Mr. Atkinson is a partisan Republican. He is upfront about it in his author's bio on the book's dustjacket, which mentions his numerous positions in the GOP. At times one senses his partisan glee as he chronicles the rise to power of the Republican party in the Old Dominion from the 1960's, when the Civil Rights movement and the administration of LBJ (who carried VA in 1964)identified the Democratic party with extreme liberalism, until the early 1990's, when Republican stock continued to soar statewide and nationwide. For the most part though he maintains objectivity and gives his readers a gripping account of this very important political transformation.

At times the book has the tension of a good thriller, along the lines of Advise and Consent or The Manchurian Candidate. Certainly Atkinson presents to us a genuine cast of characters and a series of ups and downs, successes and failures, conflicts and confrontations one would find in a novel. There is the collapse of the Harry Byrd machine in Virginia, which in election after election had delivered the state solidly to the Democrats; there is the election of Virginia's first Republican governor since Reconstruction, Linwood Holton, a man decidedly not a conservative in a very conservative party in a very conservative state; there is Mills Godwin's agonizing decision to quit a lifetime of membership in the Democratic party and become a Republican in order to stop "wildman" Henry Howell's ascension to the VA governorship; there is Richard Nixon's wholesale attempt to convert scores of conservative Virginia Democrats to the GOP, an effort killed, of course, by Nixon's own Watergate; there is the promise of good things cut short by the tragic deaths of Democrat Sergeant Reynolds and Republicans Richard Obershain and John Dalton; there is John Warner's campaigning for the U.S. Senate with that Hollywood apogee of glamor, Elizabeth Taylor, by his side; there is the appearance of Chuck Robb, as though a white knight upon a steed, to rescue the Democrats from yet another ignominious defeat at the hands of the GOP, and on and on. Atkinson's spares no detail in this very lively account, which portends good news for his party, less good news for us remaining Southern Jeffersonian Democrats.

Atkinson's title is a prescient one. In politics, as in much else, Virginia IS dynamic and changing all the time. One would welcome a sequel from Atkinson, or at least an updated edition of this fine book, in light of the election of Republican majorities to the VA legislature in 1999 and the more recent election of Democrat Mark Warner to the governorship, which some observers attribute in part to internecine warfare in the GOP.

In 1945, the Republican Party of Virginia was basically dead, having only four members in the 140 member General Assembly - two in the Senate and two in the House of Delegates, but in the last 50 years, the GOP has risen to a status of parity with Virginia's Democrats, who have been the majority party since Reconstruction. The Dynamic Dominion is an excellent account of the early history of the Republican Party's rise to preeminence in the Mother of Presidents. Mr. Atkinson goes into excellent detail about the events that helped to shape the future destiny of the party, especially those following the controversial 1978 State Republican Convention, in particular, the death of US Senate Nominee Richard Obenshain (whose name is still very much revered in Virginia Republican politics today) and the eventual nomination, candidacy, and election of John W. Warner, who was given invaluable assistance in his campaign by none other than famed actress Elizabeth Taylor. I would suggest that Mr. Atkinson's work be made required reading in political science courses at colleges and universities all across the country.

Do you love to teach but hate the grading process? That's where I was when I picked up this book. Very practically written, "Effective Grading" shows you how to choose the proper grading model for a class, how to motivate students through properly communicating your grading system, and how to structure your assignments to increase student learning. All this while drastically reducing the amount of time you need to spend on grading papers. Within a week of reading this book, I've made some drastic changes in my courses which will benefit both my students and myself.

I admit I was skeptical when I started this book--so many pedagogically oriented texts seem to sacrifice content and standards for "feel-good" solutions to education. However, I have found this book to offer excellent suggestions for every aspect of structuring classes to teach and evaluate what you most want your students to learn. In my college English classes, I've used variations of Primary Trait Analyses and Gateway Criteria and they have made a big difference in the levels of thinking and writing in my own students. Giving students specific guidelines allows them to focus on what's important about the assignment, set their priorities appropriately, and makes things much easier for me when the time comes for grading. I highly recommend this book.

In a time long ago and far away, the god of the Underworld, Hades, abducted Persephone, daughter of the goddess Demeter. Demeter grieved so deeply that the lush vegetation of Earth died. Hades eventually returned Persephone for six months of every year. During this time, Demeter's joy allows the plants to again grow. Traditionally, this has been the story of why we have winter and summer seasons.

Virginia Beane Rutter has another interpretation of the ancient story. She says "this myth directly invokes your relationship with your adolescent daughter as you brave her exciting but terribly risky passage to becoming a woman." Rutter is psychotherapist and Jungian analyst, with two children of her own. Embracing Persephone is her third book.

In it, she provides a wealth of advice, strategies, and wisdom for coping with the critical adolescent years. Rutter emphasizes throughout that mothers must grow along with their daughters. Mothers dealing with their daughters' issues often find themselves dealing with their own issues as well. She offers lots of encouragement, saying that "being aware of yourself and your daughter does not mean that you will handle every situation perfectly." Her focus is on establishing and keeping an ongoing relationship with daughters.

She says that "to have any influence over your daughter, you must value your relationship more than your need to control her." This can sometimes mean permitting her to do things you'd prefer she'd not do. The key is teaching daughters to accept responsibility for their choices.

Rutter discusses issues such connecting, even when conflicts seem unresolvable, body image, sexual exploration, and drugs and alcohol. Each section includes examples from real teenage girls and their mothers of how they handled some of their expectations and conflicts.

Adolescent girls face monumental challenges. Because of the way in which the world has changed, many of these challenges are different than those experienced by their parents. Embracing Persephone "will help you identify the issues that trigger conflict with your daughter [and] provide you with strategies for keeping your relationship open." It's a book that belongs in every household with a teenage girl.

I am a psychologist working with adolescent girls. I also have a 12 year old daughter, and I have been in the field of adolescent psychology for the past 20 years. This is one of the best books writen for mothers and daughters. This book breaks the false belief that mothers and daughters must have conflict. Embracing Persephone illustrates the depth and spirituality of the mother daughter relationship while interweaving sound psychological advice through many vibrant examples. Rutter is a very possitive author with hope and faith in the mother duaghter relationship. This book also reveals the strength in girls. One of the most satisfying books to read about possitive deep relationships between mothers and daughters. I have recommended it to many friends and clients.

The third and latest edition of Saba and McCormick's text is almost completely unrecognisable to those familiar with the second edition, published only five years previously, and perhaps rightly so. This reflects, at least in part, the advances within nursing informatics over that time, one aspect of which is the increasing difficulty of any one or two individuals being able to cover, with the necessary degree of detail and expertise, all of the field. If any two people could cover the whole of the field, it is probably the editors of this volume, but they have adopted a sensible and pragmatic approach and brought in additional contributors to provide address many of the specialist subsets within the domain that is nursing informatics.

With over 500 pages, and 46 contributing authors, the contents page reads like a veritable who's who of nursing informatics, or at least, of US interpretations of nursing informatics. The book does, however, as befits the international involvement of the editors, draw on expertise from around the world, and includes contributions from all parts of the world, particularly in addressing the international perspectives.

The book is divided into 11 sections, and begins with an overview of the development of nurses' use of computers and of nursing informatics. It then covers informatics theory, practice, administrative, research and educational applications, as well as some of the international perspectives and emerging areas such as consumer health informatics.

I would recommend this book to all who have an interest in nursing informatics. It provides a valuable introduction to the field as a whole, and to specific applications, and good references to further reading.

Computers have revolutionized the workplace in many industries. However, healthcare is just beginning to grapple with the many opportunities that integrated computer systems can provide. With the quickening pace of computer innovation, many clinical healthcare workers cannot and do not have the time to sift through all the various aspects of how computers and medicine interact. Essentials of Computers for Nurses provides a strong foundation for busy professionals, researchers, and administrators in health care organizaitons. I found the book fascinating with each individual contributing author having insightful comments valuable information in their area of expertise. The overview of how medical informatics is used throughout the world was particulary helpful where we are and where we are going. The last chapter was especially welcome and has enhanced my view of how computers will impact the every day delivery of healthcare. Overall, Essentials of Computers for Nurses is an excellent book and should be a part of a professional library for not only nurses but also informatics specialists throughout the healthcare industry.

Scott C. Patchan's, "Forgotten Fury: The Battle of Piedmont", covers one of the most least-known but bloody fields of conflict during all the Civil War in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. And, the author does so in a highly-readable and definitive way.

Piedmont occurred while Grant was pounding Lee's army at Cold Harbor in June of 1864 and also followed soon upon the heels of Franz Sigel's much-publicized defeat at nearby New Market that May. Thus, this small but terrible engagement has suffered an undeserved obscurity until now--though it's ferocity and strategic importance should have prevented such a fate.

Piedmont was the key engagement in Union General David Hunter's thrust into the Upper Shenandoah Valley in early 1864. It had its inception in Grant's overall strategy of multiple, coordinated attacks in Virginia in an effort to tie-down Lee's Confederates and destroy them in the field that year. Though rarely graced with more than a few lines or a paragraph in most histories of the Overland Campaign, Hunter's efforts were vital to Grant's strategy. The Shenandoah Valley was Virginia's and Robert E. Lee's most vital source of supply--the "bread-basket" region of the "Old Dominion" State.

Without its crops, grains, livestock and recruits rolling eastwardly toward Richmond along the connecting Virginia Central Railroad, Lee could not keep his army alive for very long near the Confederate capital. Grant knew this and was determined to see the Valley in Union hands and it's supplies out of Lee's.

Many Yankee armies had tried to gain control of the Valley during the war, but all had failed to-date. Hunter's effort would be the most serious yet, and the rolling, picturesque fields at little Piedmont, Virginia would be where either success or failure would begin.

The battle itself resulted when Confederate General "Grumble" Jones' scratch force of Valley troops attempted to stop Hunter north of the crucial Virginia Central Railroad near Waynesboro. The battle started well enough for the Rebels who fought desperately to keep back Hunter's bluecoats. Casualties were extremely high for numbers engaged, and there was much hand-to-hand action. After see-sawing back and forth for sometime, Hunter's forces were finally able to exploit a weakness in the Southern battleline to turn the tide. The result--a Confederate defeat and retreat which opened the way toward Staunton and Gordonsville and the vital Virginia Central Railroad.

Mr. Patchan's narrative of how Hunter embarked upon his campaign and met and defeated the Confederates at Piedmont is expertly chronicled with a great deal of original, primary-source research as a base. The battle itself is a riveting and detailed story, laced profusely with accounts from soldiers on both sides who who remembered it as one of "the most destructive open-field fights of the war."

The battle had its own share of controversies as well, but the author does not shy away in the least from addressing each one with convincing arguments supported by abundant and creditable sources. Many time-honored assumptions about Confederate leadership at the battle are clearly rectified, and the engagement itself is shown for the first time to be what it was--one of the nastiest small encounters of the war in that region.

Any Civil War buff who enjoys good battle narrative will not be disappointed here; one "feels" oneself in the heat of the conflict reading this text. For those interested in the Civil War in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley or Grant's Overland Campaign against Richmond, this book is an absolute "must" read.

Theodore C. Mahr, former Natl Park Historian, reviewer and author of "The Battle of Cedar Creek: Showdown in the Shenandoah, October 1--30, 1864."

General Jones is well noted within the pages of this well written text. A must for any serious Civil War buff and historian. Scott has none a fine job

This book is a fairly comprehensive look at the many old and historic structures in Fredrick County, Virginia. The main thrust of the book is to examine how the different waves of immigrants, new building technologies, and external events (such as the War between the States) have changed the construction and style of both public and private buildings in this region.

There is also an extensive catalog section (with photographs) giving a short history of specific buildings not otherwise mentioned elsewhere in the book.

"History Through Architecture" is grounded in a scholarly survey of historic buildings conducted in the late 1980s, and is much more than a look at the homes of the locally rich and famous. Ms. Kalbian's writing style is quite readable and although I find it more of a reference book than literature, I read it through cover to cover.

Well written, with extensive illustrations. This work chronicles building types from the oldest structures to the latest "I don't know what I'm building", cul-de-sac clogging, atrium stretching, doctor-lawyer-indian cheif McMansions and archituctural vomitus that Ms. Kalbian kindly refers to as neo-eclectic. Read this book so Joist Hite doesn't have to spin so fast.

This is the most complete authority on the systematics of Va. fishes anywhere. Cudos to Burkehead and Jenkins on such a comprehensive atlas.

Excellent. The most comprehensive regional ichthyofaunal guide to date

This quirky, smart collection of stories around the general -- verrrrrrrry general -- theme of transportation is a delight from the opening WWII thriller to Sharyn McCrumb's closing trip to the Isle of Mull. Editor Dan Smith has done a masterful job of pulling together an offbeat group, ranging from a baker and a carpenter to some of the best known novelists and poets in the U.S. (McCrumb, Donald McCaig, Cathryn Hankla, Parks Lanier). Their stories, like their backgrounds, range far and wide. There is Beth Macy's delightful and funny piece about the ninth month of her pregnancy (she's the transportation device); Fred Campbell's cross-country pilgramage (while moving a friend) to dead rockers' graves; Emily Brady's ode to the teen-aged girl and the float she so ernestly desires to adorn; and the astonishingly good interwovend World War II tale from Betsy Gehman and Leo Lacasse, he crashing a B-17, she entertain troops back home at the same moment. Smith's photos are as penetrating as the stories and there are nearly 100 of them. At $19.95, the book is a steal.

This is a terrific collection of essays, whether you've ever been to Virginia or not. Lots of them are weird and irreverent and made me laugh out loud. (That alone is worth the price of the book.) Loved the ones by Sharyn McCrumb and Donald McCaig. I recommend this book to anyone who likes to sit down with a good story and finish it in one sitting. Gotta love these short, true, tales by good writers!

If there were a ten star rating, I would give it to this book! If only all of our Presidents were so committed to the values of home and garden.

This is a wonderful book, both for Jefferson fans and gardeners. Since I'm both, it is doubly wonderful. You can read Jefferson's records of what he planted when, his observations about all sorts of garden topics, his letters to friends and family about gardening, and see the voluminous records he kept about all things horticultural.

Forget About Other Organic Gardening Books! This collection of books and writings by Thomas Jefferson includes decades of his farm records and gardening notes from back when they didn't even have chemical fertilizers, herbiscides, and insecticides yet. He experimented with a huge variety of fruits, vegetables, and fiber plants (including hemp) that he imported from all over the world. He also kept complete ledgers of his slaves, chronicling their births and deaths. He kept records of their production and consumption of linen, wool, blankets, clothing, etcetera. This book is a gold mine of history, gardening tips, livestock records, diary tidbits, photos, diagrams and more.