Praise for Grand Avenues "The life of L'Enfant has long needed a lively, thorough, fair-minded accounting, and this is precisely what it gets in Grand Avenues. Scott W. Berg . . . has gifts for narrative exposition and vivid description, which serve him well throughout . . . Berg tells the story with appealing empathy and comes to a rousing -- and proper --conclusion: L'Enfant's plan was "the first great artistic achievement that could truly be called 'American.' " Benjamin Forgey, Washington Post Book World, cover review "Scott W. Berg has created a readable portrait of Pierre Charles L'Enfant that shows the artist in full, with both his great gifts and Icarus-like ambition." David A. Price, author of Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Start of a New Nation"Elegantly written and sensibly paced . . . Scott W. Berg vividly reconstructs L'Enfant's life, from his Paris childhood to the Revolutionary War (in which he fought for the Americans and was so badly wounded in battle he was left for dead) to his apogee as a friend of George Washington's (with total artistic control over the design of the new city) to his decline into debt and obscurity." www.bloomberg.com "A story not just of a frenzied urban endeavor but a model for historicalbiography." The New York Sun "A welcome narrative . . . Berg performs sterling service in excavating this little-known story from the archives." Publishers Weekly, starred review "A lively and literate view of Washington's early history, with liberal dashes of intrigue for good measure." Kirkus Reviews "L'Enfant's idiosyncratic personality interfered with his complete success yet only serves to make this . . . a fascinating read." Booklist"Assiduously researched and richly detailed . . . from the very first chapter, Berg makes the reader keenly aware of the tension between L'Enfant's lofty aspirations and the muddy reality along the banks of the Potomac River." "During the spring and summer of 1791, Pierre 'Peter' Charles L'Enfant took 100 square miles of farmland and forest and began planning what would eventually become the nation's capital. Dismissed from the project before its completion,L'Enfant spent the rest of his life fighting for the recognition he deserved. Berg, a frequent writer for The Washington Post, has written a definitive biography about a significant, but forgotten, figure in American history." Tucson Citizen "No visitor to the nation’s capital can fail to appreciate the stunning layout of the city’s central landscape—the pivotal Mall, the Capitol perched on a hilltop and the stately diagonal thoroughfare linking it with the White House. We’ve learned in school to associate Pierre L’Enfant with this majestic configuration. But as Bergpoints out in this highly engaging biography, that isn’t the half of it. To paraphrase Neil Simon: as an artistic genius, you couldn’t touch him, but as a person, you wouldn’t want to touch him." Go Airtran, "Top Read" "A fascinating story of narrative history. [Grand Avenues] will add a new dimension to a visit to Washington." Roanoke Times & World News "The reader never will be able to walk the streets of Washington again without envisioning the haughty genius of Major L'Enfant on horseback, oblivious to therain and cold, looking down from Jenkins Hill . . . seeing one of the world's great capital cities spread out before him." Buffalo News (New York) "A well-deserved portrait of an enigmatic historical figure who has long been overlooked by history textbooks . . . as you read through it, you may find yourself wondering, why didn’t I know this already? The experience of having learned something new about the country you live in is where Grand Avenues [gets] it strength. The history around the story is every bit as interesting as the accountitself." Winston-Salem Journal "Fans of Dan Brown might want to give [Grand Avenues] a look. Supposedly the layout of Washington is going to play some sort of role in Brown's forthcoming book, 'The Solomon Key.' And even if it doesn't, hey, you'll learn something." Tampa Tribune "Berg's new book is a fresh take on how a young French architect, Pierre L'Enfant, pushed his radical plan to fruition." The Hill"Rich with biographical, political and historical detail" "An impressive telling of a little-known story." Towerlight (Towson University) "Berg's use of primary sources to unearth the story of L'Enfant's rise to prominence, descent into obscurity and posthumous return to glory makes 'Grand Avenues' an impressive telling of a little-known story."Howard County (Maryland) Times "In this brilliant biography of the man who made Washington, Scott W. Berg looks back at L'Enfant's life and presents his story in a completely unique light. The creation of Washington isn't a simple story, but thanks to Berg's mastery of both literature and architectual history, 'Grand Avenues' comes across as a very readable historical document that faithfully chronicles one of the most important, yet little-explored, events in American history." strandbooks.com "Mr. Berg does quite a job drawing both the character of L’Enfant in a wonderful narrative style and [the] captivating story of the founding of the capital city."
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