By Scott W. Berg.  ISBN 978-1-4000-7622-2.  Copyright 2007.  Softcover with 336 pages including 25 black and white illustrations, notes, bibliography, and index. 

In 1791, shortly after the United States won its independence, George Washington personally asked Pierre Charles L’Enfant, a young French artisan turned American revolutionary soldier who gained such friends as Alexander Hamilton and James Monroe among the Founding Fathers, to design the new nation’s capital.  L’Enfant approached this task with unparalleled vigor and passion.  However, his imperious and unyielding nature also made him many powerful enemies, including Thomas Jefferson.  After 11 months, Washington reluctantly dismissed L’Enfant from the project.  Subsequently, the plan for the city was published under another name, and L’Enfant died before it was rightfully attributed to him.