false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173917912m/344846.jpg 344846 3 Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) is best remembered today as a landscape designer, well known for his plans for New York's Central Park and Prospect Park, the grounds of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., and the campus of Stanford University, among other noteworthy sites. But, writes urban studies professor and accomplished author Witold Rybczynski, Olmsted was an American original, a 19th-century success story who packed many careers and wide learning and travel into a long life. He spent time in China and Europe, managed a California gold mine, edited <I>The Nation</I>, commanded a medical unit in the Civil War, and crisscrossed the United States many times over, writing long reports and articles all the while. (One series of reports urged, for instance, that the then-remote Yosemite region of California be made a national park.) Olmsted, Rybczynski suggests, changed the face of America: he had a vision of the American landscape as a reflection of the national character, with its broad vistas and open skies, and he was concerned to make America's urban spaces livable, bringing "trees and greenery into the congested grid of streets." At Olmsted's urging, many American and Canadian cities adopted his system of parks, broad avenues, and greenways, which encouraged the appreciation and preservation of nature; his influence is felt today in the so-called urban ecology movement, and in dozens of public spaces across the continent. Rybczynski's fine and illuminating biography of Olmsted shows him to have been a man of many parts, an important historical figure whose legacy remains strong nearly a century after his death. <I>--Gregory McNamee</I> 335173 5 7 2000 A Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and America in the 19th Century total:123|5:27|4:59|3:31|2:5|1:1| 123 475 206 26 5 0 false false Sun Nov 30 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 01 09:23:22 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 01 09:28:48 -0800 2008 1 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Oct 13 08:59:51 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 13 09:07:38 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jul 03 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 29 17:55:28 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 03 12:37:10 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 22 18:02:12 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 29 18:16:20 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Fri Jun 05 08:32:13 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 05 08:35:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Mar 09 09:07:06 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 09 09:08:46 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 04 19:07:11 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 15 13:15:15 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jul 12 15:56:11 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 12 15:57:24 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Sep 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 15 07:21:55 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 15 07:22:53 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Mon Nov 03 11:17:12 -0800 2008 Wed Sep 24 21:38:14 -0700 2008 Mon Nov 03 11:17:12 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon May 18 05:48:54 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 02 07:58:28 -0700 2009 3 0 true false Thu Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Thu Aug 16 07:44:32 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 16 07:55:59 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Nov 14 08:18:56 -0800 2007 Tue Jan 15 08:05:48 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Fri Jan 25 18:27:58 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 25 18:30:02 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Wed Aug 15 08:49:27 -0700 2007 Fri Apr 11 13:32:56 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Thu Aug 21 07:13:11 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 21 07:14:47 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Thu Dec 27 09:17:40 -0800 2007 Thu Dec 27 09:17:40 -0800 2007 3 0 false false Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Wed Sep 05 09:22:42 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 05 09:28:30 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1996 Wed Mar 05 16:22:06 -0800 2008 Wed Mar 05 16:25:51 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Mon Nov 10 10:33:51 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 10 17:44:19 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=344846