Synopses & Reviews
In
American Places, more than two dozen of America's most gifted historians write about their encounters with historic places, bringing a personal viewpoint to bear on a wide variety of sites, ranging from Monticello to Fenway Park. Here James M. McPherson writes about the battlefield of Gettysburg, and how walking the ground of Pickett's Charge inspired one of his books. Kevin Starr visits the Musso and Frank Grill in Hollywood and finds many of the flavors of California history there. Joel Williamson takes a bemused tour of Elvis Presley's Graceland, and David Kennedy tells the story of the "Pig War" on San Juan Island, where a spat between Britain and America over a speck of land in the Pacific Northwest helped determine the shape of the U.S. and Canada. William Freehling compares two places, Charleston's Battery and New Orleans' Jackson Square, showing how each reveals the different spirit of the society that created it. And Edward Ayers talks about spending time in Cyberspace, U.S.A. Other pieces include Robert Dallek on the FDR Memorial, David Hackett Fischer on the Boston Common, and William Leuchtenburg on his native borough of Queens.
American Places celebrates the career of Sheldon Meyer, who over his years at Oxford University Press has published some of America's most distinguished historians, including many Pulitzer Prize and Bancroft Prize winners, virtually all of whom have contributed to this volume.
Review
"A lively and enjoyable collection."--Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
A stellar gathering of American historians reflects on places where history comes alive for them, from Gettysburg to Graceland. 35 halftones & line drawings.
About the Author
William E. Leuchtenburg is William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He has served as president of both the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association. His books include
The FDR Years and
Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1932-1940, winner of the Bancroft and Francis Parkman Prizes.
Table of Contents
Introduction,
William LeuchtenburgCyberspace, U.S.A., Edward L. Ayers
Pennsylvania Avenue: The Avenue of The Presidents, Paul Boller, Jr.
A Monument for Barre: Memory in a Massachusetts Town, T. H. Breen
Greensboro, North Carolina: A Window on Race in the American South, William H. Chafe
World War II Normandy: American Cemetery and Memorial, James C. Cobb
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, Washington, D.C., Robert Dallek
The Americanized Mannheim of 1945-1946, David Brion Davis
Vassar College, Carl N. Degler
A Fan's Homage to Fenway, John Demos
Finding History in Woodside, California, Paula S. Fass
Boston Common, David Fischer
Charleston, William Freehling
Climbing Stone Mountain, Louis R. Harlan
Memphis, Tennessee, Kenneth T. Jackson
Illinois' Old State Capitol: A Tale of Two Speeches, Robert W. Johannsen
"A Little Journey": Elbert Hubbard and the Roycroft Community at East Aurora, New York, Michael Kammen
San Juan Island, Washington, David M. Kennedy
1048 Fifth Avenue, Alice Kessler-Harris
Queens, William E. Leuchtenburg
Gettysburg, James M. McPherson
Monticello, Merrill D. Peterson
The Musso and Frank Grill in Hollywood, Kevin Starr
The Polo Ground, Jules Tygiel
Graceland, Joel Williamson
Nassau Hall, Princeton, New Jersey, Sean Wilentz
Montgomery, C. Vann Woodward
The Grand Canyon, Donald Worster
Sewanee - How to Make a Yankee Southern: Memories of the 1940s, Bertram Wyatt-Brown