Thank you Mr. Leepson for "Saving Monticello". I found it a very enjoyable read and very interesting. As a Virginian, we are proud of all our historic sites and heritage and the story of the Levy family is one of the best that I have read in a long time. Anyone who reads this book will discover that Uriah and Jefferson Levy deserve a lot credit for "Saving Monticello". Preserving Monticello was the Levy's way of keeping the memory of Thomas Jefferson alive. If it wasn't for the resources of the Levys, the many treasures of Monticello would have been lost to future generations.

In his compellingly readable book, Marc Leepson gives long overdue credit to the Levy family for saving Monticello. Monticello, the greatest architechtural icon of America, would likely not be standing today if first Uriah Phillips Levy and then his nephew Jefferson Levy had not poured their money and their passion into preserving Monticello. Marc Leepson skillfully tells the dramatic story of how the Levys took proprietorship of Monticello and became the saviors of Jefferson's "essay in architecture." I discovered while reading Leepson's book that most of my suppositions regarding Monticello and Jefferson's role in preserving Monticello as an architectural shrine were false. It amazed me that I knew so little of the story of Monticello, and it further amazed me that Marc Leepson had ferreted out so many fascinating facts with which to dazzle the reader in this masterpiece of detection and research. If you read only one American history book this season, read this one!

Marc Leepson has written the first truly "honest" and "complete" story about the saving of Thomas Jefferson's wonderful home, Monticello. This story about how Uriah Levy, an Jewish-American Naval Hero, and his nephew Jefferson Levy, a merchant banker and stock investor early on in their liveunderstood the importance of preservation, especially America's treasures like Monticello and even Mt. Vernon,George Washingon's home.

Not many American's in the 19th century really cared or understood preservation, and Jefferson's Monticello almost was destroyed through neglect and the horrors of the Civil War.

The Levy family for more than 80 years were the ones singly responsible for saving Monticello. From fighting off law suits, tresspassers, anti-semitism and simple vandals wanting a piece of Thomas Jefferson's tomb, the Levy's keep the dream alive that Monticello would be there for future generations of American's to see and visualize what Jefferson had in mind.

Uriah Levy, and Jefferson Levy deserve this honest rendering of their story, and so do all Americans.

Michael A. Schwartz
Bethesda, Maryland
8/27/02

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I wish this book had been put together a long time ago. It's a very useful service to researchers. When doing research for my own book "Mr Jefferson's Academy, The Real Story Behind West Point" (now, "West Point"), I went through the books available on John Adams/Thomas Jefferson, but found I had to resort to the original documents. It took a massive amount of time. That's one of the reasons my book took several years to complete. This book could have saved a lot of time, and can do the same for any reader or researcher. It's not only comprehensive, but also, well written. If you're interested in an in-depth read on Thomas Jefferson, I recommend this book. (To get a closely packed distillation of Thomas Jefferson, my own book has a biographical chapter that has been distilled from what could easily have been hundreds of pages of opinion, interpretation, and speculation to 40 pages of facts. The rest of the book is gleaned from what he, himself, read!)

I agree with the reviewer who wrote the book about West Point who said this book is a service to researchers. Why it's a magnificent research tool. I'm using it copiously at this time for a scholarly work I'm on sabbatical to work on.

What a joy it is to read the correspondence between two of America's greatest founding fathers. Through this collection of letters we begin to get into the minds of men who created and shaped this nation. We read of their dreams, expectations and fears for this new nation as well as typical correspondence between friends. That is when they were talking to each other. When the two men weren't, Abigail continued to write Jefferson to try and heal the breach. My favorite letter is from John Adams to Jefferson to tell him to stop writing his wife. This is a book for anyone who loves the human side of history and enjoys getting to know the real people behind the legends. I first read it in college, and then spent ten years trying to find it again. Now that I have, it will never leave my bookshelf.

Only in America could someone make money with something like this (and unlike a liberal I mean that in a postive way!)I'm sure Monica and Bill would sue for a percentage of the profits, but it would mean acknowledging their words . . . and the acts that went with them.

With verse such as this, I can throw away all my Ezra Pound. More rhyming would have been welcomed, however.

Also, I think it is important to thank the publisher for printing the book in such a small format. Much easier to hold with one hand.

Can making money really be this easy? Why do I work 5 days a week? Either this author is a genius in the uniquely American fashion, or a complete burnout with too much time and dope on his hands.

It's not the typical scenario addressing the known issues, attributes and impact of Rock Royalty from music's Golden Era, i.e., circa 1967-1977 but more an affinity to the internal maladies of the first great band of The Psychedelic years. Jeff Tamarkin captures the myriad of personalities, power struggles, the bi-product bands such as Hot Tuna, SVT, Jefferson Starship, Kantner, Balin & Casady. Perhaps a mirrored report such as the Dennis McNally book on The Grateful Dead and the various escapades outside the parameters of the music genre. The road less traveled leads from Washington, DC, Chicago, and other demographic licals to the ever popular and notorious 2400 Fulton Street mansion and Grunt Records. This is a more chronicled report on the various personalities, liasons, recreational drug use of the day and the insight of someone who has spent years in researching the facts of a living legendary band.
As they continue to expand the parameters of their chosen genre, the book is an enlightening text that unravels the complications of five gifted musicians, the addition of the first diva in Rock n Roll, and how all ahve evolved into the 21st century. Kudos and plaudits to Jeff for avoiding the tedious, useles rhetoric of most parables of those most emulated and admired as the youth of America in the sixties and seventies and his uncanny knack in showing that even our selected Gods of choice are not as atypical as we might like to invision.
As they live and breath, we also do the same and the demise of one is as pain staking and demoralizing as any death within our own family sturcture.
The affinity to counter culture and those who helped construct it, the music that lealed a generation and the survivors of the day are all the culmination of one of the great books of the genre in the last twenty years......as the syntax of the day would imply..."This book rocks"...

For anyone interested in the history of pop music and/or culture during the last half of the 20th century, the story of Jefferson Airplane is a great one to be familiar with... With its roots in the early 60's and a hitmaking career that lasts into the 90's, to follow Airplane's storied career is to take a tour of decades of popular music eras that they themselves helped to define.

Many band biographies are merely chronologically arranged trivia books, with an appeal that ultimately does not extend far outside of a circle of hardcore fans. Tamarkin's extraordinarily well-researched book rises above this by painting a richly textured picture of the culture that Airplane (and its various offshoots) sprang from and contributed to.

Tamarkin also succeeds in bringing strong insights into the music with his critical assessments. Here, even the most casual reader can glean why the author would try to iron out such a sprawling, Wagnerian epic... The people who made such music MUST have a fascinating story to tell. They do, and Tamarkin conveys it brilliantly -- setting the bar a little bit higher for music journalism in the process.

I have been looking forward to the publication of an authoritative book on Jefferson Airplane for a long time! Ten years ago (in my review of 'Jefferson Airplane Loves You' in Holding Together #16 in fact), I urged Jeff Tamarkin to use the wealth of inteview material he had amassed in researching the Box booklet as the basis for a full-length biography of Jefferson Airplane. If I'd had the time and the contacts, it's a project I would love to have undertaken myself. Tamarkin did have those opportunities - and it would appear that he's made the best of them, for at long last the book that he's written is out in the world.

It runs to over 400 pages, including 16 pages of black and white photographs, some of which have not been published before. It has a foreword by Jan Wenner and an introduction by Paul Kantner. Tamarkin then proceeds, over the course of thirty five chapters, to tell the tale of the turbulent flight of the mighty airmachine - essentially from its inception in1965 until the Airplane re-union of 1989. In order to do this, he has interviewed most all of the (surviving) key participants in the turbulent tale - not only all the band members from the various incarnations of JA (and HT/JS) but many of the managers, producers, back-room staff and friends of the bands as well - and some of these he's interviewed more than once. (In fact, excerpts from some of the early interviews did appear in Relix magazine a few years ago.) He's taken all that information, some of it conflicting - as people's recollections and opinions inevitably differ - and has tried to make sense of it, forging it into a readable narrative of shape and substance.

But after all the hard work on Tamarkin's part and the eager awaiting on ours, what you want to know is: is it a good book (in terms of style, content, veracity and explication)?

The short answer is yes - at least on three and a half out of four counts; (I personally would have liked to read way much more analysis and interpretation - "the why of making music," as Kantner terms it in his introduction).

What Tamarkin has produced is in fact a very good book. It's a highly readable account of the life and times of the band. The story is built up chronologically by introducing the key players one at a time, in each case supplying enough background to explain how they got to the point where they founded/joined Jefferson Airplane and in some cases how they came to exit it as well. For anyone previously unfamiliar with the detailed history of JA's inception and early days, this will make fascinating reading. Coverage of the remaining five years of Jefferson Airplane gets a slightly less comprehensive treatment and the life and times of Hot Tuna, Jefferson Starship (then SVT, Vital Parts and so on) even less so - though Tamarkin obviously does hit the key events and seismic shifts in some detail.

What they did and what happened to them is entertainingly and faithfully narrated (the Matthew Katz legacy, the sexual pairings, the drug busts, the troubled relationship with RCA, the changes in personnel, the escalating craziness, the gradual emergence of Hot Tuna, Grace's alcohol intake, Marty's uncomfortable role in Jefferson Starship, the collapse of JS to Starship et cetera) and this is tied to the cultural and political events of the years as well (the rise of Hippie, the death of Hippie, assassinations, anti-war activities, the increasing polarisation of American society through the sixties, the long shadow of Republicanism, MTV and the rise of the global media jukebox). On the level of what happened it works well and there are many instances where Tamarkin is very insightful in relating external developments to what what was going down within Jefferson Airplane. He also provides many interesting details along the way: I did not know that Balin's submitted artwork for 'Surrealistic Pillow' was blue, not pink; that "Fat Angel" was inspired by Mama Cass Elliot; that Jorma was strung out on heroin during the Airplane reunion; who the inspiration was for Paul's song "Revolutionary Upstairs Maid." This is fascinating stuff. It also has a lot of very funny stories - Hot Tuna's Jamaican escapade and Reality D. Blipcrotch's vision for the 'One' album to name but two which actually had me laughing out loud. Naturally, there's also a wealth of great quotes; and generally these have been blocked out from the text for emphasis.

Of course, much of what is written will not be new to hardcore Airplane fans and obsessives; nonetheless it is very valuable to have the whole story laid out end-to-end like this and to read verbatim Paul's or Marty's or Jorma's or whoever's comment on a certain event or individual. I enjoyed it and I'm sure that for anyone less steeped in knowledge of Jefferson Airplane /Hot Tuna/ Starship, 'Got A Revolution' will be compulsive and enlightening reading.

Tamarkin rounds the whole saga out with a 'where are they now' section which is quite fascinating as it brings us up to date with what happened to over forty of the key and minor characters subsequent to 1989 (for the core crew) or whatever point they ceased to be directly involved in the flow. He then provides some useful reference sections at the end: a bibliography, a discography and a list of online sources/resources and an index.

Everyone who loves the music of JA will want to read it and will come away with a better understanding of how it all happened. So thank you, Jeff Tamarkin, for your devotion to your subject, for your love of Jefferson Airplane and for your perseverance in bringing this book to life. For too long there has existed a hole on the musical bookshelf between The Jam and Elton John - this book handsomely fills that gap. I'm off to read it for a second time.

I'll write a fuller review in the Airplane/Starship fanzine Holding Together.

This book is a great read! Mr. Scott has captured the world of cyberspace perfectly and the plot keeps you guessing until the end. Those of you scared to touch it because it's Christian, don't worry - this is not a glorified tract. I'm looking forward to reading other great books from Mr. Scott!

Most authors we read understand the essential elements of good drama -- setup, pinch, big event, rising conflict, and resolution -- and have the skills to engage the reader. Now and then, however, an author comes along with something more, something which propels the story beyond the ordinary and into the realm of literature, where deeper and higher meanings dwell. In good games, such as chess, the rules are simple and the tools basic, but they allow for layers of strategy, endless permutations, and challenging engagements. So it is with good literature. In virtu@lly.eliminated, Jefferson Scott uses the simple tools of drama to engage the reader in a straightforward, entertaining thriller, while accomplishing the difficult task of creating a world of virtual reality as a metaphor for the battle between spiritual forces of good and evil. Note the "layers" of meaning: the VR interface to the GlobeNet (a superInternet) is itself a complex metaphor, like the Windows desktop. In the end, virtu@lly.eliminated is not about the thrilling conflict between Ethan Hamilton and Patriot, but rather the fecklessness of our most astonishing accomplishments when they do not serve God; for all of Patriot's skills, his intelligence, his access to great literature, and his self-sacrificing dedication to a cause noble in his own eyes, they come to naught in the face of Ethan's selfless, singular purpose -- to restore his own faith and put Jesus in the driver's seat. So put the kids to bed, kiss your spouse goodnight, and stoke up the fire, for when you pick up this book... well, you're going to stay up late to finish it.

I was looking through a book sale when I found this book. It looked interesting, so I borrowed money and bought it. I had read 50 pages by the time I got home, and I have read it about 50 times (seriously.) I love it! Jefferson Scott writes incredibly well, and the reactions of Ethan are probably how I would react. I look forward to any sequels with great anticipation.

Ms. Jefferson rips new ground in the fecund field of sex and music in Portland's dark night world. Her frenetic plowing yields many fruits and flowers. You can't so much read it as feel it and smell it.

The first thing you need to realize is that this is a CHAPBOOK (construction paper and typing paper stapled like a magazine) not a regular paperback. Other than that, this collection of short stories [is really good]!

This book is great fun, seemlessly taking you back to that magical time when we were all just a little bit younger, a little more experimental, and a little more trashy. Anyone who was a part of any kind of local punk rock/alternative scene (and/or KNOWS that Scully's fantasies couldn't possibly only include Mulder) will be able to relate to practically every word. Brilliant!

I really have enjoyed the book, Operation Firebrand. Great perspective on Christians and the military. One of the storylines was great example of how good things happen out of bad situations. It has a good rescue mission. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. His book detailed enough to get the point across without bogging the book down in the story line. It was also done very nicely without being over done so that I, a female (and blond at times) would understand it. It's nice to get a guys perspective. The writing style is also great for having a lot of interruptions and having to put it down, without having to go back 10 pages to remember what is going on. It's also a book with some depth and I found it hard to put down. It definitely kept my interest.

This was a great book, I stayed up late to finish reading it. This is one of those books that when I finished it I wished there was whole series of them! Definitely get this book.

All I can say is WOW. I just finished the book, and I wanted to tell how much I enjoyed it. It is quite a different direction from the computer fiction, and I am glad that he took that step. At first, before I began reading, I was wondering if you really should have moved away from the computer genre, but now, I am pleasantly surprised and really glad that you did. I read an average of about one book every two weeks. It is probably one of my most favorite things to do in my spare time. Of all the books that I have read this year, I think this is maybe in the top five, right there with another of my favorites "Blessed Child".

There is no doubt that this is a comprehensive and clear introduction into diving medicine. It certainly dealt very well with all of the questions that I had regarding both the Pathophysiology of Diving Medicine and also some of the practical considerations arising from these. Additionally I am sure that this book would be suitable for those without formal Medical training who wish to further their knowledge in this field. My only reservation is that the layout of the book appears very dated. The black-and-white pictures and diagrams could be made so much more engaging and more clear if they were brightened up a little. This is a criticism which could be aimed at many books outside of the main general Undergraduate texts, however just because a situation is widely tolerated it does not mean a publisher shouldn't try a bit harder to make a better product, especially when the content is absolutely first class as it undoubtedly is in this case.

My favorite diving medicine textbook. If you like the no-nonsense format of the NOAA Diving Manual, Bove too, shoots from the hip. Bove is best in the hands of medical professionals, as brevity in some discussion presumes a background in medical care. Focusing on medical professionals may limit its audience, but astute readers anywhere may appreciate its directness, as a distillation, its strong spirit. Diving Medicine is a MUST for any physician treating civilian divers, and its format makes for quick reference for primary care gives who occassionally encounter divers with medical issues.

I read this book cover to cover before taking Medical Boards in Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine. I enjoyed the experience greatly, and passed the Boards. It is well-organized and easy to read if you have at least a diving background. I am a pulmonary and critical care specialist (and diver) and found it very straight-forward. I recommend reading this book in conjunction with the US Navy Diving Manual which is available through .... in print (but I prefer the CD ROM published by the Navy and others). We keep these references at our hyperbaric unit at UCLA where we have already done 4 Table VI treatments this week.

Mr. Malone's description of Mr. Jefferson is detailed and encompassing. It is well organized and brings the reader in touch with this American Icon and his times. The only failing of this work and its subsequent volumes is that we really only see the best of Mr. Jefferson. His failures, faults and weakeness are dealt with as if they were unimportant or at least only a minor footnote in development of this man. Only in his last volume does Mr. Malone start to deal with the more complex parts of Mr. Jefferson's life. Regardless of this shortcoming this work should be required reading by all students of American History.

Jefferson: The Virginian by Dumas Malone is a masterful work on Thomas Jefferson's early years, from birth to being appointed as an ambassador to France.

This work is one of the first comprehensive biographies of Jefferson's life. This is the first of six in the complete set. Malone is a distinguished historian so you will read about Jefferson's ancestry, along with Jefferson's youth, education, legal career, his marriage, the construction of Monticello. Not that was enough for one man's life, but we see the writing of the Declaration of Independence and Jefferson's work on the "Notes on Virginia."

We get an insight as to how Jefferson conducted his highly successful legislative career and his governorship. But what we do NOT see is the soul of Jefferson... the man, the human being. We get facts and more facts about a very complex individual and a monumental man. But the richness of the breath of life is left out.

Nonetheless, the book is a very scholarly work, one of the first to complete a comphensive work on a mulitfarious man. I enjoyed reading this volume for its historical importance and significance. This volume lays the ground work on which all of the other volumes set.

This work being well documented is a good start into reading about the life and times of Thomas Jefferson. One fact the comes through loud and clear... Jefferson is a Virginian foremost and always... there is no mistaking that fact.

Malone, once called "the greatest Jeffersonian of them all", originally conceived this biography in four volumes. By the time he published the last book in 1982, at age 89, it had grown to six volumes. It remains the standard life of Jefferson, an indelible and important portrait of a great man, flaws and all, by a great scholar.

JEFFERSON THE VIRGINIAN begins things with Jefferson's birth into a family of much distinction. His father Peter was a noted surveyor and a man of inordinate physical strength who nevertheless died fairly young (in his fifties). The book covers Jefferon's education at William and Mary (at a time when formal education was not a widespread thing, even among the gentry), his law practice, his beginning the construction of Monticello (which would preoccupy him right up until the time of his death), his terms in the Virginia House of Burgesses (one of which was served after his governorship), his writing of the Declaration of Independence (his initial version, a scathing indictment of King George, had to be toned down by his compatriots), and his controversial governorship (in which he sustained much of the blame for the British army's inroads into the Old Dominion state). It ends with his appointment as an American ambassador to France.

Obviously this is no primer on Jefferson. Malone spares no detail. His prose is fastidious, elegant, and easy to read, although you may find yourself putting the book down from time to time to absorb what you have just read. Overall, Jefferson emerges here as a man naturally scholarly and reclusive, content to build his home, pursue his studies, and tend to his family, who is pushed into action by the obligations of his caste and by his own fervent patriotism.

Malone has been criticised for writing a virtual hagiography of Jefferson, ignoring the "darker" aspects of the man's personality. In other words, unlike Fawn Brodie, Malone did not reduce his subject to some psychological cripple and sex deviate. The charges are balderdash. Malone DOES recognize Jefferson's flaws (e.g., his lack of a sense of humor and his sometimes indecision in taking action). He simply refuses to turn Jefferson into a whipping boy for his own ideological preoccupations.

This is as complete a contemporary biography as we will probably ever get of this great man.

I loved reading about J-3's adventuers and his life. Made me wish that I lived on the island paradise of San Felipe and could hang out with J-3 and his pals. Good fun read for a cold winter evening.

I have read the book three times. Each time I find something I missed before. I have purchsed the book as christmas presents for my staff. I would recommend it to everyone.

A Great entertaining book which also lets you dream as you travel through history!! A best Kept secret and I agree with the other readers it would be a great movie or TV series..Imagine the characters!