Washington Monument - Books

The World War II Memorial: A Grateful Nation Remembers Douglas Brinkley From the Publisher: The stunning companion volume to America’s long-awaited WWII Memorial. Assuming its rightful place of honor on the National Mall between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial is an eloquent and moving tribute to "The Greatest Generation." Sixteen million Americans served in the armed forces—more than 400,000 gave their lives—and millions supported the war effort from home, all in the name of protecting that which we, as Americans, hold most dear: freedom. The World War II Memorial, published in conjunction with the dedication of this long-overdue memorial, commemorates the everyday Americans who in countless ways rose up to defeat one of history’s gravest threats to freedom. Veterans—including George H.W. Bush, Sen. Daniel Inouye, former senators Bob Dole and George McGovern, Yogi Berra, and many, many others—contribute their own personal stories while leading historians look at the military campaigns of the war. The memorial’s architect and its sculptor provide insights into how it symbolizes the fortitude and perseverance of a generation, and the exclusive photographs present the memorial through all stages of construction. Fittingly, this historic tribute falls in the 60th anniversary year of D-Day, a time when our nation once again reflects on its greatest sacrifice and greatest victory in the name of freedom. 100 color and 125 b-w photographs. Douglas Brinkley is the Director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies at the University of New Orleans and author of Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War. From The Critics: Publishers WeeklyA fine companion to the PBS documentary on the memorial, this coffee-table volume begins and ends with useful histories and discussions of the memorial itself. In between are summaries from Brinkley (Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War, etc.) of land, sea and air campaigns, in Europe and the Pacific; of the home front, including war production and daily life; of women’s roles. Interspersed with the narratives are the personal tales of WWII veterans, including All-Star Pitcher Bob Feller, a battleship sailor; Audie Murphy, the most decorated American soldier; and a young Annapolis graduate who commanded a submarine at the end of the war, with a parallel tale by his wife. Well-chosen and well-reproduced period photographs are here in generous quantity, even if emphasizing the classics, as are photos of the memorial (by Richard Latoff). The war production of the Ford Motor Company (a sponsor of the volume and the TV special) gets significant space. The foreword by John S.D. Eisenhower states that for the U.S., the "impact of WWII lies chiefly on the effect it had on the Americans who lived through the period, especially those who participated, and the impact it had on American society." It does not mention the impact of the 405,399 U.S. deaths during the war, also commemorated by the memorial. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. Library JournalA companion volume to the PBS documentary The World War II Memorial: A Testament to Freedom, this is an excellent addition to the literature, as its central theme is the memorial itself, recently dedicated in Washington, DC. The book begins with an account of the memorial, explaining its main elements and how it was conceived and built, and also offers comments from the designer and sculptor. The book then tells the story of the war as reflected in the memorial, with such chapters as "Victory at Sea" and "Victory in Europe," including women at war and the home front. Each chapter is written by a noted historian or author, e.g., Thomas Childers, Carlo D’Este, and Emily Yellin. The profusely illustrated text is nicely side-barred with interviews with veterans or civilians both well known and unknown, including Robert Dole, Daniel Inouye, Yogi Berra, and Margie Munn, a drill press operator. Highly recommended. David Lee Poremba, Detroit P.L. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. List Price: $$39.95 Our Price: $27.96

Washington, D.C.: A Photographic Tour Carol M. Highsmith (Photographer) From the Publisher: Carved out of some of the thickest woods and foulest swamps at the close of the eighteenth century, the glorious city of Washington D.C. is among America’s most stately, most beautiful, and most impressive. Spanning the Potomac in majestic fashion, the city fans out gracefully, offering a multitude of pleasures to the more than twenty million tourists who visit annually. These pages explore official Washington: the imposing Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, the White House, the Capitol, and the soaring obelisk of the Washington Monument; along with its lush public parks and gardens, beautiful buildings, and historic sites. From the charm of its celebrated Cherry Blossom Festival to the somber beauty of the Vietnam Wall, Washington, D.C.: A Photographic Tour captures this historic city memorably and is an evocative portrait of the grandeur of the nation’s capital. Our Price: $7.98

Frommer’s Washington, D. C. 2005 Elise Hartman Ford From the Publisher: You’ll never fall into the tourist traps when you travel with Frommer’s. It’s like having a friend show you around, taking you to the places locals like best. Our expert authors have already gone everywhere you might go--they’ve done the legwork for you, and they’re not afraid to tell it like it is, saving you time and money. No other series offers candid reviews of so many hotels and restaurants in all price ranges. Every Frommer’s Travel Guide is up-to-date, with exact prices for everything, dozens of color maps, and exciting coverage of sports, shopping, and nightlife. You’d be lost without us!Thoroughly updated every year (unlike most of the competition), Frommer’s Washington, D.C. features gorgeous color photos of the monuments and memorials, sights and experiences that await you. Our expert author, a longtime resident, hits all the highlights, from the Smithsonian to springtime’s glorious cherry blossoms. She’s checked out all the city’s best hotels and restaurants in person, and will help you find the choices that suit your tastes and budget. Her honest and opinionated dining reviews encompass everything from the best power lunch spots to family-friendly choices, from affordable ethnic spots to trendy bistros opened by D.C.’s hottest new chefs.Our complete sightseeing guide offers fascinating background stories and practical logistical tips. Look for up-to-the-minute coverage of shopping and nightlife; detailed walking tours; accurate neighborhood maps; and side trips to Mount Vernon and Alexandria. You’ll even get a color fold-out map and an online directory that makes trip-planning a snap! List Price: $$16.99 Our Price: $15.29

Washington on Foot: 23 Walking Tours and Maps of Washington, DC, Takoma Park, and Old Town Alexandria John J. Protopappas (Editor) From the Publisher: A revised edition of a walking-tour favorite for tourists, locals, and armchair travelers alike.The best way to see—really see—any city is on foot. This perennial favorite has been completely revised and updated to offer 23 walking tours of Washington’s neighborhoods, complete with user-friendly maps and architectural illustrations. Familiar monuments and museums are all here, side-by-side with lesser-known historic residential neighborhoods. More than just a collection of tours, Washington on Foot offers history, culture, architectural information, background on urban planning in DC, and much more. It’s the complete city in a tidy package and the only "outdoor" Washington guidebook you need, ideal not only for visitors, but for locals who truly want to get to know their city. 124 b-w illustrations and 2-color maps. Author Biography: John J. Protopappas, president of the Fraser Forbes Company, lives in Waterford, Virginia. Alvin R. McNeal, Manager of Property, Planning, and Development with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, lives in Washington, DC. List Price: $$14.95 Our Price: $13.45

Barnes and Noble Illustrated Guide to Sites of the American Revolution Diane Ney Our Price: $19.95

Lost in the City: Stories Edward P. Jones From the Publisher: The nation’s capital that serves as the setting for the stories in Edward P. Jones’s collection, Lost in the City, lies far from the city of historic Monuments and national politicians. Jones takes the reader beyond that narrow world into the lives of African-American men and women who work against the constant threat of loss to maintain a sense of continuity in their lives and connection to their community. From "The Girl Who Raised Pigeons" to the well-to-do career woman awakened in the night by a phone call that will take her on a journey back to the past, Jones paints portraits of people who are only briefly sketched in daily newspaper articles. Written with a generosity of detail, each story seems in itself to be a short novel in which the characters struggle against the limits of their city to put off the loss of family, friends, memories, and, ultimately, themselves. With Lost in the City, his first book, Edward Jones shows that he is a serious new talent, one whose unaffected style is not only evocative and forceful, but filled with insight and poignancy. His debut is a welcome event in American writing. From The Critics: Publishers WeeklyYoung and old struggle for spiritual survival against the often crushing obstacles of the inner city in these 14 moving stories of African American life in Washington, D.C. Traveling street by street through the nation’s capital, Jones introduces a wide range of characters, each of whom has a distinct way of keeping the faith. Betsy Ann Morgan, ``The Girl Who Raised Pigeons,’’ finds inspiration in the birds she cares for on the roof of her apartment building. Middle-aged Vivian Slater leads a hymn-singing group in ``Gospel.’’ The narrator of ``The Store’’ labors to build up a neighborhood grocery; in ``His Mother’s House,’’ Joyce Moses collects photographs and cares for the expensive home her young son has bought her with his crack earnings. Depicting characters who strive to preserve fragile bonds of family and community in a violent, tragic world, Jones writes knowingly of their nontraditional ways of caring for one another and themselves. His insightful portraits of young people and frank, unsensationalized depictions of horrifying social ills make this a poignant and promising first effort. (June) Library JournalAs Academy Award-nominated director John Singleton said of the violence in his film Boyz N the Hood , ``It’s what’s goin’ down in America.’’ Jones addresses similar sociological realities in his collection of 14 short stories, writing affectingly of African American life in our nation’s capital. This is not the Washington of monuments, tourists, and the federal government; rather, it is the darker side of the city. Jones describes the harsh realities of life that exist for some African Americans in our society: a young aspiring singer shot dead by her boyfriend (the father of her child), a young man thieving to earn a living, a daughter desperately searching for the ``why’’ in her mother’s stabbing death. Although these experiences will be unfamiliar to many readers, Jones instills humanity in his characters and stories. He depicts people struggling to overcome adversity and survive in a dangerous world. For popular collections.-- Kimberly G. Allen, National Assn. of Home Builders Lib., Washington, D.C. School Library JournalYA-- In these 14 stories set in black neighborhoods of Washington, DC in the ’60s and ’70s, Jones establishes a mood and a specific sense of place, but he also presents universal hopes and aspirations. Beautifully and economically written, the selections are filled with revealing details of poverty and degradation, and yet the protagonists are survivors who look to find hope and meaning in their lives. The haunting, grainy black-and-white photographs add to the real, though slightly hazy, atmosphere and reveal the underlying grit portrayed so evocatively in the prose. A more-than-worthwhile addition. --Susan H. Woodcock, Potomac Library, Woodbridge, VA List Price: $$12.95 Our Price: $11.65

Fodor’s Washington D. C. Fodor’s Travel Publications From the Publisher: Rising majestically over the city skyline- the Washington Monument, the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials, the White House and the Capitol - are awe inspiring. Whether you are watching Congressional staff rush around Capitol Hill or you are strolling on the Mall as moonlight washes over the monuments - Washington D.C will leave you inspired! Before leaving on your journey to Washington D.C, be sure to pack your Fodor’s guide to ensure you don’t miss a thing!The San Francisco Chronicle sums it up best: "Fodor’s Gold Guides are saturated with information."- New two-color interiors make it easier to find the information you need.- Fodor’s Choice ratings tell what not to miss.- Hotel and restaurant reviews cover all budgets.- New ¢ sign category flags the best budget options.- Multi-day itineraries help readers build the right trip for them.- Smart Travel Tips, a complete chapter packed with contacts and great advice. Our Price: $16.95

Washington, D.C. for Dummies Tom Price From the Publisher: Your insider’s guide to the best places and pricesHave a great time in the nation’s capital From the White House to the Smithsonian, Washington, D.C. is jam-packed with historic sites and great museums. Where should you begin? Relax! This friendly guide points you to all the top sights – so that you can plan a smooth, memorable trip. Discover: Down-to-earth trip-planning advice What you shouldn’t miss – and what you can skip The best restaurants and hotels for every budget Lots of detailed maps Our Price: $15.99

George Washington: A Picture Book Biography James Cross Cross Giblin Annotation: Examines the family life and career of the first American president, also discussing myths and legends, monuments to Washington, and Mount Vernon. From the Publisher: Examines the family life and career of the first American president, also discussing myths and legends, monuments to Washington, and Mount Vernon. From The Critics: Publishers WeeklyThe first president’s private side is emphasized in this "appealingly informal text... laced with engaging details," said PW’s starred review. Ages 5-8. (Jan.) Children’s Literature - Deborah Zink RoffinoThe dramatic and formative events in the life of George Washington are highlighted by impassioned, full-page paintings and vital text in this thoughtful children’s book. The bewigged man on the dollar bill was once a real boy, a fine soldier, and principled statesman. This book helps bring the hero to life. School Library JournalGr 1-3-- A clearly written, dramatically illustrated book about the important events in and achievements of our first president’s life. Mentioned are some of the issues with which Washington grappled (states’ rights as opposed to a strong federal government; the role of the United States in France’s war with Britain). Giblin is fair and objective. He does not neglect the fact that Washington kept slaves at Mount Vernon, nor that his will set them free after his wife’s death. Dooling’s full-page oil paintings effectively evoke both the legendary aspects of his subject’s character and life and the lesser-known parts, as a gentleman farmer and family man. In an appendix, Giblin debunks the story of the cherry tree, describes the monument, and gives a history of Mount Vernon following Washington’s death. Adler’s George Washington (Holiday, 1989) focuses more on the hero’s early life and is not so well illustrated, so libraries needn’t fear duplication. An excellent look at an ever-popular subject that deserves a place in all collections serving young children. --Jean H. Zimmerman, Willett School, South River, NJ Our Price: $5.99

Washington, D.C.: A Photographic Celebration Designed by Frances J. Soo Ping Chow From the Publisher: Take a stroll on Capitol Hill, an elevator to the top of the Washington Monument, or a ferry across the Potomac in this fully illustrated photographic tour of our nation’s capital. Visit such national treasures as the Lincoln Memorial, Embassy Row, and the White House. More than 100 photographs are accompanied by quotations, captions, and anecdotes from some of America’s most notable statesmen. Our Price: $13.98

Look out, Washington, D.C.! Patricia Reilly Giff From the Publisher: Wow! Washington, D.C.! Rooney’s whole class gets to go on a two-day trip to the nation’s capital. They’ll see all kinds of great sights-the Washington Monument, the National Air and Space Museum, the zoo, and lots more. Emily Arrow can hardly wait. But when the day of the trip comes, things don’t turn out right for Emily. From The Critics: School Library JournalGr 2-4-In this continuing saga of the children from Polk Street School, the class is taking a trip to Washington, D.C. During the trip, Emily comes to realize that a generally unpopular classmate has some positive traits; in fact, he turns out to be a good friend. Along with the story, Giff offers a quick tour of the sites. She also includes a section of very brief descriptions of the students’ favorite things to see, along with addresses and phone numbers. Even with the present closing of roads in the city and some errors, such as calling the Tomb of the Unknowns by its former name, this is a fun introduction for youngsters making their first trip to the nation’s capital. Shirley Climo’s City! Washington, D.C. (Macmillan, 1991) and Catherine Reef’s Washington, D.C. (Dillon, 1990) are for older audiences and deal with history rather than just having a good time looking around. An easy-to-read chapter book for fans of the series, as well as for those planning a visit.-Margaret C. Howell, West Springfield Elementary School, VA Our Price: $3.99

Domesticating History: The Political Origins of America’s House Museums Patricia West From the Publisher: Focusing on George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, and the Booker T. Washington National Monument, Patricia West shows how historic houses reflect less the lives and times of their famous inhabitants than the political pressures of the eras during which they were transformed into museums. In the late 1850s, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association evoked a mythologized George Washington to campaign for the "rescue" of his home, glossing over his role as a slaveholder to appeal to patrons on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line. In 1912, the establishment of Orchard House as a museum paid homage to Alcott’s novel Little Women and unified the Woman’s Club of Concord, Massachusetts, which was bitterly divided over women’s suffrage. In the 1920s and 1930s, Monticello became a touchstone for professional house restoration and an idealized Thomas Jefferson a focal point for a rift-weary Democratic Party. During the 1950s, the birthplace of Booker T. Washington became a monument created largely by politicians besieged by conflicts over civil rights. In Domesticating History, West contends that house museum founders, while claiming to create sites strictly devoted to individual lives, were in fact establishing monuments steeped in the issues of their times. List Price: $$17.95 Our Price: $17.05

Lost in the City Edward P. Jones From the Publisher: The nation’s capital that serves as the setting for the stories in Edward P. Jones’s collection, Lost in the City, lies far from the city of historic Monuments and national politicians. Jones takes the reader beyond that narrow world into the lives of African-American men and women who work against the constant threat of loss to maintain a sense of continuity in their lives and connection to their community. From "The Girl Who Raised Pigeons" to the well-to-do career woman awakened in the night by a phone call that will take her on a journey back to the past, Jones paints portraits of people who are only briefly sketched in daily newspaper articles. Written with a generosity of detail, each story seems in itself to be a short novel in which the characters struggle against the limits of their city to put off the loss of family, friends, memories, and, ultimately, themselves. With Lost in the City, his first book, Edward Jones shows that he is a serious new talent, one whose unaffected style is not only evocative and forceful, but filled with insight and poignancy. His debut is a welcome event in American writing. From The Critics: Publishers WeeklyYoung and old struggle for spiritual survival against the often crushing obstacles of the inner city in these 14 moving stories of African American life in Washington, D.C. Traveling street by street through the nation’s capital, Jones introduces a wide range of characters, each of whom has a distinct way of keeping the faith. Betsy Ann Morgan, ``The Girl Who Raised Pigeons,’’ finds inspiration in the birds she cares for on the roof of her apartment building. Middle-aged Vivian Slater leads a hymn-singing group in ``Gospel.’’ The narrator of ``The Store’’ labors to build up a neighborhood grocery; in ``His Mother’s House,’’ Joyce Moses collects photographs and cares for the expensive home her young son has bought her with his crack earnings. Depicting characters who strive to preserve fragile bonds of family and community in a violent, tragic world, Jones writes knowingly of their nontraditional ways of caring for one another and themselves. His insightful portraits of young people and frank, unsensationalized depictions of horrifying social ills make this a poignant and promising first effort. (June) Library JournalAs Academy Award-nominated director John Singleton said of the violence in his film Boyz N the Hood , ``It’s what’s goin’ down in America.’’ Jones addresses similar sociological realities in his collection of 14 short stories, writing affectingly of African American life in our nation’s capital. This is not the Washington of monuments, tourists, and the federal government; rather, it is the darker side of the city. Jones describes the harsh realities of life that exist for some African Americans in our society: a young aspiring singer shot dead by her boyfriend (the father of her child), a young man thieving to earn a living, a daughter desperately searching for the ``why’’ in her mother’s stabbing death. Although these experiences will be unfamiliar to many readers, Jones instills humanity in his characters and stories. He depicts people struggling to overcome adversity and survive in a dangerous world. For popular collections.-- Kimberly G. Allen, National Assn. of Home Builders Lib., Washington, D.C. School Library JournalYA-- In these 14 stories set in black neighborhoods of Washington, DC in the ’60s and ’70s, Jones establishes a mood and a specific sense of place, but he also presents universal hopes and aspirations. Beautifully and economically written, the selections are filled with revealing details of poverty and degradation, and yet the protagonists are survivors who look to find hope and meaning in their lives. The haunting, grainy black-and-white photographs add to the real, though slightly hazy, atmosphere and reveal the underlying grit portrayed so evocatively in the prose. A more-than-worthwhile addition. --Susan H. Woodcock, Potomac Library, Woodbridge, VA List Price: $$13.95 Our Price: $12.55

Weekend Walks in the Historic Washington D.C. Region: 38 Self-Guided Walking Tours in the Capital and Five Surrounding States Robert J. Regalbuto From the Publisher: Explore the historic sites, monuments, and architecture of America’s capital and environs on foot, and at your own pace.An invitation to walk in the footsteps of presidents and patriots, Weekend Walks in the Historic Washington D.C. Region will lead you on self-guided walking tours in the capital city and the most popular and picturesque destinations beyond the Beltway, including: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Annapolis, Maryland Baltimore, Maryland Harpers Ferry, West Virginia New Castle, Delaware Each chapter includes directions to the starting point of the tour, step-by-step walking routes accompanied by detailed maps and photos, and knowledgeable, often fascinating commentary about points of interest you’ll see along the way. Whether you walk along Washington’s monumental avenues, the Chesapeake Bay’s windswept coast, on colonial byways, or among Civil War battlefields, you’ll find Weekend Walks in the Historic Washington D.C. Region the perfect walking companion. 40 black and white photos, 38 maps, index. Author Biography: Robert J. Regalbuto graduated cum laude from Harvard University. Rob is the founder and director of About Newport, a company offering customized walking tours in Newport, Rhode Island, where he lives. An historian, lecturer, and docent, he has authored Weekend Walks in Historic New England and four editions of A Guide to Monastic Guest Houses. Our Price: $16.95

White House Lloyd G. Douglas Annotation: Uses easy-to-read text to introduce the White House as an American symbol. From The Critics: School Library JournalK-Gr 2-These three books discuss their respective symbols in very easy-to-read texts. In each title, one or two sentences on the left face a color photograph on the right. Unfortunately, the pictures do not have captions identifying the individuals in them. Still, the targeted audience may not care that in White House, Nancy Reagan is shown dancing with Frank Sinatra or that the photo of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George Bush, and Ronald Reagan seems to have been taken in front of the Nixon Library. The illustrative choices for Flag are better, but readers may wonder who that astronaut is on the Moon with the American flag. In Liberty, the black-and-white photo of the plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty with the sonnet "The New Colossus" will have no meaning for beginning readers. Most educators have better materials available.-Pamela K. Bomboy, Chesterfield County Public Schools, VA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information. Our Price: $4.95

Guide to New Jersey’s Revolutionary War Trail: For Families and History Buffs Mark Di Ionno From the Publisher: Listing more than 350 historic sites throughout the state, this book is the most complete guide ever to the Revolutionary War in the Garden State. New Jersey’s role in the Revolutionary War is widely overlooked. Every school kid learns about the Boston Tea Party but not the Greenwich tea burning and about the miserable winter at Valley Forge but not the two winter encampments at Jockey Hollow. To find history in New Jersey, all you need is Mark Di Ionno as your guide. His easy-to-read volume helps residents and visitors explore the towns and the countryside from Bergen County to Cape May to find out exactly what happened throughout the state during the Revolutionary War. While previous publications center on the highlights -- the fall of Fort Lee and Washington’s retreat across the state, the crossing of the Delaware, the brutal winter encampments at Jockey Hollow, and the battle of Monmouth -- Di Ionno fills in the blanks. Battlefields, churches, homes of the famous and infamous, cemeteries, parks, taverns, creeks, museums, lighthouses, historical societies, walking trails, monuments -- if it played a part in or commemorates the Revolutionary War in New Jersey, Di Ionno tells you what happened there, the personalities involved, and how to find it for yourself. Our Price: $19.95

Washington Monument Kristin L. Nelson Annotation: An introduction to the purpose, structure, and history of the Washington Monument. From The Critics: School Library JournalK-Gr 2-The Statue of Liberty explains the friendship between France and the new United States that began during the American Revolution and how this relationship led French artist Fr d ric Auguste Bartholdi to design the statue symbolizing America’s principles of freedom and liberty. The book also explains how the statue became an important symbol for the millions of immigrants passing through New York City in the late 19th century. The Bald Eagle explains why the "proud-looking" bird was chosen to be a symbol for the United States. Included are interesting tidbits of information, such as Ben Franklin’s preference for the practical turkey over the scavenger eagle. Washington Monument explains the importance of George Washington as the leader of the Continental Army and America’s first president, and the nation’s desire to construct a fitting memorial to him. These books have effective illustrations, mixing contemporary and period photography with paintings, drawings, and other visual artifacts. Each page has no more than three sentences of information and new vocabulary is identified in bold and defined in the glossary. Serviceable choices for beginning reports.-Edward Sullivan, White Pine School, TN Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information. Our Price: $5.95

Princess Alice: Life and Times of Alice Roosevelt Longworth Carol Felsenthal Annotation: Known as the "other Washington monument, " Alice Roosevelt Longworth knew personally every president from Benjamin Harrison to Jimmy Carter, and for over 70 years reigned as Washington’s grandest grande dame. Here is both the delightful and the dark sides of her life. 16 pages of photos. Our Price: $19.95

Skyscrapers Judith Dupre From the Publisher: Skyscrapers is a lavish and appropriately soaring celebration of the world’s most spectacular buildings. From the ancient Lighthouse at Alexandria to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, from the Empire State Building to the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, the 50 buildings represented in this magnificent book leap off the page in words and more than 200 rich, duotone images. This unique volume includes facts-at-a-glance for each building, visual comparisons of heights and quotes from a variety of architects and experts -- all accompanying stunning full-page photos of each structure. Our Price: $17.95

Spectacular Washington Von Hardesty From the Publisher: Rising from the banks of the Potomac River, Washington, D. C., has become a sprawling metropolis, including historic sites, museums, and monuments that bring the true history of our diverse nation to the forefront. Spectacular Washington’s large format provides a captivating view of the nation’s capital. The book celebrates such classic buildings and destinations as Georgetown University and Ford’s Theatre, the exquisite Kennedy Center and the Lincoln Memorial, as well as the intriguing and essential Holocaust Museum and Vietnam Memorial. From the rich collections of the National Gallery Archives to the sweet splendor of the cherry tree blossoms in spring, this book unlocks the door to some of the city’s finest monuments, museums, gardens, parks, and memorials. The accompanying text further explores the district’s distinctive history, and the book includes 36 pages of foldout panoramas the size of a 19-inch television as well as more than 200 stunning photographs of the city’s celebrated and hidden treasures. List Price: $$50.00 Our Price: $40.00

Lincoln Memorial Kristin L. Nelson Annotation: Describes the significance, history, and construction of the Lincoln Memorial. Our Price: $5.95

Buildings of the District of Columbia Pamela Scott Annotation: Tracing the various changes in Washington’s architectural character from the Revolutionary War to the post-World War II era, the authors survey the major public and government buildings, monuments and memorials, residential buildings and neighborhoods, parks and recreational areas, and commercial and industrial centers. Over 360 photos, drawings, and maps. From the Publisher: Tracing the various changes in Washington’s architectural character from the Revolutionary War to the post-World War II era, the authors survey the major public and government buildings, monuments and memorials, residential buildings and neighborhoods, parks and recreational areas, and commercial and industrial centers. Over 360 photos, drawings, and maps. List Price: $$25.00 Our Price: $23.75

Ghosts of the White House Cheryl Harness Annotation: George Washington’s ghost pulls a girl out of her school White House tour and takes her on a personal tour of the building, introducing her to the ghosts of previous presidents and to the history of the White House and of the United States. From the Publisher: Join Sara On A Magical Tour Of The White HouseThe ghost of George Washington steps out of his White House portrait to introduce Sara — and the reader — to the ghosts of thirty-five other presidents. Brief biographies of all the presidents, loads of fascinating trivia, and a time line round out this unique history of the presidency. From The Critics: Publishers WeeklyHarness (Three Young Pilgrims; The Amazing Impossible Erie Canal) again takes an edifying look back at American history through a fictional lens. Here her angle is almost too whimsical: a girl tours the White House on a class field trip, and George Washington pulls her into his portrait, offering to be her guide through the mansion. Each room then becomes a stage set on which various presidential "ghosts" share anecdotal information about their lives and administrations; sidebars succinctly present highlights of the former presidents’ reigns. Readers more comfortable with neatly ordered, chronological history lessons may be at sea here, since Harness’s fanciful presentation has presidents who lived in different eras hobnobbing and conversing, and occasionally it’s quite a challenge to discern the identity of the speakers. Though the author sometimes links the chief executives by tenuous themestheir backgrounds, roles in wars, events that occurred in specific White House rooms (Fillmore, who opened Japan, and Nixon, who opened China, stand united in the China Room)at other times her groupings seem random and the remarks of the historical figures inane ("Well, Sara, I’m mighty glad the General plucked you out for the grand tour," says Lincoln). More recent presidents get short shrift (the last five are set in a box on the last page). Still, there is plenty of fun trivia here about the White House (e.g., it has 32 bathrooms; Washington’s pal, the Marquis de Lafayette, kept his pet alligator in the East Room) and a timeline helps readers make sense of the mishmash of presidents. Ages 7-10. (Jan.) Children’s Literature - Kathleen KarrWe’re not talking ghosts here in the usual sense. Instead, writer-illustrator Harness takes a school group on a Magic Bus-like tour of the White House. When George Washington invites young Sara into his portrait, she gets to see lots of backstage (and upstairs) stuff. As Sara meets the shades of presidents past she also learns about American history. School Library JournalGr 3-6Sara is excited about going on a field trip to the White House. Once there, she is unexpectedly pulled ("Magic Schoolbus" fashion) into a portrait of George Washington and given a grand tour by Mr. Washington himself. As they move from room to room, Sara meets the ghosts of the men who made this very special house famous. The approach is neither chronological nor alphabetical. Instead, each room is associated with a few presidents. Readers will find Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight D. Eisenhower in "The Map Room" briefly discussing D day while Millard Fillmore and Richard Nixon discuss their similarities in "The China Room." Numerous speech balloons are full of little-known facts and imagined opinions. For example, Harry Truman tells Sara about the deteriorated state of the White House in 1945 while exclaiming that the current need to check visitors with metal detectors "makes me mad!" Sidebars contain additional facts including dates of birth and death, nicknames, and term dates. An illustrated time line and an explanation of the office of the president is included, and the five still-living presidents are given brief treatment on a separate page. While the detailed watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations and the curious tidbits of information make this volume a potentially appealing browsing item, be aware that its lack of traditional organization and presentation of opinion as fact hinder its use as a source of reliable information.Alicia Eames, New York City Public Schools Our Price: $6.99

25 Bicycle Tours in and around Washington, D.C.: From the Capital Steps to Country Roads Anne H. Oman From the Publisher: Washington, D.C., blessed with a rich historic heritage and gentle terrain, is also graced with an unusually wide-ranging and accessible network of bike trails. Anne Oman, a seasoned writer, cyclist, and local historian, is your guide to this bike-friendly city.The tours in this revised and updated second edition range from 7 to 70 miles and offer something for cyclists of every ability and taste. Oman steers riders around Capitol Hill and to Washington’s incomparable museums and monuments along the Mall, as well as to many other attractions, including Embassy Row, historic Georgetown, miles of towpaths along the Potomac River, and natural areas such as the National Arboretum. She also includes tours to nearby historic and scenic areas: the little-known western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia and Maryland wineries, covered bridges, and Mount Vernon, to name but a few. And for more ambitious cyclists, a bonus tour offers a three-state, three-day ride to Harper’s Ferry.As with every book in the 25 Bicycle Tours series, each chapter includes directions to the starting point, detailed maps, mile-by-mile directions, and information on local attractions and nearby bike shops. Our Price: $15.95

Washington DC Santi Visalli From the Publisher: Washington is a magnificent city. It’s also a great town. The city is made up of official buildings and monuments, handsome bridges, and wide avenues. The town consists of neighborhoods with distinct characteristics, tree-lined streets and playgrounds, small shops, and corner grocery stores. Washington is the center of the free world, and it’s also a town of individual communities. The White House, the Capitol building, the official monuments, all presented here through the perceptive eye of Santi Visalli, remind us yet again what an extraordinarily beautiful city this is. Our Price: $25.00

Big Red: The Three-Month Voyage of a Trident Nuclear Submarine Douglas C. Waller From the Publisher: Taller in length than the Washington Monument, wider at its center than a three-lane highway, the 18,750-ton Trident nuclear submarine is the most complex war machine the United States Navy has ever produced: a $1.8 billion marvel crammed with more modern military technology than any other vessel in the world. Deep beneath the ocean it can sail for months, undetectable to enemies.Now for the first time, veteran Time magazine correspondent Douglas C. Waller — granted more access to one of these awesome submarines than any journalist before — penetrates the silent, secret world of nuclear subs, taking you on a tension-packed, three-month patrol under the Atlantic Ocean inside the U.S.S. Nebraska, fondly nicknamed Big Red. In chilling detail, witnessed through the eyes of the men on board and told in their own words, Big Red reveals the top-secret procedures for starting World War III, including secret codes, elaborate fail-safe mechanisms, and highly classified battle tactics for nuclear combat. It’s a ride you’ll never forget. Our Price: $7.99

Capital Lynn Curlee Annotation: Provides a history of Washington, D.C., focusing on the National Mall, its monuments and surrounding buildings. From the Publisher: The White House. The Washington Monument. The Lincoln Memorial. The Jefferson Memorial. The Capitol building. These structures define and glorify our nation’s history and stand today as towering symbols of architectural achievement. However the tale behind their construction is often left untold. Brought to life by Lynn Curlee, the story of the emergence of our capital city is one that is both moving and awe-inspiring. In Capital, Mr. Curlee explores the forces behind, and the people working for, the creation of these monuments, detailing the brilliance, agony, and creative spirit that went into them. With extraordinary paintings and a moving narrative, he revitalizes the history of Washington, D. C. , and the growth of a nation, for young readers. From The Critics: Publishers WeeklyThis illuminating history of Washington, D.C., spotlights five of the city’s most imposing structures: the U.S. Capitol, the White House, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial. After explaining how George Washington selected the site of the new government seat, the author describes the original plan for the city, developed by engineer and architect Pierre-Charles L’Enfant, who "vowed to create a capital `magnificent enough to grace a great nation.’ " Unlike his Brooklyn Bridge and Liberty, which focused on the development of one structure, Curlee here chronicles the planning and construction of all five landmarks, emphasizing the historical and architectural significance of each. He covers a lot of territory; some readers may wish he had dedicated the entire book to the most complex and captivating story (and the one to which he devotes the most pages): the Capitol. Curlee’s paintings of the designs and buildings, especially the Capitol’s dome, seemingly thrusting through the clouds, are as breathtaking as ever; the portraits of people, however, tend to be somewhat static or wooden. Budding historians will be most captivated by the tale of the Capitol’s construction, its burning by the British during the War of 1812, its rebuilding and subsequent enlargements, as well as an ample sprinkling of trivia (e.g., Thomas Jefferson’s anonymously submitted plans for the original "President’s House" did not win its design competition; the Capitol served as a hospital during the Civil War; etc.). Curlee makes dramatic use of light in his spare, realistic acrylic paintings of this monumental architecture, readily conveying the buildings’ splendor and grace. All ages. (Jan.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information. School Library JournalGr 3-5-This in-depth look at the planning and construction of some of our country’s most treasured architecture, which lines the National Mall in Washington, DC, is also U.S. history encapsulated. Mandated by the Constitution in 1787, the capital has existed as a potent symbol, both architectural and political, of a city and a government that belong to the entire country. At every architectural turn in the next two centuries, the building that has taken place around the Mall has echoed and amplified national events and concerns, and Curlee makes these connections clear. His training in art history is evident in his analyses of not only the buildings themselves, but also their role as expressions of our democratic beliefs. His oil paintings, which support the text admirably, are beautiful and architectural, almost severe, but often have human figures included both for scale and emotional accessibility, and in this they echo the text. This title is a worthy companion to Curlee’s Liberty (2000), Rushmore (1999), and Brooklyn Bridge (2001, all Atheneum). It is a stirring, timely, and thoughtful reminder of the principles underpinning the creation of our nation, and a necessary addition to American history collections.-Dona Ratterree, New York City Public Schools Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information. Kirkus ReviewsMeticulous illustrations accompany brief descriptions and histories of the buildings and monuments that form the heart of the nation’s capital. After discussing the founding, initial design, and 1814 burning of Washington, D.C., Curlee delivers thumbnail sketches of the Capitol, the White House, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. Moving chronologically in order of the beginning of building and geographically around the Mall, he deliberately situates each subject; maps of L’Enfant’s original plan and the Mall as it is now flank these presentations. Tidbits of history (e.g., that the Capitol served as a hospital during the Civil War and that Thomas Jefferson anonymously entered the contest to design the White House) join the occasional architectural cross-section to give a sense of both form and function of these buildings. In their clarity and simplicity, and with their deep-blue backgrounds, the illustrations clearly hearken back to Curlee’s earlier work, but this offering’s necessarily inclusive nature means that the work as a whole lacks the glorious specificity and unity of narrative of efforts such as Brooklyn Bridge (2001). Although this volume nominally covers five buildings, the Capitol receives the lengthiest and most enthusiastic treatment; one might wish that it had been the sole focus. In tone, the text takes on a reverence that never lets its reader forget that these buildings are monuments: "Painted a dazzling white, and with its noble profile, large windows, and lofty height . . . the Capitol dome is instantly recognizable. Triumphantly completed during the nation’s most terrible crisis, the great dome came to symbolize the Union itself."Quotations from primary sources, some regrettably unidentified, embellish the text. In all, a worthy effort that cannot escape a certain hodgepodge effect. (Picture book-nonfiction. 8-12) Our Price: $17.95

Washington, D.C.: A Scrapbook Laura Lee Lee Benson Annotation: Describes a class tour of Washington, D.C., and provides information about museums, monuments, government buildings, and cultural sites in a scrapbook format. Includes a historical timeline. From the Publisher: This fact- and fun-filled introduction to Washington, D.C. is designed as a scrapbook. Colorful illustrations, photographs, and souvenirs combine with a lively and informative text to show young readers the sights, history, and workings of the government. Add an aerial view of the center of the city, listings of places to visit, a timeline of Washington’s history, and a guide to other resources, and the result is a perfect memento of a trip to Washington. A great way to get ready for a trip, and a fun introduction to the city for armchair travelers. From The Critics: Library JournalGr 2-6-In a lively scrapbook-style format, an African-American student records a class trip from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. Danny arrives via Amtrak at Union Station and tours the city with three friends. The illustrations are an attractive collage of watercolor drawings and color photographs. The page that describes the city’s subway system shows an actual fare card and Metro map. Famous landmarks such as the White House, the Capitol building, the Air and Space Museum, and the National Zoo are featured with interesting captions that might be enlightening even to native Washingtonians. An informal appendix containing, among other things, a D.C. time line, a discussion of U.S. government, and a map of the National Mall, does a good job of supplementing the facts and trivia presented in the body of the text. A list of cultural sites does not include the new Roosevelt Memorial, unfortunately dating the book a little at the onset. The last page lists books, Web sites, and bureaus to contact for further information. This book will intrigue students preparing for a trip or gathering facts for a report. The format is far more engaging than the traditional nonfiction book on a geographic location.-Jackie Hechtkopf, University of Maryland, College Park Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information. Our Price: $6.95

Bicycling America’s National Parks: Oregon and Washington: The Best Road and Trail Rides from Crater Lake to Olympic National Park (2001) David Story From the Publisher: The first and only guide to bicycling the national parks and wilderness areas of Oregon and Washington. Bicycling is becoming an ever-more popular option as some national parks are closing roads to cars. This complete adventure guide to the national parks of Oregon and Washington features 58 road and mountain bike rides through the parks’ most spectacular natural areas. The stunning geographical diversity of Washington and Oregon is perfectly captured by their national parks and recreation areas, and the best way to explore these spectacular national treasures is to get out of your car and onto a bike. David Story has sought out routes of all levels and lengths for both road bikes and mountain bikes in this new guide. From the arid sagebrush landscape of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, to the glaciers capping Mount Rainier National Park, to the volcanic legacy of Crater Lake, to the temperate rain forest of Olympic National Park, the national public lands of the Pacific Northwest offer stunning views, invigorating air, and a mix of easy to strenuous rides. These riding opportunities can only improve with time, as the parks continue to restrict automobile use to better preserve and protect their natural beauty. Each of the 58 ride descriptions include a detailed map, tour directions, information about the trail or road surface, sights along the way, and the length and difficulty of the ride. In addition, a trip-planning appendix for each park tells you where to stay or camp, do your laundry, eat, buy supplies, and repair or rent a bike. 58 rides are described and mapped in detail. Part of a new national series: Bicycling America’s National Parks. Heavilyillustrated:Includes 25 professional color photographs of the parks, 75 black and white photographs, and 60 maps. Our Price: $17.95

Washington, DC (Land of Liberty Series) Jason Glaser From the Publisher: Visit the Nation’s Capital, where the banks of the Potomac meet the foundations of the U.S. government. From a square plot of marshland, Washington, D.C., grew to become one of the nation’s most powerful cities. Today, people can catch a glimpse of the city’s rich history and culture when they visit the White House, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Washington Monument. Our Price: $25.26

Washington D.C. Board Book Manufactured by DK Publishing Annotation: "Come along on a tour of Washington, D.C.! Learn all about monuments, museums, and other famous places in the United States’ capital city."--Cover, p. [4] From the Publisher: Come along on a tour of Washington, D.C., and learn all about monuments, museums, and other famous places in the United States’ capital city. Our Price: $7.99

Natural Washington: A Nature-Lover’s Guide to Parks, Wildlife Refuges, Trails, Gardens, Zoos, Forests, Aquariums and Arboretums within a Day’s Trip of Richard L. Berman Our Price: $14.95

Outdoor Family Guide to Washington’s National Parks and Monuments: Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, North Cascades, the Olympics Vicky Spring From the Publisher: Using this complete guide, residents and tourists alike can discover the exciting activities and attractions found in these beautiful and easily accessible parks. From dramatic Mount Baker to lush Paradise near Mount Rainier, from the eerie moonscape of Mount St. Helens to the craggy beaches of the Olympic Peninsula, every destination offers unique rewards to those willing to explore. 83 maps. 90 photos. 304 pp. Our Price: $16.95

Old Ironsides Thomas C. Gillmer From the Publisher: In her youth she was beautiful. Her fine lines and graceful sheer, her lightly upturned head, the classic quarter galleries and restrained carvings gracing her 18th-century transom stern—all flowed together flawlessly in this magnificent creature of the sea. Her loft rig spread more sail than any European frigate. In fact, she and her two sisterships were larger in every way than their contemporaries. She is the USS Constitution—the oldest warship afloat anywhere in the world. This proud old warrior has seen—and participated in—virtually all our nation’s history. She fought in four wars; circled the world as a symbol of American power; was commanded by the superstars of American naval history: Preble, Decatur, Bainbridge, Rodgers, Hull, Stewart, MacDonough. Constitution is the definitive American icon—older than the Washington Monument, Mount Rushmore, the White House.But her age has been one of her greatest enemies, second only to bureaucratic indifference. The ship that rallied American in the second war of independence later found herself reduced to a floating classroom at Annapolis, and still later became a barracks for transient seamen. Theodore Roosevelt’s Secretary of the Navy even recommended that she be towed to sea for gunnery practice. In 1830, rumors that she was to be scrapped prompted Oliver Wendell Holmes to write his epic poem, "Old Ironsides." The ensuing public clamor brought Constitution a complete overhaul. She was rescued by the public again in 1876 for the American Centennial, and given a cosmetic makeover in 1907. In 1927, she received an extensive restoration, funded in part by collections from school children. Now, 200 years after her launching, this living link with our nation’s beginnings is again preparing to sail. Our Price: $21.95

Great White Fathers: The True Story of Gutzon Borglum and His Obsessive Quest to Create the Mt. Rushmore National Monument John Taliaferro From the Publisher: "In Great White Fathers, author John Taliaferro chronicles the heroic struggle to shape the four faces of Rushmore, and then he shows us the warts, too. He reveals the astonishing backstory of America’s "Shrine to Democracy" - how the Black Hills were snatched from the Lakota Sioux; the grueling and perilous task of carving mammoth faces with dynamite and jackhammers while swinging from a five-hundred-foot cliff; the impact of auto tourism and crass commercialism on the land and lifestyles of the Great Plains." "Like so many episodes in the saga of the American West, what began as a personal dream had to be bailed out by the federal government, a compromise that nearly drove Gutzon Borglum over the brink. Nor in the end could Borglum control how his masterpiece would be received by future generations." Great White Fathers is at once the biography of a man and the biography of a place, told through travelogue, interviews, and investigation of the vast records left behind by one of America’s most eccentric, and emblematic, visionaries. It proves that the best American stories are not simple; they are complex and contradictory, at times humorous, at other times tragic. Synopsis: The Barnes and Noble Review from Discover Great New WritersIf ever there was a book that could make one long to visit an American landmark, this is it. John Taliaferro’s insightful account of the sculpting of Mount Rushmore is both a telling piece of art history and an enthralling analysis of the cultural, technological, and political forces that helped shape this singular monument in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The story begins in the mid-19th century, when the promise of gold sent prospectors rushing to the Great Plains, fueling bloody battles between U.S. Army and the Sioux. The irony that this American shrine was built on land wrested from Native Americans (in violation of government treaties) is not lost on Taliaferro. But when the end of World War I brought an economic slump to the region, politicians began wondering if they could boost the flagging economy through tourism. And the budding interstate highway system convinced them that with the right attraction, they could appeal to vacationers traveling by car. Gutzon Borglum, a talented but temperamental sculptor, was chosen to carve Mount Rushmore. Taliaferro tells how Borglum began the project in 1927, and his description of the efforts required to create the images of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt into the face of the mountain is breathtaking. The monument was still under construction at the time of Borglum’s death in 1941. Today, Mount Rushmore is considered alternately a symbol of democracy, a desecration of nature, and a tourist trap. But as Taliaferro aptly reveals in this captivating history, it is truly "a mirror of our culture" worth further examination. Winter 2002 Selection From The Critics: It takes a skilled writer and reporter to make an old, familiar story fresh, and in his book... Taliaferro excels. Boston Globe - 2002. Taliaferro’s description of how [Mount Rushmore] came to be makes for a surprisingly colorful and entertaining history lesson here and now. New York Times Book ReviewTaliaferro...tells a wide-ranging story...Briskly written, never dull, and it never bogs down. Forbes FYITaliaferro tells that story [of Rushmore’s construction] in clear, colorful terms...Taliaferro’s narrative sparkles whenever [Borglum] is in it. Publishers WeeklyOn page one of this history of Mt. Rushmore, Taliaferro proposes to answer "the questions that any archaeologist would ask": Who are the men represented, how were they chosen, how were they carved, by whom, who visits this shrine? In the end, this overly modest mission statement is the only false note in an impressive work. Like the outsized sculptures blasted out of a granite mountainside, this history, by a former Newsweek editor, is massive, descriptive yet never blandly representational and filled with characters as fully realized as the Mt. Rushmore busts. The central figure is Rushmore’s "father"-sculptor Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941), a fascinating study in contradictions: a great talent, but a hopeless businessman; a patriot who was also a bigot; a family man who lied about his parentage and ditched his first, much older wife to marry a younger woman who could bear children. Taliaferro (Tarzan Forever: The Life of Edgar Rice Burroughs) also uses the story of a monument as a springboard from which to explore the tensions within the American dream: an empire built on slave labor and on land stolen from the Indians; reverence for the common man combined with an infatuation with larger-than-life heroes; a love of the landscape that often takes a backseat to the quest for profit. Like Borglum, Taliaferro set himself a Sisyphean task and has produced a work that is both inspiring and thought provoking. 8 pages of bandw photos not seen by PW. (Nov.) Read all 6 "From The Critics" andgt; Our Price: $16.00

Symbol of Wilderness: Echo Park and the American Conservation Movement Mark W. Harvey From the Publisher: Dinosaur National Monument straddles the Utah-Colorado border near Wyoming. It attracted little attention and few visitors until plans to dam the Green River and flood picturesque Echo Park Valley sparked public opposition in the early 1950s. That dam, one of a series proposed by the Bureau of Reclamation, was intended to help regulate the Colorado River, generate hydroelectric power, and create a lake for recreation in northwest Colorado. Echo Park Dam would have threatened part of this national monument, a prospect that alarmed the National Park Service. In July 1950 the writer Bernard DeVoto published his essay "Shall We Let Them Ruin Our National Parks?" in the Saturday Evening Post and spurred nationwide opposition. Soon the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, and other organizations embraced preserving Echo Park. By the spring of 1956 the coalition of wilderness enthusiasts and conservation organizations had faced down the dam’s proponents and forced Congress to cancel its construction. As Professor Harvey makes clear, the battle to save Echo Park marked the first major clash between preservationists and developers after World War II, a conflict that replays itself in the West with greater intensity each decade. List Price: $$22.50 Our Price: $11.25

Volcanoes in America’s National Parks Robert Decker From the Publisher: Erupting volcanoes like Kilauea in Hawaii, and sleeping volcanoes like Mount Rainier in Washington State are the core features of 31 of the National Parks and Monuments in the United States. In addition, ancient fires that once fed a chain of volcanoes along the crest of the Sierra Nevada in California, now completely eroded away, melted the great granite masses that eventually hardened and eroded into the land that is now Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. This book tells where and how volcanoes are created, and describes the beautiful and awesome examples found in National Parks and Monuments. It also provides travel information on reaching and enjoying these magnificent places, and is beautifully illustrated in Odyssey’s distinctive style. This guide provides an original formula for understanding the world beneath our feet. * Non-technical but accurate introduction to how volcanoes work * Description of Parks and Monuments with live and dormant volcanoes, including those in Alaska and Hawaii * Guide to visiting these volcanic Parks and Monuments * Written by a volcanologist and a science writer * Beautifully illustrated with stunning photographs of volcanoes in various moods * 100 color photographs and illustrations, 30 maps and plans Robert Decker is a world authority on volcanoes who for 25 years taught geophysics at Dartmouth College. Subsequently he was Scientist-in-Charge of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory for five years. He has studied volcanoes in Indonesia, Iceland, Central and South America, and the United States. Our Price: $24.95

Chandigarh’s Le Corbusier: The Struggle for Modernity in Postcolonial India Vikramaditya Prakash From The Critics: BooknewsThe city of Chandigarh was erected from scratch in the Punjab after the independence of India. India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, invited the Le Corbusier, the French modernist, to serve as the chief architect of the city that was meant to shine as a beacon of India’s entrance to Western modernity. Prakash (architecture and urban planning, U. of Washington), a native of Chandigarh, explores the history and legacy of Le Corbusier’s and Nehru’s sometimes conflicting visions as they are evidenced in the central plan of the city and the buildings of the state capitol. Central to the narrative is the conflict over the "Open Hand" monument, conceived by Le Corbusier as a monument to Nehru’s nonalignment ideology, but nixed by Nehru in deference to political considerations. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Our Price: $35.00

Literary Circles of Washington Edith Nalle Schafer From the Publisher: This city of politics, museums, and monuments has quietly accumulated its own literary associations. Walk the neighborhoods of Washington’s literary past, looking in on Walt Whitman and Henry Adams on Lafayette Square. Enjoy glimpses of Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes at Howard University and anecdotes about Frances Hodgson Burnett, Sinclair Lewis, and Charles Dickens. List Price: $$8.95 Our Price: $4.47

Michael Graves: Buildings and Projects 1995-2003 Francisco Sanin From the Publisher: For nearly forty years, Michael Graves has produced architecture with a blend of classical rigor and abstract whimsy that has consistently garnered international recognition. This, the fourth chronological volume of Michael Graves’ buildings and projects documents the latest period in a career of award-winning design. With more than 100 projects illustrated by over 300 color photographs and architectural drawings by Michael Graves and Associates, this volume demonstrates Graves’ enduring status as a leading American architect. Michael Graves recombines traditional architectural elements to expand and transform the language of architecture. Valuing character over style, Graves’ designs maintain a sense of experimentation while respecting scale, culture and history. Michael Graves considers himself a "general practitioner" rather than a specialist in any one building type or discipline. He has widely influenced architecture, interior design and industrial design, as well as the classroom through his nearly 40-year career at Princeton University. He and his associates design not only the architecture but also the interiors and furnishings of their projects. Graves’ extensive line of products for Target has made highquality design both affordable and readily available. The contemporary, contextual designs of Michael Graves can be found worldwide, from multi-use urban developments, corporate headquarters and hotels to libraries, museums, academic buildings and private residences. Projects in this volume range from the Washington Monument Restoration, which transformed the restoration project into public art, to the United States Embassy Compound in Seoul, Korea; and from the LIFE Magazine Dream House, which provided a well designed and flexible prototype for the average house, to the Miramar Resort Hotel and El Gouna Golf Hotel and Club in El Gouna, Egypt. From The Critics: Library JournalLong known for playing on the traditional languages of architecture, Graves (emeritus, Princeton Univ.) has moved from national to global prominence. In 1964, he founded Michael Graves and Associates, a reputable architecture and product design firm (editor Nichols is a partner in the firm). In this last installment of a four-part series documenting Graves’s building designs, 100 recent buildings or complexes are briefly described and illustrated with color renderings and photos (there are 660 bandw and color illustrations altogether). These highly imaginative designs range across continents and building types. Some are projects that were not constructed, such as competition entries. General floor plans or site plans are included as well. An introduction by architect Francisco Sasin provides some perspective on Graves and his latest architecture. Libraries holding the earlier volumes will want to complete the set, while others may wish to wait for a critical survey of Graves’s building output.-David R. Conn, Surrey P.L., B.C. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. Our Price: $65.00

Northwest Arid Lands: An Introduction to the Columbia Basin Shrub-Steppe Georganne P. O’Connor From the Publisher: From the talus slopes of the Saddle Mountains to peachleaf willows at Rattlesnake Springs, Northwest Arid Lands explores the rich variety of life in shrub-steppe lands of the Columbia River Basin. This significant but long overshadowed region of the interior West is the site of one of the country’s most recent national monuments. Designed to easily be carried in the field, this book is for everyone who loves natural history. Whether used to explore the new Hanford Reach National Monument or a backyard, the book will serve as a useful guide to the shrub-steppe region. From The Critics: BooknewsExplores the rich variety of flora and fauna in shrub-steppe lands of the Columbia River Basin, a significant but long overshadowed region of the interior West. Lists and illustrates common plants and animals, especially species of conservation concern, and gives tips on places to see flowers and wildlife. Profiles of ecologists, biologists, and geologists offer a vision for stewardship of the region. Includes bandw illustrations and color photos of plants and animals, plus a glossary. O’Connor is a nature writer whose work has appeared in , , and . Wieda manages the Partnership for Arid Lands Stewardship. Distributed by the U. of Washington Press. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Our Price: $18.95

Quotable George Washington: The Wisdom of an American Patriot George Washington From the Publisher: Our nation’s first president is not usually thought of as a man of words. Yet Washington was keenly aware of the power and importance of language. From the time of his entrance into the public arena at the age of twenty to his death forty-seven years later, he produced a steady stream of letters, reports, memoranda, addresses, messages, and speeches designed to express his views and to persuade people to them. Here is the authoritative selection of Washington’s thoughts and observations culled from his public discourse and private correspondence. From The Critics: BooknewsLucas (communication arts, U. of Wisconsin-Madison) has combed through Washington’s public discourse and private correspondence and pulled pearls from the pen of a man not known for words. Most are a sentence long, and they are arranged alphabetically by titles Lucas created. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Our Price: $18.95

Hiking Mount St. Helens Fred Barstad From the Publisher: This book is written for visitors to Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument who like to hike. The 61 detailed hike descriptions cover nearly all the trails within the Monument. Included are multi-day backpack trips, long and short day hikes, climbs to the summit, family hikes suitable for small children, and a few hikes that are barrier free. From The Critics: BooknewsA trail guide to Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in Washington state, offering 61 detailed hike descriptions covering the mountain’s 214 miles of trails. Many of the hikes, which range from short strolls to overnight backpack trips, give hikers a close-up look at the destruction and remarkable recovery of the land since the 1980 eruption. Tips on viewing (and avoiding) wildlife and other natural history notes are included, along with detailed bandw maps, elevation profiles, trail finder charts, and bandw photos. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Our Price: $14.95

Their Last Battle: The Fight for the National World War II Mermorial Nicolaus Mills From the Publisher: "In 1987, Roger Durbin, a retired mail carrier and World War II veteran, asked his congresswoman a pointed question: "How come there’s no memorial to World War II in Washington?" From that simple question sprang the long quest to create the National World War II Memorial on the Mall in Washington. The struggle grew into a seventeen-year odyssey, beginning with a seemingly uncontroversial Congressional bill and culminating in the official opening on Memorial Day weekend in 2004." In Their Last Battle, Nicolaus Mills tells the definitive story of the monumental fight to make the memorial a reality. From arguments over its location to political stonewalling and criticism of its design, the memorial became a lightning rod for politicians, critics, veterans’ groups, and others who lined up either for or against it, even as the number of surviving World War II veterans dwindled with each year of delay. The memorial’s rocky progress to completion is a compelling story of Washington politics, but ultimately it reveals what public monuments can tell us about America and the values it honors. From The Critics: Thomas Childers - The Washington Post Mills is good at isolating the central issues and key players in the drama, and he gives all sides to the various disputes a fair hearing, but his sympathies are clearly with the project’s supporters. Indeed, following the twists and turns of the controversy, readers come to share the author’s obvious frustration as the project staggered from one board meeting to the next agency review to the subsequent public hearing and back again, while time was running out for a generation of Americans who, in the darkest days of the 20th century, fought and won a war to protect the very values on which the United States was founded. Library JournalFirst conceived by French-born architect Pierre Charles L’Enfant as a "public walk" designed to rival the grand vistas of Versailles and Paris, the National Mall has undergone many changes over the centuries. While it now enshrines much of America’s most cherished patriotic and civic heritage, fierce debate over how the mall should look and what it should signify has attended the construction of nearly all its memorials. Against this historical backdrop, Mills (history, Sarah Lawrence Coll.; editor, The New Killing Fields) chronicles the political, cultural, and architectural struggles surrounding the 16-year battle to establish the latest addition to the mall, the National World War II Memorial, which opens to the public May 29. Mills traces the memorial’s tangled legislative history and examines the heated clashes over the memorial’s ultimate placement and design. Readers who have the patience to follow the tortuous path of the memorial through a labyrinthine bureaucratic process will be rewarded with a deeper appreciation for the architectural and artistic achievements underpinning this long-overdue memorial. Recommended for all collections.-Edward Metz, Combined Arms Research Lib., Ft. Leavenworth, KS Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. Kirkus ReviewsA richly detailed account of the ideas, politics, architecture, engineering, and construction of the controversial war memorial now rising on the Washington Mall. Mills (American Studies-Sarah Lawrence; The New Killing Fields, 2002, etc.) sheds his leftist skin in this balanced, definitive account of the journey from idea to building in the era of multiple constituencies, multiple governmental agencies, and multiple egos in need of perpetual massage. Like Brokaw, Ambrose, and others who have written about those who won WWII, the author is eager to confer upon them the title of our "greatest generation"; he believes, as well, that the WWII Memorial is a fitting tribute. Mills begins with a glance backward at the laying of the cornerstone for the Bunker Hill Monument in 1825 and then dives right into today’s troubled waters. He credits the late Roger Durbin, a WWII veteran, for animating Ohio Congresswoman Mary Kaptur to begin in 1987 the process of bringing another memorial to the Mall. He tells, as well, about the controversies surrounding the construction of the other principal structures in the area. In 1922, he reminds us, organizers of the dedication ceremony for the Lincoln Memorial saw fit to rope off one area for "colored" members of the audience. Mills’s prose occasionally plods. For some Gertrude Stein-ish reason he almost always refers to the structure by its full name, and sometimes his sentences sink with the weight of the detail ("Insisting that in favoring placement of the World War II Memorial at the Rainbow Pool, it had indeed paid attention to its own Cultural Landscape Report, the National Park Service answered Catherine Slater’s September 5 letter by quoting back theLandscape Report’s published guidelines"). Nonetheless, his work teaches us that all of the monuments, which now seem so permanent and appropriate, were once nothing more than ideas that annoyed myriads of people. Solid if dutifully written. (2 8-page photo inserts, not seen)Agent: Mildred Marmur-Mildred Marmur Associates Our Price: $26.00

Complete Guide to Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument: For Hiking, Climbing, Skiing, and Nature Viewing Klindt Vielbig Our Price: $12.95

Negro Explorer at the North Pole: The Autobiography of Matthew Henson Matthew Alexander Henson From the Publisher: When Commander Robert Peary reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909, one other American was with him-Matthew Henson, a black man from Maryland who had been Peary’s faithful companion through 22 years of polar exploration. This is Henson’s story in his own words, from his early years as a sailor to his meeting Robert Peary and their multiple expeditions to the North Pole. Filled with hair-breadth escapes from disaster and haunting evocations of life in the Arctic, this classic of exploration literature reveals Henson as the true hero of the journey, one who had been forced to accept a lower status because of his race. It was Henson who learned to speak the native tongue of the Eskimos, Henson who handled the dogs and broke the trail, and Henson who arrived first at the North Pole after being purposely left behind by Peary. New to this edition are rare articles and photos of the expedition that Henson published to set the record straight.Author Biography: Matthew Henson was an explorer who was part of the first team to reach the North Pole in 1909. He is honored today by a monument at Arlington National Cemetery, a U.S. postal stamp, and a U.S. naval ship bearing his name. He died in 1955. Our Price: $15.95

George Washington: A Picture Book Biography James Cross Cross Giblin Annotation: Examines the family life and career of the first American president, also discussing myths and legends, monuments to Washington, and Mount Vernon. From the Publisher: Examines the family life and career of the first American president, also discussing myths and legends, monuments to Washington, and Mount Vernon. From The Critics: Publishers WeeklyThe first president’s private side is emphasized in this "appealingly informal text... laced with engaging details," said PW’s starred review. Ages 5-8. (Jan.) Children’s Literature - Deborah Zink RoffinoThe dramatic and formative events in the life of George Washington are highlighted by impassioned, full-page paintings and vital text in this thoughtful children’s book. The bewigged man on the dollar bill was once a real boy, a fine soldier, and principled statesman. This book helps bring the hero to life. School Library JournalGr 1-3-- A clearly written, dramatically illustrated book about the important events in and achievements of our first president’s life. Mentioned are some of the issues with which Washington grappled (states’ rights as opposed to a strong federal government; the role of the United States in France’s war with Britain). Giblin is fair and objective. He does not neglect the fact that Washington kept slaves at Mount Vernon, nor that his will set them free after his wife’s death. Dooling’s full-page oil paintings effectively evoke both the legendary aspects of his subject’s character and life and the lesser-known parts, as a gentleman farmer and family man. In an appendix, Giblin debunks the story of the cherry tree, describes the monument, and gives a history of Mount Vernon following Washington’s death. Adler’s George Washington (Holiday, 1989) focuses more on the hero’s early life and is not so well illustrated, so libraries needn’t fear duplication. An excellent look at an ever-popular subject that deserves a place in all collections serving young children. --Jean H. Zimmerman, Willett School, South River, NJ BookList - Carolyn PhelanThis life story, which begins with George Washington as a farm boy, is refreshingly free of the reverential tone found in many children’s biographies of early presidents. Not that Giblin is irreverent--he simply presents Washington as a man who sometimes felt doubtful or nervous, rather than as an icon of presidential perfection. Referring to the Stuart portrait reproduced on the dollar bill, he notes, "George looks very serious in the picture because his teeth were hurting him that day." Dooling’s paintings, however, seem to dither back and forth between overly dramatic narrative scenes reminiscent of Norman Rockwell pictures and studies in a more abstract, introverted style. Appended are a map of the U.S. in 1797, a chronology of Washington’s life, an explanation of the cherry tree myth, a few "rules of good behavior" that George studied as a child, and information on Mount Vernon and monuments. Our Price: $14.15

Answering Chief Seattle Albert Furtwangler From the Publisher: Over the years, Chief Seattle’s famous speech has been embellished, popularized, and carved into many a monument, but its origins have remained inadequately explained. Understood as a symbolic encounter between indigenous America, represented by Chief Seattle, and industrialized or imperialist America, represented by Isaac I. Stevens, the first governor of Washington Territory, it was first ppublished in a Seattle newspaper in 1887 by a pioneer who claimed he had heard Seattle (or Sealth) deliver it in the 1850s. No other record of the speech has been found, and Isaac Stevens’s writings do not mention it. Yet it has long been taken seriously as evidence of a voice crying out of the wilderness of the American past. Answering Chief Seattle presents the full and accurate text of the 1887 version and traces the distortions of later versions in order to explain the many layers of its mystery. This book also asks how the speech could be heard and answered, by reviewing its many contexts. Mid-century ideas about land, newcomers, ancestors, and future generations informed the ways Stevens and his contemporaries understood Chief Seattle and recreated him as a legenday figure. From The Critics: Library JournalFew speeches have captured the imagination of both Europeans and Americans as Chief Seattle’s legendary address has. Reputedly delivered in the 1850s to Isaac Stevens, the governor of the Washington Territory, it took on a life of its own in the late 20th century when several different versions, many with an emphasis on the environment, surfaced. English professor Furtwangler, who has previously written on historical topics (e.g., Acts of Discovery: Visions of America in the Lewis and Clark Journals, Univ. of Illinois, 1993), first examines the origins of the speech and the setting in which it was purportedly made. Concluding that it is not certain that Seattle uttered the sentiments attributed to him, he then places the speech in the context of the intellectual thought of that era. He also looks at Stevens’s role in the Washington Territory. A final chapter brings the investigation to present-day Seattle. For academic libraries.Mary B. Davis, Huntington Free Lib., Bronx, N.Y. Our Price: $15.99

The Lincoln Memorial and American Life Christopher A. Thomas From the Publisher: "Honoring perhaps the most celebrated and important president in history, the Lincoln Memorial is one of our most recognized national shrines. It seems impossible to envision the Mall in Washington, D.C. or national pageantry without it - yet the Lincoln Memorial was almost not built. From the project’s inception, the memorial - a modified Greek temple designed by architect Henry Bacon - gave rise to charged cultural and aesthetic debate, including arguments about Modernism and Americanism. Christopher Thomas offers the first detailed analysis of Bacon’s design and the memorial as a system, including the statue of Lincoln by Daniel Chester French. Using extensive archival data, Thomas discusses just why the memorial looks as it does." "Because the idea of a memorial to Lincoln raised questions of race, the legacy of the Civil War, and lingering sectional animosities, the project sparked political debate between the legislative and executive branches of government and between political parties. Thomas traces the long and controversial path of the project, ranging from the immediate aftermath of the Civil War through the Progressive era, with its mix of novelty, racism, and imperialism. As he concentrates on the memorial’s background, design, construction, reception, and uses - including the many public demonstrations for civil rights and justice that have taken place there - Thomas shows that the Lincoln Memorial is not a neutral symbol of America at all but a partisan and racially coded object, susceptible to appropriation and re-appropriation." A valuable contribution to American studies, this book combines architecture and art history with American history and politics. It will appeal to scholars in these fields and to any general reader with an interest in Lincoln, the early twentieth century, and the monuments of our nation’s capital. From The Critics: Library JournalThomas’s lucid, revealing, and amply illustrated book gives a full-bodied life history of the Lincoln Memorial, with an eye to the ways various political, social, architectural, and artistic interests claimed and used the memorial to push their own ideas about nation, race, aesthetics, and social justice. Thomas (history of art, Univ. of Victoria, British Columbia) looks at the whole of the memorial, including the inscribed tablets, murals, building, and even landscape and location on the Mall, to show how and why the memorial came to dominate the public imagination. In the process of conceiving and then building the project, as Thomas argues, the memorialized Lincoln moved from being the symbol of sectional reconciliation, to aggressive statesman in the Theodore Roosevelt mold, to emancipator and more. By the 1960s, the memorial had become the symbol for civil rights and human justice that went beyond party or any one person. Thomas devotes considerable attention to issues of design and appearance, all to good effect, in showing how "beauty" informed belief. The result is a book that gives life and meaning to the great marbled temple on the Mall and reminds us how contested "memory" was and can be. Highly recommended for all libraries. Randall M. Miller, Saint Joseph’s Univ., Philadelphia Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information. Our Price: $37.95

Washington Monument: It Stands for All Thomas B. Allen From the Publisher: The Washington Monument dominates not only the skyline of the nation’s capital but also the iconography of the country itself. From its conception (the result of a Continental Congress that wanted to honor a reluctant general) to its completion after nearly a century of stop-and-go planning and construction, the story of the Monument involves virtually every major political figure of America’s first century. Since the Monument’s dedication, its grounds have become a national font yard on whi