No comments about Chesapeake: Exploring the Water Trail of Captain John Smith.

No comments about Santa Fe Impressions (Impressions (Farcountry Press)).

1 comments about Native Orchids of the Southern Appalachian Mountains.

1. This turns out to be an outstanding book and I'm very happy to have it. The text is pleasant to read, written in a friendly and personal way. The pictures are crisp and beautiful, and laid out nicely alongside the text for easy access while reading the description. One outstanding feature is the detailed habitat information based on the author's years of field experience in observing the habitats of each of these orchids. Another stand-out is that the author has done the photography himself, resulting in pictures that support and complement the text very well. I checked several books on orchids and wildflowers while trying to identify an orchid in my forest (which turns out to be a lily-leaved twayblade), and I found this book to be the best. In summary, I'm impressed with this book. I hope it will set a new standard for other books on regional wildflowers.

1 comments about Buildings of Virginia: Tidewater and Piedmont (Buildings of the United States).

1. What you get here is the architecture of Virginia and the expertise (and lovely writing style) of Richard Guy Wilson. Really, what else could you ask for? The ensemble of structures covered here is diverse and distinguished. The critical skill of the author is unmatched. As far as architectural guides to historic structures go, this is about as good as they get. A truly outstanding ensemble of historic structures skillfully analyzed by THE authority in this particular field. I only wish he'd gone further west. Winchester! Lexington! Roanoke and Lynchburg! And of course, little Fincastle. There's so much left to be done!
   
   Three cheers for the comprehensive survey of Richmond, a gem of historic architecture.

3 comments about Boomtown Saloons: Archaeology And History In Virginia City (Wilber S. Shepperson Series in Nevada History).

1. Boomtown Saloons puts a humane and inclusive face on Old West culture. It was refreshing to see that there was more to life in Virginia City than Hollywood's interpretations.
   
   This well written, informative, and entertaining book which should be a must read for anyone interested in the Old West.



2. Written by anthropology professor and American West historical archaeology specialist Kelly J. Dixon, Boomtown Saloons is an exciting account of the excavation and analysis of four nineteenth-century Virginia City, Nevada saloon sites. Dixon personally participated the excavation projects, and offers a firsthand view of the evidence, and what its analysis tells us about the people and society of Virginia City well over a century ago. From the style of saloon architecture to reconstructed menu items, saloon serving ware, vices and amusements that saloons offered, and much more, Boomtown Saloons is a cutting-edge delve into the fine nuances of what archaeology can tell us about America's past.



3. An entertaining book, fairly well written, no hypo-technical jargon for which archaeologists are well known...and for that I am thankful. Very adequate photographs of the artifacts, good descriptions. Includes short fictional accounts of what may have transpired in each saloon, based on the artifacts found. My only critical points on this book are these: one i would expect a hardbound books of some size, for the price of over 21 bucks and this is a softbound, very small and short book of 166 pages not counting the exhaustive notes, so there is not much bang for the buck. Secondly, the mishmash of the various saloons and excavations is confusing in the book, the author switches from one saloon excavation to another time after time, so that you are never sure exactly where you are. Not exactly the flowing words of Ivor Noel Hume, but still a nice book, thus my four star rating.

No comments about The Chesapeake Bay Book: A Complete Guide, Sixth Edition (Great Destinations).

5 comments about Mr. Jefferson's University (National Geographic Directions).

1. Thomas Jefferson spent the last decade of his long and remarkable life designing and building the University of Virginia. In this book Wills does not reach the profound insights found in his longer works on the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address, nor does he try to. Instead he describes the aging Jefferson's artistic vision and his determination to found a seat of higher learning -an academic village in central Virginia- to compete with Harvard and Princeton and the other northern schools. Jefferson was challenged, notes Wills, by religious disputes in Virginia, financial limitations from the state legislature, and petty jealousies among the state's small elite. Relying on guidance from various architects and planners, Jefferson laid out the grounds and designed the buildings while fighting continuous political battles over funding and staff.

   This little book can be read in an afternoon, but it provides wonderful detail to the academic and architectural legacy of Thomas Jefferson. The only failing is the shortage of illustrations -photos and architectural sketches. If a dozen more photos of the site were included, it would be a perfect book for Jefferson fans.




2. Garry Wills ends this sparse history of Thomas Jefferson's effort to build the University of Virginia with Jefferson's own epitaph, which mentions his authorship of the Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom--along with being the "Father of the University of Virginia." I assume Mr. Wills meant this as a flourish: to show that despite his status as a founding father, emissary to France, geographical steward of most of the continental United States (via the Louisiana Purchase) during his watch as third president, and dozens of other accomplishments, Jefferson counted what Wills describes in this book among his proudest feats. This emphasis struck me as odd since Wills hardly describes Jefferson's overall effort as heroic--and often highlights unsavory personal details to drive this point home.

   Wills explains the brilliance of Jefferson's designs well enough, though his Prologue ("Jefferson as Artist") remains frustratingly general. This is no great demerit; greater technical detail would arguably hamper his story and the sweeping descriptions of this "academical village" made me want to visit it as soon as I can. Though he falls short of saying so explicitly, Wills clearly implies one has to *see* Jefferson's work to fully appreciate his genius.

   While keeping architectural details limited, Wills more than compensates describing the nearly insurmountable personal and political obstacles in getting the fledgling university built and staffed. I certainly came away recognizing the wonder that anything gets built is not a modern phenomenon; even Jefferson--whose reputation was almost beyond reproach--found himself in endless skirmishes to find funding, lobby reluctant congressmen, find supplies, recruit professors, and fend off competition from the few existing schools. And here the founding father halo certainly disappears; Wills shows Jefferson manipulating friends, swapping favors, bad-mouthing, back-stabbing, and doing whatever was necessary to realize his obsession. ("Jefferson did not flinch as sacrificing a friend's peace and content, and possibly his life, if it stood in the way of completing his great work.")

   Wills' emphasis on Jefferson's personal life buttresses his obvious belief in what might be termed "the genius syndrome": that a visionary artist must be tormented by some very ugly personal demons and his obsessive drive brings them out in full flower. The author peppers his story with details of Jefferson's bank account, medical condition, societal clueless-ness, and unswerving devotion to "the Southern way of life." Though some of these personal details might be arguably relevant to work with the new university (in a very new country), I failed to see how, for example, a prostate condition was applicable.

   Mr. Wills is a distinguished historian--and his style here is nothing if not elegant--but I ultimately found his book lacking in purpose. Is his intent to honor Jefferson's Herculean effort--warts and all? To put the greatness of the university's design in historical context? To show the improbability of getting the school built--especially at that time--at all? 'Mr. Jefferson's University' seems strangely disinterested in any one of these questions in detail and is far too short to cover all of them. To be fair Wills makes passing attempts at some of these themes but none are developed to any reasonable degree.

   So Wills ends his story with a broke, deaf, deluded old man and his pride at having brought a university to his beloved Virginia. But of what was Jefferson proud? We never get a straight answer. Other men lobbied the politicians, hired the workers and recruited the professors; Benjamin Latrobe ("the best architect on the continent") even made non-trivial contributions to the design. Perhaps we're to draw our own conclusions from the detailed brilliance of Jefferson's architectural work--for providing enough of that the book is somewhat redeemed--and from the resulting testament that still proudly stands in Charlottesville.




3. Thomas Jefferson's reputation in America has declined greatly over the last two decades. It is now commonplace, both among scholars and the reading public, to criticize Jefferson and place him on a lower mantle of historical accomplishment, along with several of his contemporaries. His friend, James Madison, whose reputation has long lived in the shadow of Jefferson's, is now widely considered to be the superior political thinker of the two. Former political opponents, such as John Adams and Alexander Hamilton, are now sometimes favorably compared to him. The ongoing controversy over Jefferson's affair with the slave Sally Hemings has also contributed to his reputation's decline.
   
   But as an artist, Jefferson's historical reputation has only been strengthened in recent years. He is considered one of America's greatest architects, and his work at Monticello and the University of Virginia has been voted by modern architects as the premiere achievement in American architecture. Jefferson himself seems to have had some sense of the importance of this work when he requested his tombstone read:
   
   HERE WAS BURIED
   
   THOMAS JEFFERSON
   
   AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
   
   OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA
   
   FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
   
   AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
   
   This is Garry Wills' third book on Jefferson. Wills wholeheartedly admires Jefferson's work as an architect. No one else in the Western tradition, Wills says, has ever combined the artistic and political talents of Jefferson. Unlike artist-politicians like Benjamin Disraeli, Jan Paderewski or Václav Havel, who were primarily artists before becoming politicians, Jefferson worked at both his entire life. According to Wills, the Virginian was no mere dilettante dabbling at design, but an experienced, masterful innovator of forms. He worked on his first university design project in his mid-twenties, a few years before writing the Declaration of Independence. While serving as president, he helped Benjamin Latrobe design the federal city. And he would cap off his long life with his finest work, the "academical village" - the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, the subject of this work.
   
   It took Jefferson nine years to complete his masterpiece. From the age of seventy-four to eighty-three, the design and building of the university dominated the final years of his life. He would die soon after it was completed. To do so, Jefferson had to outmaneuver the extremely hostile Virginia legislature to acquire the state money to finance his project; he also had to face down religious interests -- who were concerned about his decision to build a secular school; and he outlasted several local powers - particularly fellow builders and other state-financed universities - who sought to undermine his efforts in order to satisfy their own interests. Jefferson's local political struggles to build his university actually take up more of the book than details about its design.
   
   Jefferson wanted to build a university that embodied his ideas on what learning should be about. Where universities in Europe at that time had primarily been either urban or monastic in appearance, Jefferson followed an American pattern by designing a rural university, built around a lawn. Ten unique Pavilions -- to represent Jefferson's ten important branches of learning -- would be built on the east and west sides of the lawn, five on each side. To the north of the lawn was the centerpiece of the university - a large Rotunda that would serve both as the university's library and for communal activities. Nothing was built on the south of the lawn to allow for an easy approach to the school and an open vista for those on the lawn.
   
   Connecting the Pavilions and Rotunda was a Tuscan colonnade. The colonnade was blended in with the front of each of the ten Pavilions, a difficult design trick since each Pavilion had a unique style with -- depending on the Pavilion -- Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and composite columns that had to work visually with the Tuscan style of the colonnade that connected them all. The Pavilions were two-story buildings. The first story served as the classroom. The second story was the professor's home. Jefferson did not want any of the Pavilions to be considered superior to the others so he had the professors draw lots for who would live and teach in each Pavilion. The colonnade also had a two-story function. On ground level, it was covered, allowing for students to walk between Pavilions in any weather. The colonnade's second level, however, which connected the professors' homes on the second story of each pavilion, was not covered. This was meant to symbolize the connection Jefferson wanted the ten disciplines to have with each other. Professors could get together and exchange ideas, but the lack of a covered walkway meant that such exchanges would be informal and unscheduled, unlike the more regimented programs of the students walking below.
   
   The effect of this design was striking and somewhat paradoxical. There is both regimentation and individualism in the work. Wills says that some critics seize on some single aspect of the design and complain that it is either too orderly or too chaotic. But Jefferson wanted both elements to express his ideas about education. Echoing Ruskin's comments about the cathedral front at Pisa, Wills writes that Jefferson achieved "a daring variation of pretended symmetry" that escaped "the lower or vulgar unity of law."
   
   One of the more interesting sidelines in the book is Wills' discussion of the Bishop George Berkeley, the famous eighteenth century empiricist who was the transitional philosopher between Locke and Hume. Berkeley, who at the time was still just a parson, wanted to build a school in North America. He spent time at Yale, where a residential college was named after him. (One of the graduates of that college would later found U.C. Berkeley in California in honor of the bishop.) But Berkeley did not want to build his school in any of the colonies. He decided that Bermuda was a more appropriate location since there it would not be subject to the provincialism of the colonies, and he could allow Native Americans to attend. He believed that knowledge needed a fresh start away from the prejudices of the cities and society and that only a school built in nature could achieve this. Like Jefferson at a later time, Berkeley would struggle to find funds to build his school. But where Jefferson persevered, Berkeley would eventually give up and return to England. Nevertheless, his ideas about university design in the new world would affect many later American designers, and Jefferson was obviously influenced by him.
   
   Also interesting is Wills' history of how the original professors - most of whom were Europeans -- would struggle with their new lives in the new world. Jefferson had originally not wanted Europeans to teach at his school, fearing they would contaminate American students with their alien ideas. But he been forced to recruit there after qualified Americans had either turned him down or been rejected by the state legislature for their unorthodox views. Universities in the early United States were largely state affairs, especially in the south. Jefferson had pushed for the founding of University of Virginia to create a regional alternative to Harvard, Princeton, and Yale in the north. But now he had been forced to leave not only the south, but even the U.S., in order to find teachers to fill the new positions. The result, however, appears to have ended up harming the professors more than it did the local students. Since most students were the progeny of local Virginian plantation owners, and were used to slaves and owning guns, the professors didn't quite know what to make of them. As Wills puts it, "slave owners were used to giving, not taking orders." The students didn't like their foreign teachers for the most part, taunting them and throwing rocks through one professor's windows. Some professors attempted to resign after being terrorized by masked students (their resignations were not accepted). Stricter rules were implemented and some students were expelled. But the problems continued. The south's tradition of violence didn't help either, as undergraduates often challenged each other to duels, despite the best efforts of the faculty to prevent them. Professors were sometimes caned by students and began to arm themselves in self-defense. Fourteen years after Jefferson's death, one professor was shot and killed after stepping outside of his Pavilion to quell a disturbance.
   
   This is a wonderful book, interesting both as a history of the early U.S. architecture and as a partial biography of a Founding Father. Jefferson's will to see through his masterpiece forms the core of the story, but the many interesting details on various subjects also delight. While Jefferson's genius as an architect is more taken for granted than demonstrated, Wills does show that Jefferson had a tremendous artistic vision and fire to see his project to completion.



4. In this short book, historian Garry Wills describes the vision, design, development, and legacy that Thomas Jefferson created with the University of Virginia. First, I admit that I am somewhat biased about UVA since I had the chance to attend Mr. Jefferson's university as both an undergraduate and graduate student. Having said that, it actually helps if you have spent sometime in Charlottesville strolling the grounds before you read this book. Otherwise, the reader may find it difficult gaining a true picture of the architectural design and layout of Jefferson's academical village.
   
   This book is a nice tribute to Jefferson's hard work and determination in creating a world-class university. Of course all of his political savvy was necessary to see his vision to fulfillment. Simply put, UVA was a monumental project to complete.
   
   Two complaints I have about the book center more around the design than the actual content. First - more pictures would be better in a book of this type. Second, why make a book that includes so much discussion about architecture so small. If anything this book should be an oversized coffee table style book in order to give the reader (especially those who have not seen UVA) a better "look" at UVA.
   
   I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in UVA, and the history of how the school was started. If you are an alumnus you will surely enjoy this book, and it doesn't take long to read through it. Of course, you will want to return to Charlottesville for a stroll down the lawn after finishing this book, so plan accordingly. Wahoowa.



5. Garry Wills has a reputation as a worthy historian who has an ability to write in a very succinct and pithy style. This book maintains and promotes that reputation further.
   
   As a Virginia resident who has studied and read a great deal by Jefferson and about Jefferson, I have been aware of his founding role in the establishment of the University of Virginia but I did not fully appreciate the remarkable energy and creativity he brought to the task at a time when most men are retired and in their dotage. Jefferson accomplished as a septa/octogenarian one of his most prized accomplishments.
   
   The book itself moves very straightforwardly through a detailed architectural study of the school's original buildings and then ties a narrative in to explain how it was accomplished while also giving a great deal of anecdotal history. Of particular interest to this reviewer was the personal stories of the original professors and the stories of the early student body and how well Jefferson's prescribed social order worked initially (not very well.)
   
   The strength of the books brevity is also it's weakness however. The launching of the books detail in architectural detail is more information than the typical historical reader is going to be equipped to digest unless they are already intimately familiar with the school itself. This is something Wills almost seems to assume. The following narratives more than make up for this deficiency in my opinion but sadly, I suspect, many will have given up before reaching that element. That initial section on architecture may be safely scanned for the reader not as interested in such minute stylistic detail.
   
   An enjoyable read once that initial speed bump is overcome.
   
   A worthwhile read for anyone interested in the University or Jefferson.
   
   Bart Breen

2 comments about Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia: Great Destinations: A Complete Guide (Great Destinations).

1. Simple, easy reading! If we wanted information about something/anything in the area, it was so easy to find. More than enough information was given in a way that was easy to understand, but yet very informative. I think the authors must enjoy most of the things we like, because their comments and thoughts on places that we went to, were exactly what we thought too. Once we realized that they thought the same way we did, it was easier to decide whether to visit or eat at the places that they suggested.
   I would recommend buying this book if you are going to Washington D.C. - it really will make your stay a LOT easy because there is so much to see and you can not see it all. I am positive that it helped us have a fun trip. Thanks again!
   Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia: Great Destinations: A Complete Guide (Great Destinations)



2. We visited Washington DC a few years back and found it rather complicated getting to all the places we wished to see. I am looking forward to another trip with this book in hand to navigate the sights as well as restaurants as it seems to be very straight forward and easy to understand.

No comments about Dog-Friendly Washington, D.C. and the Mid-Atlantic States: Includes Northern Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

No comments about Plantation Homes of the James River.