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Washington Burning: How A Frenchman's Vision For Our Nation's Capital Survived Congress, The Founding Fathers, And The Invading British Army (2008)

by Les Standiford(Favorite Author)

3.42 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0307346447 (ISBN13: 9780307346445)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Crown Publishing Group (NY)

review 1: The description calls it 'riveting.' I think that's being a little kind. At first I was interested in the story of Peter Charles L'Enfant, the architect who planned the city of Washington. But the story bogged down in detail pretty fast. Then the story would get so far ahead, then in the next chapter back up to some insignificant detail. I really found the story of the British invasion and destruction of Washington in 1812 to be great reading, but then the story slowed down again with more detail. This book could have been so much better. The personalities are big; the history important. But the book was not well organized in its construction. The writing was usually good and even funny in parts. The conclusion should have been better. And it needed lots more photographs o... morer illustrations of the people and places he was writing about. And just a minor grump - I hated the rough edged pages. It made it a nuisance to hold the book and turn the pages.In all, good for true history buffs, but for most other people, only worth a skim.
review 2: This book sounded promising but was boring until the last few chapters when it gets to the war of 1812 and the renewed interest of the cities architect 70 years after his death.The author does a nice job at the beginning of tying the idea of the terrorism of 9/11 to the burning of Washington, D.C., and then he ties that back nicely at the end.The rest of the book is like reading the minutes of Congressional meetings. less

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