Homes and Libraries of the Presidents: An Interpretive Guide (Guides to the American Landscape Series)

Identifying and describing some 100 publicly accessible homes, libraries, and museums of US presidents, this guide includes b&w and color photos, maps, directions, and information on fees, times, and contacts for each site. The author has written other books on presidential sites. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Since William Clotworthy's Homes and Libraries of the Presidents first appeared in 1995, it has been the standard of guides to presidential homes, museums, and libraries. Not only does this book identify, describe, and provide access information to nearly one hundred publicly accessible sites that commemorate and interpret the presidents of the United States, but it also provides detailed maps to assist visitors in actually finding sites that they might wish to visit and short lists of books and articles that help readers expand upon the information presented in the site descriptions. Homes and Libraries of the Presidents is also the most frequently revised of the available presidential guidebooks; the current edition, in fact, contains information that was less than one week old when the book went to press and includes reference to events that are scheduled to take place months after the book appears on the market. As noted in previous editions, there is no way for the average citizen to get closer to the intimate environments, material possessions, or creations of American presidents than to visit their homes or the museums and libraries that house and interpret their lives and legacies. Homes and Libraries of the Presidents will continue to lead the many curious and inquisitive travelers to those places that open windows onto the personal lives of some of America's most important public figures, their families, and their times.