How the Post Office Created America: A History
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.50 (869 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0143130064 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 336 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-10-22 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
“How the Post Office Created America is an ode to a little-heralded but flagship government enterprise. Gallagher reminds us … that the post office forged a communications revolution just as far-reaching as the later telegraph and internet revolutions.”—The New York Times Book Review “Gallagher delivers…fascinating anecdotes. But I found it so fascinating that I could hardly put it down. This book is a winner, based on deep knowledge and research that will reach a broad audience with a story that will enhance their appreciation and understanding of the post office and its contribution to American life.”—James McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning historia
Still one of the country’s two major civilian employers, the post was the first to hire women, African Americans, and other minorities for positions in public life. Starved by two world wars and the Great Depression, confronted with the country’s increasingly anti-institutional mind-set, and struggling with its doubled mail volume, the post stumbled badly in the turbulent 1960s. A masterful history of a long underappreciated institution, How the Post Office Created America examines the surprising role of the postal service in our nation’s political, social, economic, and physical development. The founders established the post office before they had even signed the Declaration of Independence, and for a very long time, it was the U.S. This was no conventional mail network but the central nervous system of the new body politic, designed to bind thirteen quarrelsome colonies into the United States by delivering news about public affairs to every citizen—a radical idea that appalled Europe’s great powers. Before deciding its future, Americans should understand what this grand yet overl
She lives in New York City and Dubois, Wyoming.From the Hardcover edition.. Winifred Gallagher's books include Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life (a New York Times bestseller), New: Understanding Our Need for Novelty and Change, House Thinking, Just the Way You Are (a New York Times Notable Book), and The Power of Place. She has written f
Mehrsa said You cannot understand American progress without understanding the U.S. Post's pivotal role in American democracy. Essential reading if you want to understand American innovation and exceptionalism. This book is a fun and informative read. It is not just a comprehensive and fascinating study of the post office, but also of American democracy and cultural change. The post office was a foundational institution and its crucial role in the development of the country as we know it has been forgotten over the last several decades.. This is a wonderful story of the Post Office's history from the days Philip Ferguson This is a wonderful story of the Post Office's history from the days of Ben Franklin to the present. In many ways it was the PO that made America what it is today. The loss of the USPS would be a real bummer even in the days of e-mail etc.. JKP said A wonderful summary of the history of the U. A wonderful summary of the history of the U.S. Post Office. I particularly loved the story of how the Post Office coped with the Civil War and how in spite of the war, it continued to improve mail service.