This is a great book in a small package. Graphic icons convey useful information that is understandable at a glance. Excellent illlustrations. Good for beginner or intermediate fern student. I use it as a supplement to text-heavy fern guides.

Among flowering plants, the flowers are often a crucial feature in identifying them. But then there are non-flowering plants, such as the Pteridiophytes, which include ferns. Those who know a lot about flowering plants can still be at a loss when it comes to identifying ferns. Some of the best books about wildflowers feature colorful pictures, and those can be a major aid to identification. But when it comes to ferns, with their tinier reproductive structures that are less showy than all but the smallest flowers, pictures alone are much less of a vital key to identification. Instead, one needs to observe details like clumped or scattered growth patterns, scaly or smooth stipes (the stems of fern fronds), and arrangement and shape of the sori (clusters of spore-bearing parts). This small but useful book is an excellent introduction to these and other features important in fern identification. Once you learn them, the book provides a key for sorting out what fern one is observing, using those features. This book best covers the ferns of the eastern and central U.S. and Canada. As shown on this site, there is also a Pacific Coast version of this book for those observing and hoping to identify ferns there.

This book really gives the reader a sense of what Hamilton and Jefferson were REALLY like. They had disputes and were mistrustful of eachother. There wasn't any school-boy stuff going on here. I recommend this book if you're interested in history and are in college. Good book!

I am only an undergrad student, so I admit I'm not all that well read. A wealth of literature has been published on Jefferson. There are a great many books carry out in-depth studies on various aspects relating to Jefferson. This book, is, however, a brief account of Jefferson's entire life.on that account,it is obviously a limited book. Even so the dicussion on Jefferson;s two terms as president are too brief. Yet Cunningham's approach to various subjects-the Embargo, for example are fairly good. The book includes a section on jefferson's last years (in the chapter "The Sage Of Monticello)which is brief yet intersting. Overall, the book tries to encompass Jefferson's personal as well as political life in its contents.Thus it compromises with many aspects.Yet it is a fairly good book overall.It is written in lucid style and would be useful to anyone wanting to obtain a bird's eye view of the life and career of Thomas Jefferson.

This book has received unwarranted bad reviews and press simply because it is 'short.' Noble E. Cunningham's purpose, it seems, for this biography of Jefferson, was to present the essential life of Jefferson in such a way that all could enjoy. There have been so many biographies written on Jefferson and most are massive multi- volumes which can come across as very daunting to the average reader.

However, this book, while very well researched and authoritative in its content, is a biography which can be read by the average Joe and the scholar alike. Cunningham's research is very well documented, and the book is put together systematically from "The Formative Years" to "The Final Legacy." So, in a brief space, one can read this volume and learn the essential/perennial events which occurred in Jefferson's life. Moreover, Cunningham delves a little into Jefferson's personal affairs, such as his lost first love - Rebecca Burwell, to his admiration for Patrick Henry. Cunningham also details Jefferson's early intellectual influences and his love for law. In fact, in 349 pages of text, the most crucial and important events which occurred, and have been documented, in Jefferson's life are present in this text.

Therefore, Cunningham's attempt in writing this size biography was not to press his reader down in certain detail. Rather, Cunningham attempted to present a Jefferson which could be widely read by most anyone. His efforts are noble and successful on that level.

However, it must be stated that if you are wanting an intricately more detailed work of Jefferson, then this book will only wet your appetite for more. There are other biographies available (massive multi- volumes) for one to delve much deeper. But here, Cunningham just simply lets his reader know some of the most crucial events and facts. That being the case, this is a good book to begin your research and study of Thomas Jefferson.

There is no dearth of literature on Thomas Jefferson.there are numerous books that offer detailed studies on various aspects of his life, political theory and his career. This book is obviously a brief account of the life and career of Thomas Jefferson. As such, it compromises on a detailed discussion on any one aspect of Jefferson's life, but this is understandable, given the limited scope of the book. Even so the discussion on Jefferson's presidency is a little too brief. However certain topics-such as the Emabargo, are handled fairly well. overall, this book is usefull to anyone who wishes to obtain a bird's eye view of Jefferson's life.

Unfortunately, this is the type of book that tends to put readers off of history. The writing is pedestrian and dry, and I finished the book feeling I knew little more about the person, James Monroe, than I did when I began. It was like a social studies text listing facts and figures without coming to life. Compare a book like this to "John Quincy Adams, A Public Life, A Private Life", where one truly come to know the historical character.

As the last president who fought in the revolution and a lesser light when measured against Washington, Jefferson and Madison, James Monroe is often considered a transitional figure. Which has some validity in both cases. Although wounded in battle, he did not have anywhere near the stature that Washington did. He was also no match for the intellects of Adams, Jefferson or Madison, and was intellectually secondary to John Quincy Adams, his secretary of state. Nevertheless, he was a man of substance, showing patience in negotiating treaties that continued the inexorable expansion of U.S. territory.
Monroe also showed himself to be a true visionary when he enunciated the Monroe doctrine, where the powers of Europe were told to stay away from any interference with any country that had won independence from their former European masters. Given that it was the power of the British navy that enforced it, something that he was well aware of, it showed that he was trying to form a de-facto alliance with the former colonial rulers.
Cunningham chronicles these events, but also examines one other feature of the times, namely the lack of a second party. By the time of Monroe's second term, the Federalists were dead as a political party, although some still held office. Without opposition, there was no need to maintain discipline within the Republican party, a situation that led to the major problems Monroe had being generated by members of his party. This is a significant point, something that is covered in complete detail.
Monroe was also the first president to go on the equivalent of a campaign tour, which makes him more modern than he would appear. We see many hints of future presidents in that tour, how they will campaign, gather public support and simply how Americans receive their leaders.
In many ways, Monroe was a transitional figure as a president, which made his presidency relatively uneventful, considering what occurred in the previous administrations. Yet, he laid the groundwork for many substantial changes, starting the nation along paths of greatness, but also being a part of the trek towards a civil war. Cunningham describes all of this in detail, exploring the actions of a man who was a fine, but not great leader.

The Presidency Of James Monroe is an ambitious book, in which Noble Cunningham, jr. attempts to analyze the president's political beliefs, including his handling of domestic and foreign affairs from 1817 to 1825. For instance, Cunningham argues that Monroe used his powers as chief executive in a more pragmatic fashion than predecessors James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. In addition, Cunningham asserts that Monroe's attitude about Indians remained paternalistic, but the president did recommend the removal of all Indians east of the Mississippi River to a settlement west of Missouri and the Arkansas territory. Besides, the author recognizes that Monroe authorized Andrew Jackson to attack the Florida Seminole Indians. Next, Cunningham mentions Monroe's conflict over constitutionality regarding federally sponsored internal improvements. In fact, the author writes that Monroe vetoed a bill for federally sponsored internal improvements. Furthermore, Cunningham avers that the Monroe Doctrine, which warned European powers not to intervene in the affairs of the Western Hemisphere, represents the president's lasting legacy.

Cunningham persuasively argues that the Monroe Doctrine and legacy strengthened the power of the presidency in foreign affairs. Cunningham does, however, recognize Monroe's failure to gain treaty with Great Britain to suppress the International slave trade in 1824. Moreover, the author avers that Monroe used a cautious approach in foreign diplomacy in relations with Spain and the rebellious republics in Latin America.

Cunningham devotes an entire chapter to Monroe's cautious approach in dealing with the Missouri Compromise legislation. The author asserts that although Monroe did not wholeheartedly endorse the Missouri Compromise, the president used political expediency to forestall further problems in making Missouri a slave state and Maine a free state.

Throughout this exposition, Cunningham uses a number of Monroe's quotes to illustrate his points, and as in the Monr! oe Doctrine, he tells the quotes with a great deal of fervor. In addition, Cunningham adds interesting tidbits to enliven the narrative. For instance, the author informs the reader that Monroe resumed the formal entertaining that Thomas Jefferson had ended. In addition, Cunningham views Monroe as a "hands on" president, closely involved in administrative duties. But ironically, in Monroe's final annual message, he asserts that no divided interests exist in the United States, despite obvious sectional animosities over tariffs and slavery.

Cunningham uses Monroe's writings integrated with a narrative lucid and with adequate footnoting. One of my criticisms, however, concerns the confusing references to Monroe's political ideology. For example, throughout the narrative, Cunningham refers to Monroe as a Republican, but the correct term, Democratic-Republican , never appears in the book. This omission might confuse a non-historian. Also, during the mislabeled "Era of Good Feelings," the author only briefly describes the slavery debacle, which undermined America's progress at that time.