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Alexander Robey Shepherd: The Man Who Built the Nation's Capital
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Alexander Robey Shepherd: The Man Who Built the Nation's Capital Paperback - 2016

by John P. Richardson

  • Used
  • Fine
  • Paperback
  • Signed
  • first

Description

First edition paperback, which is in fine condition and signed and inscribed by the author. Please see photos for condition. Seller will carefully wrap book in bubble wrap, box it, and ship it with tracking.With Alexander Robey Shepherd, John P. Richardson gives us the first full-length biography of his subject, who as Washington, D.C.'s, public works czar (1871–74) built the infrastructure of the nation's capital in a few frenetic years after the Civil War. The story of Shepherd is also the story of his hometown after that cataclysm, which left the city with churned-up streets, stripped of its trees, and exhausted. An intrepid businessman, Shepherd became president of Washington's lower house of delegates at twenty-seven. Garrulous and politically astute, he used every lever to persuade Congress to realize Peter L'Enfant's vision for the capital. His tenure produced paved and graded streets, sewer systems, trees, and gaslights, and transformed the fetid Washington Canal into one of the city's most stately avenues. After bankrupting the city, a chastened Shepherd left in 1880 to develop silver mines in western Mexico, where he lived out his remaining twenty-two years. In Washington, Shepherd worked at the confluence of race, party, region, and urban development, in a microcosm of the United States. Determined to succeed at all costs, he helped force Congress to accept its responsibility for maintenance of its stepchild, the nation's capital city.
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Details

  • Title Alexander Robey Shepherd: The Man Who Built the Nation's Capital
  • Author John P. Richardson
  • Binding Paperback
  • Condition Used - Fine
  • Pages 288
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Ohio University Press
  • Date 2016
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Bibliography, Illustrated, Index, Maps
  • Bookseller's Inventory # D-404
  • ISBN 9780821422502 / 0821422502
  • Weight 1.1 lbs (0.50 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 in (23.11 x 15.49 x 2.29 cm)
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 19th Century
    • Chronological Period: 1851-1899
    • Cultural Region: Mid-Atlantic
    • Demographic Orientation: Urban
    • Geographic Orientation: District of Columbia
    • Locality: Washington, D.C.
  • Library of Congress subjects District of Columbia, Washington (D.C.) - History - 19th century
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2016024887
  • Dewey Decimal Code B

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About the author

John P. Richardson is a retired intelligence officer, Middle East specialist, and author of a previous study on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He is an officer of two Washington area historical organizations and lives with his wife in Arlington, Virginia.