Washington : a history of our national city

Washington : a history of our national city

New York : Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group, 2015.

xxix, 521 p., [8] colored p. of plates : ill. (some col.), maps, colored ports. ; 25 cm.

975.3 L695 2015

(OCoLC)910936130

"On January 24, 1791, President George Washington chose the site for the young nation's capital: ten miles square, it stretched from the highest point of navigation on the Potomac River, and encompassed the ports of Georgetown and Alexandria. From the moment the federal government moved to the District of Columbia in December 1800, Washington has been central to American identity and life. Shaped by politics and intrigue, poverty and largess, contradictions and compromises, Washington has been, from its beginnings, the stage on which our national dramas have played out. In Washington, the historian Tom Lewis paints a sweeping portrait of the capital city whose internal conflicts and promise have mirrored those of America writ large ..."--Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 437-493) and index.
Contents: Introduction: The concerns of the nation -- Prologue: the "mutinous insult" -- The general's river and the federal city -- Planners, speculators, and slaves -- "The most agreeable town" -- Rebuilding and growing -- The bifurcated southern national city -- Union national city -- The making of an undemocratic city -- Gilded neighbors, progressive city -- L'Enfant redivivus -- Washington apartheid and the end of innocence -- Normalcy and neglect -- New deal city -- War city -- World capital, congressional town -- Free fall and after.
L2015M131

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