Washington 101 An Introduction to the Nations Capital [Hardcover]

Washington 101 offers a layman's introduction to the richness and diversity of the nation's capital. An exploration of the history, politics, architecture, and people of the city and region, Washington 101 is a must-read for anyone curious to learn more about Washington.PART I: WASHINGTON AS SYMBOLIC CITY 1. Rome on the Potomac: The Classical Architecture of Washington 2. Memorialization, the Mall, and the National Imagination 3. A City of Magnificent Museums PART II: WASHINGTON AS POLITICAL CITY 4. Institutions, Power, and Political Community in Washington 5. A Center of American Protest 6. Political Host to the World 7. Home Rule, Race, and Revenue: The Local Politics of Washington PART III: WASHINGTON AS LIVING CITY 8. Chocolate City, Vanilla Swirl, or Something Else? Race and Ethnicity in City and Region 9. The Economic Life and Development of a Capital City 10. Neighborhoods and Suburban Communities of Washington Bibliography

Admittedly written as the text for a course on the nation's capital, this book provides a sprightly, informative, and often illuminating portrait of Washington, D.C. Although aimed at D.C. college students, it could also act as a travel guide...the audience could be wide...the book's ten chapters eloquently and adroitly explore such subjects as Washington's heritage of design (the L'Enfant Plan and the McMillan Commission), its memorials and monumentality, its host of museums, its politics, its economy, and its society, rich and poor. The authors especially focus on the city's unique and constraining geographic and political boundaries and Washington's long, rich, but troubled racial history. Unlike a travel guide, all of these discussions are finely nuanced. - J. F. Bauman, University of Southern Maine, Choice January 2015 52:52-2735

Matthew N. Green is Associate Professor of Politics at The Catholic University of America. He is the author of The Speaker of the House: A Study of Leadership and has authored or coauthoredlCž