Discovering the Mid-Atlantic is a unique travel book. In it, Patrick Cooney covers the history of the mid-Atlantic region from the arrival of the Dutch through the Eisenhower and Kennedy years, integrating descriptions of historic sites with the lives of the people or trends connected with them.     What makes Discovering the Mid-Atlantic so unusual is its historicalÐÐas opposed to alphabeticalÐÐorganization. Since most travel books are arranged alphabetically, the sites usually represent vastly different time periods. For instance, in one region a traveler can see a 17th-century Dutch settlement, a Victorian mountain house, and the home of Franklin Roosevelt.  This mixing of periods can result in a haphazard, jumbled sense of history.  This book singles out sites located near one another, but from the same time period.  The entries for the sites give a clear sense of the historical richness of the mid-Atlantic states, covering not only important political events such as wars and growth of settlements, but also art, literature, architecture, transportation, and industry. Each section of the book also contains maps, directions to the sites, visiting hours, and a geographic cross-reference that lists all the sites in a given area, regardless of their place in time, so the reader can cut across time periods if she or he wants to use the book in a more conventional way. Discovering the Mid-Atlantic is a unique travel book. In it, Patrick Cooney covers the history of the mid-Atlantic region from the arrival of the Dutch through the Eisenhower and Kennedy years, integrating descriptions of historic sites with the lives of the people or trends connected with them.     What makes Discovering the Mid-Atlantic so unusual is its historicalÐÐas opposed to alphabeticalÐÐorganization. Since most travel books are arranged alphabetically, the sites usually represent vastly different time periods. For instance, in one region a traveler can see a 17th-century Dutch settlement, a Victorian mountain house, and the home of Franklin Roosevelt.  This mixing of periods can result in a haphazard, jumbled sense of history.  This book singles out sites located near one another, but from the same time period.  The entries for the sites give a clear sense of the historical richness of the mid-Atlantic states, covering not only important political events such as wars and growth of settlements, but also art, literature, architecture, transportation, and industry. Each section of the book also contains maps, directions to the sites, visiting hours, and a geographic cross-reference that lists all the sites in a given area, regardless of their place in time, so the reader can cut across time periods if she or he wants to use the book in a more conventional way.