{"product_id":"alexander-robey-shepherd-the-man-who-built-the-nations-capital-9780821422502","title":"Alexander Robey Shepherd: The Man Who Built the Nations Capital","description":"\u003cp\u003eWith Alexander Robey Shepherd  John P. Richardson gives us the first full-length biography of his subject  who as Washington  D.C.s  public works czar (187174) built the infrastructure of the nations capital in a few frenetic years after the Civil War. The story of Shepherd is also the story of his hometown after that cataclysm  which left the city with churned-up streets  stripped of its trees  and exhausted. An intrepid businessman  Shepherd became president of Washingtons lower house of delegates at twenty-seven. Garrulous and politically astute  he used every lever to persuade Congress to realize Peter LEnfants vision for the capital. His tenure produced paved and graded streets  sewer systems  trees  and gaslights  and transformed the fetid Washington Canal into one of the citys most stately avenues. After bankrupting the city  a chastened Shepherd left in 1880 to develop silver mines in western Mexico  where he lived out his remaining twenty-two years. In Washington  Shepherd worked at the confluence of race  party  region  and urban development  in a microcosm of the United States. Determined to succeed at all costs  he helped force Congress to accept its responsibility for maintenance of its stepchild  the nations capital city.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45646939586613,"sku":"ByrdShop_0821422502","price":24.79,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780821422502.jpg?v=1781682450","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/alexander-robey-shepherd-the-man-who-built-the-nations-capital-9780821422502","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}