This is the only Washington biography written by a contemporary who knew him and served with him in the Army. Certainly the longest Presidential biography I know of written by a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. According to Senator Beveridge's later biography of John Marshall, Marshall wrote it in installments, and sold it through the U.S. Post Offic distribution network, to make enough money to pay off his massive Virginia land purchsse which in turn enabled Marshall's children to live out their lives free of the need to write books or make land deals. And it worked that way. But that's not all this is.

The first entire volume says little about Washington, because Marshall felt he needed to set the stage with a condensed history of the colonies prior to Washington. Few of Washington's later biographers went to such subsequent introductory lengths, but then Marshall's law practice ended up acquainting him with the early pre-history of the deeds and conveyances of Virginia, the further elaboration of which can be interpreted as enveloping the rest of the colonies.

This is also a history of the U.S. Army, and how it fought and starved in successive cycles which are described in minute detail exceeding most other accounts. Some of this covers organized military campaigns preceding the declaration of independence, the scope of which I had not heretofore realized by undergoing annual waves of pilgrim-study in "My Early Education."

Leading and embodying this story of land and armies, and ideas, Marshall gives us Washington, illuminated most clearly by excerpts from Washington's own letters. Marshall also gives us Marshall, distilling out of military examples and instances of weak government preceding 1789, potent arguments for increased federal power to do the things our federal government has since done quite well: raise armies, raise taxes, subdue the Indians, kick out the European powers, build a strong navy, and take no back talk from smallish tyrants resentful of centralized governmental power directly and simultaneously exercised on each citizen, and on each state.

When Hamilton wrote that we need "energy in the Executive" he had to have been thinking of Washington, and Marshall catalogs this energy with meticulous documentation of each British officer leading campaigns against us, each subordinate officer on our side under Washinton's command, and how the constant maneuver of armies up and down the length of our seaboard was accomplished--usually without many shoes and without much dry powder.

So Marshall knowing Washington probably insulated him from too much disconnected iconography, and his writing is free of modern fixations on negative or unseemly personal or pychographic tidbits of trivia. Modern readers are left to cling to factual reporting of how Washington handled this British Lord or that recalcitrant congress.

There's a lot here in all five volumes, and the flow of the over-written parts isn't that bad once you get used to it. When one man had such a central role in all of the key events of our country's founding, and rode out the formation into its institutional phase, thereafter to die in bed at home, Marshall may not have been able to write it any other way than to go over all of the events, to catch the essence of the man.

Neat discovery: LaFayette was only 24 years old while commanding the French at the battle of Yorktown. Marshall quotes from the letters of Cornwallis (or maybe it was Sir Henry Clinton) who refers to LaFayette as "the boy." This is the same boy who later presented Washington with the key to the Bastille, which today hangs on the wall of the stairway of Mount Vernon going up to the second floor.

both of my children have read this book as part of their history studies. it is a well written, clear and concise portrayal of George Washingtons' life. it is formatted in such a way that beginning readers can easily pronounce multi-syllable words. an excellent read for any age that has an interest in washingtons' life.

This look at "The Lincoln Memorial" by Hal Marcovitz for the American Symbols and their Meanings series is about much more than a lesson in architecture or a biography of Abraham Lincoln. Marcovitz begins this small volume with the story of the story of how Marian Anderson, one of the great American singers of the 20th century, came to give a performance at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday in 1939 to 75,000 people. Anderson, a great contralto who was the toast of Europe, had been denied permission to give a concert in Washington D.C.'s Constitution Hall because the Daughters of the American Revolution would not allow a "colored" to perform on stage. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt resigned her membership in the DAR in protest and Anderson was given permission to give a concerton the step of the Lincoln Memorial where she sang "America."

Most of this book, which is aimed at younger students, focuses on the history of the memorial itself. Two years after President Lincoln was assassinated Congress made plains for a monument, which originally was going to be a sculpture of Lincoln surounded by soldiers. Young readers should be fascinated by how long it actually took for the Lincoln Monument to be constructed and that the original Lincoln Monument Association was actually disbanded and the idea forgotten. Congress authorized $2 million for the memorial in 1911, which would be placed at the opposite end of the Mall from the Washington Monument. Architect Henry Bacon based the design of the memorial on the Parthenon in Athens and planned a grand statue of Lincoln to be the centerpiece.

An entire chapter is devoted to the sculpture by Daniel Chester French. Again, students should be captivated by the details on the type of chair French selected and the meaning of the clenched left hand and open right hand. Along with the statue the words of the Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural would be carved into the south and north walls, with giant murals by Jules V. Guerin entitled "Reunion" and "Emancipation." The next chapter goes into even more details about the Lincoln Memorial, from where the limestone and marble came from, to how the names of the states appear, to what you would find in the basement if it were still open to the public.

Not surprisingly given how the book begins, Marcovitz ends with Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered during the March on Washingtton on August 28, 1963. The story is told within the context of the Civil Rights movement, including Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott and George Wallace standing in the school house door at the University of Alabama to stop African America students from registering. The final words in the volume, delivered in front of the statue of Lincoln, are the closing lines of King's speech.

For a 41-page volume written for children this is an excellent little book, which, if anything, might actually contain too much information. I can see young students having trouble trying to render down this concise presentation of information for a class report or paper. The back of the book contains a chronology of both Lincoln and the memorial, from his birth in 1809 to King's 1963 speech. A glossary explains over a dozen words, from architect to stalagmite, and there are lists of books and Internet resources for more information. The book is modesty illustrated, with about twenty photographs, none of which actually show the construction of the memorial, the carving of the statue, the carved speeches, or the murals, which is rather surprising.

The American Symbols and their Meanings series looks at everything from the Alamo to the White House, with the Confederate Flag, The Declaration of Independence, Rock 'n' Roll, and Uncle Sam in between. However, these other volumes would be hard pressed to match the informative value of this book on "The Lincoln Memorial."

This book struck exactly the right chord for the hepatitis C sufferer who is feeling overwhelmed but wants scientifically rigorous information in a form that he or she can use. It is full of clear, factual answers to the question every hep C positive person has, with the scientific bases explained well but in a nonintimidating way.

But it also tackles those thornier questions of how to find a doctor who shares your personal style, how to avoid the "snake oil" faction of alternatives while making sure your lifestyle supports your chances for getting well and how to increase your chances of a successful liver transplant if you need one It's pragmatic and positive.

This book is a wonderful account of how African-American women made it at the turn of the century. I enjoyed reading how these women made a difference in the lives of the people and children in their families. This book showed me just how strong Black women are. It allowed me to see that they had the strength to go on and face any adversary that came into their lives. Any woman or person facing obstacles in their lives can pick up this book and know that they can makeit. That's what this book did for me. I know that there is nothing that I can't do. It's a book that I will one day want my now 10 year old daughter to rad and pass along to her daughter.

This is the book I was looking for. Knowing Seattle like the back of my hand I still needed inspiration for playing tourist with my kids in Seattle. And who better to write a guide to Seattle with children than two women who wrote for the top Seattle family magazines. This book will not only give you ideas on what to do, it will tell you what to expect to spend, how long you should plan to be there, what else is in the neighborhood, helpful hints to make the outing more enjoyable, and just about anything else you'd need to know about doing it. I now not only have a full week of adventures planned for this summer but ideas of other things to do for a long time to come. Yeah!

I checked this out from the local library a couple years ago, went to find it at numerous book stores only to learn it was out of print. Amazon was able to find it, it is a wonderful coffee table book, anyone that opens it becomes glued to it. The photographs are beautiful, the stories are great to read. It comes with maps detailing miles of old timber rails, I have been able to find some of the old grades using the maps. If your a railroad buff, this is a must have!!

This was the only map I took on my last trip to Washington, and it was all I needed. It was most helpful simply because it showed where all of the major sites are, and it had a separate map which focused on and around the Mall. Unlike most maps this one is durable and waterproof (luckily because it happened to rain one of the days I was there). This map was extremely helpful in every way. All I can possibly tell any prospective buyers is BUY IT! (And it's so inexpensive, too!)

This book is about Ms.Rooney's class who goes to Washington,D.C. It is great!

in this novel, rick bennett has written a very well done crime fiction/whodunit. though there are overtones throughout the book of race re lations in present day america, they are in corporated into the story in such a way that they add to it instead of distract(they are not preachy, and bennett never much takes sides. his characters take sides, but he doesn't.the jist of the story is that a famous D.C. prosecuter is murdered and it seems to be the work of a white supremacist group. the prosecuter is black, in an interracial marriage(his wife is also murdered) the head of the white supremacist group hires a detective to try to prove that his organization had nothing to do with the murder. at the same time, the dead man's brother, fresh out of prison for murder himself, decides to find out what he can also. they both find, seperately and together, that there are no easy answers in this investigation, rather that there are implications all the way up to the highest levels of power brokers in D.C. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!