by J. D. Dickey
First published 2014
J.D. Dickey excavates the forgotten origins of America's capital city. His investigation reveals how Washington DC began as a cesspool of corruption and incompetence rather than the marble monument to democracy we see today. Dickey traces the city's development from George Washington and Pierre L'Enfant's grand vision to the squalid reality that emerged. He documents how swampland and filthy waterways dominated the landscape while political bosses employed criminals to run government business. The author shows how madams served clients across party lines, police collected bribes instead of enforcing laws, and volunteer fire companies fought each other like street gangs. Dickey connects these early failures to modern cynicism about political corruption. The book demonstrates how the capital's physical decay mirrored its moral rot, with unfinished monuments standing amid boarding houses and slums. Readers discover how centuries of mismanagement and dishonesty created the template for contemporary distrust of Washington politicians.
Genres: history, 20th-century, american, non-fiction, 21st-century, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-non-fiction
Setting: America, Washington DC
Period: 19th-Century, 20th-Century
320 pages · Kindle Edition · Lyons Press