necessities of tomorrow.

Probably one of the best books I've ever read- it is very informative, but I was able to read it like I would a novel- a rare trait in nonfiction literature. It was written in a way that even one who is not a history buff can enjoy it. It shows that Jefferson was quite ahead of his time, but he was not superhuman as some sources lead us to believe.