Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Have you ever wondered how the states got their shapes?

Find out the answers in:





How the States Got Their Shapes
is the first book to tackle why our state lines are the way they are. Here are the stories behind the stories, right down to the tiny northward jog at the eastern end of Tennessee and the teeny-tiny (and little known) parts of Delaware that are not attached to Delaware that are not attached to Delaware but to New Jersey.





How The States Got Their Shapes
examines:
*Why West Virginia has a finger creeping up the side of Pennsylvania
*Why Michigan has an upper peninsula that isn't attached to Michigan.
*Why some Hawaiian islands are not Hawaiian.
*Why Texas and California are so outsized, especially when so many Midwestern states are nearly so identical in size.

Packed with fun oddities and trivia, this entertaining guide also reveals the major fault lines of American history, from ideological intrigues and religious intolerance to major territorial acquisitions. Adding the fresh lens of local geographic disputes, military skirmishes, and land grabs, Mark Stein shows how the seemingly haphazard puzzle pieces of our nation fit together perfectly.

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