Virginia Historical Society Podcast

On September 23, 2010, Scott W. Berg discussed his book Grand Avenues: The Story of Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the French Visionary Who Designed Washington, D.C. In 1791 George Washington asked Pierre Charles L'Enfant, who had been a French volunteer during the American Revolution, to design a new federal city on the Potomac for the young republic. Suffering from constant interference, L'Enfant persisted in his work for a year before being dismissed. Yet, his ambitious geometrical plan for the District of Columbia survived and endures to this day. In Grand Avenues, Scott W. Berg resurrects the cranky L'Enfant and reveals how his influence persists in the nation's capital city. Dr. Berg teaches English at George Mason University.(Introduction by Nelson D. Lankford)