For the beginner, this is an excellent book though it contains as much information as a coffee table book would. Sadly it doesn't have the pictures or quality of a coffee table book and is a paperback. There are some maps to help explain the battle movements but this book about the battle of Antietam is shorter than the biographies written inside about the generals involved. The biographies that are featured are presented well and are chronologically presented as the history of the battle unfolds. This is a great feature though shadows the main content of the book. There were times I wanted to turn the page and continue reading the battle information but had to stop to read a separate biography about a key general in the battle. This book is a very quick read and can probably be read in over an hour as there are roughly 111 pages of material while the rest is for Union and Confederate Order of Battle. The Order of Battle I found useless for this book as it contains major individuals not at all mentioned in the book. I could see and Order of Battle for large, indepth book but this one didn't come close to that.

As previously suggested, this book is great for the beginner learning to understand the major conflicts at Antietam but for the advanced student I wouldn't recommend it as it just doesn't contain much detail. For example, the Rohrbach Bridge/Burnside Bridge battle is covered in 5 pages (1 page contains a map, another a biography).

This is an excellent book covering the most bloody day in any American battle. Mr Jamieson writes in a concise, descriptive manner. It is easy to follow due to the many maps the author has included. This book would be interesting to either someone already knowledgeable about the American Civil War or someone just starting an interest in studying thie war. This would be a great book to take while visiting the battlefield. Also of interest are the many biographies that are included of the generals who participated in this battle.

I was disappointed as the material covered only meterology. While very good, I was hoping for some coverage of vegetation and geology.

I hope to meet help for my RS course to undergraduate university students

I ENJOYED THIS SHORT STORY. AS I WAS ABLE TO RELATE TO MY CHILDHOOD AS MY FATHER WAS A JEWISH CHARACTER SIMALAR IN A WAY TO THE CENTRAL CHARACTER IN THIS BOOK. WOULD LIKE TO DROP A NOTE TO THE AUTHO. HOW DO I DO THIS?

Sidney Offit is a writer's writer. In this elegant memoir of his father the bookie, Offit has evoked the sense and sensibility of his Baltimore childhood and his father's shady dealings with a fresh and often surprising grace. It's a great read for the details and texture of time and place, but it's also a truly fine piece of writing. A very under-appreciated book by a writer who really should have written something great by now, and perhaps he still will.

As a fan of H.L. Mencken--and perhaps one of the few people under thirty who has read "The American Language," "Treatise on the Gods," "Heliogabalus" and all five volumes of "Prejudices"--I am shocked and appalled at the lack of respect paid the great author by his biographer. Mr. Hobson didn't seem to undertake the arduous task of writing a biography on his subject due to a sincere respect or enthusiasm; rather, he seems to have been moved by the less noble motivation of "One-ups-manship"; for as a Baltimorean scribe who happened to be at the right place, at the right time--he was granted access to some of Mencken's hitherto guarded (and now recently released) documents by the executors of Mencken's estate. As a result, Hobson is at times needlessly peevish with his subject, naively judgmental and historically hypocritical. The last remark is born of a nausea grounded in a Politically Correct self-righteousness that the biographer displays when he all but waves his finger at ghosts from the past when, say--for instance--he notices that in a much different world people in the 1910s and 1920s used such racially insensitive phrases for "haggling" as "jewing one down". (SHOULD this be considered offensive? --Certainly.) But for anyone in the modern era who has uttered the phrase "gyped," perhaps eighty years from now some pompous pedant will lodge the ludicrous claim that this shows your hatred of "gypsies" (where in fact the term "gyped" comes from). No, I might hazard the assertion that most people who have used the phrase do not hold an irrational grudge against the Romany people. Rather, they use such phrases unthinkingly--bereft of an racial connotations. My point? --Yes, there were insensitive things about the past. But no more so than in the Present. And to trot out situations and customs--verbal or otherwise--without the benefit of a cultural context betrays both ignorance and malice. Mr. Hobson is shameful in his betrayal of that lowest of critical temptations: To lash out at one's betters. Perhaps if Mr. Hobson thinks that using the term "African American," instead of "black" is a badge of tolerance over and above that of Mencken, maybe he can back up his words with actions: For it was Mencken--not Hobson--who distinguished himself by aiding and promoting writers of the Harlem Renaissance and for his outstanding support of civil rights for both blacks and Jews. Perhaps Mr. Hobson has given as much of himself to the causes of helping others? --If not, then he needs to moderate his disrespectful attitude; for Mencken's actions speak louder than Hobson's words.

Despite some boring passages, Fred Hobson provides a generally interesting and thorough portrait of the original cynic, H.L.Mencken. The book addresses many issues of racism and anti semitism on Mencken's part fairly and openly. The novel is excellently written. I would have preferred more information on the Scope's Trial in relation to Mencken because my interest in Mencken was sparked when reading Inherit the Wind by Laurence and lee in which Mencken is satired as E.K.Hornbeck. Read this book- it is informative and excellent. My congratulations to Fred Hobson and Happy Reading

Currently much of Northern Virginia gets their drinking water from the Potomac River. For several years they've been trying to extend the intake pipe into the middle of the River where the water is less muddy and requires less treatment. The State of Maryland has fought them in court every step of the way because Maryland owns to the high-water mark on the Virginia side. The hard feelings between these two States goes back to the time they were Colonies and this book traces the history all the way through. This book is about the oyster wars which began in the late 1800s and extended up until the 1960s. You may find it hard to believe but as late as 1959 Maryland Oyster Patrol Boats fired on an unarmed boat near the Virginia shore which was dredging oysters and murdered one of the crewman. And I don't mean one bullet but a storm of bullets because they didn't have a Maryland license. The author, John Wennersten, did a nice job of research on a subject that wasn't heavily documented. He points out how rugged and plain mean a number of these early watermen were. Before the time of engines they would Shanghai vagrants in New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Once they got them on the boats on the Chesapeake Bay that's where they stayed until the end of the season. In a number of cases the end of the season would find them getting knocked into the water by the sail rigging...it was called "paid at the boom" because the skipper wouldn't have to pay them if they drowned. The book is only about 130 pages of easy reading with some nice photos and sketches of the early oyster and patrol boats. It's a must of anyone wanting to acquire a thorough knowledge of life on the Chesapeake Bay.

An interesting naration of a part of Maryland and Virginia's history few people know about. The book comes across as a little sensationalist when read. However, given the topic, and many of the turn of the century newspaper sources, this would be hard for any author to avoid. (I had the same thoughts when reading Michener's fictional accounts in "Chesapeake", yet these events really did happen.) If you are interested in the culture and history of the Chesapeake this is quite an enjoyable read that will add context to other readings.

ADC maps are consistenly excellent and accurate. The large format of the maps make reading them easy. Note only do the demark roads, but also parking, and places of interest.

The "Appalachian Trail Guide to Maryland and Northern Virginia" is an excellent companion to hikers on the appalacian trial. The guide details, step by step, the trail and what to expect on it. It gives detail descriptions of where/where not to camp, water supplies, and distances between points. If you are setting out on the trail...take the guide with you. It'll be your best friend.

If you are looking for a great and factual book about the ponies of Assateague, this book will not disappoint you. The pace is rapid and yet quite informative- you will walk away knowing much more about the social structure of the ponies as well as their diet, range, and interactions with humans. This is not the book for you if you are looking for Misty tales, but a good read nonetheless. :)

Incredibly handy for those times when you decide on Saturday that you want to do "something different" this weekend, but have not a clue what are your options. Divided into activities appropriate for each season, the book suggests a wide range of trips around the area, from historic exploring to art appreciation to communing with nature. I had an old version of this book that I lent out and lost, and I loved it so much I'm buying another copy!

If you can read a map at all, you can find any address in Baltimore City or County with one of these. I keep a much used one in my car and have a more pristine copy in the house for referencing addresses, schools, parks, churches, hospitals, lakes. Anything you can think of is in here. Great to have too if you're in the market to buy a house, buy things from the classified ads or just want to map out your weekend yard sale route. There is also a spiral bound copy which includes Baltimore and the surrounding counties but the maps are a little smaller.