Virginia Books

An interesting book of letters written by Lieutenant Theodore Laidley during the historic Mexican War.

"'Surrounded by Dangers of All Kinds': The Mexican War Letters of Lieutenant Theodore Laidley" is edited, with extensive commentary, by James M. McCaffrey. The book is Number 6 in the War and the Southwest Series. Spanning the years 1845 to 1848, these letters tell of Laidley's journey through Mexico as an ordnance officer in the U.S. Army. These letters combine with McCaffrey's illuminating commentary to tell a fascinating story.

Laidley and McCaffrey cover many topics: concern about disease, battlefield medicine, the impact of guerilla activity on the U.S. campaign, the importance of mail to the troops, the challenge in getting volunteer troops to reenlist, cultural sensitivity issues involving U.S. troop contact with Mexican civilians, and conflict among senior U.S. military officers. Laidley describes the reality of 19th century combat; he notes that "the horrors of war one can not understand until you have seen it." Particularly interesting are Laidley's observations on the Mexican land and people; he writes about climate, religion, architecture, agriculture, food, and language.

One thing I found quite striking about the book was how relevant many of McCaffrey's and Laidley's topics are to the U.S. operations that are going on in Iraq and Afghanistan at the time I write this review. Laidley's observations are full of interesting details. His voice is at times quite feisty, and his style is consistently very readable. Overall, this book offers a remarkable look at the U.S.-Mexican War.

Albert Jay Nock was a profound champion of the classical Liberal Arts education which served Western Christendom for centuries. Such "education," as distinct from "training," is for a very small select elite, and runs counter to conventional educational dogma, from John Dewey to No Child Left Behind, where egalitarian ideology masks as pedagogy.

Highly recommended!

In this book, Nock discusses in full length his theory of education in general, and the state of education in the United States in particular. Nock's main objectives are to delineate the differences between education and training and to describe what constitutes true education in his view.

The best review of the book can be found in the introduction, written by his son Francis.
To summarize, Nock's main flaws are his lack of scientific education (he would refer to it as scientific training), and more important, his lack of understanding of the importance of science in societal evolution and progress. It is sad to read a true man of letters like Nock regarding science and technology as unrelated to education.

Nonetheless, Nock's main observation is correct: being a great scientist, physician, or inventor does not preclude one from being an uneducated brute when it comes to the philosophical aspects of life. If you are a member of academia, just look around you and see the veracity of Nock's claims: how many ingenious professors, scientists, researchers, doctors and engineers do you know who are ignoramus nincompoops when it comes to history, philosophy, economics, and political theory?

Despite its flaws, this book is a must read for every person wishing to become truly educated.
As a companion to this book, I recommend Nock's great essays "The disadvantages of being educated" and "The value of useless knowledge".

This book is excellent for anyone who wants to learn about the history of Virginia. It has a clear way of explaining history through pictures. The pictures are fantastic!

this book is really good it has great information. These pictures are very good and there a lot of them. You should buy this book.

I bought this for my mother-in-law who enjoys history and visiting old cemeteries. Kept her entertained and interested till the end!

This well researched and skillfully crafted story is based upon historical fact--the mysterious night time burial of the crew of a German U-boat in Hampton, Virginia's National Cemetery in the early days of World War II. The book paints an accurate picture of the mood and lives of the people in small town America during the war and includes numerous vintage photographs that help to recreate the era. An interesting feature of the narrative is the use of italic print to indicate the thoughts of the book's main character, Julia Keegan. Although presented from a woman's point of view, the story contains enough swash-buckling aspects to keep it exciting for male readers as well. I highly recommend this book for a fascinating read.

I really enjoyed this book. It was informative and innovative. I easily looked up problems and found the tools necessary to handle them. It was also easy reading in between the many other jobs one does as a parent!

I have read this book and found it to be a wonderful tool to help me raise my daughter Emma. The tools provided by Virginia have helped me be a better parent to my daughter and has helped our relationship be more loving in every way. I feel much more in control of every situation and I DON'T HAVE TO YELL EVERY TIME!!!!

Try it... you'll like it.

You are about to embark on a journey to many places untouched by modern man, giving you a glimpse of the past mirrored with stories and brief histories of battles long since silenced by time. As you open this book you will be begin your Civil War trek at Manassas, stopping at the National Battlefield and it's museum. From there you will work counterclockwise around Virginia and West Virginia, through one historic site to the next, stopping sometimes at battlefields, other times at simple out-of-the-way museums or perhaps nothing more than a few relics ravaged by nature.

Each stop is clearly marked on easy-to-read maps accompanied by side notes or script detailing the historical significance of the stop. My particular favorite is the Harpers Ferry tour where the author gives an interesting overview of the town along with a brief account of how West Virginia became a state. Although one could spend days going over the surrounding historical sites the author does not drag you into detail after detail, but gives you a brief synopsis of what occurred. Coming from someone who has visited this site many times I've become very familiar with the back-roads and sights to see, and Mr. Johnson does a fine job in taking you around to many of those same areas. However, this book won't give you the detail you need to understand every site, but that can be obtained from the Harper's Ferry National Park visitor center, or by taking a ranger guided tour of the town.

By using this book the average reader will enjoy his journey into the past with stops along the way at several key historic areas. This is not a book for the well-read historian or a tactical study on terrain and warfare, but simply a good book for those mildly intrigued by the Civil War. It may serve to whet their appetite and further their desire for more research.

If you purchase this book and choose to go forth, your trek will take you to numerous battlefields, both small and large. It is my hope that you will leave with a better understanding of what took place during that bloody struggle we now call the Civil War. So, in finishing your journey you will find yourself as did Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, in a quiet little place known as Appomattox Court House. "This is a quiet reverent place, the spot where one country died and another was reborn."

Just like Johnson's book on Civil War Sites in the Carolinas, I thoroughly enjoyed this read.

Johnson's writing style is engaging without being simplistic and he takes the pains to write excellent directions to the many Civil War sites in both Virginias. Thankfully, he groups the many sites by geography instead of time frame.

While the better-known sites are covered (Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Wilderness, Chancellorsville, Richmond, Petersburg, both Bull Run battles, Appamattox, etc.), Johnson also covers lesser-known events (Saltville, Mine Run, Chantilly, etc.). Doing this gives the reader a better appreciation of the quantity of Civil War engagements in the area and also makes the reader aware of sites the typical person may miss.

All in all, an excellent and highly recommended read!

I enjoy historical narratives about turn of the century logging in West Virginia. Many texts cover the economic aspects of logging in terms of the timber processed. Other books detail the milling process or the lifestyle of the lumberjack in the WV wilderness. However, this is the first book I have encountered that describes the social ramifications of the logging industry in defining the WV culture. Ronald Lewis has opened up new discussions of how early steam technology impacted the remote lifestyles of West Virginia. This book gives a fresh viewpoint that is needed in re-evaluating the romanticized description of Appalachian lumbering in the last century.

The subtitle to this book is "Railroads, Deforestation, and Social Change in West Virginia 1880 - 1920." The principle reason for the deeply-embedded poverty in Central Appalachia is the fact that the region continues to be a colony of industrial powers. Beginning in the mid-19th century, iron, coal, railroad, and timber companies teamed with national, state, and local politicians to exploit the natural resources -- coal and timber -- and the people of Central Appalachia. The result was devastation of a culture, destruction of a people, and destruction of the environment. And, I am incorrect to use the past tense -- clear-cutting of forests continues and "mountain-top removal" mining continue to destroy the culture, communities, and landscape of Central Appalachia. Lewis' book is an excellent description of what happens when politicians and industrial leaders join in league to exploit a region.

Note that this book deals with events of 1880 - 1920 -- so why is it important today? Because what was done to Central Appalachia in that period is being done to the rest of us today under the guise of "economic globalization." For example, the people of McDowell County, WV, are powerless in the face of Norfolk Southern (railroad company) because NS owns 85 percent of the land in the county. Just exactly what do you think will happen when "global" corporations own the factories, the minerals, and the workers? The experience of Appalachia with industrial and political exploitation is the same experience that awaits all of us under "economic globalization."

This book helps to easily identify the various species of trees and shrubs that occur in the Virginia area. The descriptions are short, to the point and easily understood. Any one can enjoy this book and it is small enough to take on nature walks with the kids, or grandkids. In a very short time it makes even a notice seem like an expert in tree identification.

I live in Virginia so when I saw this book it was a "must have." It has great photographs of the trees and shrubs, showing both the full size plant as well as close-ups of the leaves and either flowers or fruits. Information is given around how large the plants get, colors and shapes of leaves, pace of growth and other interesting facts. One thing that especially drew me to this book was that when a plant is non-native, they let you know by saying it was introduced from Asia or Europe or wherever. They also give some ideas such as plant x can be grown well into hedges or fruits are made into jellies, etc.

If you are trying to make sense of databases like I do then you need this book. Anderson make short work of trying to figure out where to begin in the troubleshooting process of both Access 97 and Access 2000.

The author uses a flow chart style of troubleshooting. You are given a question as to what the problem is and then following along the flow chart you begin to breakdown where the problem lies and what you need to do to fix it.

Step-by-step instruction for topics like charts, graphs, controls, conversions, exporting, filtering, forms, macros, menus, queries, reports, design and toolbars are but a few of the topics covered in this book.

While the book is only 320 pages there is a wealth of information include and you can also get free web solutions. The actual screen shots make it easier for you to make sure you are in the right place. Overall this book is for the beginner to intermediate level user but there might be something for everyone.

For once a book that claims to troubleshoot does just that. An invaluable tool for any Access user. Buy it!

Having been an undecided student for almost a decade, I have developed a strong interest in both the process by which we choose academic majors and the problems that can lead to difficulty in making this very important decision. Dr. Gordon begins by discussing relevent research into who undecided students really are and some antecendents to indecision. She follows with a chapter on different models for academic advising (advising centers, faculty advisors, residence hall advising centers, etc..). My favorite section deals with types of undecided students. This chapter presents an excellent system for classifying students who are undecided and explains the reasons for their indecision. This knowledge allows for much more specific and effective interventions for these students.
Developmental advising, components of an effective advising program, and examples of advising programs currently operating on various campuses are also covered.
The book is written as a professional reference and would probably not be a good choice as "light reading" for the average person. In spite of that, it is very well written and the information it presents is outstanding. I highly recommend this book to anyone who works with and advises college students

Having been an undecided student for almost a decade, I have developed a strong interest in both the process by which we choose academic majors and the problems that can lead to difficulty in making this very important decision.

Dr. Gordon begins by discussing relevent research into who undecided students really are and some antecendents to indecision. She follows with a chapter on different models for academic advising (advising centers, faculty advisors, residence hall advising centers, etc..).

My favorite section deals with types of undecided students. This chapter presents an excellent system for classifying students who are undecided and explains the reasons for their indecision. This knowledge allows for much more specific and effective interventions for these students.

Developmental advising, components of an effective advising program, and examples of advising programs currently operating on various campuses are also covered.

The book is written as a professional reference and would probably not be a good choice as "light reading" for the average person. In spite of that, it is very well written and the information it presents is outstanding.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who works with and advises college students.