Edward Books

i got it for someone as a gift. It came in good condition and on
time...so I am happy!

Colorful, captivating, a novel of freedom, self-reliance and humor. Twelve Quiet Men is a great read based on the little known Vigilante activities of eastern Montana and western North Dakota. The author has obviously done his research, compiling facts that have been delibertly hidden and forgotton. He uncovers the true mood of the Montana territory by showing the character of the men who took the trail to clean up the rustlers and killers of that time period. Leaving the reader searching for more information concerning the events of those historic times.

In the 1870's and 1880's, from central Montana into western Dakota Territory, organized outlaw gangs terrorized the region, rustling, robbing and killing. The law was powerless to stop them and the U.S. Army refused to help. Finally, a small secret group of determined cattlemen, led by Granville Stuart, abandoned their ranching responsibilities to hunt down and exterminate these lawless predators.

Wow, what a story! This is a forgotten chapter of the American West. Many are aware of the Vigilante activities in the Virginia City area during the 1860's when twenty two members of the outlaw Plummer gang were killed. Twenty years later, nearly one hundred outlaws were hung or shot in less than two years, but little has been written about it. Why?

Twelve men formed the active Vigilante group and they knew how to keep a secret. While they had the silent, active support of many ranchers in the region, they revealed their plans to no one. I, like others living in Montana and Dakota, have heard rumors of these events for years but never knew the complete story.

The author has done a commendable job in his research, reviewing period newspapers, delving into obscure records and capturing bits and peices of the events from various sources. If you like western historical novels or action/adventure tales, this is the book for you. It contains so much detail about life in those times, it speaks with authority and rings true.

I highly recommend this book. It's a great read!

I've read so many "western" novels and such that I could almost feel the imaginary spurs on my heels when I walked down the carpeted hall on the way to my PC at the office, but I've finally found the real deal. This book removed those pesky spurs and replaced them with a real understanding of what life, and survival, was truly like in the effort to settle the west. Beyond that, and perhaps more importantly, it's an excellent story. I am not too much of a stickler for accurate details, but I must have an entertaining read. Here I found a great read, so I did a little bit of research. The author actually pulled it off; he combined a great story with historical accuracy! Ladies and gentlemen, that's a rarity.
As I've said I'm a western novel nut, and in this one I've found attention to detail that surpasses all others.
This guy obviously did his homework, and then was able to turn history into a page-turner that I simply couldn't put down. Get it, enjoy it, and let's hope that he gives us more!

Aaron

The poetic begining of the book was the best part. I especially liked the way Forrestor used the displays to describe human nature. Foresstor has tremendous insight into human nature; maybe only the pessimistic side. I thoughthe was long winded when he got into his own views. But then again that is my own opion.

In times when it seems all too easy to give away our rights in exchange for largely virtual safety, the voice of E. M. Forster sounds more loud and clear than ever before. In his essays written before and after the Second World War Forster discusses the dangers that we are facing today. Forster's solution may seem naive to our cynical age but only if we don't try to get to the bottom. This book is a lesson we still have not learned - always worth another look.

I couldn't care less about the political essays -- but what he has to say about creativity and criticism is better than anything I've read in modern "how to write" books.

Skip the politics if you want (I did); if you want insight into art, specifically writing, buy this book and his ASPECTS OF THE NOVEL.

E.M. Forster is better known as a writer than as a great thinker.
This volume contains most of his nonfiction writings and thus introduces us to a different side of Forster. Some of the pieces, it is true, are on writing, but most relevant for today is probably his political thought.

Forster provides us with a window into the world of the nineteen thirties where democracy was perceived as a fragile and precious object in danger of being blown away by the forces of fascism and communism. Still, in "What I believe" and "Three Anti-Nazi broadcasts" Forster reaffirms his belief in this form of government.

Democracy is important, he argues, because it allows criticism. He argues that "parliament is often sneered at because it is a Talking Shop. I believe in it because it is a talking shop. I believe in the Private Member who makes himself a nuisance. He gets snubbed and is told that he is cranky or ill- informed, but he does expose abuses which would otherwise never have been mentioned".

Forster argues forcefully against hero worship and against the cult of "great men". Although rooted in a bygone era, much of his thinking retains some relevance today.

I am an avid reader of fiction, so I believe I know good from bad. Tybee is outstanding! The feelings, the suspense, the dialogue, and the outcomes place it in the top five that I've read for the past year. The author appears to projecting himself into his story, as I don't think anyone could've made up the feelings that are expressed. I strongly recommend this to anyone who enjoys the kind of book that stays with you. I was deeply affected by Tybee.

As one who reads at least two books a week, I found Tybee to contain everything that I enjoy about good fiction. It's filled with action, fabulous dialogue, and is an overall great story. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about the human experience. I couldn't help but to feel that the main character, Ted, is the author revealing his deeper thoughts. A solid piece of literature!

Tybee is absolutely loaded with virtually every element of the human experience. It's exciting, filled with suspense and surprises, and keeps the reader's constant attention. One of the best fictional pieces I've read in a long time. A fabulous read!

This story is loaded with human emotions and tons of ironic surprises. It's a first-class thriller that I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a roughly 3-hour read.

a good start to introducing most of the cat breeds. many omitted. the book itself was a bit outdated, b
ut still enjoyable.

I just love cats. If it weren't for this book I wouldn't of found any of our kittens' breeds. This lists down probably every breed of cat there is, except wild and extinct cats that is. I would say this is the best cat encyclopedia I've read. I would recomend this book to any cat breeder out there.

What makes this book useful is the plethora of information it gives on cats as well as the way it is organized. The encyclopedia is quite thorough in detailing not only the various subjects of cats, but types of cats and other areas concerning care and behavior.

There are many topics covered. One of the first main sections focuses on what a person should look for and know ahead of time before choosing a cat for adoption. It gives some tips on what to look for in a healthy cat, and how to care for a sick cat, as well as how to maintain a healthy lifestyle for your pet. This section is followed by advice on how to create the right environment for your cat: how you can help your cat "settle" into its new home, what to do if it does not adjust well, access to litter boxes, toys for cats, etc. This is followed by a section on how to care for cats home and away. If you happen to be leaving town for a time, there are some helpful bits of advice on how to make it less stressful on your feline friends. Explored in this section are such things on dangers to cats within the home and outside and ideas about access to the outside, such as how often you should let your cat out. There is also a section on nutrition and feeding, which goes over how much and what you should feed your cat based on its age or weight. Perhaps the biggest section is the one which goes over the many types of cats--these are broken into shorthair and longhair. There are many pictures of the various types, as well as information on their personalities and temperaments. The final section is about sickness and diseases, from minor to serious, and how to go about treating each one.

What I found most helpful about the book is the broad range of topics about cats. You can think of a common question about your cat, and it is probably answered in this book. There are tons of pictures of cats and their many predicaments included in the book, but this isn't just a "pretty" encyclopedia meant to grab you with its big, cute pictures. There is a ton of information for someone who has never had a cat, and information for someone who has grown up with cats all their life. The cat novice and the cat veteran will probably agree this is an excellent book! A must for any cat lover!

This beautiful reference book on cat care and the world's cat breeds makes a lovely coffee table book. It has over 700 photos of cats. It's printed on semi-glossy, flexible and thick paperstock.

The book is separated into two parts. Part One is "Caring for your Cat" and it starts with history of the cat. Then it goes on to many topics that any cat owner should be aware of. A few of the topics covered in part one are: Creating the right enviroment, selecting the right cat, care at home & away, nutrition & feeding, grooming, behavior, health and injuries & ailments of cats.

In part two, "The Breeds", there's a complete pictorial encyclopedia of all the main cat breeds. Each breed and the breed's many color combinations are fully described. It also has information on any important characteristics, such as temperment, grooming needs and average sizes. Non-pedigreed cats are also covered on a limited basis.

This full color, British authored book would make a great guidebook for any new cat owner. It would also make a lovely gift for a cat lover.

I have been a fan of Editorial Cartoons and cartoons in general for many years. The Editorial Cartoons we get in our daily papers are pretty much written around the news of the day and are wonderful in their own way.However, they tend to lose their punch very quickly and are not intended to be otherwise.
What Sorel gives us is more the thinking man's portraits presented as caricatures.His portraits are more akin to what you see in the higher scale magazines such as The New Yorker and Esquire. Because more thought goes into these portraits;they tend to give a picture of that person over a much longer period of time and therefoe gets to their real essence.
When you look at one of these portraits,say the one of Marlon Brando and Al Pacino on page 94,you can't help but agree that Sorel has really captured the essence of these two great actors.His portrayal of the 5th Anniversary of Watergate,on page 147,as a picnic ,leaves one with the thought;What a party it was! Then on page 108 ,he steps back and portrays the Great Modern Irish Writers,Joyce,Yeats,O'Casey,Beckett,Lady Gregory,Oliver St.John O'Gogarty and Synge,and what a serious and determined lot they be;and little wonder there was no place among them for the irrasible Brendan Behan.Whether it's Sinatra,Bacall,LBJ,Nixon,Bogart,Hefner,Eastwood,Caruso,Napoleon,MadonnaReagan,Quale,Truman & Ike on page 166,Clinton in the company of Past Presidents,or Gingrich being consoled by Uncle Sam;if you like characters and the artistic portrayal of them by a great caricaturist;you'll love this book

This is a great book and a must have. Not only are the illustrations great but the text is also wonderful

"Unauthorized Portraits" is a sumptuous must-read for the working cartoonist or illustrator (like myself). Edward Sorel's clever drawings and candid text will amuse, inspire, humble, and even comfort any commercial artist or pop culture enthusiast. Sorel is an artist and a gentleman (I know; I've met him) - but he is also a visual raconteur. I hope his agile pens never run dry.

Mr. Sorel is the most elegant cartoonist there is! His sophisticated draftsmanship is superb, the subtle way he uses colors has no match and, well, I guess even the guys he most mercilessly trashes ought to be proud to appear in such fantastic cartoons!

Besides, the man obviously knows what he's talking about: art, books, movies, music, politics... Simply put, Edward Sorel's work is THE example of what an intelligent cartoonist should look like.

Although this book is written by social democrats, and I am nowhere near a social democrat, I found it to be a very fair and accurate (as far as I know) treatment of economics. Instead of the one dimensional approach favored by the neoclassical economics that dominates American universities, it uses a three dimensional "political economy" approach. It analyzes markets, power relations, and economic growth. And it tells you a lot of very important things that textbooks leave out, mostly relating to flaws with markets. I recommend this book to anyone who is seriously interested in economics. However, it easy enough for anyone to understand.

"Understanding Capitalism", as far as I know, is the best "alternative" introductory textbook dealing with how the economy works. Some of its content is similar to what one would find in a standard introductory economics textbook: the treatment of supply and demand, inflation, monetary and fiscal policy is fairly conventional, even when non-traditional notation is used. However, much else is fresh, insightful and non-dogmatic. It gives capitalism credit when it's due, and doles out criticism when it applies. Throughout the book, a "three-dimensional approach" is used: competition (horizontal market relations), command (vertical class relations) and change (developments over time) are all examined to give a meaningful picture of the economy. The book has three main parts: political economy (chapters 1-7), microeconomics (chapters 8-13) and macroeconomics (chapters 14-19). I will elaborate on some of the themes developed.

POLITICAL ECONOMY
Chapter 2 contains an amazing discussion of agency: "homo economicus", or as Amartya Sen proclaimed, the "rational fool" is challenged with the help of experimental game theory.
Chapter 4 refers to history of economic thought and briefly reviews the ideas of Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Joseph Schumpeter, John Maynard Keynes, Ronald Coase and Amartya Sen.
Chapter 5 examines the concept of surplus product, the conflict it engenders and its different uses.
Chapters 6 and 7 discuss capitalism and class in the context of different economic systems (slavery, feudalism, central planning, etc.) and review the different phases of American capitalism. An important insight that comes from this is that not all capitalisms are the same: different social and institutional arrangements exist. In fact, the "varieties of capitalism" approach in comparative political science draws on the same insight.

MICROECONOMICS
Chapter 9 contains an extensive discussion of market failure (some basic game theory is used).
Chapter 12 dwells on the insight that the labor market is fundamentally different from other markets. Purchasing labor is not enough: it has to be extracted. The authors use "efficiency wage" theory and a labor extraction curve to show why wages do not reach market clearing levels and why involuntary unemployment always persists (this is later used to discuss full employment in the part on macroeconomics).
Chapter 13 expands the notion of labor extraction and describes the main methods of control used by firms: simple (as in a fast food restaurant), technical (as in a car factory) and bureaucratic control (as in an office).

MACROECONOMICS
Chapter 15 discusses economic development. It takes on the efficiency-equality trade-off often assumed by economists as well as argues that successful development depends mainly on the local institutions rather than foreign investment. In fact, even some neoclassical economists such as Dani Rodrik from Harvard would agree.
Chapter 17 examines the business cycle in the context of the rate of profit (which is discussed extremely thoroughly in Chapter 10). During an expansion of the business cycle labor and material inputs gradually become more expensive and end up squeezing the rate of profit, leading to a decline in investment. This insight applies beyond a regular business cycle. I personally think that a very similar high-employment profit squeeze analysis can be used to partly understand why the post-war consensus in Great Britain was challenged by Thatcherism.

The style of this book is as good as the content. The figures, tables and boxes it employs (all in grayscale) are elegant and non-irritating (a characteristic almost impossible to find in introductory economics textbooks). The writing is lucid and engaging. One example of this is the opening of Chapter 6 which introduces the notion of surplus product by referring to the history of Cambridge, England: both the Medieval cathedral and the 17th century ditches in Cambridge are results of the surplus product. The former was used for religious purposes, the latter were used to drain marshy land and to expand productive capacity. Finally, the lists of suggested readings in the end of every chapter contain some very valuable recommendations.

Of course, as one reviewer pointed out, this book is not perfect. It disregards some mainstream concepts that are important or useful: price elasticity and welfare analysis, free trade and comparative advantage, production possibilities frontier (PPF). They can be successfully criticized (e.g. comparative advantage can be criticized as static and dependent on certain restrictive and unrealistic assumptions) but it is vital to know them since they are used in debates on public policy (taxes, trade, etc.). PPF in its turn helps to understand the difference between "crowding out" and "crowding in" due to fiscal policy. However, I do not think this takes away from this book. Most students will know mainstream concepts from regular courses. Thus, I highly recommend it!

As taught in most undergraduate courses, the world of mainstream economics is an orderly place where markets clear, economic actors are rational, and social harmony prevails. Readers wanting more realism should read "Understanding Capitalism," a superb introduction to economics written from a social democratic perspective. As in any introductory econ text, the book carefully analyzes market processes. However, it also analyzes "command" relationships within firms and the relationship between capitalist dynamics and economic growth. This "three dimensional" approach to economics -- the authors prefer the term "political economy" -- offers a comprehensive view of the subject.

The core chapters deal with microeconomics and macroeconomics. The micro section borrows from Marx and Schumpeter, and focuses on profit-seeking and "accumulation" as the keys to capitalist dynamics. The macro chapters draw on and update Keynes, and explain why unemployment is a persistent feature of U.S.-style capitalism (Swedish-style capitalism is a different matter). Throughout, economic concepts are related to ideas from anthropology, history, political science, and environmental science. Key points are illustrated with examples from the daily news; there is much algebra, but no calculus; the writing is clear. This is a very reader-friendly econ text.

It is also refreshingly non-dogmatic. Although the authors are leftists, they acknowledge that capitalism obliterates archaic economic structures and lifts standards of living. They also highlight the role of profit-seeking in the development of new technologies and production methods. Their tone is consistently reasonable and fair to all points of view. Of course, no book is perfect. I would have preferred a more traditional analysis of microeconomics (complete with graphs showing average cost, marginal cost, and so forth). The sections on international trade and finance are too skimpy for a book trying to make sense of modern globalized capitalism. But overall, "Understanding Capitalism" is superb. No one taking a mainstream lower-division course on economics should miss it -- and anyone teaching such a course should consider using it as a supplemental text.

I've always found studying economics to be an extremely frustrating experience. It seems my only options for learning about capitalism are (1) academic economists who study free-market processes but act as though political economy doesn't and never did exist, or (2) Marxist activists, who DO talk about political economy, but whose actual grasp of it is somewhat weak (and whose grasp of free-market principles is even weaker). Understanding Capitalism is really an anomaly in that it doesn't fit neatly into either of the aforementioned groups. This may be partly explained by the fact that at least one of the authors is a political scientist. Anyway, the book covers both free-market capitalist economics AND political economy, as well as providing (in the first chapter) a masterful summary of the rise and explosive growth of capitalism, first in England, then Europe, and now the world. I wish I could give you the whole table of contents so you could see how wide the scope of this book really is. Just to convince you that it isn't your standard college economic textbook, however, I'll give you a taste.

Here are the titles of a few sections within the book:
"Values in Political Economy"
"Karl Marx"
"Capitalism, the Surplus Product and Profits"
"Class and Class Relationships"
"The Capitalist Firm as a Command Economy"
"Race and Inequality" (!)
"The Limits of Democratic Control of the Capitalist Economy"

Here are the titles of a few chapters within the book:
"Capitalism Shakes the World"
"Political Economy, Past and Present"
"Competition and Concentration"
"The Mosaic of Inequality"
"Progress and Poverty on a World Scale"
"The Future of Capitalism"

If you have only heard criticisms of capitalism from Marxist literature, this book will be extremely valuable. You'll get a more scientific understanding of the same principles and a good presentation of the critique of capitalism scattered throughout the entire book. At the same time, you're sure to learn more about the workings of a free-market economy in the absence of government control (from both a neoclassical perspective and other perspectives). Most economics textbooks practically seem like they're written for business students, and they sure aren't interested in helping the reader really "understand capitalism." Read this book, and you will understand capitalism.

Viennese Types :: Wiener Typen is a remarkable compilation of the photographs taken by the late Dr. Emil Mayer in Vienna around 1910. A lawyer and photographer active around the turn of the century, Mayer's photographs are exceedingly rare because most of his prints were destroyed by the Gestapo after his death (Mayer and his wife, both Jews, committed suicide in June 1938, soon after the Anschluss). But two copies of a remarkable portfolio of his original prints survived the Holocausts, and it is this portfolio which has now been published by Blind River Editions, augmented with an informative essay by Edward Rosser and a foreword by Rudolf Arnheim. Viennese Types :: Wiener Typen is a unique and outstanding contribution to the history of photography in general, and the memorable, impressive, beautifully executed work of Emil Mayer in particular.

Despite its rather blunt title: VIENNA TYPES is Dr. Emil Mayer's surviving masterwork of street photography. The plates are deeply moving & offer glimpses into life in that grand old city of 100 years ago. Like a Sleeping Beauty aroused by the careful ministrations of Edward Rosser, this collection of exquisite photgraphs is timeless & evocative.

Edward Rosser unfolds the details of Dr. Emil Mayer's life & times, explaining how societies were in those days before two World Wars. He also describes the particular process, bromoil, which Dr. Mayer used.

Each plate demands to be gazed upon in quiet admiration, for their details as well as their composition. You can almost feel the fabrics of people's clothes, sense the vitality of the market, smell the horses, leather & tobacco, as everyday people go about their lives.

If you love photography, Rebeccasreads recommends VIENNA TYPES for its unique & enchanting look at a world long gone.

Images such as those found in "Viennese Types" render words superfluous. Capturing a time long past, a serene turn-of-the-century Vienna, Dr. Emil Mayer has preserved street scenes perfectly representing individuals often seen, such as sidewalk vendors, window shoppers, a scissors grinder, a carriage driver, and more. All of these photographs are artfully composed, beautifully rendered. Most amazing, perhaps, is the intimacy and sympathy these images convey. It is almost impossible to view them without being moved.

Born in 1871 in Bohemia, Dr. Mayer was a Jew who was the victim of Nazi oppression. Following his suicide at the age of 66, his possessions, including his photography collection, were lost. Thus, regrettably, little is left of his great work.

Nonetheless, "Viennese Types" is mute testimony to his photographic artistry. This is a rare volume, one to be treasured.

In photography when things turn out well it's often because there's been an especially graceful coalescence of art and science. The photography of Dr. Emil Mayer (the "Dr." was an honorary title in common use by lawyers in Austria) is a sublime example of that happy merging. Mayer was an enthusiastic practitioner, teacher, and proponent of bromoil process photography - a method that allows for a freedom of expression via a series of laborious chemical manipulations of the negative, and produces a monochrome print that has a softly grainy appearance, and a sort of quietude, in addition to effective, evocative painterly depth. From this collection and the essays that accompany it one comes to understand Mayer had the soul (and the eye) of an artist, and the patience and skill of a scientist. The results are terrific.

Rudolf Arnheim's Foreword offers an elegant preview of these atmospheric documentary photographs of a vanished time and place: turn-of-the-century Vienna, a city and a culture that has been called a "uniquely civilized world."

Edward Rosser's sensitive accompanying biographical essay, "The Life and Art of Dr. Emil Mayer," is both an appreciation and a fine critical piece. Mayer, a Jew, was born in 1871 in Bohemia. His family moved to prosperous, bourgeois Vienna when he was a child. He was well-educated, and became a lawyer and a passionate hobbyist photographer, leading a large Viennese amateur photography club for 20 years, from 1907 to 1927. Mayer published numerous monographs (some in the US) on bromoil process.

Rosser explains that Hitler's annexation of Austria intervened, however. In June 1938 Mayer and his wife committed suicide. Their possessions, including of course most of his photographs, were confiscated, lost, or destroyed. Rosser's essay elaborates: Many if not all of the Europeans who would have remembered him after the war fell victim to the Holocaust themselves. Mayer's disappearance, then, was nearly assured in a scenario replicated - unthinkably and by the millions - in our time.

But in fact Mayer's photographs were rediscovered, and the facts of his life reconstructed by the hard work and efforts of several people (credited in Rosser's essay).

The complete portfolio of the 51 photographs in this collection reside in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York. They are of everyday street life - a sort that vanished with the coming of the First World War. They are portraits: at least one interesting person is in each. People conduct all sorts of business on the streets. Horses pull wagons and coaches. (Most everyone wears a hat, a cap, or a kerchief - and aside from a group of men in bowlers, the hats are quite thrilling - to this modern eye). The cobblestone streets are for people, goods, and horses - and there are many. The profusion of things to buy and to sell, so emblematic of the bourgeois ideal that was Vienna, caught Mayer's eye - and caught mine, too.

This book engaged, challenged, and delighted me. Anyone with an interest in European street life at the turn of the century, in the deep and absorbing technique known as bromoil process, and the sensitive, artful, and deeply humane photography of a man who very nearly disappeared - will appreciate this fine book.

It has been a long time since I've enjoyed a book so much that it has kept me off the computer for hours at a time. This wonderful book is full of characters you really come to care about. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next while at the same time dreading it coming to an end. If ever a family saga deserved a sequel this is the one! The only complaint I have is that it wasn't twice as long...

"I am five hundred pages through "The Villagers" and am already feeling bereft that the tale is nearly finished. I would love to see a production on PBS! The characters are wonderful, all so different [...], and of course I admire the treatment of the women."

I'm into Villagers and it is wonderful. The amount of historical research is staggering--it could be used in history classes as a text. Why it hasn't been picked up yet by Hollywood, I can't imagine. Sex too hot to handle? It's bound to make it, especially now that movies are returning to big block busters--this in its breadth is like the movie, Sunshine. And the pace is absolutely galloping. I'm whizzing along and can't stand to put it down until my eyes burn with fatigue.

The Villagers by Edward Field & Neil Derrick is a wonderfully rich, rewarding novel about the fictional �Endicott� family from 1845 to 1975 in Greenwich Village, New York. While the Endicotts are the main characters in this long, eventful story, Greenwich Village itself is a background character of sorts. From a small, separate village to the north of the city in 1845, to the integral, exciting and lively neighborhood of 1975, the village �lives� in the background, growing and changing over time as do the Endicotts themselves. This is essentially the story of three generations: Tom�s in the 1840�s, Patrick�s in the 1880�s, and Polly�s in the 1930�s. It is rich, varied, touching. The authors manage to make you care about these characters, drawing each one deftly, fully, making each main character real and believable. It is amazing to me that two separate authors could create so unified a fictional story and do it so successfully.

The authors of this novel have created a very real family. To bring this story alive, many famous people (and events) of the past become minor characters: Walt Whitman, Henry James, The Civil War, the Stock Market Crash of the 20�s, the Stonewall Riots of the late 60�s. This helps to place the family saga into the context of the various time periods. This is an excellent book, a rewarding book. The frequent tragedy is countered by the strength of many of the characters, especially Patrick, Elizabeth, and Polly. While it is very long, it is great fun to read.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Plot Summary: The story begins when young Tom Endicott and his bride, Fanny move to the village from the city in 1845. Tom doesn�t realize the fragile hold Fanny has on her sanity yet, nor that her family had literally married her off to be rid of her and exiled the two to the then far-off village of Greenwich. Sexual frustrations mount as Tom, due to Fanny�s resistance, is unable to make love with his wife after their first time. They have a child from that first time, but when Tom in a fit of frustrated passion forces himself upon Fanny, the resulting child, Claude is rejected by its mother and grows up to be a withdrawn, quiet boy, who dies an early death from an opium addiction. Tom, in frustration turns to the family�s Irish maid, Molly, a lusty woman who enjoys sex. This passionate affair leads to a pregnancy. It is a boy, Tom�s illegitimate son, Patrick. Patrick grows up with his mother Molly in the Irish ghetto and it is he who will eventually carry the Endicott name into the next generation.

Patrick eventually is reunited with the Endicotts when Claude and Molly die. He becomes the son Tom always wanted. Patrick marries Elizabeth, Claude�s childhood friend and produces the next generation of Endicotts. This becomes the longest saga in the Endicott story as Patrick becomes one of the movers and shakers in the growth and development of the village and the growing metropolis of New York. When his 10-year-old son dies, Patrick turns inward and his wife Elizabeth turns to an old family friend for solace which results in another illegitimate child, Polly. But Patrick, thinking Polly is his daughter, is rejuvenated and he fathers a second son, Eugene. Eugene is a supreme disappointment to Patrick and �daughter� Polly is his life now. When Eugene marries and has a son himself, Seth, Patrick accepts his grandson with great joy. However, Eugene, confused and unhappy, leaves his wife and young son and returns to his family home in Greenwich Village.

The next great turn of events is when Patrick catches Eugene in the basement having sex with a workman modernizing the family house with new electrical wiring. Shame drives Eugene away to self-destructiveness. His sister Polly cannot forgive him but his mother Elizabeth tries to protect him from his own downward spiral. Patrick never really recovers. When Patrick finally dies, the family saga shifts to Polly and Eugene. Eugene, finally accepting his gay sexuality becomes a writer of note, even a celebrated playwright. Polly more and more accepts her gay brother as her own life becomes entangled in sex and alcohol. Eugene suddenly dies in a horrible accident, just as he is getting to know his own son Seth. Through much anguish, Polly finally defeats her own demons and becomes a strong, giving woman. Polly works hard to keep her extended family of cousins, nephews, and other relatives together. Much tragedy follows this family, but Polly triumphs, saving her family members from their own self-destructiveness over and over. In the end Polly herself, now well into her 80�s in 1975, dies a quiet, peaceful death, the last Endicott in Greenwich Village.

Well put together historical representation of the plantations and the homes of the early settlers of the Virginia Colonies. It is so important to see and appreciate that which still exists of our heritage in the early Virginia settlements. Something we all should be very proud of is the way these beautiful homes have been restored and protected.

I bought this book for my boss who designs houses. He and I were happily satisfied with the extrordinary details of the homes in this book. You will love the architecture, interiors, country settings, furnishing, and colors of these homes. All seem to have been meticulously cared for and lived in. You will be transported back in time as you turn the pages and wish you could visit and stay a while in these homes.

I don't think there are any floorplans, but the book is awesome for the pictures of each house inside & out.

This book transported me back to my home state of Virginia (my Florida driver's license is only 14 months old) in an almost visceral way. I recommend it not only to Virginians but to anybody who wants to travel through a doorway into a more genteel place and time.

Filled with lavish full-color photographs and satisfying historical descriptions, this is the kind of coffee-table sized book that you want to curl up with and linger over.

The exteriors of the homes, photographed to reveal telling architectural detail, are also shown in their natural surroundings. You see the Virginia rivers that flow beyond the front lawns; the lavish beds of tiger lilies in full bloom; the grazing horses in pasture; the paper-white dogwoods blossoms at their peak in spring; the shade-dappled pea-gravel paths hemmed in by generations-old boxwoods that you can fairly smell. One estate in particular - Westover - reminded me of many childhood visits to family friends who lived in a very similar faux plantation house named Wilton on the banks of the James River in the Varina district of Henrico County.

The interiors of the houses are revealed in full clarity. Entire rooms are photographed, as well as details of construction and furnishing: chair rails, paneling, china settings, chandeliers, secret doorways, period furniture, fabrics and paintings on the wall. You feel as if you would like to sit in that bay window and savor the view to the outside; relax in that chair by that fire; explore that winding spiral staircase all the way to the top; play a hand of cards at that card table with the silk-inlaid top; drink brandy out of that crystal goblet; sleep in that four-poster bed under that bedspread; run your hand over that polished bannister railing.

The accompanying essays convey the history of each house, its architectural uniqueness, and the chain of ownership into the present day. Long enough to be informationally satisfying but brief enough to retain reader interest (no mean feat!), the prose serves to cre! ate a bridge into a past that has nonetheless been kept intriguingly alive by the stewardship of the current owners of these houses and grounds. The 27 homes profiled, built during the historical periods of English Colonial (1690-1720), Colonial (1720-90), Federal (1790-1830) and Antebellum (1830-60) are scattered through Virginia's Tidewater, Piedmont and Blue Ridge Mountain areas.

Breck Montague, owner of the English Colonial estate Toddsbury in Tidewater Virginia's Gloucester County, says that "When I turn down the lane on my way home, I turn my car radio off and roll down my window. I smell the humus of the forest, and I feel the peace and tranquility of the place." Indeed, that feeling of place and quietness permeates this entire 215-page book, and time spent with this sumptuous volume is practically guaranteed to lower your blood pressure.

Because Toddsbury and the other homes in Virginia Country are in private hands and not on public tour, this book will prove especially useful to historians, designers, architects, landscapers, and antique and art lovers. Virginia Country is well suited for either library or private collections.

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Articles by Betsy Wells Edwards have appeared in lifestyle, business and equestrain publications. She lives with her husband and son on a 19th century farm in Goochland County, Virginia. Taylor Dabney's work has appeared in numerous publications and exhibits. He has been a recipient of the Virginia Commission for the Arts Photography Fellowship and was named in 1987 to the top-five list of new photographers at Photography Magazine's annual awards convention.

Wonderfully photographed, just the right amount of text, good cross section of houses around the state.

If you are a teacher who would like to become familiar with the latest academic research regarding vocabulary acquisition, but who has neither time nor energy to wade through hundreds of pages of technical research in academic journals, then this is the book for you!
Too often, a wide ravine separates literacy teachers from academic researchers in the field. The teachers tend to focus on practical textbooks, oriented around lesson plans for specific grades (such as those in the Scholastic Teaching Resources series), while the researchers produce highly technical articles published in journals such as the Journal of Child Language or Reading Research Quarterly, which are all but inaccessible to the average teacher, whether because of the lengthy and technical nature of the articles, or because of the limited time available to practicing schoolteachers.
However, the present compendium of articles successfully bridges this gap, bringing the latest results of academic literacy research to the literacy teacher. Concepts are presented clearly and succinctly, in a fashion which underscores their relevance to the challenges of the literacy classroom. At the same time, however, these studies do not suffice with a simple recital of the research results; rather, they also include detailed explanations of the field tests from which the concepts emerge, along with complete bibliographical references. Thus, the reader emerges informed not only of the results of the research but with an overview of the research process as well; and the reader who wishes to explore any given matter further needs only follow up the copious bibliographical notes within.
Underlying most of the studies within the book is the contention that wide reading will generally not suffice to build a child's vocabulary. On the one hand, studies show that in the overwhelming majority of cases, the context surrounding unfamiliar words is not sufficiently rich to allow the child to learn the words in any meaningful way. Additionally, the frequency of unfamiliar words tends to be too low for the words to become ingrained within the mind of the reader. On the other hand, additional studies demonstrate that using a variety of proactive instruction strategies, significant quantities of words can be acquired and internalized, such that reading comprehension is bolstered considerably. These latter studies investigate strategies for analyzing unfamiliar words (such as morphology instruction), as well as methods for heightening awareness of new words (such as the Vocabulary Self Selection method).
Given the wide range of authors included within this compendium, it is natural that some differing viewpoints will emerge. For instance, although the word "predict" is used by Shane Templeton as a prime example of a word which can generate a fruitful morphology session in the classroom (page 133), Michael Graves, in his discussion of prefix instruction 50 pages earlier, specifically notes that words such as "predict" are not sufficiently transparent and should be excluded from morphology discussions (page 83). Nevertheless, such differing positions are perfectly reasonable and are certainly welcome in the present book, allowing teachers to make informed decisions, choosing varying methods and strategies as appropriate for their particular students.
The one fault which I have found in this book is that the authors fail to take their vocabulary acquisition methods one step further, towards the writing process. That is, the overarching concern of virtually every one of the writers is the learning of vocabulary for reading comprehension. While this is certainly a worthy goal, and certainly precedes any effort placed upon developing writing skills, I felt that the research explored here regarding the integration of new vocabulary should have also been exploited to develop strategies which would encourage the students to use the newly acquired words in their writing as well.

This review of research is just as important for the Non Reading classroom teacher.

I started by skipping through the chapters that I thought applied to me, but ended up reading all of the chapters and finding use for all of the information.

I shared this with collegues who ended up buying their own copies!

The collaborative effort of James F. Baumann (Professor of Reading Education, University of Georgia) and Edward J. Kame'enui (Director of the Institute for the Development of Educational Achievement, College of Education, University of Oregon), Vocabulary Instruction: Research To Practice is the newest title in the outstanding "Solving Problems in the Teaching of Literacy" series from Guilford Publications. Focusing upon student vocabulary development, this compendium of research-based approaches provides current findings in the areas of effective classroom curriculum strategies for increasing vocabularies through the teaching of specific word meanings, strategies for learning new words independently, opportunities for word and language play, and developing a lifelong appreciation for words, their meanings, and their usages. Enhanced with illustrative classroom examples, Vocabulary Instruction can well serve as a primary text for aspiring teachers, as well as informative supplemental reading for practicing classroom instructors developing curriculums for any grade level of instruction.

I am an educator who recently had to overhaul and redesign a large-scale vocabulary instruction program. The information in this book was invaluable to me. I found it to be accurate, insightful, actionable, well-organized, and comprehensive.

As another teacher suggested, this book is not full of teaching activities, lesson plans, or word lists. (If you want that kind of book, you might try The Vocabulary Teacher's Book of Lists.) It is, however, full of big-picture facts and credible answers to important questions. It gave me confidence in my approach and helped me make many decisions. It also helped me plan teacher training.

If you are teaching in a traditional classroom setting with an established curriculum and an established set of practices, this book will probably not change the way you teach very much (although it might be interesting). However, if you are making larger-scale decisions about your vocabulary program, this book is a wonderful resource.