Grand Avenues: The Story of the French Visionary Who Designed Washington, D.C.

by Scott W. Berg

Book Overview

In 1791, shortly after the United States won its independence, George Washington personally asked Pierre Charles L'Enfant--a young French artisan turned American revolutionary soldier who gained many... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375422803
• ISBN13: 9780375422805
• Release Date: February 2007
• Publisher: Pantheon Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

wonderful book on a lost subject

i loved this book--i had the good fortune to find it in the national gallery bookstore while in washington DC and read most of it before i left the city. it is a fascinating story that has been explicated in extreme detail by berg. l'enfant was incredible--a big dreamer with the connections to get much (but not all) done. my only complaint, and it is a petty one, is that the book is overwritten. berg has much to say and a vast vocabulary in which to say it, but too often he uses 40 words when 10 will do. it made the journey a bit taxing; a bit of editing and trimming would easily make this a 5 star book. very interesting tale--if you have the time and inclination to learn about the origins of washington DC and about late 18th century history, definitely read this book.

Redemption of a Master Planner

Whatever you think about the shenanigans within Washington, D.C., you have to admit that the city itself is a collection of buildings some of which are remarkable in themselves, and all of which are arranged along roads that are beautifully laid out. Washington is a planned city, as any view of an overhead picture or map will show, with its fine Mall flanked with important cultural artifacts and its regular grid of streets overlaid with diagonals and radiations from the Capitol and White House. The planning was done by Pierre Charles L'Enfant, and architects and city planners agreed that his design was a brilliant one. The problem is that they agreed on this in 1900, 75 years after L'Enfant had died. L'Enfant had his successes; after Lafayette, he was the most famous of the French who assisted us in our war for independence. He certainly had architectural and surveying talent, and a keen eye for big plans. He was, however, a prickly character whose lack of tact and inability to sympathize with the viewpoints of others made the big plans impossible for him to achieve in his lifetime. _Grand Avenues: The Story of the French Visionary Who Designed Washington, D.C._ (Pantheon), by Scott W. Berg, holds the story of this ambitious and talented artist who was in his lifetime a failure largely because of his personality defects. L'Enfant, along with many other young Frenchmen, sought glory on the battlefield, and sailed in 1776 to help the Americans. He served at Valley Forge where he had the opportunity to meet and become friends with many of the Founding Fathers. He met George Washington and painted his picture. He illustrated a book of regulations and discipline for the army, but he was not confined to an artist's desk. He saw action in Savannah and Charleston, and got an honorable wound in the leg that bothered him ever after. Through a series of famous compromises after the war, the general site of the nation's capital on the Potomac was agreed, but not the precise location. Washington asked L'Enfant to survey an almost empty area east of Georgetown and identify locales for the main buildings. Seized with ambition, the Frenchman took up the survey in 1791, and in less than three months had drawn up a plan that went far beyond what Washington had expected, although the president was pleased with the design. L'Enfant further refined it to a schedule of building, and numbering one thousand workman who were to descend on the area for four years to produce the finished city. It did not happen that way. L'Enfant, for all his ambition and talent, was no politician. He managed to offend almost everyone connected to the project, including his last and best defender, President Washington himself. His inability to get along with all the others involved meant that he was fired the year after he began his work. His post was taken over by his chief surveyor who changed some of the details, and his plan was published without L'Enfant's name o

A new and important viewpoint

Pierre Charles L'Enfant was very close to George Washington. Both were men of great and far-seeing vision. Where Jefferson envisioned a typical 18th century town, L'Enfant and Washington saw Washington DC as what it would some day be, the great center of a great nation. This is the first book to reexamine the common conception of L'Enfant and his contribution to the nation. Politics of the time was opposed to him. With this book L'Enfant is given the recognition he deserves. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the people and politics of Washington in the early days of the USA.

Great man, great city

A must read for anyone who has visited or is planning a visit to the nation's capital. This is the captivating story of the man who designed Washington. Berg brings L'Enfant to life as he rides horseback across the land that his design would transform into a great city. Berg also makes you empathize with the complicated and passionate Frenchman who never got his proper due during his lifetime.

The Man with the Plan

Hired by George Washington, fired by Thomas Jefferson, this is a compelling riches to rags story of Pierre L'Enfant, the brilliant but troubled artist who created the plan for Washington, D.C. We all know about the founding fathers but this is the first time I've read anything about L'Enfant. Fascinating.