Washington - How Slaves, Idealists, and Scoundrels Created the Nation's Capital

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 one contemporary observer called a mere swamp "producing nothing except myriads of toads and frogs (of enormous size)," a district that was strategically indefensible, captive to the politics of slavery, and a target of unbridled land speculation--our nation''s capital? In Washington , acclaimed and award-winning author Fergus M. Bordewich turns his eye to the backroom deal making and shifting alliances between our Founding Fathers and in doing so pulls back the curtain on the lives of slaves who actually built the city. The answers revealed in this eye-opening book are not only surprising and exciting but also illuminate a story of unexpected triumph over a multitude of political and financial obstacles, including fraudulent real estate speculation, overextended financiers, and management more apt for a "banana republic" than an emerging world power. In this page-turning work that reveals the hidden and somewhat unsavory side of the nation''s beginnings, Bordewich, once again, brings his novelist''s sensibility to a little-known chapter in American history.

Détails du produit

• Auteurs: Fergus Bordewich, Fergus M. Bordewich
• Edition: Amistad
• Langues: Anglais
• Format d'édition: Livre Broché
• Sortie: 06.05.2008
• EAN: 9780060842383
• ISBN: 978-0-06-084238-3
• Pages: 384
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 31 mm
• Catégories: Littérature spécialisée > Histoire > Autres; ARCHITECTURE / History / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Affairs & Administration, Local History, Public Administration, United States of America, USA, History of Architecture, History of the Americas, The Americas, Central / national / federal government, US West, US Midwest, US Northeast: Mid-Atlantic States, Regional, state and other local government, POLITICAL SCIENCE: American Government / National, AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES: HISTORY, POLITICAL SCIENCE: Public Affairs & Administration, African American Studies / History