Delaware Books

This guidebook to wild flowers in North Carolina has about 500 species illustrated, each with a description and a small photograph of the flower and plant. The guide deserves high marks for the number of species included and the scholarship which went into describing each by location, blooming date, and other information. Brief tidbits concerning medicinal uses, edibiity, and folklore of the plant are included in many descriptions. Indexed are both scientific and common names of each plant.

However, the guide is nearly worthless for the field identification of flowers. There needs to be some sort of key or pattern to help with identification. There seems no rhyme nor reason I can discern with the order in which the flowers are described. It would be a lot better if the flowers were grouped by blooming date and color, e.g. yellow flowers that appear in May should be together as should purple flowers blooming in September.

So, if you want to go into your backyard and identify what is blooming there you will need a field guide, not this book.

Smallchief

Excellent reference book for use in describing flowers growing in North Carolina at certain times of year.

This is a good book to bring along on day hikes. Clear photos and identifying information. It is not about gardening wildflowers.

As a young coach new to the wing-t offense, this book was a tremendous help. Tubby and Ted are brillant. A must have for any coach on any level.

I found this book is a great resource for new wing-t coaches. The drills are explained very well and can be easily implemented. There are many drills which are not specific to the wing-t but many that are.

Being new to the state of Delaware, this map has been a gas saver many, many times and that's only in a couple of months. New Castle County is the most densely populated county in the state, with lots of roads and highways. Locals call the roads by their street names, like Kirkwood Highway instead of 72. If I ask for directions, locals often don't even know the highway/route number so it gets confusing. Unfortunately, most of the road signs are by number, so getting directions from locals often won't help. The great thing about this map book is that it labels roads/routes/highways by number too so this book is rather handy if/when I can't find my way. Having my ADC map book in the back seat is my little security blanket in a place that's new to me.

When I moved to DE, relying on directions from natives was usually a bad idea--they'd lived here so long they all used landmarks (some of which no longer existed) to give directions. This map has yet to get me lost in 4 years of use. It lists both route names (which the natives use) and numbers (which the rest of us use.) Invaluable!

Terry G. Jordan and Matti Kaups studied America's frontier culture to discern its ethnic heritage. Most historians of the American frontier locate its origin in the vicinity of the Delaware Valley.

Jordan and Kaups consider evidence from literature, anthropology and architecture. The authors discussed the equipment carried by frontier hunters, the primitive and ecologically exahustive farming and homesteading techniques, the building of log cabins and even the notches in fence rails to trace the possible origin of American frontier culture.

Anyone interested in frontier or colonial history should consult this work, as should anyone studying the history of ethnic diversity and racism in North America. This book is a particularly good supplement to David Hackett Fischer's Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America, which considers localized seedbeds for four regional cultures. The authors repeatedly acknowledge the Indian contribution to the frontiersman's capability. The debt to Native America is clear. Sadly, the authors illuminate few particulars in this regard.

The scholarship is meticulous, the investigation fastidiously detailed. The authors were determined to prove their case; they have done so in a style that is both interesting and convincing.

What the initial reviewer fails to mention is the authors' fascinating premise -- that the predominant mid-Atlantic (read Pennsylvania) thrust of frontier expansion has at its roots the mingled culture of the southern Lenape Indians (aka Delaware) and the Savo-Karelian forest Finns who were encouraged to settle in the remote regions of western Sweden on the Norwegian border & who were no longer wanted with the rise of iron production making the Finns ideal candidates for New World colonisation. Their prior experience trading with the alien Rus'ian and Lapp peoples, their adaptation to forested frontier conditions including slash & burn agriculture, log building technology based on mastery of the felling ax, their early use & manufacture of the rifle as a hunting tool, their unconcern for environmental destruction, their readiness to incorporate useful new plant, animal, & survival knowlege & skills from other peoples, and their remarkable hardiness made them the core culture in the Philadelphia region upon which the bulk of subsequent immigrant populations, especially Celtic (Scots-Irish), Swiss, & German, were to learn the skills & knowlege necessary to move westward beyond the Alleghenies & southwestward along the Great Valley into Virginia, the Carolinas, & Georgia. The authors make a strong case for their hypothesis & compare it to earlier work by others. A fine & fascinating study of the roots of frontier American culture. The only weakness in my opinion is its insufficient analysis of the native American contribution to early mid-Atlantic colonial culture. Especially helpful would have been more information on log notching variations throughout the frontier on the order of the unparalleled study by Sigurd Erixon in 'Folk Liv' 1938 & on Finnish/Swedish vs. German rifle technology in the colonial period. Apart from this perhaps minor failing it constitutes a well-reasoned (if not fully substantiated) argument which will doubtless produce controversy & consternation (& perhaps even scorn) among cultural anthropologists specializing in American colonial history -- especially amongst those possessing Celtic and/or Germannic ancestry!!!

Jane Merritt makes an excellent addition to the discussion of Indians in the Mid-Atlantic region during the age of empire. This is a complex topic and Merritt does an excellent job of sorting it out. On that note this is a complex topic and this is not a book a novice in the subject would want to start with. It assumes knowledge of the Iroquois and the covenant chain as well as the Seven Years war. (See my other reviews for suggestions on those topics).

Merritt's book analyzes a variety of cross sections of Delaware Indian culture and their relation with Pennsylvania's (Quakers, proprietors, and frontiersman), Iroquois, and the French. She looks at the role of language, women and religion and how these each affected the relationships between the various groups. Utilizing sources from local to state level she is able to get at a large cross section that allows for significant corroboration. Unlike many where there is an Indian view and a colonial view in this case there we have a variety of colonial sources since they each represented a different viewpoint. The book chronologically covers the famed Walking Purchase during the time of William Penn to the conclusion of the Seven Years War (French and Indian War) and how it shaped the frontier. The idea that Indians and colonists lived at a crossroads where trade dictated interactions are thoroughly explored. For those who want to gain a greater understanding of the Mid-Atlantic world in colonial times you cannot go wrong with this book.

Jane Merritt gives an inside expose, on the clash of cultures in the Mid-Atlantic frontier(Delaware,Pennsylvania,Virginia etc.). The early relationship between a young Colonel George Washington of England and the Delawares is highlighted. The initial interaction between Washington and the Delawares, was poor. This lead to early military defeats to the French. The dynamics of the 7 years war, which changed the harmony of this region dramatically, is examined.

The odd antagonistic relationship between the Delawares and the Iroquois 6 Nations is analyzed to the fullest. It appears the Iroquois sold Delaware land inappropriately (walking purchase Treaty). You will gain insight into famous chiefs such as Delaware chief Shingas and chief Teedyuscung.

The shrewd business dealings of the European settlers is analyzed. You are made aware how simple semantics could misconstrue entire Treaties and agreements. Overall this book does a good job in clarifying, certain key points, in a very complex period, in American history.

A wonderful guide to places to see & things to do when you want to hop to a nearby area but aren't familiar with it. Takes you off the beaten path to discover interesting-curious-historical places not mentioned on the chamber websites. Offers succinct descriptions to evaluate the fit such a visit is for you and your family.

Incredibly handy for those times when you decide on Saturday that you want to do "something different" this weekend, but have not a clue what are your options. Divided into activities appropriate for each season, the book suggests a wide range of trips around the area, from historic exploring to art appreciation to communing with nature. I had an old version of this book that I lent out and lost, and I loved it so much I'm buying another copy!

I read this book many years ago when I was in (I believe) the fourth grade and I re-read it again many years later. It was as good the second time as it was the first. This novel about early New York history (circa early 1800's) and slavery tells the story of a boy named Benja who comes to America as an indentured servant and is put to work for a bullying captain on a canalboat on the D & H Canal. Benja befriends an ex-slave named Lundius, who also works on the canalboat, and quickly becomes caught up in the nascent abolitionist movement. The story flows along at a brisk pace, the characters are well drawn making the reader genuinely care about them and the exhaustive research Mr. Fall has done authentically represents many real places that existed along the canal. It never gets preachy or oppressive which might turn young people off. I highly reccomend this book for young adults and believe it should be required reading in all fourth grade classes.

I read this book with my child for a class assignment. We enjoyed it very much. It had interesting characters, a lot of forward movement with the plot, and taught a lesson on compassion. It was a good book to make children aware of the horrors of slavery without being too heavy-handed. I have read a LOT of children's chapter books that are much more highly rated and have won awards but that are not nearly as good as this book.

An excellent book about the history of the legislature. The book focuses on the history and actions of the legislature. It is amazing to see how the legislature has changed through several state constitutions and to see where they have been leaders or stubborn folloers. It is a very interesting book. It is well researched with footnotes leading the reader to additional resources. If you are looking for a general history of Delaware then you should consider Munroe's "History of Delaware".

My first complaint was with the printing. There is almost no border at the top of every page and a very big border at the bottom of the page. The text is not centered.

The second complaint is that there were some typesetting errors. Several times in the book I found words where letter had been left out, for instance changing "the" to "th". While it is obvious what the words are intended to be, it is disappointing to spend money for a book to find these errors. There was one instance where it appeared that several word were left out of the sentence, I cannot find those pages again.

Carol Hoffecker has written a diamond of a book with "Democracy in Delaware, the Story of the First State's General Assembly."

While this will admittedly have a specific audience, the book should be of interest to those who want to discover how legislative government has developed from colonial times to the present. Hoffecker's diligent research and clear writing give a good account of how those elected bodies called legislatures (if one can assume Delaware's is somewhat of a proxy for the bunch) articulate -- or sometimes fail to -- the will of citizens as they self-govern.

Delaware was unique among the 13 original colonies in that it was not wholly a separate polity. The year 1704 is when the state marks its debut as a political entity -- the year in which the Penn family granted what had been the three lower counties its own General Assembly separate from that of Pennsylvania's. The separation was not complete, however, as both colonies (technically proprietorships) continued to share a common governor or proprietor. It was not until 1776 that Delaware received a chief executive to call its own along with a legislature.

Even today a small body representing small districts (41 members of the House, 21 Senate, average House district less than 20,000 people), Delaware's General Assembly has been uncommonly close to those they represent. This has not always produced better government; in fact Hoffecker documents the times at which the General Assembly was unable to effectively resolve burning issues or even function well. However, it has become an institution that the author describes as at the height of its ability in fulfilling the ideals of representative democracy. Filled with wonderful anecdotes, well illustrated and successful in its job of describing the growth of the institution.

I am the animal care specialist in our park. We recently added a few new sunfish to our aqarium. In trying to ID them I was confused at the pictures in your book on plate 133(mud sunfish) and on plate 146 (redear sunfish). Could they be possibly mis labeled? Other than that the book has been extremely helpful.

Excellent field guide! I have netted fish with Rohde and Arndt on numerous occassions in South Carolina, and this book was good as gold! The authors accurately depict each species, its habitat preference, and where exactly they occur in the states covered. This book is very easy to read for anyone. This is a must have for anyone serious about fish in the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. The pictures are rather good, as any wildlife photographer would know that fish are among the hardest to photograph as they constantly move and lose color when stressed out. -Anthony J. Chodan

This is an excellent resource for persons who are interested in the Lenape (Delaware) Indian people. The stories are clear and have the use of the Lenape language.

My husband is one quarter Lenape and three quarters German. He grew up hearing a few stories from his Grandmother but she didn't know a lot of her own people's history. He's always been interested in knowing more about his heritage. We moved to New Jersey, near the Raritan River and imagine our suprise when we realized that he'd moved very near to one of the places his people once lived in. I got him this book for Christmas and we LOVED it. We read about Rainbow Crow and Nanapush. He read to me every night in bed, the stories of his people. We found much to be sad over but much more to be joyful for. Whenever we see a Crow now, we smile and we look at eacother. This is a highly recommended book for anyone interested in the history and stories of the Lenape People.