Book Description
Do you want to know about Washington DC's monuments, festivals, museums, history and shopping? Well, look no further the Eyewitness Travel to Washington DC has all of the information about the city and more! This guide is packed with illustrations, photographs and maps to help you navigate around the District. The floor plans of all major sites and the 3-D aerial views of Washington's most interesting districts allow you to feel practiced in the art of tourism. There are also three specially devised walking tours that will point out all of the intriguing things to do around town. Make yourself feel at home with DK's Eyewitness Travel Guide to Washington DC.
Customer Reviews:
Get to know Washington, D.C. - a perfect book for the first-timer.......2007-07-14
For the first time visitor to Washington, D.C., this book is invaluable. With it's excellent descriptions and insights, grasping a sense of the city's many offerings is easy and fun. But what truly sets this book apart from other travel guides, are the unique and informative full color layouts of the city streets, complete with 2-D images of the buildings for reference. It's nearly impossible to 'get lost' with this guide in your hands!
My favorite guide to DC.......2007-05-13
Another success for the DK Eyewitness series. Well thought out, with the excellent graphics that are DK's hallmark. Well indexed, user friendly, and pocket sized. As a DC resident I own a lot of DC guidebooks; this is the one I'd recommend first, to both visitors and new arrivals alike.
Pictorial Guide to Washington.......2007-02-14
A very clear guide book. Well organized with helpful facts and photos to help identify buildings and key contents. It proved most useful.
This guide needs a lot of UPDATING.......2007-01-17
As a 10 year resident of Washington DC, I think that there are many areas that have developed recently that deserve to be mentioned here. Also, there are quite a few inaccuracies. Although crime and racial discrimination are part of the city living so is the new development of a multicultural city. For example, there is a large number of Latinas/os all over the city who have their own newspapers, radio stations, health centers, neighborhoods (despite the gentrification efforts by the new rich or yuppies), restaurantes, theaters (e.g. Teatro Gala), bars and discos, which are very good and cheap, and a large number of Latina/o intellectuals; also the Ethiopian community is quite strong here with lots of restaurants to enjoy so there is more than black and white but the whole rainbow of human beings are here and every one has some cultural influence on the city. Also, I think that far beyond the Mall there are quite a lot of interesting and beautiful sights that this guide fails to mention such as the National Shrine (Catholic cathedral) with some pretty sights around as the Franciscan Monastery with their catacombs and the new Jean Paul II museum among many other sights and places beyond the Mall such as 14 St. and U St. areas. DC is very expensive place to live in. Although it is not NYC or San Francisco, DC is not far behind in rent and housing prices so even a very tiny one bedroom apartment can reach $5,000 a month, depending on the location. DC is also a college town. Yes, a college town! Did you know that the city itself has ten major colleges such as Georgetown Univ., George Washington Univ., Catholic University, Howard University, Gallaudet University, Trinity University, American University, University of the District of Columbia, Southeastern University, and Corcoran College of Art and Design. Plus the nearby University of Maryland (one of the top ten largest campuses in the US), George Mason University, and John Hopkins University, and many local chapters of other institutions of higher education which amount to 500,000 (yes, half a million college students!). I guess this is something worth of mentioning it in a tourist guide, right? There is a new Museum too which is the Native American Museum and the Newseum is coming up by the end of 2007 and also there is an initiative to build one for Latinos. There is a lot more to see than the Mall in DC and Georgetown and that beyond is pretty as well and very multicultural. In summary, I wish that the people from this publishing company did a better job at talking to the locals and looking beyond what is classic and researched ten years ago.
The best book on DC.......2006-12-17
There is tons to do in Washington DC and despite several trips there I have yet to see it all. This book has been invaluable in planning things from the obvious like the Smithsonian's and the mall to the obscure like the international Espionage museum. I highly recommend its use for planning a trip in the area. Good DC Subway map as well as excellent recommendation on restaurants and hotels. The pictures are wonderful for understanding the various areas.
Book Description
Through fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpses of the White House captured in more than 200 photographs, many of which were taken specifically for the book, and unprecendented personal interviews with the staff so that their faces and voices could be brought to life, weaved together with an engaging narrative that leads the reader through the lifespan of the house, The White House: An Illustrated is an all encompassing look at this famous American landmark. The author explores the four main roles of the White House:
Customer Reviews:
A fascinating look at the history and rooms of the White House.......2005-12-24
"The White House: An Illustrated History" was published in cooperation with the White House Historical Association and includes an introduction by the current First Lady, Laura Bush. No wonder this is a first rate look at the most famous building in America. Catherine O. Grace not only looks at the history of the building but also behind the scenes at what it takes to run a mansion with 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, and 12 chimneys. Regardless of whether you are old enough to remember Jackie Kennedy taking television viewers on a tour of the White House or learned most of what you know about the Executive Mansion from watching "The West Wing," you will find this a fascinating look at the home that is also an office, a museum, and a ceremonial stage.
Grace interviewed current staff members, such as the chief usher and president's photographer, and throughout the book these people are profiled in Faces & Voices sections. The book is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1, Rooms with a View: Building the President's House, looks at the history of the building century by century, including a cutaway of the White House and a look at the Visitor Center located near the mansion. Chapter 2, "Working at the White House," looks at key parts of the White House such as the West Wing, Oval Office, Cabinet Room, and Residence. Chapter 3, Celebrating at the White House, covers everything from state dinners and rose garden ceremonies to celebrating the arts and various holiday traditions. Chapter 4, A White House Tour, Room by Room, looks at what you actually get to see when you visit the WHite House, starting with the library and ending up in the state dining room, with the China Room, East Room, and others in between. Chapter 5, Living at the White House, looks at the family quarters, famous White House pets like Millie and Socks, and what various first families have done there.
By the end of the first chapter I knew this was a great look at the White House. I like the history aspects more than the decorating, but even the latter gets pretty interesting (the paintings in the Red Room include Gilbert Stuart's portrait of Dolley Madison). The back of the book has an Epilogue: A White House Album, which looks at what each president from George Washington to George W. Bush has done about the White House. There is also a Selected Bibliography, Internet sites where readers can go For More Information, and Other Media about the White House. You also learn where to write (or fax) the president (or first lady). If you are looking for something specific the Index at the end will be of help as well, but the Table of Contents will certainly get you in the ballpark.
There are over 200 photographs and other illustrations showing both the people and the events that mark the history of the White House. You will find a painting of First Lady Abigail Adams watching a servant hang laundry in the East Room, a photograph of the White House when it was gutted during the Truman administration, and a diagram of some of the trees planted by presidents and first ladies. There are several shots of the model White House built by the Zweifels on a scale of one inch to one foot, a photograph of President Eisenhower cooking burgers, and Amy Carter carving a jack-o-lantern with her friends in the China Room (on a white sheet to protect the concert). There are also five special double pages that open up for a close up look at the amazing building through a 19th-century painting of Washington, D.C. or a shot of the Oval Office.
The Real West Wing.......2003-11-01
This is a great book for children and adults alike. It is filled with fascinating details and beautiful illustrations about our nation's most important residence. The book artfully covers the long history of the White House and offers behind-the-scenes insights into how it lives, breathes, and operates today. I particularly appreciate the Epilogue, which features vignettes about the influence of each President (and First Lady) and gives readers a real sense of the house's evolution. Also enjoyable are the interviews with White House staff, such as the director of student correspondence and the pastry chef. After reading Catherine Grace's delightful volume, I can appreciate John Adams' benediction, now carved in the State Dining Room mantlepiece: "I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof."
Book Description
Museums and monuments define the Washington, DC landscape, but the stories behind this majestic capital merely begin here. Looking beyond the monuments, from Abigail Adams to the National Zoo, to all the cherry blossoms, flags, houses, and presidents in between, N is for Our Nation's Capital is like a guided tour along the most interesting routes in our capital. Did you know the cherry trees that are an integral part of DC's scenery were gifts from Japan? Or that Mrs. Taft planted the first two? N is for Our Nation's Capital will be published in March to coincide with the opening of the cherry blossoms.
Customer Reviews:
Great book for reading with your child.......2007-01-09
I purchased this book for a friend's child. It turned out to be a beautiful book and perfect for reading to your child. (Make sure they're sitting on your lap so they can learn the alphabet and enjoy the pictures.)
Book Description
Thre creation of teh FDR Memorial in Wash. DC is a political story as well as the personal saga of Lawrence Halprin, who designed and redesigned it in response to changing political and social circumstances.
Customer Reviews:
The White House.......2006-03-01
Great information in this book. The book was in great shape.
Average customer rating:
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The Washington Monument (Pull Ahead Books)
Kristin L. Nelson
Manufacturer: Lerner Publications
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ASIN: 0822537591 |
Customer Reviews:
Very Good .......2006-05-01
Great book for new/ newer readers. The information is concise, informative and easily understood by young readers. My son used this book for a 1st grade book report and his teacher LOVED this book because it was a perfect reading level for 1st graders. The pictures are nice and clear, my son studied them endlessly.
Book Description
Although the monuments of Washington, D.C., honor more than two centuries of history and heroes, five years of that history produced more of the city's public commemorative sculpture than all the others combined. The heroes of the Civil War command Washington's choicest vantage points and most visible parks, lending their names to the city's most familiar circles and squares -- Scott, Farragut, Logan, Sheridan, Dupont, and others.
In Testament to Union, Kathryn Allamong Jacob tells the stories behind the many District of Columbia statues that honor participants in the Civil War, predominantly Union, and testify to their sacrifice and valor. In her introduction, Jacob puts these monuments in historical context, describing the often bitter battles over control of historical memory, the postwar monument business (a lone soldier-in-granite model could cost a community as little as $1,000), and the rise of the "city beautiful" movement that transformed Washington. She then offers individual descriptions of forty-one sculptures, providing a lively and informative guide to some of Washington's most beautiful and moving works of art.
Organized geographically for easy use on walking or driving tours, the entries begin by listing the subject or title of the memorial along with its sculptor, medium, date, and location. Jacob describes its various elements and symbols, and she notes who commissioned the sculpture, who paid for it (or failed to pay in several cases), and who approved its design and placement. She also includes anecdotes and controversies that bring the monuments and their colorful history more fully to life. Admiral David Farragut's statue, for example, is cast from the propeller of his ship the U.S.S. Hartford, from whose rigging he shouted, "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" during the battle of Mobile Bay. At the dedication of Lincoln Park's Emancipation Monument in 1876, the largest assembly of African-American to date, speaker Frederick Douglass shocked white listeners with thinly veiled criticism of the martyred Lincoln.
Edwin Remsberg's photographs of the monuments capture striking images of war and sacrifice -- the straining horses and terrified men of the cavalry grouping at the Grant Monument; the vivid tomb effigy of young John Meigs, depicting him as he was found dead in a field; the Pension Building frieze with its hundreds of finely detailed terra cotta soldiers and sailors marching and rowing across the face of the building. Along with swashbuckling generals atop pedestals bristling with cannon, unexpected subjects appear. A statue of John Ericsson, the Swedish-American who designed the Monitor and perfected the screw propeller for the Union Navy, is hidden in a circle of shrubbery beside the Potomac. A bas-relief of twelve nuns dedicated to the memory of various religious orders who nursed the wounded during the Civil War sits beside noisy Rhode Island Avenue. In addition to the enormous white temple to Lincoln on the Mall, four smaller statues of that president can be found in the city where he was assassinated.
Washington's Civil War sculptures bear silent witness to the struggle to preserve the Union. They are the fruit of conscious efforts to shape the nation's memory of that struggle. For tourists and long-time residents, and for anyone interested in the Civil War or public art, Testament to Union is a wonderful guide to these tangible connections to the nation's past and an era when public monuments packed powerful messages.
Customer Reviews:
A must-have for D.C. students of the Civil War!.......2004-01-08
What a terrific book! The pictures and informations are great,
well-organized, and make the monuments easily accessible. Every
student of the Civil War living in the DC/Northern Virginia/Maryland area should have a copy of this book. The photos alone are really worth the cost of the book. Wonderful!
Looking beyond just the major DC monuments.......2003-04-21
As a resident of Capitol Hill, I found this book useful and informative. I, for one, had no idea that the Congressional Cemetery just a few blocks from my home contained the first Civil War era monument erected. Nor did I know that the first major Lincoln Memorial was right here on the hill.
The book is fascinating and can provide either a brief, or detailed, look at the monuments.
The only thing the book is lacking is a MAP to help the unitiated into the world of DC's complicated streets.
Glad to have found this book........1999-03-20
As a citizen working in the District of Columbia, and an avid walker, I have been fascinated with the vast array of statues present virtually everywhere in the city. I have been searching for a source of information that could help me with learning about the history of the pieces. While I was looking for something a little less specific - or I should say, more far reaching (there's a lot, a whole lot of statues in D.C.) than the subject of this book - what is here is fascinating and very informative. I have spoken with some tour guides that visit the statues with tourists, and some of the information that they share about the statues and sites differs slightly than what is written here - but I am so confident in the thoroughness of Ms. Jacobs' research - I am sure these guides are speaking the embellishment of popular myth. I would love to share some of this elaboration with the author to confirm this notion.
Book Description
Firsthand accounts and photographs chronicle the restoration of the White House during the Kennedy Administration.
Designing Camelot recounts one of the most influential interior design projects in American history, the restoration of the White House during the Kennedy administration. Fueled by the intense fascination with the charismatic First Family, the project had a profound effect on the popular American imagination and taste in interior furnishings. Emphasizing the historic restoration of each room and the efforts to have these rooms reflect the personalities and tastes of Jack and Jackie, Designing Camelot features a wealth of first-person quotations, personal and public correspondence, media accounts, and photographs. Included are detailed room-by-room analyses of the restoration, anecdotes about the people involved, and insights into the choices made.
James Abbot (Baltimore, MD) is currently Curator of Decorative Arts at the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Elaine Rice (Wilmington, DE) is an independent consultant on American fine and decorative arts.
Customer Reviews:
Spectactular.......2006-04-08
James Abbot and Elaine Rice are right on the money! This book entails the Kennedy restoration of the White House during 1961 - 1963. Much research has gone in to producing an excellent history that otherwise would be lost. Great photographs of the Kennedy White House as well. I can say this book is a treasure for both Kennedy and White House enthusiasts alike. I have had this book for several years and still find myself picking it up.
Classic Lady, Classic Designer, Classic Book........2004-03-21
James Abbott and Elaine Rice have documented the blueprinting and designing of much more than rooms in the White House. The title says it all. Camelot was about all things Kennedy Administration. Navy suits and Limousines were younger and more progressive. Presentations on the lawn for visiting heads of states by far surpassed the ho-hum receptions at the train station. No detail of Camelot, the White House public rooms and the family quarters escaped scrutiny of Jackie, Sister Parrish and Boudin. Jackie even designed the ash stands with Boudin's help.
I don't understand the criticism of this book as dry or wordy. It's a book. It's a narrative, not a coffee table book. Tomes have been printed and documented of the restored rooms, before and after. The photos are what they were. In this world of colorized movies, Photoshopped magazine covers and remastered music, Abbott and Rice have given us the plain unvarnished way it was, warts and all. I found the background very interesting. It was a collaborative effort between the committee, Jackie, Sister Parrish and Boudin, with a giant does of Henry duPont thrown in. Any one person could have completely changed the way the great house looked, but Jackie rescued the building from it's Gimbell's basement look. It remains generally true to her vision, even though eight First Ladies have imprinted on it. This country would not exist if not for the help of France during the Revolution. It influenced this country greatly and I see nothing wrong with the influence. No one criticized Mamie Eisenhower for the his and hers tvs in the wall or the Mamie Pink.
I enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to anyone.
not enough for the money.......2003-05-17
The writing is dry. The pictures are not the best and it fails to show whnat the White House looked like before the restoration. Everyone says that it looked horrible so why not give the reader a taste of what was so wrong with it? If you can find the White House guidebook that was produced to pay for the restoration read that instead. It has much betters photos.
Superb!.......2001-06-25
A superb survey of the White House decor of President & Mrs. Kennedy. The book documents the ideas, process, decisions and choices behind the stunning interiors of the Kennedy White House-both the public and private rooms. What comes through the text is Mrs. Kennedy's leadership and vision - combining taste, history, beauty and great cunning - just to create and then manage this melange of egos, talent and intelligence was an accomplishment, and the results live on today (albeit not as beautifully or artistically). We all gained a greater knowledge and appreciation of our nation's historic and artistic past because of Mrs. Kennedy's work.
I've corresponded with Mr. Abbott and he's been most kind and interesting. He assisted in the current show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years," and there's a number of items on display relating to the White House decorations.
Read the book, catch the exhibit (it moves to the JFK Library in Boston in the fall).
Wordy and Disappointing.......2001-05-15
I was very disappointed with this book. I found the writing style dry and the photographs/layout just not up to par. It almost seemed like somebody's thesis with som photos thrown in. Somebody needs to do a large format picture book on this subject with more about Jackie!
Book Description
Join Sara On A Magical Tour Of The White House
The ghost of George Washington steps out of his White House portrait to
introduce Sara -- and the reader -- to the ghosts of thirty-five other presidents. Brief biographies of all the presidents, loads of fascinating trivia, and a time line round out this unique history of the presidency.
Customer Reviews:
makes learning about the White House fun .......2006-02-04
I purchased this book for my 9 yr old daughter because the author was coming to her school. I'm really glad I did. My daughter loved reading this book. It's got a really cute story, and lots of interesting facts about the white house and former presidents. This book is a great tool to help get kids interested in American History.
Fun look at history and the White House.......2000-10-30
This is a beautifully illustrated book filled with interesting and fun facts about each president. My nine-year old as well as my 12-year old found it entertaining. Even if your children haven't visited the White House, they will enjoy this book. I would definitely recommend it for a classroom library.
History comes alive with "Ghosts of the White House".......2000-04-12
My eight-year old son received this book as a Christmaspresent. He is very interested in presidential trivia and has at leasta dozen other books about presidents.
In the three months he has hadthe book, he has read it so many times it is already starting to fall apart! Since it's really a collection of anecdotes and facts, it's easy to pick up when he has a minute.
The book provides many interesting bits of trivia about the presidents -- even the relatively obscure ones. While many books concentrate on Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and the Roosevelts, this book includes tidbits on all of the presidents. It's not just a list of dates of birth and death, first lady's name, party affiliation, etc.
The illustrations are beautiful.
If you know a child who is interested in presidential trivia or American history, this book is a must. And it may spark the interest of a child who isn't interested in history (yet).
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