Book Review: "A Window on Williamsburg" by Taylor Lewis, Jr.

     As a girl I joined my parents on many business trips to Virginia, many of which allowed us time to explore historical Williamsburg.  It soon became one of my favorite places to visit.  I look back on those family trips with a heartfelt fondness, and hope one day I can return with my own children.

     Knowing my love for the reconstructed town of Williamsburg, my father purchased a book for me on his recent visit there.  In A Window on Williamsburg, by Taylor Lewis, Jr., readers can enjoy a brief peek into all it has to offer.  The title is so fitting!  The book is a series of one or two page descriptions of many buildings and trade shops that were rebuilt at Williamsburg.  You can visit the wigmaker, or the apothecary (the equivalent of our modern pharmacy).  Each page includes a photo or two, along with a paragraph or more of information.  It is just like looking through a window into each of the important homes, trade shops, and government offices that tourists walk through!

     The paragraphs, though quite short, are chock-full of details.  The colorful, high quality photographs brought me right back to my childhood visits.  I can still see the gun displays in the Governer's Palace gleaming on the walls.  Or the rich brocade on the table cloth in the upstairs room in the House of Burgesses.  I can almost smell the food from that period served at Christiana Campbell's and other taverns!  Photos also include many of the re-enactors that make Williamsburg come alive.  One shot shows readers that they can enjoy a night of colonial-era games in one of the taverns. 

     At a mere 80 pages in length, you'll likely be able to breeze right through this one, but instead take some time to enjoy this page-by-page visit to one of the most intriguing places in America!  The book retails for $10.95, and is available in several other languages, including German.  ISBN 0-87935-071-7

     Colonial Williamsburg was an important, bustling seat of government both before and after the American Revolution.  By revisiting it, either in person or via resources such as this well crafted book, all readers can learn about American history, and Americans can learn more about how our nation came to be born.