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Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States (New York Review Books Classics)
Average Customer Review : 5.0/5 based on 8 reviews
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List Price : $19.95
Price : $13.57
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Editorial Reviews
George R. Stewart’s classic study of place-naming in the United States was written during World War II as a tribute to the varied heritage of the nation’s peoples. More than half a century later, Names on the Land remains the authoritative source on its subject, while Stewart’s intimate knowledge of America and love of anecdote make his book a unique and delightful window on American history and social life.
Names on the Land is a fascinating and fantastically detailed panorama of language in action. Stewart opens with the first European names in what would later be the United States—Ponce de León’s flowery Florída, Cortés’s semi-mythical isle of California, and the red Rio Colorado—before going on to explore New England, New Amsterdam, and New Sweden, the French and the Russian legacies, and the unlikely contributions of everybody from border ruffians to Boston Brahmins. These lively pages examine where and why Indian names were likely to be retained; nineteenth-century fads that gave rise to dozens of Troys and Athens and to suburban Parksides, Brookmonts, and Woodcrest Manors; and deep and enduring mysteries such as why “Arkansas” is Arkansaw, except of course when it isn’t.
Names on the Land will engage anyone who has ever wondered at the curious names scattered across the American map. Stewart’s answer is always a story—one of the countless stories that lie behind the rich and strange diversity of the USA.
Spotlight Reviews
Interesting but not easy to read (2008-12-22)
Customer Review : 3
There is no question that the author did a solid research on the subject. The information is very detailed, and, of course, very interesting. However, be aware that it is written in an old fashion way when the authors poured on the pages all the knew without much concern for a clear organization. Also, the selection of information could be questioned. There is no attempt to select facts by their importance. I understand that what is important is open to interpretations, but the author at times goes on and on about some little creek while missing entire cities.
Great Book! (2008-10-22)
Customer Review : 5
What a wonderful book! And such a pleasure to learn where the names of places come from. A great find.
Fascinating History Lesson in the names we all take for granted. (2008-09-16)
Customer Review : 5
I learned so much from this book. When I purchased it, I thought it might be like an annotated dictionary of sorts -- perhaps in alphabetical order, so that I could look up Topeka or New York. But it's not like that at all. The author starts with the blank canvas of the American landscape, before recorded history, and describes how a place becomes a name.
The book is arranged chronologically, so the reader moves from pre-history to native Americans to colonists; and from the edges of the country (like Florida, California and New Mexico) to the middle regions; and from colonial governmental debates on names to the Congressional debates on state names in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The information about the place names comes at the reader not as a dry history lesson, but almost as an epic novel in which the main character is the landscape, and the minor characters are the natives, the immigrants, the politicians, the storytellers. The prose is spare and compelling. The depth of research is mind-boggling.
This is a book to be read, re-read and referred to for the rest of your life, especially if you are a traveller or a proud American.
Fascinating Introduction to What We Should Already Know (2008-08-30)
Customer Review : 5
It is always humbling to discover how limited my education is in key areas, especially geography. Names on a map that I have seen dozens of times, cities and towns I have visited but never given deep thought to, and the evolution of language are all present in this slim volume. I found myself surprised that I had read thirty or forty pages without realizing any passage of time. I lost myself in this book -- like exploring familiar territory for the very first time. An engaging, worthwhile, illuminating book.
Names on the Land is not just about names, it's about history (2008-08-12)
Customer Review : 5
So far I'm only about 1/3 of the way through "Names on the Land," but I'm enthralled. The sub-title, "A Historical Account of Place Naming..." is right on. The book approaches it subject from a historical perspective. The reader travels with the early explorers as they encounter landmarks on their journeys, so one learns about the namers and their times, as well as about the names they left behind them. Based on my reading so far, I can strongly recommend this book.
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