Virginia Books

When I was growing up in western New York, studying colonial America was about the Pilgrims and Plymouth Rock. It was not about Jamestown, even though the landing at Jamestown occurred 13 years earlier. I learned a lot about Jamestown upon moving to Virginia, and with the 400th anniversary this year, I've learned even more.

In recent years, finding text resources about Jamestown that present a true picture of colonization, warts and all, has been hard to find. This situation has changed with the publication of Karen Lange's book, 1607: A New Look at Jamestown. Lange, a journalist and writer with National Geographic Magazine, presents a brief history of the settling of Jamestown using new archaeological evidence to tell the story.

The Foreword begins in this fashion:
Many people feel that to discover the past, all you have to do is find a book, open the pages, and read a single story. That couldn't be farther from the truth. History is not static: It is not a single story. Simple discovery may only yield you one layer. To really begin to understand the multi-faceted stories that make up our past, you must dig beyond what we think we know. You must discover and then re-discover.

This volume takes these words to heart as it reveals the recent discoveries at the Jamestown archaeological site. Supported by an extensive bibliography of primary sources, Lange presents the grim reality that was the founding of this American colony. The narrative describes the settlers' struggles through the artifacts left behind. Color photographs of the dig site, found treasures, and historical reenactment scenes give readers a glimpse of what life was like for those who lived inside the Jamestown fort.

Lange does an especially good job of describing how native peoples were living when the settlers arrived, and how their arrival forever changed their way of life. Lange even highlights the response of the Paspahegh (Powhatan) descendants to the planned celebrations to mark the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, noting:
"For the Indians, Jamestown is nothing to celebrate. To them, it meant the end of their ancestors' way of life."

I was completely enthralled by this book and found myself engaged by the remarkable, yet difficult history presented. Believe me, this is not the standard fare served up in history textbooks. Don't miss this amazing book on a bit of American history you only think you know. I highly recommend it.

In a little under 50 pages, Ms Lange has captured the essence of what life was like in the New World in first decades of the 17th c. She provides an even-handed treatment of Native Americans, the strengths and follies of the English and the terrible ordeals that beset both groups. Her coverage of the most recent findings of archeologists show the misconceptions and biases that have crept into the history books over the ensuing centuries--until now. My 16 year old son used 1607: A New Look at Jamestown as one of his sources for a report in AP US history class, and it was a real eye-opener to him and to me. With wonderful photographs of found relics and recreated scenes, this book brings to life a period and a people who have always taken a back seat to the Pilgrim story. I would highly recommend this book to any parent of a child, pre-teen or teen that shows a curiosity for history. Rather than dumbing-down, Ms Lange dazzles.

Only those with a Bevil / Beville / Beauville / deBeauville / Chesterton, England connection will want this book, but for them it is excellent, readable, and useful, not only in its geneaology but in its history and observations on England up until the 18th century. The authors have accomplished an outstanding job of research.

When the words "700 Years..." are in the title of ANY genealogy book about a family, one instantly wonders about how accurate it is. Yet "700 Years of the Beville Family" is just that: a meticulously researched and documented account of a family whose origins began with two Norman knights who aided William the Conqueror in his quest for the English Crown by crossing the Channel and fighting with him at the Battle of Hastings in the year 1066 A.D.

The book begins with a brief review of how the Duchy of Normandy came into being with the invasion of the Norsemen ca. 911 A.D., and its relation to the rest of the then Frankish kingdom. It covers how Duke William of Normandy came to lay claim to the English throne and the political environment of England at the time of Edward the Confessor leading up to The Conquest.

It next documents the actions of William the Conqueror and the two "de Beuville" brothers, William and Humphrey (noblemen from the town of Beuville in Normandy) and in the subsequent invasion. The story then moves on, detailing the marriages, alliances, roles (including two Knights of the Bath and two members of Parliament), and property transactions of the Beville family for 600 years in the County of Huntingdonshire, England (surrounding present day Peterborough). It concludes with 100 years of the family in colonial America, when Essex Beville emigrated to Virginia, and the next three generations that descended from him.

Using wills, baptismal, marriage, and property records, and several excellent sketches (photographs are added in the 2nd edition), Mrs. Lichliter gives form to the lives of a family's people over 600 years in medieval England. For those with a familiar knowledge of English history, some of the passages are quite revealing as one considers the contemporary events. And the updates made by Frank Pierce and Nancy Beville Pierce provide a very unexpected and fascinating link to both the current Royal family of England, and to the early noble and royal families of England in the centuries after The Conquest.

Specific sources down to the archive, volume and page numbers of references and historical records are given for each revelation and snippet of family history described throughout the work, including references from the Domesday Book of 1086.

Originally published in 1976, the Pierce's have done a masterful job of updating and adding to the original work by the late Asselia Lichliter, including information obtained by other members of the Beville family since 1976.

This work will defintely be of interest to any Beville, Bevill, Bevil, (or variation thereof) and their related family descendants as an authenticated account of their history begining in the year 1066.

It will be of interest to genealogists in general, especially amateur genealogists as Mrs. Lichliter was an "ordinary" woman with an exceptional interest in her family's history. It can also add body to desciptions of feudal society in England for those interested in history.

Exceptional, amazing and fascinating. This story of one ancient family's history is sure to become a genealogy classic.

I love the Leader Anthology itself, and the accompaniments are very well done. So well done in fact that I often just put them on as great background music while I'm reading or something. I find them very soothing.

The next best thing to having a pianist right there with you. Even if you play, it is not the best situation to play for yourself while rehearsing alone. And you can absolutely use these tracks for live performances.

i love this map book, its easy to use and can really help if you get lost, you shouldn't leave home without one

More than 200 pages of really detailed maps. Several downtown areas are enlarged too. The spiral binding is nice; it lays flat.

There is no better source of authoritative information on the founders of America than this three volumn set about the Jamestown settlers from 1807 to 1824.
The reserch effort to update information for the 400th. Anniversity of the founding of the Jamestown colony was a monumental effort and the work of author/compiler/editor John Frederick Dorman,F.A.S.G. is as authorative as it gets.
These three volumns are a must read for anyone who traces ancestery to the earliest American settlers. This source traces the 1st. six generations of those who arrived in America prior to 1824 and surrived.

FAMILIES (R-Z)
Reynolds, Robins, Rolfe, Rookings, Royall, St. Leger, Salter-Weld, Savage, Scarburgh, Sharp, Sharp-Baugh, Sheppey, Slaughter, Smith (Arthur), Smith (Richard), Smith (Roger) , Southey-Harmar-Littleton, Spencer, Stephens, Strachey, Swann, Tatum, Taylor-Cary, Thorowgood, Tooke, Townshend, Trussell, Utie, Utie-Bennett, Vassall, Waters, West, West (Anthony), Whiting, Wilkins, Williams, Willoughby, Wood, Woodhouse, Woodliffe, Woodson, Woodward, Wroughton, Wyatt, Yeardley, Zouche

The final volume of the most important work ever to appear on Virginia genealogy!

This is the third and final volume of the legendary Adventurers of Purse and Person, a monumental compendium of genealogies of the founders of Virginia during the formative period 1607-1625 and the culmination of more than twenty-five years of research by the widely respected Virginia genealogist John Frederick Dorman.

It contains accounts of forty-six pre-1625 Virginia settlers or members of the Virginia Company of London whose families later came to the colony, with thirty-six of them traced to the sixth generation. Individuals ranging from R-Z (Reynolds to Zouche) identified in the work must have been resident in Virginia during the period 1607-1624/25 or members of the Virginia Company of London in order to be designated "adventurers," and it is their descendants alone who qualify for membership in one of the most distinguished hereditary societies in America, the Order of First Families of Virginia. Adventurers of Purse and Person is their story, a collection of genealogies of all adventurers with proven descents into the sixth generation.

Prepared under the auspices of the Order of First Families of Virginia to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, this new edition of Adventurers of Purse and Person extends the lines of descent of the founding families documented in previous editions from four generations to six, bringing most families down to the Revolutionary or early Federal periods. The purpose of the work is to establish descents of the approximately 150 individuals who can be identified as (1) Adventurers of Purse (i.e. stockholders in the Virginia Company of London who either came to Virginia in the period 1607-1625 and had descendants, or who did not come to Virginia during that period but whose grandchildren were resident there); or (2) Adventurers of Person, 1607-1625 (i.e., immigrants to Virginia who left descendants).

The foundation of the work is the famous "Muster" of 1624-25---essentially a census taken by the Royal Commission which succeeded the Virginia Company to determine the extent and composition of the Jamestown settlements. In the Muster, which is reproduced in entirety in Volume One, the name of each colonist appears with the location of his home and the number in his family, together with information about his stock of food, his supply of arms and ammunition, his boats, houses, and livestock. In all, about 1,200 persons are named in the Muster, of whom approximately 150 are shown in this work to have left descendants to the sixth generation.

In addition to the Muster, this work builds on the investigations of dozens of scholars, correcting, revising, and supplementing the best genealogical scholarship of the past half century. New discoveries, newly available information, and a further reevaluation of evidence concerning previously accepted relationships have led, in some instances, to wholesale changes in the accepted genealogies. In consequence, this fourth edition brings together the results of all the most recent scholarship on these families, expanding the limits of what is presently known and opening up possibilities for research beyond the sixth generation.

In the Foreword to this volume, Carter Branham Snow Furr, President of the Order of First Families of Virginia, writes: "Thanks go to those earlier genealogists and researchers as well as to those who assisted our current genealogist in his research. Mr. John Frederick Dorman has labored continuously since the publication of the third edition of 1987 to compile lists of new genealogical lines as well as the massive histories of all six generations, where available. It is he who deserves the ultimate gratitude of our Order and the public for giving us this most complete and comprehensive genealogy of our earliest Virginia ancestors."

HIGHLIGHTS

* Volume Three covers a total of 46 families that were established either by settlers of Virginia prior to 1625 or members of the Virginia Company of London whose descendants came to Virginia later.
* Of these 46 families, 36 are traced to the sixth generation.
* Over 6,500 individual descendants resident in Virginia (or subsequently in other states) are identified.
* Family accounts are supported by nearly 10,000 footnote citations to manuscripts or published records.
* The index contains 20,000 name, place, and subject entries, many with multiple page citations.

This is a wonderful cookbook. Oftentimes vegetarian cookbooks' recipes are difficult to "veganize". Not so with this one! Most of the recipes are vegan already! Also, my roommate has Celiacs Disease and eats a VERY strict gluten-free diet. I have no problem finding recipes in this book that satisfy both of our dietary restrictions.

The recipes are great but also the book is very informative on various food items. I enjoyed reading it as much as I did cooking from it. The book is divided regionally ie The Northeast, South etc. Each section consists of a brief culinary history of the region, followed by the recipes, with anecdotes and little essays regarding particular food items thrown in. Very interesting.

This book is fantastic. I recommend it to all my friends!! I'm so glad to find out that I wasn't crazy, I wasn't imagining those symptoms, and other people really do go through these things! This book is a life and sanity saver.

I loved this book. I've loaned it to several friends during their pregnancies and each one has made comments that they are SOOOO happy that they are not alone in what they think is their own problems.... or imaginery!

As Continental forces and Virginia militia units were engaged in winning independence, American quartermasters and provisioners struggled to provide these units with all the necessities of life, from meals and guns to meat, fodder for horses, the horses themselves, firewood, and every other type of material. Much of this was requisitioned from the civilian population and certificates were issued payable in either continental or state funds, depending on the units supplied, upon presentation to court authorities. Thousands of these certificates issued to Virginians were duly entered by the courts, and they provide a fascinating insight into the period of the Revolution. These "Publick" Claims booklets contain interesting and useful information about the contributions of ordinary people to the Revolutionary War. They provide some details of people's service in the militia or as guards for prisoners of war; they indicate where some bodies of troops were at particular times; and they identify providers of horses, wagons, cattle, grain, or other supplies. Much of the information in these booklets cannot be found anywhere else, which makes the surviving records particularly valuable. Also remarkable is the fact that records survived from virtually every county in the state at that time with the exception of the newly formed Kentucky counties. This makes the collection even more valuable in covering areas which heretofore in this time period have suffered from a lack of personal data. The "Virginia Publick Claims" are published by counties. In addition to a faithful transcription by Janice Luck Abercrombie and the late Richard Slatten, a complete index is provided for each county booklet. This series is an extremely important genealogical tool for searchers in Revolutionary-era materials.

"The Cowboy" is an extraordingary and imperishable American folk hero - a part of the past, a part of the present, and an embodiment of the qualities and characteristics Americans like best in themselves. This book about the cowboy combines many elements, each giving a dimension to the mixture of legend and reality that has become the cowboy's image.

The Confessions of Nat Turner audio book is a magic history lesson that is emotionally and intellectually appealing rich in detail and magnificent in scope. It is also exciting, compelling, powerful and tersely written and should be heard by anyone interested in the history of the United States. This excellent documentary should be part of all American History courses.

For those Americans both black and white, who've dared imagine the the myriad horrors of the slavery system, the audio book by Kente Classics "Americas Black Spartacus Remembered" is a compelling and vivid journey back into one of saddest moments in Americas often violent history. The tape brilliantly deals with the actual confessions given by the captured "Black Spartacus", Nat Turner to attorney Thomas Gray in November 1831 (3 months after the revolt, and just before he was to meet a certain fate of death by hanging). Gray went own to publish "General Nat's" confessions in a pamphlet which was widely read throughout the northern and southern states.

As the tape begins, we hear Gray (stage actor Michael Collins) describe Nat Turner's (stage actor Bernard Addison) entry into the interview room, in heavy chains and shackles from head to toe. From that point forward you we "transported" back in time and space to the very room itself.

One of the great advantages of the audio book as a medium, is its ability, like all great live theatre, to engage you through the aural senses to a place where you feel as though you are there witnessing the event taking place. For entire 1:30 min. playing time, this tape holds you in its grip with chilling descriptions by Turner of how he and his band of "disciples" went about their "work". The horrible result being, the ultimate death of over 30 white slave owners and their families, and the capture and slaughter of over 100 blacks in retailiation by maurauding bans of whites and militias mobilized in response. All this carnage taking place in a few days during August of 1831 in Southampton County Virginia.

Where the tape succeeds in a historical context for those interested in the episode, is we see the obvious impact the event had on the politics of the times, and the vast schism that existed between north and south on the matter of slavery.

Furthemore, because we actually hear the spoken words of Turner himself describe his motivation, objectives, and mental state for his actions, we are provided with a direct contrast to the Pulitzer Prize winning, and widely read book (a novel)"The Confessioins of Nat Turner", written by William Styron and published in 1968.

In a well written afterthought provided at the end of the tape, written by William L. Andrews, a professor at the University of North Carolina, we hear of challenges to the authenticity of Gray's confessions because Gray seems to imbue Turner with far too much intelligence and elegance of speech for a uneducated Negro. Andrews also argues convincely that the ultimate result of the Turner revolt may have mitigated southern anti-slavery sentiments to the point where the final conflict which was the Civil War was inevitable. In this, we see the validity of the comparison of Nat Turner to the Spartacus of 2000 years earlier.

The rest of the cast is equally superb, with Collins doubling as the voice of the Judge, and Shakeperean pro Allen Gilmore playing the voice of the William L. Andrews. The tape is punctuated with 2 very moving musical interludes by the great Odetta which help to add to the emotional impact of this sterling production. The tape jacket provides us with artists reproductions of the scowling Turner and a map of the country side where the revolt took place.

As has been the case with other Kente Classics audio books I have experienced, this tape succeeds because of the historical importance of the subject matter chosen, outstanding quality of the writing and editing, and the professional performances of the actors chosen for the various spoken roles.

I highly recommend this or any of the other titles from this house.

Any American who has ever been puzzled by Korean manners, any Korean who has ever been confused by American behavior, should buy this book. As a longtime student and sometime resident of Korea, I especially appreciate the comprehensive treatment of every aspect of daily life, from birth to death, job search to friendship. These concrete matters, which take up the bulk of the book, are prefaced by an opening chapter exploring the foundations of Korean and American culture. Contrasting but not comparing the Judeo-Christian tradition with Confucianism sets the stage for understanding why Americans send written invitations in advance of important events like weddings while Koreans tend to invite guests orally much closer to the date. The authors provide practical guidance for newcomers to either country, visitors, and the increasing numbers of people ties to both countries by marriages or business agreements. The book is well organized, well written and an excellent guide to both cultures.

This book was amazing!! It accurately gave the reader a view of 2 distinct cultures in the East and West. It is well-organized, well-written, and easy to read. It is by far the best book about culture there is and a must-have for Americans living in Korea and vice-versa. But above all, it will help you understand the people. It will definitely make your life a whole lot easier!!!