Book Signing Lecture with author Mark N. Ozer

WASHINGTON D.C.: POLITICS AND PLACE
Where Geography and History Interact
Thursday, April 9, 2009 at Noon
Ketchum Hall
Veterans of Foreign Wars Building
200 Maryland Avenue, N.E.
Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. author Mark N. Ozer will discuss his new book exploring a place devoted to politics where geography and history interact. WASHINGTON D.C.: POLITICS AND PLACE  (Xlibris, 2009) is a must-read volume that allows you to explore the interaction of geography and history, the place, and the effects of politics on the place.

This book incorporates the city’s historical background and the who- the people associated with the various sites. It also gives you the contextual origins – the why of what can now be seen. It explores in stories in each era of the interaction of geography – the where -- and history – the when; the place and the effects of politics on that place exemplified by outstanding buildings of each era that can still be seen today.

The reader is guided through maps of each era described in chapters starting in the 1790s as the Seat of Government of the Revolutionary Generation; from the 1830s onward as the straggly Ante-Bellum Federal City; and finally during the 1860s when the Civil War, Reconstruction and Gilded Age made it truly the National Capital. Following its centennial in 1900, during the Progressive era and the New Deal, the Capital became the American shrine; and after World War II, by the time of its bicentennial in 2000, it became the International Capital and a Regional City.

WASHINGTON D.C.: POLITICS AND PLACE through its many illustrations describes the impact of the historical developments on the place evidenced by structures and other artifacts that the reader may explore today. At each stage, the book focuses on specific buildings, their art, sculpture and other decoration that embody these changes.

“Thoughtful and useful guide to the current city. Skillful demonstration on how the city’s history and geography interact to capture the political philosophy of the American Experiment.”— Donald Kennon, Vice-President for Scholarship and Education U.S. Capitol Historical Society

“A compact history and guide, it places the sights in a uniquely informative historical context.”
— Carl Abbott, Professor of Urban Studies, Portland State University and author of “Political Terrains.”

About the Author
The author, in his travels and writings, has explored the interaction of history and geography of many of the great cities of the world. A resident of Washington since 1964, he has found the place of especial interest as he has interpreted it both to visitors and inhabitants who are seeking a deeper understanding of the meaning of America.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase and autograph by the author.