Fergus Bordewich

Washington Fergus Bordewich

Washington, D. C., is home to the most influential power brokers in the world. But how did we come to call D. C. - a place one contemporary observer called a mere swamp producing nothing except myriads of toads and frogs (of enormous size), a district that was strategically indefensible, captive to the politics of slavery, and a target of unbridled land speculation - our nation's capital?