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Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States (New York Review Books Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: George R. Stewart
Creator: Matt Weiland
Publisher: NYRB Classics
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $11.91
You Save: $8.04 (40%)
New (36) Used (5) from $11.91
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 5074
Media: Paperback
Pages: 432
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 1590172736
Dewey Decimal Number: 917.3
EAN: 9781590172735
ASIN: 1590172736
Publication Date: July 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 4 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Few left in stock - order soon. Code: R20081114232523H
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Product Description
George R. Stewart#8217;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#8217;s peoples. More than half a century later, iNames on the Land/i remains the authoritative source on its subject, while Stewart#8217;s intimate knowledge of America and love of anecdote make his book a unique and delightful window on American history and social life.brbriNames on the Land/i 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#8212;Ponce de Leon#8217;s flowery Florida, Cortes#8217;s semi-mythical isle of California, and the red Rio Colorado#8212;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 #8220;Arkansas#8221; is Arkansaw, except of course when it isn#8217;t.brbriNames on the Land/i will engage anyone who has ever wondered at the curious names scattered across the American map. Stewart#8217;s answer is always a story#8212;one of the countless stories that lie behind the rich and strange diversity of the USA.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
Great Book! October 22, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
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. September 16, 2008
D. Summerfield (Missoula, Montana)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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. br / br /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. br / br /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. br / br /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 August 30, 2008
Dan R. Dick (Nashville, TN United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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 August 12, 2008
Peter M. Ronai (Salem, Oregon)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
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.
Names on the Land: A Wallace Stegner Must Read September 9, 2005
Merl Ledford III (People's Republic of California, USA)
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
Wallace Stegner was not only a great writer ("Angle of Repose") and teacher (Stanford English Dept. who mentored people like Harriet Doerr), he was also a great lover of writing. His UC Berkeley colleague and friend George Stewart appeared on Stegner's list of "must read" Western American writers for "Names on the Land" as classic non-fiction and for fiction ("Earth Abides" that he recommends as reading in tandem with Miller's classic "A Canticle for Leibowitz"). br / br /Dr. Stegner points out that Stewart was not prolific as a writer and, for that reason, is sometimes overlooked as a star in Western American literature. "Names on the Land" underscores the painstaking process of good writing as it was practiced by Stewart and very much appreciated by Stegner. The research is incredibly precise and reliable; the language is as clear and fast running as a mountain stream; and the effect on the reader is overwhelming. br / br /In an era of instant gratification and 10 second sound bites, "Names on the Land" doesn't seem "contemporary." But for a thoughtful reader of books, Stewart's masterpiece merits a place of honor in his or her permanent collection and (as Stegner admitted) a lifetime of periodic re-reading and reference.
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