Reviews for Valiant Hero: Benjamin West and Grand-Style History Painting - Ann Uhry Abrams - Paperback

The average rating for Valiant Hero: Benjamin West and Grand-Style History Painting - Ann Uhry Abrams - Paperback based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-07-08 00:00:00 Joel Eskridge 600,000 people live in Washington, D.C. This massive book is the story of where they live: 26 chapters, each dealing with a specific neighborhood. It's extensively illustrated with period photographs and vintage maps. We meet Francis Newlands, Nevada congressman and author of water policy legislation, who also first bridged the Rock Greek gorge and developed the suburb of Chevy Chase. We learn that LeDroit Park (chap. 13) was built in 1873 as a gated community, its streets offset from the surrounding grid to discourage pass-through traffic; that as late as 100 years ago, Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E. was not fully paved (p. 404); that there really was a Bradley (Lane) (p. 297) and a Flower (Avenue) (p. 365). The book is not without its faults. The index is somewhat selective: I noted key persons and law cases mentioned in the text that do not appear in the index. As each chapter was written by different local experts, there is a certain amount of repetition, particularly concerning the (nonetheless important) stories of black-white race relations and the demise of restrictive real estate covenants with Hurd v. Hodge (1948).

Review # 2 was written on 2013-06-27 00:00:00 William Dick An interesting read about DC's neighborhoods. Not bad for a coffee table book.