Hidden History of Alexandria, D.C.

Hidden History

by Michael Lee Pope

Go inside the long-forgotten 19th century period when Alexandria left Virginia and incorporated itself into the fledging Distric of Columbia. This groundbreaking history uncovers the time in the 19th century when Alexandria left the commonwealth of Virginia and became incorporated into the emerging District of Columbia. It was an experiment that failed after half a century of neglect and a growing animosity between North and South. However, it was a fascinating time when cannon were dragged onto city streets for political rallies, candidates plied their voters with liquor and devastating fires ravaged the city.

Genres: History

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 23, 2011

Reviews

[Ian Rototiller]

Hidden History is a book that you probably won't find very interesting unless you are from Alexandria. It was an uneventful, unorganized read that never captivated me or really grabbed my attention. Thankfully this book was only around 150 pages and was relatively easy to read, or else I would not have finished it.

First and foremost, I'm not sure why Pope decided on calling it Hidden History when there is almost nothing hidden about it. This is just a history of the town of Alexandria. Yes, the first chapter deals with the private deals made to acquire the land, but even then he calls it conspiracy where I would name it politics. The Compromise of 1790 and the Residence Act are widely known. There's also the lesser known history of slavery and the slave trade in the city but again, that isn't hidden as much as it is just not talked about. The difference, in my opinion, is that using the term "hidden" implies actual conspiracy and secrecy, which just isn't the case here.

So, when looking at this as just a history of Alexandria, D.C. what do we get? Well, a jumbled mess of random events, developments, and people over the course of half a century. Pope just jumps from topic to topic with no flow of narrative. He bounces around the chronology of the city while also referencing, as he chooses, the relative events in Washington and the rest of the country. His writing does have some character but that doesn't mask the sloppiness. From paragraph to paragraph and sometimes even sentence to sentence he will bring up completely different subjects that do not relate at all.

A final point is that there is just an absurd amount of typos and errors in this book. Words are often misspelled or just straight up missing in sentences. Strange for a journalist. Not sure what happened there.

I will say that there is a lot of history of Alexandria that is accumulated in this text. If you are looking to learn more about the town in antebellum America, then I'm sure you will enjoy it more than I did. Personally, I read it to discover some hidden history and unknown conspiracies, but I just got a history book of a small town in Virginia.

[Whitney O'Halek]

I was looking so forward to this book, but honestly the typos were distracting, and the writing was a bit crass in some places and uninteresting in others. It's a nice idea for a resource book, but this book's credibility is definitely tainted. Worth reading for the history, but I'm still searching for another book on the topic if anyone has suggestions!

[Joan]

I learned about some interesting and surprising local and American history from this fun-to-read book. Should be used in schools--though there probably would be complaints about discussion of some topics.

[Steven Bost]

Occasional flashes of the author's fun and wry voice are almost but not quite enough to overcome egregiously frequent typos (seriously, where was the editor?) and some flagrant inaccuracies (like confusing 'latter' and 'former' to the point of mangling historical facts.) A great case for slow down and/or do it over!

[Patrick]

Well worth reading by any resident or extended visitor to the Alexandria, VA region. Although the writing was a bit dry, Pope did a very good job researching and documenting the politics, economics, & geography of the area. I found the history fascinating.

[Charles Stephen]

Pope's book has been getting buzz in the local papers. I went with Jerry Cowden to hear Pope speak at the library across the street, and he was an interesting speaker. Jerry loaned me his copy, and I'm enjoying this little jewel of local color.