| Washington: How Slaves, Idealists, and Scoundrels Created the Nation's Capital Contributor(s): Bordewich, Fergus (Author) |
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ISBN: 0060842393 ISBN-13: 9780060842390 Publisher: Amistad Press OUR PRICE: $15.29 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: June 2009 Annotation: From the acclaimed author of "Bound for Canaan" comes a major work of American history on the astonishing compromises and alliances involved in making Washington, D.C., the capital of the new nation. Two 8-page b&w photo inserts. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | United States - State & Local - Middle Atlantic (dc, De, Md, Nj, Ny, Pa) - History | United States - 19th Century |
| Dewey: 975.301 |
| Physical Information: 1" H x 5.3" W x 8" (0.75 lbs) 400 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 19th Century - Chronological Period - 18th Century - Geographic Orientation - District of Columbia - Locality - Washington, D.C. |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Washington, D.C., is home to the most influential power brokers in the world. But how did we come to call D.C.--a place once described as a mere swamp producing nothing except myriads of toads and frogs (of enormous size), and which was strategically indefensible, captive to the politics of slavery, and the target of unbridled land speculation--our nation's capital? In Washington, acclaimed, award-winning author Fergus M. Bordewich turns to the backroom deal-making and shifting alliances among our Founding Fathers to find out, and in doing so pulls back the curtain on the lives of the slaves who actually built the city. The answers revealed in this eye-opening book are not only surprising but also illuminate a story of unexpected triumph over a multitude of political and financial obstacles, including fraudulent real estate deals, overextended financiers, and management more apt for a banana republic than an emerging world power. In a page-turning work that reveals the hidden and unsavory side to the nation's beginnings, Bordewich once again brings his novelist's eye to a little-known chapter of American history. |
Contributor Bio(s): Bordewich, Fergus: - Fergus M. Bordewich is the author of several books, including Bound for Canaan, Killing the White Man's Indian, and My Mother's Ghost, a memoir. The son of a national civil rights leader for Native Americans, he was introduced early in life to racial politics. As a journalist, he has written widely on political and cultural subjects in Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian, American Heritage, Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Reader's Digest, and many other publications. He was born in New York City, and now lives in New York's Hudson River Valley with his wife and daughter. |