Perhaps you are aware of the fact that there is an oddly popular trivia game floating around that a group of clever (and likely bored) college...
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was expecting an informative historical or geographical work about US boundaries, instead I read a book of stories, and mistruths. I am a geographer by education and profession and I find a book like this without obvious research a danger to learning. There are a number of much more accurate works on the subject. One of the most egregious errors is the statement that George Washington appointed Benjamin Bannecker to survey the DC boundary. Actually Andrew Ellicott was appointed to the position. Bannecker was hired to work as an astronomer with the survey. Since there appears to be a major error every other state, this book is worthless. Does anyome fact check anymore? Read The Fabric of America by Andro Linklater instead or American Boundaries: The Nation, the States, the Rectangular Survey by Bill Hubbard This is one book I will recycle rather than resell.
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How the States Got Their Shapes by Mark Stein
uaimh, September 11, 2008
was expecting an informative historical or geographical work about US boundaries, instead I read a book of stories, and mistruths. I am a geographer by education and profession and I find a book like this without obvious research a danger to learning. There are a number of much more accurate works on the subject. One of the most egregious errors is the statement that George Washington appointed Benjamin Bannecker to survey the DC boundary. Actually Andrew Ellicott was appointed to the position. Bannecker was hired to work as an astronomer with the survey. Since there appears to be a major error every other state, this book is worthless. Does anyome fact check anymore? Read The Fabric of America by Andro Linklater instead or American Boundaries: The Nation, the States, the Rectangular Survey by Bill Hubbard This is one book I will recycle rather than resell.(10 of 14 readers found this comment helpful)