The Fabric of America: How Our Borders and Boundaries Shaped the Country and Forged Our National Identity (Hardcover)

~ Andro Linklater (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The focus of this unruly book is one of the unsung founders of the United States, Andrew Ellicott. Linklater (Measuring America) performs a real service in rescuing from near oblivion this surveyor and boundary commissioner who, for 35 years after 1785, laid down many of the borders that now demarcate the United States from Canada and state from state. In a time of difficult and dangerous travel, Ellicott seems to have been everywhere and to have interacted easily with people under Spanish and French rule as well as with Native Americans. Much of the layout of the nation's capital is also his legacy. His tale is told by Linklater with skill and energy, but the author overreaches. Rather than sticking with plats, borders and their surveyors, Linklater in effect relates the nation's entire history through the 19th century. After many others with more authority have attacked Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier thesis, he also takes it on, arguing, not without ingenuity, that the American frontier experience was not the freedom of the wilderness but the lines drawn in previously uncharted ground—around claims, properties, states, and the republic itself. Perhaps, but the case isn't adequately made here.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Linklater's Measuring America (2002), a revealing history of the survey system that demarcates much American real estate, created an audience sure to be keen on this sequel. It explores how the international borders of the U.S. came to be, arguing against the renowned "frontier thesis" of historian Frederick Jackson Turner. That scholarly scaffolding does not lessen the narrative attraction of Linklater's story, which relates the career of Andrew Ellicott (1754–1820). If a boundary survey was needed in the 1780s and 1790s, he was the man to do it. Ellicott made his reputation by delineating the state lines of Pennsylvania, and George Washington tapped him to apply precision to Pierre L'Enfant's street plan for the capital. The Adams administration designated him to run the boundary between the U.S. and Spanish Florida. Easier said than done, this project took several years to accomplish, displayed Ellicott at his technical and patriotic best, and lets Linklater flesh out his contention that the establishment of formal borders encouraged democracy's development. An intelligent expression of national history within cartographic history. Taylor, Gilbert
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Walker & Company; 1 edition (June 12, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802715338
• ISBN-13: 978-0802715333
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #660,018 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating page-turner of a history lesson!, August 27, 2007

By	Riccardo Bulissimo (Verdi, Nevada, USA) - See all my reviews

This book is so much more than what the title implies. It is really three books (at least!) for the price of one.
Firstly, it is an insightful and thorough overturning of Frederick Jackson Turner's famous 1893 thesis concerning just how the frontier experience made America....America. The Author demonstrates that it wasn't the lawless, self-reliant, rugged individual as the dominate force, but really the opposite: an overarching concern by the newly-settled for a clear delineation to enforce their newly created property rights as a means toward wealth creation. Societal roots can only take hold where they are not trampled by a stampede of disorder. Thus don't send in the Cavalry, send the Surveyors! Along the way, Linklater reveals little known anecdotes of the political cronyism and insider wheeling & dealing that was rampant from the landing of the Mayflower right up to the present. Bush and Enron and Halliburton ain't got nothin' on the Father of our Country, folks!
Secondly, the book is a lovingly told biography of a surveyor extrordinaire: Andrew Ellicott. A true Zelig of the times, he was seemingly everywhere important as the nation shaped its boundaries and destiny. That Mark Knopfler wrote a popular song about the better known duo of "Charlie Mason and Jeremiah Dixon" is just unfortunate for Ellicott is the real classic hero of the period. Ellicott's story deserves a rousing Hollywood retelling; it's that good.
Lastly, the book is a gentle reminder that America is indeed -and always was- a immigrational melting pot and the current upset over our Brown Brothers to the South may be yet another overblown diversion by those who wish to distract us from the REAL issues confronting the good ol' U.S.A.
Easily the most entertaining and well written book I have read in many years. I literally could not put it down and frequently got blurry-eyed and had to give the old eyeballs a rest. I can't wait to re-read it and enjoy the trip once again.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All history should be written like this, August 7, 2007

By	Allen K. Mears (McLean, VA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Fabric of America is a marvelous book. The author's writing style made it a terrific read but what captured my attention and kept me up at night reading was his book's approach or explanation about how setting borders was critical to the rise of the federal government's power and the drive to expand westward. Wrapping the history around the surveyor Andrew Ellicott was a masterful way of providing a human face to our expansion.

Two aspects I especially relished were the explanation about how the concept of land ownership sets America and Americans apart from citizens of other countries, and how post-Civil War reconstruction evolved. Maybe I knew all that at one time in my youth but this presentation was so fresh and lucid, I cannot believe I knew the history with the nuances and subtlety shown.

Buy the book, enjoy it, then pass it along to others.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars On the shoulders of giants, October 19, 2007

By	Observer "Bernie" (Boston, MA, USA) - See all my reviews

In recounting the life and times of Ellicott, Andro Linklater covers a complex series of topics with elegance and a touch of humor. He weaves astronomy, celestial navigation, instrument making, land speculation, conspiracies, slavery, political intrigue, international relations, Federal, State, and personal finances, and neurotic personalities into the compelling tale of one man's pursuit of his life's passions. This is a terrific piece of writing: Clear, concise and insightful.

Andrew Ellicott was truly a giant and a genuine genius: He is an archetype both similar and different to Benjamin Franklin. What I found intriguing was the amazing impact that one person could have - yet be largely unknown. The story of Andrew Ellicott is certainly worth a PBS series. I lost interest a bit after Linklater in the last third of the book focused more on the division of the land and the emergence of pro- and anti-slavery states. Still Linklater continued to demonstrate an ability to convey the complexities of events and of leading characters such as Buchanan and Douglas.

Minor criticisms: The lack of footnotes and the lack of maps are two avoidable weaknesses. Was the publisher doing things on the cheap? The lack of footnotes is particularly annoying because Linklater uses some seldom cited sources and more specific references would be very helpful. Customized maps would have reinforced the detail and scope of Ellicott's work. The maps that are included are essentially unreadable. The Appendix is a useful idea but could have been extended to illustrate Ellicott's actual surveying techniques. Perhaps these are covered in Linklater's earlier Measuring America.

Despite the above, I strongly recommend the book. I missed Andro Linklater's Measuring America but it is now on order.