Here Is Where: Discovering America's Great Forgotten History

ISBN: 0307463974

Author: Carroll, Andrew

Condition: Used

Here Is Where chronicles Andrew Carrolls eye-opening - and at times hilarious -- journey across America to find and explore unmarked historic sites where extraordinary moments occurred and remarkable individuals once lived. Sparking the idea for this book was Carrolls visit to the spot where Abraham Lincolns son was saved by the brother of Lincolns assassin. Carroll wondered, How many other unmarked places are there where intriguing events have unfolded and that we walk past every day, not realizing their significance? To answer that question, Carroll ultimately trekked to every region of the country -- by car, train, plane, helicopter, bus, bike, and kayak and on foot. Among the things he learned:*Where in North America the oldest sample of human DNA was discovered* Where Americas deadliest maritime disaster took place, a calamity worse than the fate of the Titanic*Which virtually unknown American scientist saved hundreds of millions of lives*Which famous Prohibition agent was the brother of a notorious gangster*How a 14-year-old farm boys brainstorm led to the creation of televisionFeatured prominently in Here Is Where are an abundance of firsts(from the first use of modern anesthesia to the first cremation to the first murder conviction based on forensic evidence); outrages(from riots to massacres to forced sterilizations); and breakthroughs(from the invention, inside a prison, of a revolutionary weapon; to the recovery, deep in the Alaskantundra, of a super-virus; to the building of the rocket that made possible space travel). Here Is Where is thoroughly entertaining, but its also a profound reminder that the places we pass by often harbor amazing secrets and that there are countless other astonishing stories still out there, waiting to be found.Look for Andrew's new book, My Fellow Soldiers.