A wonderful overall guide to origami that not only covers fundamental and advanced techniques, but also gives a history of the art/craft. Lots of colorful diagrams are also included. Large hardbound format makes it easier to use than most other books on the subject.

As a 1995 graduate of UVA, I found this book to be extremely educational. I only wish I had purchased it as an undergrad so I could have wandered the Grounds finding the areas Mr. Dabney wrote of. Mr. Dabney was an expert on UVA and Mr. Jefferson. I look forward to reading more of his work.

As a faculty brat in the 1930s,I literally grew up on the UVA grounds. On reading my first copy of Mr. Dabney's book (he was a close personal friend of my parents) I was struck by the rich lode of information verifying much that had been rumor during my teens. My dad, Dr. James C.Bardin a medical doctor, opted to teach Romance Languages. He is mentiond in the book. Mr. Jefferson's University sparkles with vivid memories of a delightful time in my youth. It is a wonderful historical document written so as to interest just about anyone who likes Virginia, and especially the UVA.

Note to a previous reviewer: Virginius Dabney was a man. He was a longtime Virginia newspaper editor and died shortly after "The Jefferson Scandals" was published. He was unquestionably a sincere gentleman and passionate in his defense of Jefferson's honor and purity. He didn't live to see the definitive DNA evidence that confirms the Sally Hemings relationship. The consistent denials of the affair by Jefferson apologists, in my opinion, involve more than a tinge of racism. These same scholars have no problem affirming Jefferson's liaison with Maria Cosway, who was probably much less virtuous than Sally Hemings. It is entertaining, however, to read Dabney's book with Fawn Brodie's back-to-back. We eagerly await an up-to-date Jefferson biography that fully explores the new evidence.

The Jefferson/Sally Hemmings story has recently been accepted as fact. Before you accept Fawn Brodie's account (which re-fueld this 200 year old speculation) or the TV movie which recently told a highly inaccurate version, please read Dabney's smart little book. Dabney takes on Brodie point by point. I don't claim to know the truth of what, if anything, went on between Jefferson and Sally... But frankly, nobody else knows either. All these accounts are speculative at best. I am not a fan of Thomas Jefferson. Still, it seems wrong to trash him with a scandal two hundred years old that can't be proven one way or the other, inspite of DNA testing.

This book was mostly an okay one except that she was a bit repetitous and extremely harsh on Fawn Brodie's book Thomas Jefferson:an Intimate History. I have not read Brodie's book but from how Dabney puts it, it is rubbish, lacking in evidence, untruthful, and just plain nonsense. You almost got the sense that she didn't really like Brodie for more than just her book. Some of Dabney's sarcastic comments are quite funny, if not a bit harsh at times. But it is an intersting book if you like history and Thomas Jefferson.