{"product_id":"waters-of-potowmack","title":"Waters of Potowmack","description":"\u003cp\u003eWaters of Potowmack is a documentary history of the Potomac River and its wide  fertile basin the setting for much of early United States history. A collage of primary accounts  it extends from the first explorers and colonists  the building of the Capitol  and the incidents of the Civil War through our recent past. Waters of Potowmack records the firsthand impressions of the settlers and surveyors of this river basin  an area that includes parts of Pennsylvania  Maryland  Virginia  West Virginia  and the District of Columbia. In addition to offering an introduction to the geography  geology  and climate of the region  Metcalfs fascinating pastiche includes early descriptions of flora and fauna  and accounts of some of the earliest encounters between European settlers and indigenous peoples. Here  too  are the voices of Washington and Jefferson  of Robert E. Lee and Abraham Lincoln  as well as the lesser-known stories of revolutionaries  mercenaries  and canal and road builders. And from diary and journal entries we follow the correspondence between Washington  Jefferson  and LEnfant as they lay out the new Federal City. Selections from Civil War diaries focus on key battle sites  and primary accounts offer a new understanding of the motives of John Brown and John Wilkes Booth. The last section of Metcalfs engrossing book looks at the ruinous pollution of the river basin after the Second World War  at the rioting and looting of the 1960s  and at the despoliation of a land that at the books beginning was described as an Eden  a paradise on earth. An evocative and moving book  this is a history of exploring  settling  rebelling  governing  rioting  building  and cultivating  all on the \"waters of Potowmack.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44949415428149,"sku":"ByrdShop_0865470901","price":30.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780865470903.jpg?v=1770075180","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/waters-of-potowmack","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}