No comments about Grant Jones, Jones & Jones/ILARIS: The Puget Sound Plan (Source Books in Landscape Architecture).

1 comments about Crossing the Expendable Landscape.

1. Really good book! The last chapter on modernism would have been great @ the beginning of the book. Although Drew posed no real solutions to our ruined physical environments, (she does write about the "New Urbanism")Drew's treatise gives us all pause to reflect on both how we live & what we have settled for when it comes to our housing and living choices (or lack there of.) Read this & get angry & active!

No comments about Yuanming Yuan: Le Jardin De LA Clarte Parfaite.

1 comments about 35 Garden Blueprints: Beautiful Possibilities for Designing Your Garden.

1. This is a good book for getting planting ideas for your garden. If you are new to gardening, this book offers almost no information on the basics of gardening (plant selection, soil preparation, etc...) It does offer quite a few garden plans with a complete plant list and notes on what to expect from each plan. Most of the plans are small scale plans but there are a few larger scale plans for those of us with bigger yards. Also some of the plans seemed like they could be combined well with other plans in the book to create a larger gardening area. Overall a really good resource for planning a garden if you already know the basics.

No comments about Hamilton Park: A Planned Black Community in Dallas (Creating the North American Landscape).

5 comments about Duty, Honor, Country: A History of West Point.

1. An insightful look into the making of a "West Point" graduate, the back bone of our Army officer corp.



2. Ambrose complied a great deal of information into a concise, readable, text that will give the reader a deeper insight into the country's most important military institution.



3. In my opinion, this book reads like a school book report. It is a disappointment, considering the reputation of the source -- Stephen Ambrose. Maybe I expected too much because the author is well known. On the other hand, I didn't expect too much from the not well known author Norman Thomas Remick and his book "West Point", and was most pleasantly surprised. But there you are, then. It's not what you do, it's who you know that counts.



4. After its initial publication in the mid sixties, this book was difficult to find so I for one was delighted when it was rereleased several years ago. West Point is always an interesting subject and books on its history are always interesting to read. My only complaint was that the whole book should have been completely updated given the changes that occurred between the 1960s and 1990s. However, I do recommend this book as a good starting point for anyone interested in West Point and the US military.



5. Ambrose's 1964 history of the Military Academy is an easy flowing and enjoyable insight into many of the core traditions of West Point. Some of the early history seems dry at times, but provides a seldom seen picture of the politics of the early nineteenth century. As a grad, I learned much of WP's early history that I had never known of. It was delightful to see how much of the culture and tradition has remained relatively unchanged over 150 years. On the other hand, it was interesting to see the stark contrast that exists in many areas of cadet and army life from then to now.

   Ambrose has organized his work in a manner that defines the developmental stages of the Academy, beginning with the concept of military academies as first initiated in Europe. He does an excellent job of telling of the internal, and uniquely American, concerns about putting too much power into the hands of an elite military authority versus being adequately prepared for the defense of the new nation. Ambrose describes the rather weak beginnings of the Academy, and takes the reader through the its generational evolution. Along the way he cites many examples of how West Point pioneered many of the educational changes in the early American collegiate environment, as well as describing the contributions made by many of the Academy grads. He intertwines his historical narrative with a look at the cultures and traditions of West Point and how they contribute to the education of the officer corps.

   I would love to see Ambrose bring this work up to date, and provide his insight as an historian into the last 35 years at the academy. The current edition has been updated by the publisher to include an afterword by General Goodpastor. Unfortunately, I found the General's comments to be a rather self-serving view of the changes that have transpired since the mid-sixties, and in particular his comments regarding the 1970's struck me as being weak, distorted, and inaccurate. As a superintendant of West Point, the General obviously has close ties to many of the recent changes and can hardly be considered as an objective oberserver. The afterword really detracts from the value of Ambrose's work. Nevertheless, I would highly recommend this work to anyone interested in the early history of our republic.

No comments about Planning the Built Environment.

No comments about The Paris-Lexington Road: Community-Based Planning And Context Sensitive Highway Design (Landscape Architecture Foundation Land and Community Design Case Study Series).

No comments about Greater Perfections: The Practice of Garden Theory (Penn Studies in Landscape Architecture).

1 comments about Ortho's Guide to Creative Home Landscaping.

1. I recommend this book to anyone living in any zone. It is very well illustrated and the instructions and descriptions are very clear and accurate. Every plant, bush, vine, tree and grass can be found in this book. Plus, there are great design ideas.