Eden on the Charles : the making of Boston / Michael Rawson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rawson, Michael.

Series:

ACLS Humanities E-Book.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

City planning--Massachusetts--Boston--History--19th century.

City planning.

Human ecology--Massachusetts--Boston--History--19th century.

Human ecology.

Boston (Mass.)--History--19th century.

Boston (Mass.).

Boston (Mass.)--Social conditions--19th century.

Boston (Mass.)--Environmental conditions.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 367 p. ) ill., maps ;

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, c2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In Eden on the Charles: The Making of Boston, Michael Rawson examines how the city's relationship with its natural surroundings informed its early growth and development. His compelling, well-researched narrative touches on several milestones on Boston's road to modernity, including the Common's conversion from a place of labor to a place of leisure, the emergence of pastoral suburbs as a respite from an increasingly urbanized landscape, and the long fight over a proposed municipal water system to bring fresh water to those who needed it most.Perhaps the book's most important lesson comes from a frustrated mariner who, upset over the maltreatment of the harbor, laments that "the past seems to be forgotten, the present only is regarded as of importance, and a veil is drawn over the future." Eden on the Charles is a valiant effort to combat such shortsightedness, reminding us that the key to building a successful community lies in respecting the natural resources that provide for it and in understanding our responsibility to our fellow citizens.

Contents:

Prologue: To build a city

Enclosing the Common

Constructing water

Inventing the suburbs

Making the harbor

Recreating the wilderness

Epilogue: The city complete

Note on Boston Common petitions.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780674058552

0674058550

OCLC:

705929876