Washington on Foot, Fourth Edition

By John J. Protopappas

For each tour, attractions are indicated, restaurants are recommended, and maps are provided. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1588341151
• ISBN13: 9781588341150
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Smithsonian Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.7" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

My grades: an A in architecture, a B in history

This is a fine resource for visitors and local residents who are curious about the buildings in Washington, D.C. -- not only the much-visited downtown monuments and museums, but also the often-overlooked federal government complexes and residential structures. In addition to being an excellent reference from an architectural viewpoint, the book reveals much about the history behind the development of the city and its neighborhoods dating back to the colonial era. The book offers 23 walking tours, each covering a specific area of the city. Most of the walks are located downtown or in the Northwest quadrant. Also included are tours of the Southwest waterfront; the Anacostia neighborhood in Southeast; nearby Alexandria, Virginia; and Takoma Park, Maryland. With a few exceptions, tours are designed to cover about two miles and last one to two hours. Each tour chapter, written by one of various local authors, contains a thumbnail overview of the tour area, a map keyed to a list of important buildings and sites, detailed descriptions of each site, and attractive line drawings of selected notable buildings. The site descriptions are typically one paragraph long and contain facts and observations related to the site's architecture and design, along with a brief history of the site's development and past ownership. The text is terse, if somewhat aridly written. Throughout the book, great care is paid to basic architectural information: for nearly every major site, the book lists the primary architect(s), date of construction, and distinguishing design features. Such information is probably of interest to the book's co-editors, who have backgrounds in urban development and planning, but for me (and I suspect for most people) the amount of building detail provided can be excessive at times; I would rather have seen more information of a social or cultural nature. Other shortcomings: I wish the maps were larger and labeled more sites by name instead of merely by number. And a few more drawings would be nice. Be aware that this is not the best guidebook for a casual tourist wishing to hit the capital's major attractions. Nor is it an ideal survey of the city's neighborhoods and history. It is, however, potentially quite useful for those who wish to increase their knowledge of Washington's diverse buildings and neighborhoods -- taking in the sights and scenes not from a passing tour bus, but from the unhurried vantage point of a pedestrian.