A well researched and well written guide. Readers like pictures and this book has lots of bright and colorful pictures with descriptions and information. The book gives insight into Mr. Laughlin and his pottery. I recommend this book to all collectors of Homer Laughlin.

This is a must have for Homer Laughlin collectors. Get a feel for the life,times and area that produced the largest American manufacturer of dinnerware. This book is packed with information that you just can't digest in one setting. I'm constantly referring to it and learning something new everytime.

This book is indispensable for indentifying the older pieces of Homer Laughlin. While not a price guide per se it does give the reader an idea of the value of older pottery shapes.

A collection of anecdotes, told by a real magistrate in Virginia which is at times poignant, funny, and distressing. Oh, the trouble some people have just getting on in life! The author describes what he deals with day in and day out, sharing his values and conclusions. I highly recommend this book to anyone, as it is both entertaining and educational. Would be excellent gift for high school or college students thinking about careers in social services or law.

The author's self-effacing style brought a reality to the situations that made me feel like I was there experiencing the insanity, fumbling along with him in search of a valid assessment of impassioned criminal complaints. The quick pace, wit and humor kept my interest such that I didn't put it down until I was done. The book gives a base working level picture of the front end of the criminal justice system in the Commonwealth of Virginia from the perspective of an individual (The Magistrate) who is interviewing cops as well as suspects and witnesses hot from the "scene of the crime" before they have had time to reflect on and organize their stories for their own benefit. It is a great study on the devious side of human nature as it applies to suspects, witnesses and victims weaving a tangled web to try to save their hides or punish their enemies. It is a window inside a government bureaucracy as viewed candidly by a bureaucrat that is still clinging to a conscience and a heart. This book is stimulating, amusing, emotional yet easy reading. I can see it as a best seller when it is discovered.

I've already ordered them as Christmas gifts. Certainly one of the most interesting, and well written, paperbacks this year. Sure to be a best seller.

The author expended a tremendous effort in researching the Jeff Davis Legion. He has created an interesting history of this unusual cavalry unit. Any one who is interested in the Confederate Cavalry will enjoy the detail information the author has dug out of the archives.

Amazon says book has 40 pages. It has 325

The author obviously performed a great deal of research in order to extract such detailed and little known facts about the "Little Jeff". Truly a gem for all interested in the Civil War. Highly recommended.

I bought and read this book in preparation for moving from San Diego to Norfolk...I wanted to get a flavor of the area. What a pleasant surprise! A fascinating read and one that will make you want to visit the area to see where ESB lived, and where she had such influence in preserving historical Richmond.

Knowing a bona fide eccentric, especially a benevolent one, is simultaneously an entertaining and exasperating experience. Sharing that experience with others is usually daunting. Either the essence of the person being described becomes lost in a jumble of amusing but disjointed anecdotes or eccentricity overwhelms the eccentric, rendering a flat, one-dimensional cartoon in place of a complex, multi-faceted portrait.

In Never Ask Permission, Mary Buford Hitz tackles this daunting task head on, the subject of this memoir being her mother, Elizabeth Scott Bocock or, as she often signed herself, ESB. Rather than take a sequential, "I-am-born" approach, the author chooses to devote separate chapters to different aspects of her mother's personality, each chapter a self-contained essay, overflowing with anecdotes, quotes, and, perhaps most illuminating of all, snippets of ESB's autobiographical sketches. (Most of these autobiographical excerpts, by the way, come from essays ESB wrote during her college years, which began after her sixty-seventh birthday.) Just as a puzzle becomes a picture as each piece falls into place, so does ESB's complex character come into focus, chapter by chapter, with a poignant, but essential clue to this charming, but undeniably complex Virginian saved until the very end.

Many CEO's could learn from ESB's capacity to set goals and achieve them. As ESB emerges from the pages of this lovingly crafted book, the reader meets a determined and creative thinker who probably would not have been impressed with "left-brain/right-brain, lateral thinking, creative problem-solving, if you aren't part of the solution, you're part of the problem" lingo, but who embodied the positive persona such jargon seeks to describe. With one foot firmly planted in late Victorian America and the other constantly, restlessly forcing her into the future, she was a visionary with an astonishing ability to get things done.

If you enjoy biography, if you are fascinated by Virginia, if you want some side-splitting laughs, or if you are just interested in a good read, this is the book for you.

If the moral of Never ask permission lies in the title, I will jump to the front of the line to praise it. The narrative careens around corners and bounces over bumps so merrily that the reader has only fleeting moments to enjoy the insiights and hoot at the comedy while holding on tightly to that pale yellow tailgate.

Thomas Jefferson's " Notes on the State of Virginia" is a brilliant piece of history, sociology, law, geology, government,and science. This work, Jefferson's only book, shows his powerful, brilliant mind at it's best. Jefferson shows the depth of his knowledge, not just on his own beautiful state, but on human nature itself. Some of the gems in this work are his views on education, advocating free public education for all, free government, advocating a revisal of the defective original Virginia Constitution. His knowledge of slavery, and the Indian races before his eyes are from personal experience and observation. Although painted by the deconstuctionist left as a "racist" Jefferson was a dangerous radical to the Virginia gentry due to his advocacy of emacipation and deportation of slaves. His views on black inferiority are exaggerated since he placed them forth as a scientific hypothesis based on personal observation. Jefferson could not see a "multicultural" society in America made up of former masters and slaves with resentment and prejudice still in the hearts of both. Many of his predictions about race relations have come true: hate, resentment, power struggles, and a continuing obsession which he forsaw would destroy the America Republic.

The best edited version of the is Koch and Peden's edited on in "The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson", but the full Notes is very good, but the reader must be prepared for numerous charts and tables. Overall a great book, and buy!

The book is written much like an epic poem- with lists of river, towns, economic conditions etc in 1780s. But also much more: His feeling on race. He obviously did not hate blacks, proposed a theory that they were less intelligent, had an aesthetic view of man akin to Gulliver's Travels and the horses. Theory of education is much akin to European model of today, much better than current theories in use. He opposed multiculturalism and opposed teaching children religion in schools or anyplace else, preferring Greek, Roman and European histories and philosophy for guidance of children. The difference between the America he wanted and the reality of today is striking. Which is better? Each must judge, but this is a must read book.

I recomend The book which was edited with an introduction and notes by William Peden. I have an orginal copy of "Notes on the State of Virginia" Second Amarican edition Printed in 1797, on loan to the Monticello, (of which I am welling to part with at the right price). This was a hard book to understand, once I read the one edited by William Peden, I had a much better understanding of what Mr. Jefferson wrote, as well as the history of Mr. Jefferson's efforts in acheaving it's final contents.

At first I was not really interested in reading this book but after the first few chapters I got involved. It is such an amazing tale of a boy who gets off track but with hard work and determination learns some valuable lessons. I found the relationship of the boy and the farmhands very interesting. And also the relationship with Rebecca. I wish the book continued so I could see what became of that. Overall this is a great book for students to see how a wrong can make a right.

A Hole in the World by Sid Hite is about a 15-year-old boy named Paul Shackleford. He lies and is sent to spend the summer on the farm of distant relatives in rural Virginia. At the farm, with a greeting nip at his hindquarters he is introduced to Einstein, a remarkable dog that will play a significant role in his summer. He learns that Einstein belonged to a former employee who committed suicide. Paul also comes to realize that all who knew him revered Hennley. Ada and Hargrove Vallencourt, as well as their hardworking crew, welcomed Paul into farm labor. The teen holds his own, not only in terms of the physical labor, but also in blending with the vagaries of the various residents. He later reflects on the genuineness of the people here compared to his friends at home. Throughout the story, the possibility of a specter, that of Hennley Gray, intervenes. Paul and his new friend Rebecca later conclude that maybe they are all haunting Hennley's soul rather than the other way around. This was a very good book. It was slow at the beginning but then it picked up.

Ya know, this book is fascinating. Not in the usual sense. It kept me reading; I couldnt oput it down. The characters and meaning are deep. A must read for anyone!!

I looked at every IVF book around and chose this one to help me through the IVF process. Things are explained in a way your fertility doctor would (or should) explain them, in a consise and easy-to-follow manner. What I like most about the book is that it only covers IVF, not all high-tech treatments. I highly recommend this book to those starting out on the road to IVF treatments.

This book has all the information you need to learn the ins and outs of this emotionally difficult process. It gave me all I needed to continue the discussions with my specialist and understand what he was suggesting and why. It also gave me a sense of a community of folks who are facing the same issues I am. This really helped me feel less alone and unusual.

We are a couple just starting the IVF process. While we read numerous web pages online, there was no clear, concise reference book that walks you through all the steps.

"The Art of Making Babies" provides a detailed overview of each step in the process from the initial meeting with your physician to what to expect in the final stages. The book has answered many of our questions. In addition, the book also provides questions you should ask when looking for an IVF facility or entering a particular stage of the process.

Highly recommended.

I enjoyed this book because of it's detailed accounts of Marx toys that I grew up with. The price guide is also handy when I'm out looking for Marx items for my sisters' collections. History of a manufacturer is always interesting and the photographs help define the pieces I'm searching for. I appreciate a good book that shows great effort extended in presenting the information. I would recommend this book to the serious toy buyer and to new seekers of antique Marx toys. Kudos to the author!

I found this to be an ideal route to fond memories of my childhood. Many of the toys in this book were basis of several Christmas dreams. As a baby boomer, I have been collecting the dollhouses and furniture with the hope that my granddaughter will appreciate them, too! This is a good reference guide to have!

This book would be a great companion book. Most Marx toys collectors would benefit from information on part numbers, years of production and viewing the wonderful selection of photographs featured in the book. The book covers about 30 years worth of knowledge on toys produced at the Glen Dale plant site. There is even a partial price listing on items that Ms. Smith and Mr. Whipkey were familiar with. All in all. A good book.

This book is about the founding of The University of Virginia. If you are interested in learning about Jefferson, Garry Wills fills in a lot of the gaps with "Mr. Jefferson's University". Much of Jefferson's philosophies on education are behind his academic and architectural intentions for his University of Virginia. This is a "must read" for anyone interested in Jefferson. I think another "must read" is Norman Thomas Remick's "Mr. Jefferson's Academy, The Real Story Behind West Point" (1998), a book now known as "West Point: Character Leadership Education....Developed From The Readings And Writings Of Thomas Jefferson" (2002), available right here on Amazon.com. Though many know that Mr. Jefferson's University (The University of Virginia) was our third President's favorite, high-profile educational project, no one knew (until Mr. Remick's groundbreaking research) that Mr. Jefferson's Academy (West Point) was our third President's best-kept-secret, low-profile educational project. In my opinion, you should read both books.

This book provides a detailed and in-depth look at Thomas Jefferson's University of Virginia.

The Prologue provides an overview of the architecture of the Academical Village, including the Pavilions, the Lawn and the Range, and Serpentine Walls, etc.

Chapter One chronicles the extraordinary efforts that Jefferson had put in to create the University. He had to fight every step of the way for funding, for site selection, and for recruiting faculties that he wanted, not what the Virginian Assembly had in mind at the time.

Chapter Two looks at how he had envisioned his University to be; how the architecture tied in with his vision of a school as a counter-weight to the establishments in the north (Yale/Harvard) and the Old World.

Chapter Three drew parallels between Jefferson's plantation Monticello and the Academical Village.

Chapter Four details one of the most talented architects, Latrobe's contribution to the architecture of the University, and subsequent and controversial remodelings of the Rotunda by Stanford White.

Chapter Five discusses the first faculties and students. Recruiting the faculties had been difficult since the University was so new and luring talents from the north was almost impossible. In addition, Jefferson's vision of having an institute for southern plantation owners resulted in a violent culture in the University in the first years.

The Epilogue looks at the University after Jefferson, how it grew and kept up its promise.

This is an excellent book about UVa. As an alumni, I am embarrassed to say that before reading this book, I had not paid enough attention to the Lawn. For example, I always thought that all the Pavilions were identical. I was not aware of the educational values of the serpentine walls. I heard of Stanford White's redesigning of the Rotunda, but until this book I've never seen a picture of it. And above all, I could not have imagined how much difficulties Jefferson had encountered, and how proud he was at achieving this impossible dream. I would highly recommend this book to UVA students and alumni, and all who's visiting Charlottesville. I am so proud of being a UVa grad!

Although a slim volume, Gary Wills has packed this book full with information about this period in Jefferson's life that most other biographers - and I've read 22 - missed. Starting a university from scratch is just about more than one man, even Jefferson, could handle. He had to design the buidings, the dorms and rooms for the students and professors, and then hire the professors from all over the world, then make sure it ran properly even down to the rowdiness of the students. And all of this in the decade prior to his death, while he was in his 70's. That the university continues today in his spirit is a strong testament to his original thinking, his designs, and his vision for the future. This is a short book that can easily be read in one sitting, and well worth it.