Spring in Washington

by Louis J. Halle

Book Overview

Since first published in 1947, Spring in Washington has become a beloved classic of nature writing. It is now brought back into print, complete with the original drawings by Francis L. Jaques.

"As I reflect on the multitude of books published and read over the past thirty years, I can think of none to which I have returned more often and with more constant satisfaction than Louis J. Halle's Spring in Washington, a mixture of...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801836522
• ISBN13: 9780801836527
• Release Date: April 1988
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.6" x 8.7"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Rave Review

I orginally bought this book in 1988 and thought it a beautifully written book on not only bird watching but of a Washington that no longer exists due to modern highways and bustle. I recently purchased this book for a friend who is a bird watcher and has lived in DC. I hope he will like it as much as I do. Jenny Brake

A glorious and timeless exploration of the REAL news of D.C.

This is one of those rare books that lifts you out of your chair and brings you along on a soaring journey to the natural world beyond the government office windows. It is written as a daily journal of nature explorations in and around Washington, D.C. and makes a perfect companion for any watcher of spring. The author was a keen observer of natural life when he wrote the book in 1945, and the watchful naturalist today will find much to celebrate in the wildlife that is still here today, and also much to mourn that has been lost in the intervening decades. No more do we have rafts of mergansers resting in the Tidal Basin, but Dyke Marsh is still the place to see waterthrushes, and herons still stop by the ponds on the Mall. Halle's eloquent musings on the question of "What is important?" are still relevant today, as the press and government continue to occupy themselves with matters of man-made events and ignore the real news happening all around us--the news of the actual world going about its business completely unconcerned with scandal or finance. Swans still fly south over government office buildings, and anyone who notices and rejoices in such happenings will find a true friend in this marvelous book.

A love letter

Louis Halle reveals his soul in this evocative love letter to the stirrings of spring. Though set along Rock Creek and the Potomac River in and around Washington, this work will transport you away from this world into another time and place in which the sheer joy of seeing nature burst into color will overwhelm you. Close your eyes and have someone read this book to you and you will be able to smell the tidal waters and hear the wind in the marsh grass. Halle's book is pure pleasure.

A classic book for the environmental library

This a book from another time which is still relevant to our day and age. The writer takes time from a boring desk job in wartime Washington to provide timeless observations about nature along the Potomac river as he experiences it in early morning bicycle rides. He indirectly puts man in his place and foretells many of the things environmentalists have rediscovered in the last 20 years. Highly recommended in general, but especially if you have any familiarity with the area around Washington, DC.