Virginia Books

The Dynamic Dominion is more than a history of the rise of the GOP in Virginia. It takes up where J. Harvie Wilkinson left off and serves as the definitive political history of Virginia through the early 1990's. Unlike Mr. Wilkinson's book, which was dominated by statistics and voting patterns showing the changes that occured during the Byrd Machin tenure, Mr. Atkinson includes a wealth of material that was derived through interviews with actual participants in these events. This is simply THE BOOK for anyone interested in post World War II Virginia politics, as well as those interested in southern politics.

I too look forward to an updated version of this book, especially in view of the GOP taking the state legislature. But I think a real challenge would be to unleash Frank's clear talents on a biography of Henry Howell, who many credit with being the political force that caused the Virgnia democracy to tack far enough to the left to allow the GOP to become competitive in the late 1960's and early 1970's.

Mr. Atkinson is a partisan Republican. He is upfront about it in his author's bio on the book's dustjacket, which mentions his numerous positions in the GOP. At times one senses his partisan glee as he chronicles the rise to power of the Republican party in the Old Dominion from the 1960's, when the Civil Rights movement and the administration of LBJ (who carried VA in 1964)identified the Democratic party with extreme liberalism, until the early 1990's, when Republican stock continued to soar statewide and nationwide. For the most part though he maintains objectivity and gives his readers a gripping account of this very important political transformation.

At times the book has the tension of a good thriller, along the lines of Advise and Consent or The Manchurian Candidate. Certainly Atkinson presents to us a genuine cast of characters and a series of ups and downs, successes and failures, conflicts and confrontations one would find in a novel. There is the collapse of the Harry Byrd machine in Virginia, which in election after election had delivered the state solidly to the Democrats; there is the election of Virginia's first Republican governor since Reconstruction, Linwood Holton, a man decidedly not a conservative in a very conservative party in a very conservative state; there is Mills Godwin's agonizing decision to quit a lifetime of membership in the Democratic party and become a Republican in order to stop "wildman" Henry Howell's ascension to the VA governorship; there is Richard Nixon's wholesale attempt to convert scores of conservative Virginia Democrats to the GOP, an effort killed, of course, by Nixon's own Watergate; there is the promise of good things cut short by the tragic deaths of Democrat Sergeant Reynolds and Republicans Richard Obershain and John Dalton; there is John Warner's campaigning for the U.S. Senate with that Hollywood apogee of glamor, Elizabeth Taylor, by his side; there is the appearance of Chuck Robb, as though a white knight upon a steed, to rescue the Democrats from yet another ignominious defeat at the hands of the GOP, and on and on. Atkinson's spares no detail in this very lively account, which portends good news for his party, less good news for us remaining Southern Jeffersonian Democrats.

Atkinson's title is a prescient one. In politics, as in much else, Virginia IS dynamic and changing all the time. One would welcome a sequel from Atkinson, or at least an updated edition of this fine book, in light of the election of Republican majorities to the VA legislature in 1999 and the more recent election of Democrat Mark Warner to the governorship, which some observers attribute in part to internecine warfare in the GOP.

In 1945, the Republican Party of Virginia was basically dead, having only four members in the 140 member General Assembly - two in the Senate and two in the House of Delegates, but in the last 50 years, the GOP has risen to a status of parity with Virginia's Democrats, who have been the majority party since Reconstruction. The Dynamic Dominion is an excellent account of the early history of the Republican Party's rise to preeminence in the Mother of Presidents. Mr. Atkinson goes into excellent detail about the events that helped to shape the future destiny of the party, especially those following the controversial 1978 State Republican Convention, in particular, the death of US Senate Nominee Richard Obenshain (whose name is still very much revered in Virginia Republican politics today) and the eventual nomination, candidacy, and election of John W. Warner, who was given invaluable assistance in his campaign by none other than famed actress Elizabeth Taylor. I would suggest that Mr. Atkinson's work be made required reading in political science courses at colleges and universities all across the country.

Loved it. Wished I read it before I saw the movie, that way I would have had a purer vision of the play.

This is a great modern play. I loved all the references and word games

I'm directing the play in The Netherlands. Never had to dig so deep as in this play. Did the play before, and now I did some completely new discoveries. What about this: I think Nick is the only true victim. May change that opinion the next rehearsel: 'Woolf' never stops amazing!

As an airline employee and aviation enthusiant I love this book. I have finished my fifth reading of it and I keep discovering more insight. I can read it for hours and slip away from present existence to Alexander Frater's world. Truly one of the greatest books for those who love airlines and different cultures. Wonderful.....

this book is currently available in paperback from amazon.co.u

This is excellent and one of those rare books that you can read again and again. Alexander Frater writes about a journey he made using modern air transport that retraces the original route of Imperial Airways (predecessor of today's British Airways) on their pioneering route from London to Brisbane, Australia in the 1930's. Not only is it an extremely interesting travelogue but it also is highly informative in a historical sense. There are also many funny and poignant moments that he relates from his journey. The only downside is that unfortunately it is currently out of print

I was skeptical at first, but I removed some stains that I had long given up on with tips in this book. Well worth the money.

If you have ever had to actually toss out a perfectly good garment that you loved with lots of more life left in it just because of a stain that resisted every attempt to dissolve it, this is most definitely the book for you.

Packed with information and illustrations, The Field Guide to Stains will help you remove more than 100 different types of stains, and the information is divided up into sections by type for easy research while preparing laundry.

The Field Guide to Stains: How to Identify and Remove Virtually Every Stain Known to Man is well-worth the investment, because potentially it will save you a fortune on even one favorite garment that you won't have to needlessly replace.

I love this book!

I have not been this pleased with a book purchase in a long time! I read a piece in The New York Times that sparked my interest and purchased Field Guide to Stains. And let me say, that the stain removal techinques I've tried really work! What's more it's an interesting read and the close-up photos of the stains are not only hilarious, but very useful for identification. This book will get a lot of use around my house.

This book of poetry is like a gathering of old friends. Virginia Pritchett's collection of 58 poems touch on who we are, the surprises and beauty of nature and the memories we share. There is understanding, as in "Having a Poem", "..Poems, like infants/help us know more/than we thought/we did". There is the hummingbird in "Courtship in Air" that "..helicopters/straight down/for a long/colorful kiss".

And in my two favorites, there is humanity: in "Memories", "I have warmed myself/beside your fire/too many times to fear/the winter of my loneliness../Outside my door/memories are stacked/ like logs/to bring you near", and in "By Yourself", "when you live alone/you live with/ silence/..always there/to welcome you back home/ fold you in a warm embrace/and share/your innermost thoughts". Who can't relate to that, and be the better for it?

The poems are reachable and remind that, with a little imagination, within each of us is an image or a feeling waiting to be expressed this way.

Some poetry is hard to understand and reading it becomes work not pleasure. Other times it's written like a greeting card with flowerly sentiments and no surprises. Ms. Pritchett's work, on the other hand, is beautifully balanced. It invites the reader in with clear evocative images and speaks of everyday life, yet it doesn't give anything away for free. Meanings and possibilities unfurl in a delicate way that causes that thrill of discovery I so treasure from poetry. Very satisfying.

After reading A Fine Thin Thread I feel like I've known Ms Pritchett all my life. 'Not Old Enough' reached deep into my heart pulling at threads I thought safely tucked away. 'Someday' echos even now, somewhere just behind me and 'Messages and Machines' replays the last time I heard my daughters voice, sill there although the machine is long gone.

The book is dedicated to her daughters. Perhaps now, I know them too.

Excellent! Very clear instructions for many different finishes. I highly recomend this book for all handweavers.

This is a classic book that every weaver should have in his/her library. Clear instructions on many finishing techniques from fringes to lace edges, braids to bag handles. A real collector's item.

A great reference book for handweavers filled with finishing techniques to make your creations unique. Instructions are clearly written and illustrated, accompanied by lovely full color photographs. While some of the techniques may be time consuming to perform, the end result is worth it. This book is a standard for the weavers bookshelf and due to become a collector's piece - Interweave Press has recently announced they will no longer be printing it

Colonial Williamsburg... sets a high standard for illustrated books on gardens, the Colonial kitchen, and the decorative arts in the occasional books it publishes.

The latest from CW's presses is Susan Hight Rountree's "From a Colonial Garden: Ideas, Decorations, Recipes" ($24.95). The first section introduces the reader to the formal but colorful gardens visitors can admire in the restored area -- but these gardens also serve a practical purpose as succeeding sections attest...

The book is strong on weddings, offering a winter reception at the Williamsburg Inn or a summer ceremony at a James River plantation. Ms. Rountree... also uses garden materials to make gifts, wreaths, table decorations, and other items throughout the year. The section on Christmas is especially useful, and readers will want to remember to consult the book in early November, before the holidays, for fresh ideas.

This not primarily a cookbook, but Ms. Rountree includes recipes for seasonal dishes to round out her sections... As with all CW publications, this new book upholds the benchmarks of taste and style readers have learned to expect, and will rate a place on the bookshelf of gardener, cook, and home decorator.

-Ann Lloyd Merriman, editor, commentary/books
"Between the Bookends," Richmond Times Dispatch

The newest entertaining and decorating book from Colonial Williamsburg combines touches of elegance with moments of fun and fantasy.

The 212-page book, "From A Colonial Garden: Ideas, Decorations, Recipes" is divided into chapters that take you through the seasons and many special occasions such as weddings, bridal showers and rehearsal dinners. There are 287 color photos and 24 illustrations to guide you every step of the way.

Best of all, most of the projects are simple to create... For example, veggies such as colorful peppers are used to create a zesty-looking centerpiece on the nail-studded wooden cone that's typically covered with apples and sprigs of boxwood...

One of her easiest and sunniest table arrangements is perfect for a summer picnic or cookout. A partially hollowed-out watermelon serves as a container for a bouquet of zinnias, rudbeckia, coreopsis, apple mint and rosemary...

Rountree says the chapters on ideas from the spring garden are her favorite sections because they encourage you to use so many fresh flowers. "I'd like to see more people doing that," she says. "Fresh flowers are so many places these days--in the markets or you can grow your own."

A chapter on garnishes from the spring garden also features Rountree's garden pet--the Cheshire Cheese Hedgehog... English folklore says it's a sign of good luck when you find a hedgehog in your garden. The book features an easy cheese-based recipe for making the hedgehog. "I've had such fun with him, he'll be in every book," she says.

--Kathy Van Mullekom, Daily Press
Newport News, VA

How charmingly and seamlessly does Susan Hight Rountree translate 18th-century entertaining style into the 21st century! This delightful addition to her past best-sellers will be enjoyed by not only professional designers but talent-challenged amateurs like myself who need guidance as we try to duplicate the classic Williamsburg look. The "how-to" directions are clear and the beautiful illustrations are lavish, promising success with all the enticing projects--family celebrations, garden parties, weddings, gifts and holiday decorations. A wonderful complement to every decorating library!

Highly acclaimed anthology of John Ruskin, this book is made out of 39 vols Library Edition of John Ruskin's works, supported by 5 pillars--art, architecture, society, solitude and self and compiled chronologically.In the introduction, Herbert Tucker estimates this book as a classic anthology. It is followed by Rosenberg's preface, and before each section mentioned above is his own explanatory comment. This is extremely superb in style as well as contents. At the end of the book is a new bibliography, to some of which entries brief comments are added. As Ruskin's writings, especially those in early years, are not easy to read, this book is priceless. Among relatively rare entries are "Traffic" in The Clown of Wild Olive, "Athena Keramitis" in Queen of the Air, and "Essay I" in Fiction Fair and Foul. Compared with the previous anthology by Kenneth Clark, "Ruskin Today", this one is inferior in variety but far superior in amount. Now we have the Ruskin's Complete Works in one CD-ROM, but it cannot be read, say, in a train or bed unless printed out. Concisely selected, this book is, I think, quite valuable when kept by your side.

One can hardly read any thoughtful analysis or
evaluation of art, artists, even poets, without
coming upon a quote from John Ruskin. Yet one
may read the quote, realize its acuteness, but
then proceed on -- without really knowing anything
about John Ruskin himself, or about his ideas
and works. That is a tragic loss. Ruskin was an
English art critic and scholar, as well as a
cultural and philosphical historian who
lived from 1819 to 1900.
He attended and graduated from Oxford University,
and in 1869 was appointed first Slade Professor
of Fine Art at Oxford.
John Ruskin seems to me to be a combination of
Plato, godly Greek sculptors, and Thoreau. His
own senses, apparently (just like Thoreau's) were
extremely acute...he has incredible sharpness of
vision. But even more telling, he has incredible
command of vision and the language to express it
with. He seems, at times, like a Homer of artistic
cultural and philosophical expression.
This volume is a compilation of excerpts from
Ruskin's major writings: MODERN PAINTERS I, II,
III, IV, and V/ THE SEVEN LAMPS OF ARCHITECTURE/
THE STONES OF VENICE/ THE TWO PATHS/ UNTO THIS
LAST/ THE CROWN OF WILD OLIVE/ SESAME AND LILIES/
THE QUEEN OF THE AIR/ FORS CLAVIGERA/ FICTION, FAIR
AND FOUL/ THE STORM-CLOUD OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY/
and PRAETERITA. There are multiple excerpts from
each of these works, and each excerpt is followed
by a very helpful citation of the volume, part,
section, and chapter of the work where the excerpt
is found.
Ruskin is not "merely" an acute analyzer and
evaluator of art and architecture, but he also is
an artistic and ethical philosopher. His philosophy
seems to have a strong dose of PAGAN GREEK (Plato)
underpinning, which interacts interestingly with
the Evangelical Protestantism overlaid when he
was young by his mother's strict Bible lessons.
His whole life seems to have been a struggle
between these two grappling forces, like the

statue of "The Wrestlers" from Hellenistic times.
Ruskin idolized and glorified the painter
Joseph Mallord William Turner [J.M.W. Turner].
He seems to have set out on a crusade while still
a teen-ager (17) by writing an essay defending
Turner and his art -- his admiration, esteem,
and idolatry continued even after he had gone
to Oxford University and began writing his art
criticism works.
Ruskin's topics sound like a role-call of
classical virtues and perfection seeking -- and
like Thoreau, he bemoans the fact that more
people do not wake up, see intently, and live
better lives. I personally find Ruskin's admonitions
to be inspiring, rather than merely preachy. He
obviously has a vision (like a prophet), a wondrous
sense of beauty and appreciation, and a fine mind
and expressive ability which create words of golden
glow. Yet he also has a heart of reproof towards
the mercantilism of his times (in one speech he
tells his audience that they have two religions,
one which they pay lip-service and tithes to,
and the other religion of their practicality,
the one they actually live by -- and he says:
"...but we are all unanimous about this practical
one; of which I think you will admit that the ruling
goddess may be best generally described as the
'Goddess of Getting-on,' or 'Britannia of the
Market.'")
Some of the topic titles in the various sections
give one the flavor of his insights and vision:
"Definition of Greatness in Art"; "That the Truth
of Nature in Not to Be Discerned by the Uneducated
Senses"; "Of Truth of Space"; and "Of the Naturalist
Ideal." In his works on architecture, there are
such topic titles as "The Lamp of Truth" and "The
Lamp of Memory."
The editor of this volume, John D. Rosenberg, has
done a masterful, insightful job of presenting
Ruskin and his views -- and the Univ. Press of
Virginia have done a masterful job of printing
and binding those valuable views in an attractive
and valuable volume.

It is a great pity that the works of Ruskin are neither widely read nor widely available. One can only hope that the day will come when an affordable, comprehensive, multi-volume collection will become available. For now, we may be thankful for the work of Columbia University's John Rosenberg, who has given us perhaps as fine an introduction to Ruskin as can be hoped for. The selections are long and judiciously made, and they address Ruskin in all important aspects of his work: art critic, social heretic, autobiographer. This book is like a wise old friend, especially comforting in a world that has in so many ways departed from the values that this volume enshrines. A faithful rendering of an indispensable author.

In my short time studying with him, Al Tillson instilled in me a love of this fertile time in history, as well as a love for four pocket cuban shirts. The title may not grab you, but the gripping history and Tillson's flowing narrative style will. Less a book about a specific time in history than it is about all history, it speaks to us universally, and gives us a deeper understanding of what is it to be human.

Albert Tillson could have easily written this book solely for the "gentry" of historical society, but instead took the brilliant path of penning this award-winning tome for the rank and file multitude of history buffs who relish the simple, compelling tour of Virginia's colonial commorants. He scrawls out a story so enchanting that I can only describe it as enchanting. Yes, the endnotes get rather long, but if you're like me you'll bask in the hedonism of his note structure and devour eeach of his many sources in the order he so masterfully lists them. Brilliance!

Dr. Tillson so thoroughly researched Virginia's history for this book that when I finished reading it I felt I could be considered a scholar on Virginia's history. This may seem like a book for graduate students, professors of history, and history-philes, but I am a lowly undergraduate student with an interest in history and appreciated and enjoyed this book. Any questions, comments, or concerns I had about the material while reading the book were answered quickly and thoroughly. If you aren interested in this time period or are taking a class on early America, this is an excellent read.

All too often, George Washington comes across as a monument rather than a person. As the victorious general of the American Revolution and as our nation's first president, he is often depicted as the indispensable figure in the struggle to establish America as a nation, with his decisions and actions almost providential in nature. Yet Washington the man is lost amidst the adulation, leaving the reader with an incomplete picture of who he really was.

This collection of Washington's writings is an indispensable aid in the process of understanding the man behind the legend. The editor, John Rhodehamel, has selected 446 key documents from Washington's life, including letters, addresses, and general orders issued to his men. Written in the strictly formal style of the Virginia planter seeking to maintain the dignity of his position in society, his prose often cloaks the anxiety he felt about his status, the revolutionary cause, and the survival of the new republic. Together they convey a distinctly human figure, one whose stature only grows with a better understanding of the difficulties he surmounted. This is the book for anyone seeking to supplement other works on Washington with the original sources, or for those who simply want to read about Washington's life in his own words.

Like Robert E. Lee, George Washington might be considered the marble man of his time, a revolutionary whose passion doesn't burn as bright on the pages of history as, say, Thomas Paine, or as clear as Thomas Jefferson. He may be admired and revered, but not necessarily loved, certainly not in the way as old Marse Lee.

Whether Washington the man can be reclaimed from Washington the statue is a task left up to biographers and fiction writers, because after thumbing through this collection of his writings, it is with some certainty that the man from Mount Vernon can't do it himself.

Once gets the impression that Washington was a man who believed in duty, to himself as an eighteenth-century man of means, and to his country, whether it be England (for whom he participated on several expeditions against the French in Pennsylvania), or his newly created United States. The man who, in 1755, volunteered to join the British commander in chief, General Edward Braddock, on what became a disasterous expedition into western Pennsylvania, became by 1775 the man who would write to his wife announcing his appointment to head the rebel army, that, "I have used every endeavour in my power to avoid it [command]."

Even his ascention to the presidency was performed in very reluctant steps. In a letter to Henry Knox, he wrote, "I can assure you . . . that my movements to the chair of Government will be accompanied with feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution."

So why serve? "It was utterly out of my power to refuse this appointment without exposing my Character to such censures as would have reflected dishonour upon myself, and given pain to my friends," he wrote Martha Washington.

Perhaps an early clue to his character can be found in the first entry, a collection of 100 maxims he composed when he was 15, rules for living which range from the practical ("Put not your meat to your Mouth with your Knife in your hand neither Spit forth the Stones of any fruit Pye upon a Dish nor Cast anything under the table"), to the inspirational ("Let your Recreations be Manfull not Sinfull"), and even a bit of the poetic ("Labour to keep alive in your Breast that Little Spark of Celestial fire Called Conscience").

Sober, practical, firm-minded, George Washington was not a man to inspire devotion through force of personality, only through a far-sighted competence which does not make for glorious history, but to those who cherish the ideals and promise of America, one can be thankful that he was in the right place at the right time.

George Washington is far more revered than known; but, as this splendid book proves, when you come to know him you feel even more admiration for him. This installment in the indispensable LIBRARY OF AMERICA series gathers hundreds of Washington's letters, as well as his more formal public statements as Virginia legislator and revolutionary leader, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, advocate of federal constitutional reform, and First President of the United States. The formal public statements display the heavy style that Washington fell into when consciously speaking to posterity. It is in his letters that Washington's vigorous mind, strong emotions, and sound judgment emerge most cleary -- and that portray his humanity and his nobility most clearly and accessibly. Readers of this volume would be well-advised to read John Rhodehamel's superb chronology (appearing at the back of the book) first, and then turning to the text. If they do this, they will have! a sound chronological and historical basis for setting Washington's writings, public and private, in context and for seeing the critical founding decades of the American republic as he saw and experienced them.

-- Richard B. Bernstein, Adjunct Professor of Law, New York Law School; Daniel M. Lyons Visiting Professor in American History, Brooklyn College/CUNY; Book Review Editor for Constitutional Books, H-LAW; and Senior Research Fellow, Council on Citizenship Education, Russell Sage College