Maryland Books

This small volume is nostalgic and informative about the history of schooling in America. The information in the chapter on small schools vs. the larger "factory" schools is insightful, backed by easily digested research, and rather surprising in its revelations. The reader can sense the empathy the author has with the students and the challenges of their learning, and his antagonism against bureaucracy. The section of quaint, old-timey pictures (the school, its teachers and students) is especially enjoyable. I find the book engaging and well worth the price.

While reading,at times,I had a warm feeling come over me. I especially enjoyed the old photographs.Herein is documented alot of history that probably would have been lost.The book left me longing for more stories from the students that attended Mt. Horeb school.I only hope the author had as much joy writing this, as I experienced when reading by lantern or candlelight---as befits the words.

It's great! It tells a Civil War story of my Great-Great Grand-father and
Great-Great Grand-mother (William and Sophia Jeffries). Jerre Garrett did a wonderful job in researching and telling the story of how the Civil War affected so many lives.

This book provides an insightful and detailed look at how life unfolded in the northern-most county of the northern-most broder state, Maryland, during the years of the Civil War. For those interested in the War or Maryland history, this book does an excellent job. You can see precisely how the war affected residents in this rural, slave-holding county and how, eventually, citizens recovered from the war. It's an unusual view (the local perspective in a unique region of the country, one with southern & northern ties), in an area where there are many books -- the civil war.

Was a Negro lynched for a heinous murder of a family of four on Maryland's Eastern Shore in 1931 or did justice prevail through the legal system despite the active involvement of the Communist Party? Moore has interwoven meticulously researched information about the murders and trial with his own legal expertise to produce a fascinating perspective of this tragic event that occurred in a peaceful rural town in the America of the 1930's. He has objectively portrayed the wide-reaching and long-lived interest in this fascinating case which involved not only the Green Davis family and Euel Lee but the Communist Party, the outspoken defense attorney Bernard Ades, and the involvement of a cast of 'minor characters' as diverse as H.L. Mencken and a young Thurgood Marshall. This book is not only a 'good read' but a must for anyone who is interested in events that form the history of small town America during the early part of the 20th century. This book captured my interest from the beginning and made me want to finish it in one sitting!

Normally, the terms "page-turner" and "non-fiction" aren't found in the same sentence; one or two exceptions, such as Walter Lord's WW2 books come to mind. But this fascinating true-crime story of an actual "Murder on Maryland's Eastern Shore" is unique in its presentment of the facts of the case and its rich, authoritative description of rural Maryland life during the Depression.
Because the murderer was black and the victims white, one may readily (and rightly) assume that race will be a central issue in this story of the deaths of a family of four at the hands of a just-fired employee at their small farm on the rural Eastern Shore. Just as it is today, the "race card" was waiting to be played in the trial of the accused killer. And don't think for a moment that the sensational "trial of the century" media-frenzy was invented when O.J. Simpson was on trial...the American press has always loved a juicy murder and this one, albeit absent the celebrity angle, was as juicy as they got back then.
The author, Joe Moore, is a particularly able attorney (and an even abler writer) in Ocean City, MD, who became aware of this case in the 1970s when he was a State's Attorney in Worcester County. Few remembered it and even fewer outside the legal community knew about it. But the basic facts were these: One Euel Lee (AKA Orphan Jones) was arrested for the murder of all four members of the Davis family in their farmhouse between Ocean City and Berlin, MD one October night in 1931. He confessed (no doubt encouraged to do so by at least one police-administered beating) after many items of evidence were discovered in his dwelling and on his person. A Baltimore attorney for the communist International Labor Defense came forward and insisted on representing Lee, then demanded (and got)a change of venue. Two Baltimore trials with all-white juries later, Lee was convicted, his appeals denied, and he was hanged in the Maryland Penitentiary. Admittedly, it doesn't sound like the most high-profile case. But add to the mix that the defense attorney was a communist (no, really...he was a member of the Communist Party, and if that doesn't make somebody a communist, I don't know what does!), H.L.Mencken's anti-Delmarva diatribes and two lynchings on the 'Shore, plus extra-legal maneuverings and some mob violence, and you get a very clear picture of what the justice system was like three decades before Miranda.
Although Lee's guilt was proven beyond a reasonable doubt, this was the last trial in Maryland in which blacks were systematically excluded from jury service, and Lee's first conviction was thrown out on those grounds alone.
I loved this book primarily because I live on the 'Shore and I know every place Joe Moore talks about in this fascinating story. It's scholarly, but not dry; clear, but not stark; lawyerly, but not legal; to-the-point, but not terse. The best parts are the ironies played out after the fact, and the lives of those involved in their later years. It's been said that "Murder will out," and at the very end of this outstanding read, the truth is out, too.

This is truly a 'keeper'. It was not only very funny to read about the family's adventures, it was also a 'How-to' book for living 'off-the-land'. The author shared memorable awe-inspiring moments that let you understand why someone would want to leave the city but at the same time he let you see reality of what the experience would require of you as he gives you a wealth of good self-help information that will be useful. He did the 'trial run' for the reader and left me smiling.

although dated, this book is a must for anyone who wants to live with alternative power or lifestyles. a must for anyone who is a homesteader or "back to the land" person!

This was a delightful read recounting the adventures of a lady whose exuberence and delight in everything around her lifts our spirits and gives us a new perspective on everyday experiences. Nothing escapes her keen sensitivity and she expresses it with exuberant abandon. The recipes are delicious but, one soon forgets that it is a cookbook. Or is it? The best recipe in the book is the one Ms. Gamble gives us for living life every moment.

Every chapter in this delightful book is a small treasure; a happy and reassuring reminder in these hectic times that life's many little pleasures are all around us, just waiting for discovery. Elizabeth Gamble's adventures, as the book's title indicates, take us across continents and oceans -- and we lucky readers are always in wonderful company, and wherever we are, never far from hearth and home. So settle in to an easy chair and enjoy a sunny and optmistic read, then head for the kitchen with family and friends, try out a couple of the wonderful recipes, and thank Ms. Gamble for inviting us all along for a perfectly lovely time.

this book was so good and the author was so smart too, she knew altituff about stuff like history andyster boats and twins and friendship and family brother-sister love, even though MY brother is really annoying and not so cool as the one in the book, I guess I love him, too, like the girl in the book

I thought that Oyster Moon is a great book because I had no idea that the people on the drudger boats could be so cruel. In fact, I had no idea about this whole topic. It is an educational book without the reader realizing it. I would reccomend Oyster Moon to any reader, young or old.

I loved it. The stories about the village of Oysterback are a joy. Any time I drive past Red Toad Road in the future I will think of her delightful stories. I started her second compilation right after finishing this one, and all I can say is that I wish she would come out with more.

Helen Chappell's great genius is in her characters and her sense of magical realism.

Professor Lee gives us a scholarly review of a microcosm of the culture and weltanshauung of a relatively backwater Maryland county headed into revolution. That such scholarship is targeted at a minor topic is truly impressive. If anything, it gives one pause as to whether the investment in academic research in history is overdone. For here is a representative picture drawn, but at such detail it must have taken tremendous resources. One wonders what topics suffer to give such infinite color to a tiny leaf on a giant tree. But the beauty of scholarship and solid writing for those interested in this topic, such as genealogists or revolutionary war scholars, will find this book a delightfully sharp and detailed portrait of a place whose most might town was the now unremembered "Port Tobacco."

I bought this book for genealogical purposes, but found that it was a very enjoyable book to read and explained the culture of the Tobacco Coast to me better than several other books I have read. There was also enough detail that I felt I understood much more of the thought processes of the people I have been tracing and has fleshed out their surroundings in a very complete way.

Return to a time when life was simpler. Discover classic river towns, mountain retreats and coastal fishing villages, small towns where you can still shop on Main Street, where the hardware store and the bookstore are not part of a national chain, old buildings are restored and historic places are preserved. The Burnhams, also co-authors of The Virginia Handbook, have discovered and explored scores of these delightful towns. Destinations include Onancock, on Virginia's Eastern Shore; Irvington, a hip town built around The Tides resort; Strasburg and Front Royal, towns rich in Shenandoah Valley history; as well as coastal towns such as St. Michael's, Crisfield and St. Mary's. The places featured in this book have charming inns and B&Bs, in addition to good, locally owned restaurants. There are enough attractions to satisfy any traveler, but there is also space and time to tarry, to sit in a park or on a shaded bench and watch life pass by.

Return to a time when life was simpler. Discover classic river towns, mountain retreats and coastal fishing villages, small towns where you can still shop on Main Street, where the hardware store and the bookstore are not part of a national chain, old buildings are restored and historic places are preserved. The Burnhams, also co-authors of The Virginia Handbook, have discovered and explored scores of these delightful towns. Destinations include Onancock, on Virginia's Eastern Shore; Irvington, a hip town built around The Tides resort; Strasburg and Front Royal, towns rich in Shenandoah Valley history; as well as coastal towns such as St. Michael's, Crisfield and St. Mary's. The places featured in this book have charming inns and B&Bs, in addition to good, locally owned restaurants. There are enough attractions to satisfy any traveler, but there is also space and time to tarry, to sit in a park or on a shaded bench and watch life pass by.

Josef Sudek was an amazing man, talent, and visionary. This monograph is one of very few that were widely distributed to help tell his story and share his hard-earned images. Imagine, Aperture, a magazine with only 2 issues per year, dedicated to the best of all things photographic, devoted an entire year of publication to Sudek. My favorite mental image of Sudek is of he himself finally shooting his muse, a church in Prague, his only arm franticly fanning up dust with a card as he rushed from this beam of light to another, so as to give the light volume in the image. You see, Sudek was a very patient master... until the image was ready to be taken. He might scout a location for years before shooting it, waiting for just the right time of year, just the right angle of light, and just the right atmospheric conditions around his subject. Then when the day came to shoot, he was a focused madman. In my eyes, Sudek IS photography, and this monograph is the most inexpensive, most thorough background of the man and his work. Although not the most thorough collection of his work, it is an excellent introduction that will leave you searching for more about him. Good luck, and enjoy!

Sudek inspired the entire world of his countrymen and women, and now we can also join in the feast of his imagery. Astounding in breadth and scope, these poetic photographs reveal a time gone, yet eerily present. If you write and photograph as well, this book is pure inspiration. Dark, moody, yet uplifting. Speaks to the treasure of time as it is captured with quiet energy and subtle tone and value.
He lost one arm in World War I, but that did not stop him from using a camera to record the world he witnessed all the rest of his life. His images of Prague are arresting and pull you into the streets as he saw them. Very very good book; a treasure to own.