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How The States Got Their Shapes (2008)

by Mark Stein(Favorite Author)

3.41 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0061431389 (ISBN13: 9780061431388)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Smithsonian

review 1: This book should probably be referenced and not read from start to finish, as I did. On some levels, I think this is an important book. There is a ton of history here. But halfway through the book, I was tired of hearing the same things (or types of things) repeated. Once again, reference this book. Don't read it. With that said, I think it was very well put together. I enjoyed the quick, highly accessible format.
review 2: Summary: A state-by-state (plus the District of Columbia) description of exactly how and why every state border came to be in its current precise location. It's not as dry a read as it sounds.Thoughts: On the whole, I really enjoyed this book. The stories behind the state lines is fascinating (did you know that the NY/NJ state line wa... mores in dispute even up until the 1990s? I sure didn't! And poor Maryland - it contested the placement of every one of its borders, and lost every. single. time.). Stein covers all the "major players" in determining state lines (the 49th parallel, 32-30 and the Missouri Compromise, the Louisiana Purchase, Northwest Territory, Oregon Territory, etc), as well as all the interstate squabbles along the way. There's also a long history of bad orienteering (and bad map-reading) leading to state lines being a few miles off of their intended location. Naturally, the King(s) of England had a lot to say about the location of the colonial boundaries as well. But there's plenty of other interesting stories, like how the Oklahoma panhandle is a result of Texas not wanting to give up slavery when it joined, or how multiple times the western territories split off part of themselves because they didn't want their voting power diluted by "undesirables" (usually miners). I do, however, have some issues with the structure of the book itself. If you just want to quickly read the story behind the borders of a specific state, it's an excellent resource. But because it's set up state-by-state, then means every single (non-oceanic) border is discussed at least twice - and often more (e.g. the LA/TX border is discussed in LA, and then again in TX (and I think it's briefly mentioned in AR too)). What this means is that by the time you're halfway through the book, the entries start getting very repetitive. This structural issue is the only thing that kept the book from a 4-star rating. less

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