What a wonderful book for young readers! It is such a refreshing pleasure to hear about history through a woman's perspective. Ms. Amstel has a talent for conveying this event with excitement that just keeps the reader motivated to read on. I recommend this book especially for young adult readers.

Marsha Amstel's Sybil Ludington is a fast paced high-interest novel that grabs the attention of the reader from the first page to the last. It's popularity with the 8 - 12 crowd shows that children can still be turned on by the written word. The success of this book begs Marsha to keep on writing for this age group. More historica novels please, and soon!

This was an excellent example of an early feminist. Sybil is both serious and light-hearted, a good famly book to read alone or together. It shows a piece of history that incorporates a young woman with fierce determination. For those of us that live in New York, it is validation that a young woman was involved in the war effort from Putnam County.

The book is an accounting of one young girl's brave ride for freedom during the American Revolution. Sybil Luddington is a true life heroine. The story is easy for young people to understand and demonstrates the role women (girls) played in our country's history. As a native of Connecticut, it was fun to read and share with my daughter a story about the important role a young girl played in the history of Ridgefield and Danbury. A fun way to learn about the American Revolution.

Drollene Brown gave a fascinating account of Sybil's ride for Independence. (Sibbell is the correct spelling which is on her grave stone.) She is a national heroine and has had very little recognition. There have been great women who have not been given credit for their accomplishments throughout history. Sibbell Ludington is a wonderful example of a brave (soldier) who was willing to sacrifice her life for the independence of her country. All teachers should read the story of Sibbell Ludington to their students to bring interest to the American Revolution. I know I am biased since I am a descendant (Henry James Ludington III) however it is a wonderful account of a 16 year old girl's bravery and loyalty for her country

Excellent book! Gives vital info on the country of a thousand tales, center of medieval history, kings and queens and the longest raining queen, Queen Elizabeth II. Over 50 years!

I bought this book because of the maps and the information it gave as to how to be a good independent backpacker. If it were not for the hidden pages at the end of the book, I would give this book 10 stars. Hidden at the back of the book, you have an update section. This section mentions that independent backpacking is no longer allowed. The only thing usefull about the book now is its sections about lima and cuzco but if I wanted a normal guide book, I woul buy the Lonely Planet, not this one

This book was good as a general introduction to the trail and to get an idea of what to expect. However, while actually in Machu Picchu, nothing can beat a tour guide. More than half the book is dedicated to the trail and preparing for the hike, so if you have done this already or you are going with a group, this entire section will not be very helpful. The remainder of the book gives an average description of the site while leaving some serious gaps. Tour guides are great in this respect. The maps of the trail itself were a bit confusing and lacked detail. I would have preferred to buy another book on the subject. However, after looking at the books both in the states and while I was in Peru, I discovered that this is the best book out there - unfortunately. So if you want advance information on the trail and the ruins before you get there (and can get yourself a tour guide), buy this book. Just don't expect much.

I got this book as a gift just as I was to embark on a most magical 10 day trip to Lima/Cuzco and to hike the Inka Trail to Machu Picchu from Km-82. It is a treasure. I carried it along everywhere that I went. The Lima section needs some updates (Archaeological Museum is CLOSED on Mondays!) and I wish there were more spanish to english phrases but these are nits, the history and the trail description are fantastic and that is the main intent of the book. You do not need any other book! Good show.

This book was interesting reading if you think Jefferson's wall of separation phrase was meant to be one-sided (if there could ever be such a thing). For the true meaning of Jefferson's phrase, read Justice Hugo Black's opinion in Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S. 1

If you have ever wondered about the origins of the "wall of separation" metaphor or why it is so influential in American law and politics, then this is the book for you. It is the definitive work on the history of the celebrated metaphor that has informed the way many Americans, including influential judges and scholars, think about church-state relations. No other book provides more information and perspective on the historical, political, and legal development of this important trope and how it has shaped American church-state law and policy. The book challenges much of the conventional wisdom about the "wall of separation" metaphor, especially the United States Supreme Court's interpretation of the figurative phrase, and questions the propriety of its use as a substitute for the text of the First Amendment. This trenchant book is scholarly, yet witty and engaging. It will appeal to the specialist and nonspecialist reader alike.

Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State written by Daniel L. Dreisbach is a in-depth study into what Jefferson ment by his statement "wall of separation between church and state."

Introduced in an 1802 letter to the Danbury, Connecticut Baptist Association, Jefferson's "wall" has been accepted by many Americans as a concise description of the U.S. Constitution's church-state arrangement and conceived as a virtual rule of constitutional law. This book delves into what Jefferson really had in mind about the separation of church and state, and gives the reader a scholarly understaning of this famous phrase.

The book is not very long, but the impact that you get from reading it feels like a book much larger. At 128 pages long we are provided an opportunity to disseminate Jefferson's views on the constitutional relationship between church and state and, in particular, to explain his reasons for refusing to issue presidential proclamtions of days for public fasting and thanksgiving.

The "wall of separation" metaphorically represents the constitutional provision, the admendment, however, differs in significant respects from Jefferson's felicitous phrase. The former prohibits the creation of laws "respecting an establishment of religion" (excepting, perhaps, laws to protect religious excerise), thereby limiting civil government; the latter, more broadly, separates "church" and "state," thereby restricting the actions of, and interactions between, both the church and the civil state.

Reading this book splits the fine hairs and you get an appreciation of what is happening and the suggnificance of why it is written as such. Dreisbach has provided appendices in which documents from the Papers of Thomas Jefferson gives the reader an insight as to Jefferson's thinkings and are invaluable. There are notes and a selected bibliography that is also very helpful.

Jefferson's architectural metaphor, in the course of time, has achieved virtual canonical status and becomes more familiar to the American people that the actual text of the First Amendment... moreover, jurists have found the metaphor irresistible, adopting it not only as an organizing theme of church/state jurisprudence but also as a virtual rule of constitutional law.

I found this book to be very interesting and the prose to be fluid and well-documented making for and interesting read.