{"product_id":"a-clearing-in-the-distance-witold-rybczynski-9780684824635","title":"A Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and America in the Nineteenth Century","description":"In a brilliant collaboration between writer and subject, the bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eHome\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eCity Life\u003c\/i\u003e illuminates Frederick Law Olmsted's role as a major cultural figure and a man at the epicenter of nineteenth-century American history. \u003cbr\u003e We know Olmsted through the physical legacy of his stunning landscapes -- among them, New York's Central Park, California's Stanford University campus, Boston's Back Bay Fens, Illinois's Riverside community, Asheville's Biltmore Estate, and Louisville's park system. He was a landscape architect before that profession was founded, designed the first large suburban community in the United States, foresaw the need for national parks, and devised one of the country's first regional plans. \u003cbr\u003e Olmsted's contemporaries knew a man of even more extraordinarily diverse talents. Born in 1822, he traveled to China on a merchant ship at the age of twenty-one. He cofounded \u003ci\u003eThe Nation\u003c\/i\u003e magazine and was an early voice against slavery. He wrote books about the South and about his exploration of the Texas frontier. He managed California's largest gold mine and, during the Civil War, served as general secretary to the United States Sanitary Commission, the precursor of the Red Cross. \u003cbr\u003e Olmsted was both ruthlessly pragmatic and a visionary. To create Central Park, he managed thousands of employees who moved millions of cubic yards of stone and earth and planted over 300,000 trees and shrubs. In laying it out, \"we determined to think of no results to be realized in less than forty years,\" he told his son, Rick. \"I have all my life been considering distant effects and always sacrificing immediate success and applause to that of the future.\" To this day, Olmsted's ideas about people, nature, and society are expressed across the nation -- above all, in his parks, so essential to the civilized life of our cities. \u003cbr\u003e Rybczynski's passion for his subject and his understanding of Olmsted's immense complexity and accomplishments make this book a triumphant work. In \u003ci\u003eA Clearing in the Distance, \u003c\/i\u003e the story of a great nineteenth-century American becomes an intellectual adventure.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Witold Rybczynski\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0684824639\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780684824635\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Scribner Book Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/08\/1999\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 480\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.94lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.25h x 6.33w x 1.54d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAccelerated Reader:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReading Level:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.5\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePoint Value:\u003c\/b\u003e 28\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eInterest Level:\u003c\/b\u003e Upper Grade\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eQuiz #\/Name: \u003c\/b\u003e78254 \/ Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and America in the Nineteenth Century\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e Lukas Prize Project - Winner\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e ALA Notable Books - Winner\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal Prepub Alert\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/01\/1999 pg. 66\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/01\/1999 pg. 705\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/15\/1999 pg. 104\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIngram Advance\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/01\/1999 pg. 29 - Best Of The Best\/Highly Recommended\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/15\/1999 pg. 1659\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/31\/1999 pg. 76\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/13\/1999 pg. 7\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist Editors Choice\/Adult\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/2000 pg. 813\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLJ Best Books of Year\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/2000 pg. 51\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/05\/1999 pg. 86\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/01\/1999\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/2000","brand":"Witold Rybczynski","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":43925581562111,"sku":"9780684824635","price":63.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_99ee606c-371e-432c-b3df-71f2f02fdd70.jpg?v=1681078122","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/a-clearing-in-the-distance-witold-rybczynski-9780684824635","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}