Washington Books

I would recommend this book to all serious seekers of the truth regarding the UFO/orb phenomena. This book is very well researched and is quite grounded in its presentation. The sources are reliable and the investigations very scientifically oriented. -- Michael Estes

I have been studying the UFO phenomena for over 30 years.

I have personally witnessed the sphere- shaped UFOs that are discussed in Greg Long's book, EXAMINING THE EARTHLIGHT THEORY: The Yakima UFO Microcosm.

I found this book to be an excellent source of information on the subject.

This is a great book for people who live in or around DC and want to explore the area. It is far from a "tourist guidebook." I have taken 6 of the hikes in this book, and have gotten more than my money's worth. I lived in DC for 12 years once, and upon return, picked this up as a way to see how the city has changed. It did that, and more. I discovered new aspects even of neighborhoods I had lived in. Bruton has a skill at picking an interesting route. At times I wondered why he would divert me for one block with no reference, but every little twist has brought worthwhile views. The book is a good size for holding in the hand while walking; the practical directions are first rate; and he provides background mainly on buildings and sights that are not explained in the location itself, so that you have an opportunity to explore.

This is a great book for people who live in or around DC and want to explore the area. It is far from a "tourist guidebook." I have taken 6 of the hikes in this book, and have gotten more than my money's worth. I lived in DC for 12 years once, and upon return, picked this up as a way to see how the city has changed. It did that, and more. I discovered new aspects even of neighborhoods I had lived in. Bruton has a skill at picking an interesting route. At times I wondered why he would divert me for one block with no reference, but every little twist has brought worthwhile views. The book is a good size for holding in the hand while walking; the practical directions are first rate; and he provides background mainly on buildings and sights that are not explained in the location itself, so that you have an opportunity to explore.

This is the epitome of good writing. It is an excellent resource for all those who love the Olympic Coast. If you are heading to the Olympics, this book is essential. Filled with fascinating facts, history, details, and so forth, it is the Olympic Coast Bible. Buy this book for all your friends, you won't be disappointed.

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK ON HIKING THE OLYMPIC COAST. I HAVE HIKED HALF OF IT AND THE BOOK CAME IN HANDY. IT POINTS OUT A LOT OF LANDMARKS THAT I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE MISSED. ALSO GIVES THE HISTORY OF THE OLYMPIC COAST, AND TELLS WHERE SHIPWRECKS AND MEMORIALS ARE.

Most Americans don't know squat about Islam itself, let alone Islam in China. Yet today there are about 15 million Muslims in China, centered mostly in the northwest (Xinjiang province), along the margins of the old Silk Road. And they aren't just an insignificant minority: in the Middle Ages, for instance, Chinese Muslims played a central role in bridging the gulf between China, the Middle East, and Europe, bringing goods and knowledge both ways. (...)

Jonathan Lipman's "Familiar Strangers" explores some aspects of Islam in northwestern China from the first arrival of Muslims there in the 8th century up through the 20th. Like most similar histories, it revolves around two major dilemmas that have constantly faced Chinese Muslims (as opposed to non-Chinese Muslims living in China): first, is Islam compatible with Chinese culture? and second, can Chinese Muslims themselves properly be considered Chinese? China's "host" culture has always tended to absorb alien peoples and faiths -- whether they're Mongols and Turks (the so-called "barbarians"), Buddhists from India, or whoever. There were always strangers lurking at the gates of China, drooling with envy or burning with ambition, but almost every one of them who managed to break through eventually assimilated and became, in effect, Chinese: in fact, many sought to do so in the first place. But Muslims were an exception. Their Islamic faith forbade them to have the same kind of relationship with traditional Chinese culture as other groups: for instance, ancestor worship and reverencing the emperor were antipathetic to Islam. Consequently, Chinese Muslims were, while not complete strangers, "familiar strangers", ethnically Chinese, foreign by affiliation.

Lipman's history isn't a comprehensive account of Muslim culture on the northwestern Chinese frontier. Instead, it examines how Chinese Muslims reacted to the complexity of belonging to two cultures at once. Lipman explores, for instance, Muslim reaction to acculturation policies under the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Muslims' role as "strangers in bad times" during the Ming-Qing cataclysm in the 1640s. Chapter 3, "Connections: Muslims in the Early Qing, 1644-1781", analyses the introduction of Naqshabandiya Sufism into China in the early 17th century and the struggle between two rival forms of it -- the orthodox Khafiya and the radical Jahriya -- in the 18th century, the latter a branch of revivalist Wahhabism, the earliest modern version of so-called Islamic "fundamentalism". Chapter 4, "Strategies of Resistance," explores the period between 1784 and 1895, looking at three large-scale Muslim rebellions against the Qing state. Chapter 5 examines Muslim "Strategies of Integration" during the Nationalist period and under the People's Republic. Finally, Lipman sums his findings in chapter 6.

The book is a scholarly read and not always easy going. If you don't have much previous knowledge of Chinese history, start elsewhere. But if you've got the background, it's a great read.

The first time I got the book from a Chinese Muslim scholar, I began to search what i am Intersted and i got it. I t is about a Islamic sect Xidaodang in which I am one member.Mr. Lipman has been in Xidaotang once and did some research on the group.His book shows his description and study are not only successful, but objective as well.He has his own unique view on Chinese Muslim...

If you are interested in the way that politics drives (in some cases distorts) how government accomplishes what it has to accomplish, or you're interested in how government actually works (not what flacks, spinners, and headlines would have one accept on faith), you're cheating yourself if you do not read everything that Elizabeth Drew publishes. This book is no exception.

Of the cataclysmic changes that The New Yorker magazine went through starting in the early 1990s, one of the earliest and worst (and that's saying something) was parting ways with Drew, who until then had been writing the Letter from Washington column, and publishing a book every couple of years, it seemed. Her reporting was and is unparalleled: factual, addressing in detail questions that actually matter, not polemical (unless one considers disappointment with the corrosive effect of money and political fund-raising polemical); its equivalent or even a reasonable substitute was and is not to be found elsewhere.

Her current periodical gig is with The New York Review of Books, and this book reprints 3 of her columns (2 are also book reviews) published in NYRB in May and June 2003 and February '04. They cover key aspects of Bush's political side (particularly Karl Rove); the current Congress (which doesn't present much contrast to the Bush Administration); and Bush's Iraq-focused side (the "neocons"). The Rove and Congress pieces are the latest dispatches in Drew's long-term effort to report on how the profession of political strategy affects policy outcomes.

The neocons piece is quite different, and it is important because its subject is one of the more successful projects in the history of American policy entrepreneurship. A few friends/colleagues with ideas about the Middle East, not one an elected official (except Dick Cheney), convince the world's current great power, led by a man who campaigned against "nation building," to wage a major war that fulfills their dreams. Most entrepreneurs would be satisfied if they convinced investors to put up money and start a successful business; in the policy world it's a coup if a ground-breaking law is enacted (maybe even an agency created). But a war--billions invested (with a vague up-front price tag), thousands dying and sacrificing--and the conquest of a sovereign nation: for that you have to give the neocons their due. And study them. Drew's report is a fascinating short account of a subject that has generated several books and will continue to do so.

Elizabeth Drew, courageous journalist and scholar long based in Washington DC, here republishes a series of articles originally presented in the American intellectual journal New York Review of Books between May Day 2003 and Saint Valentine's Day 2004. Altough it reads with journalistic immediacy, the historical importance of the events described and of the larger issues addressed makes this collection essential reading for us now today, as we approach another election cycle.

Ms. Drew completely covers the ins and outs and hidden agendas of the first WBush regime. The first article in this collection in fact reports the doings and bio of Karl Rove, as it ostensibly is a review of the books Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential and Boy Genius: Karl Rove, The Architect Of George W. Bush's Remarkable Political Triumphs. This article remains important for us to consider now, as it exposes the nefarious strategies of this powerful man, who recently claimed to join the rats abandoning the sinking ship of state, but who remains firmly in power.

Among those who have been lost since the publication of this book is of course General Colin Powell, who here emerges as a noble and even heroic figure of integrity, but a tragically heroic due to his honesty, integrity, diplomacy (over war, which he experiened first hand, unlike the civilian saber rattlers involved) and his wisdom, and thus not one long to endure within the darkening regime of the W.

The second article republished comes from June 12, 2003, and mostly focuses on the neocons in power, inclduing Perle and company, and thus of course the corrupt, embezzling proposed puppet Iraqi president Chabadi. This article gives us further insight into how and why things went horribly wrong in Iraq.

The third article entitled Hung Up in Washington examines the Tom Daschle book Like No Other Time: The 107th Congress and the Two Years That Changed America Forever with many realted issues. It examines the shifts of power at that time, and includes insight into 9/11/01 on Capitol Hill. It includes the interesting insight that no one ever revealed the source of the anthrax envelopes sent to Democratic congressional leaders's offices. One wonders (although not Drew) what happened there while their offices were evacuated for cleaning for weeks and what partisan bugs were installed.

Despite the slim size of this volume, at seventy pages, the substantial and well researched and elegant writing of Ms. Drew makes these important articles for us to re-read at this point in time. The excellent and measured preface by PBS's Russell Baker makes it even more valuable, and at this current price we cannot afford not to read it.

Know your history. Read this book.

Claudia Wild's book is an indispensable guide to all of the best birding sites within a 200 mile radius of Washington, DC. It is a "must buy" for birders of all skill levels if you visit or live in DC, Maryland, or Virginia. She also covers Delaware, Cape May, NJ, and parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Her directions are easy to follow and her writing style will make you want to read about favorite birding areas again and again. Most important, this book will make it easy to find target birding species (in the appropriate season). This book is a solid 5 stars !!!

Claudia Wilds has done a wonderful job of presenting lots places, including little nooks and crannies to find birds in the greater D.C. area. Directions to locations are detailed and generally accurate, with lots of helpful information.

Well written, and easy to understand. A wonderful guide for exploring the world of birds.

This beautiful book tells the story of an amazing jewelry maker. Gorgeous photos show off her work, which incorporates found objects, fabrication, beads, and natural materials in imaginative, exciting ways. Truly inspiring work that transforms the ordinary into unnique art.

To Ramona, a domino is not merely a game piece. A domino can join other found objects in a necklace. This catalogue of 32 of Ramona's necklaces, appearing in a Bank of American gallery presentation from 18 November to 14 December 2001, are just plain fun. Of the 32 pieces, my favorite is an eye-catching necklace including cast silver, black and yellow African millefiore, and bauxite beads -- a stunner!

This is a great book, written not from a journalistic point of view nor from an official point of view, but from that of somebody who was a fire boss for over a decade on the Grand Canyon's North Rim fire crew. Written as fiction, although it is based on actual events with only the names changed. Edward Abbey, who worked in a fire tower on the North Rim for a couple of seasons, makes a thinly-disguised cameo appearance here as "Abner". Effectively captures the work, the culture, and the humor of forest firefighters in a way that no other book I've read has. If you're at all interested in the subject I'd recommend picking this up.

This book describes a seasonal firefighters job in 1977. This was before the advent of much of the specialized equipment used today. He also capture the essencial conflict between the resource/ranger staffs and real live firefighters. Reading this book I can feel the B2 unit digging into my back from my green canvas backpack.

If you liked "Mushrooms of Northern California", then you'll love "Flora of Mount Rainier". Once again Mr. Biek provides with an interesting and well informed account of the beauty of the world we live in. A must for naturalists and anyone who appreciates the great outdoors.

A thorough exploration of the flora of Mount Rainier. Perfect for naturalists, hikers and anyone who points to a flower and wants an answer to the perennial " What is that?" Ideal for anyone who who loves the outdoors and is insatiably curious about the environment around them. Obviously well-researched. Great illustrations and photos.

This book was very well put together with wonderful pictures and clear explanations. It is interesting and informative.

Dating - in Geology at least- relies on an often stated presupposition: That whatever happended in the past happended slowly and at a constant rate. Well, things for dating are about to change as geologists take on board "catastrophic" events. One such "catastrophic" event is the Mount St Helens explosion which occurerd in the 80's. Geologists have now been able to carefully document the changes that occured with the eruption of Mount St Helens. What they found will fundamentally change the way we look at geological dating. In this book on the events following the eruption of Mount St Helens, the authors carefully show how a catastrophic event can cause sedimentation and erosion previously only assumed as possible over very long time periods. This is a must read for those interested in geological dating.