Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday (26)


"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. So here's a thing I'm looking foward to: The Men Who United the States, by Simon Winchester (October 15, 2013, from Harper).



How did America become "one nation, indivisible"? What unified a growing number of disparate states into the modern country we recognize today? To answer these questions, Winchester follows in the footsteps of America's most essential explorers, thinkers, and innovators, such as Lewis and Clark and the leaders of the Great Surveys; the builders of the first transcontinental telegraph and the powerful civil engineer behind the Interstate Highway System. He treks vast swaths of territory, from Pittsburgh to Portland, Rochester to San Francisco, Seattle to Anchorage, introducing the fascinating people who played a pivotal role in creating today's United States.

Throughout, he ponders whether the historic work of uniting the States has succeeded, and to what degree.

*****

I don't remember seeing a rule that I can't be eagerly anticipating a work of nonfiction. I'm a big fan of Simon Winchester; I just read his book The Man Who Loved China a few weeks ago, and enjoyed it very much even though it was about a person I'd never heard of before and a subject that I previously had only marginal interest in. So I'll definitely pick this one up.

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