This is a nice representation of Chesapeake Bay lighthouses, with great pictures and some interesting stories. Very visually pleasing with good content!

It's a hardcover, so not the most comfortable field guide to throw in a backpack, but I don't have any other complaints about this book.

Animal profiles are accompanied by excellent color photographs, basic statistics about each animal (distribution, habitat, abundance, etc.), and a shaded map outlining just where each animal's distribution is. Entries for each animal are detailed enough, but don't seem to go on so long that a person would lose interest.

One more gripe: pictures of the animals feet, so that pawprints could be identified easily, would have been a welcome inclusion here. The Simon and Schuster's Guide To Mammals, by Boitani, is an inexpensive book that includes this feature. It might be a helpful second book to get on the topic.

It's an exciting book for young naturalists, too, who will likely get stirred up just by seeing some of the photos (star-nosed mole, northern flying squirrel, big brown bat, etc.).

Essays on conservation, the region, and tips on observation precede the main body of the book. The essays are short and well-written. They should be helpful to anyone who wants to scout out some mammals in the Carolinas, Virginia, or Maryland.

ken32

This book presents a history of University of Maryland basketball, with profiles of it's most outstanding players and coaches, from the prospective of Cole Field House -- Maryland's decades-old and recently-replaced basketball venue. This is a wonderfully nostalgic book for Maryland basketball fans.

Truthfully, I've never really been interested in the American Revolution by this book dragged me kicking and screaming into the middle of what the author calls "America's First Civil War". New is interested in the nobodys, the people who didn't make it in the history books. I mean, yeah, yeah, we all know about Washington. Washington did this, Washington did that, blah, blah, blah. This book, though, took me into the life of the common loyalist soldier -- something I sure didn't know about. I also liked New's style. He doesn't write like some snubby academic. This loyalist history is real accessible to anyone curious to know something about history. I definitely recommmend it

This is a great survey book for anyone interested in learning about Maryland's history. It touches on all the major themes in the great state's history and how they related to the national landscape.

While Baltimore Sun's columnist Michael Olesker (a native) is too liberal for my sensibilities, his "Baltimore, "If You Live Here, You're Home" is a wonder read.

A collection of his columns between 1979 and 1995; it's a respectful and loving paean to the city of Baltimore.

The heroes, characters, politicos, sports figures, neighborhoods, crime and missing friends are featured subjects.

It resonates for all who enjoy, love, live or work in Baltimore.

Well done.

I like that this book is specifically about the area in which I live. There's lots of good info here. I wish there had been more flowers listed, though. I wanted to find a smorgasbord of pretty, interesting and different flowers from which to choose. (I'm not looking to plant trees, so I just skipped over that section.) I think this book is a pretty good resource for neophyte or relatively new gardeners in the Mid-Atlantic.

This reprinting of a book first printed over a hundred years ago is an enjoyable, if somewhat depressing review of the managment and mismanagement of the oyster resources of the Chesapeake Bay. The first half is a review of the biology, and the second goes into all of the politics and problems of trying to manage an open fishery. Much of what is said rings true today.

I got interested in the Patapsco River when I went to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. I knew about the general history of the B & O railroad in the Patapsco Valley, but this book opened up an entire new window on the history of the Patapsco Valley. Travers' prose makes the history of the Patapsco Valley easily accessible to everyone and the geographic organization of his book makes it useful as a guidebook too.

This book covers a lot of territory. I wish it included Virginia too. Its got lots of shops identified and makes it easier to figure out where "hot spots" could be so that you're not driving without purpose. A good guide to take with you if you plan a trip either for the purpose of antiquing or with antiquing as just part of the trip.