Michael Edmonds (1)

Books dealing with nature are often studies of the animals or plants themselves. “Taking Flight” is a study of the interaction between birds and people over millennia in the central United States.
The first chapter provides an overview of what is to come. The second moves on to prehistory, those early inhabitants whose only records are found in the bones they left in their trash heaps, their earthen mounds, their carvings and the paintings on their cave walls. From these we can guess at show more what they ate, the birds they lived among and the parts they played in the Indians’ lives. Chapter three focuses on the lives, traditions and societies of the Indians who gathered in cities such as Cahokia within a few centuries of 1,000 B. C. Their surviving mounds and artifacts provide a clearer insight into the role birds played in their civilizations.

Chapter four advances into the societies that left no written record but whose pottery and accounts of the Europeans who met them enable us to better understand their appreciation of birds. Chapter five is the age of missionaries and explorers who interpreted birds through their religious and economic lens. Chapter six introduces the soldiers, statemen and scientists who studied and exploited avian populations. One of my favorite chapters is seven, the tales of the early ornithologists, think John James Audubon, who killed birds, yes, but left us drawings and accounts that leave us in awe today. Chapter eight studies the names the various cultures attributed to birds. In chapter nine the author entertains us with the humor and superstitions of the region. You know that the large part of a wishbone brings good luck but did you know the same results from having a cardinal cross your path? For sure! Chapter ten takes a sad turn as we read of the insatiable desire for meat and feathers and improved killing techniques turned the native attitude of taking what you need into the American desire to take all you could get and sell, leading to mass exterminations. Chapter eleven closes the book with reflections on how the author, and many bird lovers, experience our feathered friends whose songs we enjoy as they soar overhead.

Author Michael Edmonds has crafted a work that blends history with nature. It captures our imagination as we contemplate the place of birds in ancient lore and religions. It saddens us to realize how diminished the bird populations have become in recent centuries. Thankfully, he gives us something to ponder as we gaze upon the birds in our own days.

I did receive a free copy of this book without an obligation to post a review. show less

State Capitols are workshops and monuments, sites where history is made and where the lore, beauty and treasures of their states are on display to all who may come to these living shrines of democracy. “The Wisconsin Capitol” is the story of one the most beautiful capitols in America.

This work is a combination of the history of the capitols, and Madison has had three, and the history of the state they have served. Much text is devoted to the history of the state itself, starting with show more the Indians who first inhabited the region of Madison, the first whites who settled the isthmus and began to build the town. The saga then turns to the legislators, governors, doormen and others who have served in the buildings. A few who merit mention are Governor Louis Harvey who drowned on a trip to take supplies to Wisconsin troops fighting in Tennessee in 1862, Old Abe, the War Eagle who resided in the Capitol after his Civil War campaigns, Benjamin Butts, the long-time African-American doorman or butler at official gatherings and Robert LaFollette, the Progressive leader of the early Twentieth Century. The Capitols saw the professionalization of government through a Library and Legislative Reference Bureau as the Wisconsin Idea brought the learning of the University of Wisconsin to the service of the state.

Alas, buildings are vulnerable and in 1904 the second Capitol at Madison succumbed to fire. In its place the state erected the magnificent structure that we see today. It has stood through the Progressive Era, World War I when reluctance to enter the war earned Wisconsin the moniker of “The Traitor State”, the Great Depression, another World War and the post-war era. The Capitol has been at the center of debate, protest, accomplishment and recognition of the Wisconsin’s heroes. After a nearly a century of wear and tear this monument to Wisconsin’s greatness was lovingly restored to new splendor and designated a National Historical Landmark in 2001.

Author Michael Edmonds has weaved the people, the buildings and the lore of Wisconsin into a delightful book. The narrative is enhanced by dozens of paintings and photographs, both black and white and color, historic and contemporary.

Lest I sound like too much of a home state booster, a disclaimer is in order. I have never lived in Wisconsin but have visited it often. I have been inside 19 state capitols and, in my judgement, Wisconsin’s has the most beautiful interior that I have seen. “the Wisconsin Capitol” does justice to this magnificent edifice. I urge you to take a tour if your travels include Madison. In any event, read this book, then sit it down. Keep it handy and, every now and them, pick it up, look at its pictures and revisit its characters who commanded your admiration during the first read. The put it down, again…until the next time.

I did receive a free copy of this book without an obligation to post a review. show less