Washington Burning: How a Frenchman's Vision for Our Nation's Capital Survived Congress, the Founding Fathers, and the Invading British Army | 
| Author: Les Standiford
Publisher: Crown
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 42816
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.4
ISBN: 0307346447
Dewey Decimal Number: 975.302
EAN: 9780307346445
ASIN: 0307346447
Publication Date: May 6, 2008
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Product Description
The Riveting Story of the Federal City and the Men Who Built It
In 1814, British troops invaded Washington, consuming President Madison’s hastily abandoned dinner before setting his home and the rest of the city ablaze. The White House still bears scorch and soot marks on its foundation stones. It was only after this British lesson in “hard war,” designed to terrorize, that Americans overcame their resistance to the idea of Washington as the nation’s capital and embraced it as a symbol of American might and unity.
The dramatic story of how the capital rose from a wilderness is a vital chapter in American history, filled with intrigue and outsized characters–from George Washington to Pierre Charles L’Enfant, the eccentric, passionate, difficult architect who fell in love with his adopted country. This Frenchman–both inspired by the American cause of liberty and wounded while defending it–first endeared himself to then General Washington with a sketch drawn at Valley Forge. Designing buildings, parades, medals, and coins, L’Enfant became the creator of a new American aesthetic, but the early tastemaker had ambition and pride to match his talent. Self-serving and incapable of compromise, he was consumed with his artistic dream of the Federal City, eventually alienating even the president, his onetime champion.
Washington struggled to balance L’Enfant’s enthusiasm for his brilliant design with the strident opposition of fiscal conservatives such as Thomas Jefferson, whose counsel eventually led to L’Enfant’s dismissal. The friendships, rivalries, and conflicting ideologies of the principals in this drama–as revealed in their deceptively genteel correspondence and other historical sources–mirror the struggles of a fledgling nation to form a kind of government the world had not yet known.
In these pages, as in Last Train to Paradise and Meet You in Hell, master storyteller Les Standiford once again tells a compelling, uniquely American story of hubris and achievement, with a man of epic ambition at its center. Utterly absorbing and scrupulously researched, Washington Burning offers a fresh perspective on the birth of not just a city, but a nation.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Interesting Story Reads Well June 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Les Standiford is a successful novelist and a great story teller. His story of the selection of Washington DC, the building of the public buildings, their burning during the War of 1812, and the rebuilding afterwards reads like a novel and is well worth reading. There are a few errors but not fatal ones. I'm not a historian, but James Madison was not a senator (page 67); Patrick Henry became his political enemy in Virginia after losing the state ratification vote on the Constitution, and the opposition of Henry's followers resulted in Madison serving in the House rather than the Senate. On page 267 Madison at Bladensburg is described as the only president to be on a battlefield, but Lincoln was shot at in July 1864 at Fort Stevens in DC during Jubal Early's attack. The author says the burning of Washington was a kind of Pearl Harbor or 9/11 of its day, with citizens so outraged that their largely indifferent attitude to the new Potomac location was tranformed into a determination to rebuild on the site. But the vote in Congress to keep the capital in DC and rebuild only passed by nine votes, so this comparison may be a bit overblown. Also, the roles and characters of Andrew Ellicot and Benjamin Banneker could have been developed more. Despite these comments this book is well worth the read, especially for it's portrayal of George Washington, L'Enfant, Adams, and the Madisons, with tribute to the courageous role of Dolley Madison in saving many valuables from the White House. This is a very interesting story most Americans aren't aware of, and they'd profit from the well told tale of the founding of our nation's capital and the personalities of the real characters involved in the story.
Fun Book June 16, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I would have enjoyed the book more had the author not try to make the analogy of the "War of 1812" and the British Invasion and the Burning of Washington synonymous with the attack on our homeland that took place by maniacal and fanatical Islamic Fascists during 9/11-but that is the way modern day historians see things.
Having said that, the story is very compelling and L'Enfant an amazing character worth reading. While the writer has taken some liberty in portraying the personal frustrations of Washington in dealing with this artsy fartsy character, he also does an extraordinary job of making what most likely occurred behind the scenes come to life. Jefferson as usual is portrayed as a slick politician whose behind the scene maneuvering would have been very welcome in today's political climate. This seems to be a theme that all authors adhere to.
What is best about this book is to see a prescient dream come to life despite all the hostilities and power struggles.
In the long run who won in the famous trade? Hamilton with Assumption and the establishment of a National Bank or Jefferson/Madison with the Washington being the Capital?
Very worthwhile reading if you like history that is palpable. The only reason I took one star away, and that is a personal preference not a criticism, is because for me too many characters are introduced that had a minimal impact on the historical fact that, in my opinion, would have been better left out to allow for smoother reading of this compelling story.
 A watershed event in our nation's history May 24, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
Les Standiford's Washington Burning focuses on an often ignored, but highly significant event in our nation's history--the British invasion of Washington, D.C. during the War of 1812. With a historian's meticulous eye and a novelist's flair for drama, Standiford recounts the efforts of the brilliant, eccentric architect, Peter L'Enfant, whose vision for the nation's capitol ultimately prevailed in the face of political resistance, rampant corruption, and the devastation of war. At the same time, Washington Burning describes how a terrorist attack on U.S. soil galvanized a nation. This well-written book is highly recommended.
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