As a student in England, doing work on military academies, I came across the notes, papers, writings, etc of Thomas Jefferson in the bibliography of "West Point", by Norman Thomas Remick. I'm absolutely thrilled that Merrill D. Peterson has put it all together in one 1600 page book. It makes this part of my project almost like one stop shopping. The book is marvelous as a research reference, while at the same time being very interesting reading. By the way, as I see that the book "West Point" is not among the Amazon books on Thomas Jefferson, I hereby highly recommend it to you. It was marvelously interesting, as well.

This edition of Jefferson's writings is an excellent comrehensive collection. Edited by Jefferson biographer Merrill Peterson this volume is a treasure.

It includes Jefferson's Anas, Autobiography, The Notes on Virginia( complete), Summary View of the Rights of British America, his version of the Declaration of Independence, numerous public papers, and addresses. This volume is a must have for the Jefferson reader. It also very necassary for the current state of the American Republic which would be wise to hear the words of this great man. A great buy!

This book is a treasure: it contains many of the writings of Thomas Jefferson, and his letters.
They are reveal a crisp thinking, like Voltaire, Rousseau, the abbey Gregoire, Rabeau Saint Etienne, and other geat thinkers of the 17th Century (T.Jefferson meet with most), as well a Pascal who was way ahead of his time. TJ try to explain the rational for generosity, compassion, respect for life, respect for people, respect for justice, and more: anyone who claims to be president of the USA (or any sovereign nation) should read and understand this book. Unfortunatly this is probably not the case... Politicians love to use a citation of TJ, but their policies would often be despised by TJ.
Let's hope that the future will give the US presidents with the values of this great thinker, and for the time being let's just be patient.

My girls and I love this book! What a pleasure to be able to look out our window and now be able to identify the types of birds that live among us. We even now can recognize a bird by sound.

This book includes wonderful pictures with easy to read descriptions of the birds and their habits.

What a great way to spend time with each other having fun exploring and learning.

A book that can be enjoyed at any age.

This really useful field guide has great drawings of over 100 species found in neighborhoods in US and Canada. Has a simple system to instantly tell you the region and feeding preferences of birds, in other words, where you are most likely to find them. The drawings are beautiful, colorful and accurate, clearly showing the difference between male and female, and defining markings. I've enjoyed mine thoroughly!

The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, Its Evolutionand Consequences in American History edited by Merrill D. Peterson and Robert C. Vaughan is a book that should be on the shelf of those who read and want to understand why it was so important to overthrow the Established Church... the Anglican Church... and the laying of a new foundation of civil and religious life.

As we all should know it was Thomas Jefferson who realized that in order to have a just and free government, you had to divest the church stranglehold on the government and on the people as church and state were united. Jefferson proposed a revolutionary change based on two principles first, absolute freedom of religious conscience and opinion; and second, the separation of church and state. This book covers much of what was contemporary perspective of that time. Jefferson was the author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom and it was a hard fought fight and struggle for ten years to extracate the established church, but a fight well worth the effort. Jefferson drafted the Virginia Statute in 1777, when he was a member of the Virginia legislature and it became law on January 16, 1786, when he was United States minister to France. The Virginia Statute is in three parts: the preamble, the enacting clause, and the final, admonitory paragraph.

This book has contributing authors of essays that take a look into different aspects of the history and attitudes of the time and give us clarity of prespective. They are titled as chapters and are: The Virginia Statute Two Hundred Years Later, Colonial Religion and Liberty of Conscience, Religious Freedom and the Desacralization of Politics: From the English Civil Wars to the Virginia Statute, The Political Theology of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, the Statute for Religious Freedom, and the Crisis of Republican Convicitions, The Rage of Malice of the Old Serpent Devil: The Dissenters and the Making and Remaking of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, Quota of Imps, Jeffersonian Religious Liberty and American Pluralism, Religion and Civil Virture in America: Jefferson's Statute Reconsidered, The Priority of Democracy to Philosophy, Madison's Detached Memoranda: Then and Now, and The Supreme Court and the Serpentine Wall.

This book is well referenced and footnoted and I found it easy to follow and learn from. Also, the writing styles of the different authors gives the reader a unique view from different points making it enjoyable. The Virginia Statute is the precurser to the Bill of Rights to the Constitution, and this book put things in perspective.

"Butterflies," a field guide co-authored by Jonathan P. Latimer and Karen Stray Nolting, is a beautiful and informative guide to this fascinating family of insects. A well-written introduction gives basic information about butterfly anatomy, the butterfly life cycle, and other relevant matters. But the main body of the book consists of individual profiles of many major species of butterfly.

Each two-page spread consists of text, a full-color photograph of a representative insect, and excellent full-color drawings by artist Amy Bartlett Wright. Highlighted sections of each spread focus on each butterfly's habitat, its favorite plants, and the best times of the year that it can be seen. By the time you finish the book, you will be familiar with the Tiger Swallowtail, the Variegated Fritillary, the Red Admiral, and many other colorful species.

This is a fascinating book which will be useful to both adventurous types who like to view butterflies in the wild and to those who prefer to read about butterflies from the comfort of their study. And although the book is marketed for young people, I believe it would also be appealing to adults. Ultimately, the authors and illustrator have created a beautiful tribute to a marvelous family of living beings.

I found this book to be typical of all Peterson guides. It's a useful book to have but not the best available. In typical Peterson fashion the book shows illustrations of birds instead of photos. While some find this more useful for showing details all too often I've found that the drawings like little like the actualy birds.

However this book does contain the bird's comman and scientific name for each species. In addition it has a physical description of coloration and markings, a description of the habitats where they are likely to be found, their geographic distribution, notes on their song and any similar species when applicable.

I find that this is a nice addition to the Stoke's Field Guide which shows pictures instead drawings.

Definitely a nice addition to your library.

The Peterson Field Guide to Western Birds is the best such guide you will find. The nice thing about birds and birding is that there are few enough species out there that you can get virtually all of them in one regional guide.

This book is outstanding. It relies on illustrations rather than photographs to show markings and other details used to ID birds in the field. I find that photos are often sub-standard, not showing characters essential for identifying birds due to the position of the bird, markings of the individual chosen for inclusion in the book, etc.

In this book each entry includes a bird's common and scientific names, a brief physical description of the body and coloration, a drawing(s) of the bird, a brief description of habitats where they are likely to be seen, a blip about their geographic distribution, notes on their song, and reference to similar species (if any). The entry also refers the reader to a map number that shows the summer and winter ranges for each bird.

This is "the bird book" to have for western birds for the novice and experienced birder alike. If you've never had much luck figuring out which birds you are looking at try this book.

5 stars only because that's the highest rating possible.

Note: if you travel much throughout the USA, you ought to pick up the Peterson Guide to Eastern Birds as well -- it is the sister book to this one. With both of those books in hand you will be in good birding shape.

Alan Holyoak, Dept of Biology, Manchester College, IN

Often called the birdwatcher's "bible," Roger Tory Peterson's Field Guides revolutionized bird identification and started a series of books on everything from Atmosphere to Wildflowers. It is still one of the best tools for bird identification, especially for those just learning how to recognize different birds. Its text is straightforward, consistent, and well-organized, and the illustrations are unsurpassed. Taxonomic (name and species) changes will come and go, and no book is going to be able to keep up with all of them for very long. Fall birding will always be challenging, but this is still the best book to have if you only want to carry one.

This classic guide was the first of its type, and thus probably got more people into birding than any other book. Peterson uses ink drawings to show the important "field marks" for identifying species. The downside to these drawings is that they tend to idealize the birds, showing them in perfect postures and making the field marks more prominent than they really are. Many competitors, such as the Audubon Guide and the Stokes Guide, use photographs instead. Photographs give a more accurate portrayal of the subtleties of color and pattern in plumage, but there are always those poor shots in a photographic guide that are blurry or show the bird at a bad angle. Whether you decide that a guide based on drawings or photographs is best for you, I would strongly suggest that you pick up an audio recording of birdsongs, such as "Birding by Ear," or the "Field Guide to Eastern/Central Bird Songs," both put out by Peterson's. As any experienced birder will tell you, the ear is just as important as the eye, especially in summer, when birds are often hidden by foliage.

The Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Birds is the best such guide you will find. The nice thing about birds and birding is that there are few enough species out there that you can get virtually all of them in one regional guide.

This book is outstanding. It relies on illustrations rather than photographs to show markings and other details used to ID birds in the field. I find that photos are often sub-standard, not showing characters essential for identifying birds due to the position of the bird, markings of the individual chosen for inclusion in the book, etc.

In this book each entry includes a bird's common and scientific names, a brief physical description of the body and coloration, a drawing(s) of the bird, a brief description of habitats where they are likely to be seen, a blip about their geographic distribution, notes on their song, and reference to similar species (if any). The entry also refers the reader to a map number that shows the summer and winter ranges for each bird.

This is "the bird book" to have for birds that live east of the Rockies for the novice and experienced birder alike. If you've never had much luck figuring out which birds you are looking at try this book.

5 stars all the way!

Note: if you travel much throughout the USA, you ought to pick up the Peterson Guide to Western Birds as well -- it is the sister book to this one. With both of those books in hand you will be in good birding shape.

Alan Holyoak, Dept of Biology, Manchester College, IN

I looked at nine or ten bird books over the weekend before finally deciding on this one. I like it's compact size, durable cover and it's very complete index. The most important reason for my decision, however, is the fact that it shows pictures of both male and female birds where the female bird's plummage and head differ from that of the male. None of the other books I checked showed female birds or only showed them in very rare instances. I also like this book because it shows most birds in both standing or swimming positions and also in flight. There are also occasional drawings of chicks.

The text that accompanies the pictures is necessarily brief but covers: Latin and common names, description, food, range, migratory pattern, habitat, voice and similar species. Also included is a "Systematic Checklist" so you can keep a "life list" of all the birds you've seen. There is a guide to identifying birds by visual categories (swimmers, birds of prey, waders, perching birds, etc), size, tail and wing patterns. The last part of the book contains maps illustrating each bird's range which makes it easy to compare the habitat of, for example, an Olive-Sided Flycatcher with an Acadian Flycatcher.

Obviously this is a guidebook and not the type of book you sit down and read through, but I have found myself reading the entries for the often amusing "voice" sections. Here's the one for the Chestnut-Sided Warbler: "Song, similar to Yellow Warbler's; 'see see see see Miss Beech'er' or 'pleased pleased pleased to meet'cha;' penultimate note accented, last note dropping." Hey, someone who knows what "penultimate" really means!

This is more or less a rehash of the peterson field guide. It has the same (enlarged) pictures that are in the original guide. In addition, it has the type of food that each bird is likely to eat as well as the range map next to the description. I suppose it's a little convenient to have all the feeder birds grouped together, but , other than that, I felt disappointed with the book. There was some (but not enough) information on actually attracting birds and setting up feeding stations. Personally, I found the Stoke's guide to attracting, identifying and understanding feeder birds to be more helpful.