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.
Fergus Bordewich Ordine dei libri (cronologico)
Fergus M. Bordewich è un autore le cui opere di saggistica si immergono in momenti e figure cruciali della storia americana. La sua scrittura esplora spesso l'intricata interazione tra potere politico, cambiamenti sociali e questioni razziali, scoprendo aspetti meno noti della formazione della nazione. Con viaggi estensivi e un profondo interesse per le dinamiche culturali e politiche, Bordewich crea ritratti vividi e acuti del passato e del presente. Il suo stile narrativo è caratterizzato da una ricerca meticolosa e da un talento nel rendere accessibili e avvincenti argomenti complessi.
