important that authors and publishers are compensated for intellectual property. i don't think i can, and beyond that. >> georgia gibson is publisher of bloomsbury press. thank you for a few minutes. ..

>> well, thank you so much for coming. can you all hear me in the last row? yes? good. it always feels a little bit like coming home coming to our terms garden. i am going to begin telling you a little bit about how i came to write this book because i was born in india. i am german, and i live in london. some people might wonder how i dare to write about the american founding fathers, but there is logic of it. bear with me. i came to write this book by accident when i was researching and writing my last book, which is about the british obsession with gardens. i would have never thought that that would lead me to write a book about the american founding fathers and gardens because i have never thought of america as a gardening nation.

one of the reasons for that might be that my first impressions of america were shaped in 1987 when i went on a 7-week road trip from washington d.c. to san francisco, and that road trip really confirmed every cliche of a german teenager had in the late 1980's. i was in all with the shopping malls and drive-throughs and colossal billboards. but what really stayed with me the most was this, never seemed to cross and the vast fields. it felt almost like man had imposed this raid on nature. even on suburban america, everything seems to be on a larger scale than what i was used to in europe. big houses on large plots of land, not much gardening, but a lot of long. i thought of america as this larger-than-life kind of

industrial city -- country, really. it was kind of further confounded by me living in britain where everybody seems to be accessed with gardens. this is what i was used to in britain. this is actually the garden of my best british friend. those of you who have heard me talk about the gardens have seen this already. i asked them to send me a picture, and she sent me a cd with 1302 of them. [laughter] had promised her i would show it again. this is what i was used in britain. in america i thought i most likely to see this rather than someone burning roses. how wrong i was because i think that america at its roots is as much a gardening nation as britain is, just of a bit different. when i researched i not only discovered how important american trees and shrubs have

been for the creation of the english garden but how important plants have been for the making of america. one of the protagonists was john bartram who i don't have to explain very much. he is an 18th-century american farmer and plant collector who lived here and two from the 17 thirties began to send boxes of seeds and plants over to england and over four decades completely changed the english landscape. it was really through bartram that i discovered this remarkable connection to the founding fathers and to the founding fathers and plants. a very good friend of benjamin franklin, and it was actually through his connection with benjamin franklin and the company in philadelphia that he was put in contact with the english gardeners. as i read through letters and manuscripts and diaries and accounts, i came across, for

example, an account of a visit of the delegates of the constitutional convention in 1787 test @booktv, and i will talk about that a little bit later. i found an invoice to george washington who had ordered hundreds of trees and shrubs for his garden in mount vernon. james madison visited. john adams visited. jefferson had even found time to come here when he was writing the declaration of independence. there is a rather romanticized depiction of george washington visiting bartram's garden. you can see, this is the back of the house over there. but it was only really when i followed the footsteps of .. through that appellation mountains in october 2006 that i understood just how important plants had been for the founding fathers. bartram bottom, and very often he had gone to the appellation

mountains. i went down to the shenandoah national park. i looked at my map and saw that thomas jefferson, monticello was very nearby. stop and have a look at the home of the writer of the declaration of independence. this is monticello. so when i came up to the mountaintop i was just absolutely astounded because what i saw was really the work of a revolutionary gardener who had crafted his crowns as carefully as he had crafted his work. and monticello brings together the vast beauty of america with the productivity of the land, and this combination of the rugged and wild would then need and useful is very uniquely american, and i think that monticello can be read like a monument to jefferson's belief and philosophy. you can almost read it like his letters, i suppose.

in a way john bartram -- john bartram and monticello became the inspiration of this book. i realize that america's first four presidents had all used nature in one way or another in their fight for america. for me this was really a journey of many surprises and gave me a completely new perspective on the founding fathers. george washington who i had known as revolutionary hero and first president. what i did not know was he was more likely to talk about trees rather than politics. thomas jefferson, once i had seen monticello i realized what a revolutionary gardener he was. and then there was james madison, father of the constitution, brilliant legal mind. what i did not know was he was the forgotten father of american environmentalism because he tried to rally americans to protect nature and the forest.

and then there was john adams, american minister in paris and london, second president of the united states. what i did not know was that he was also a passionate gardener, but that he also went on a garden tour in england with thomas jefferson. then another little sleight of george washington on his plantation. all four of them really regarded themselves foremost as gardeners and farmers and not politicians. when you read through their letters you will see that almost every single letter will mention at some stage, seeds, gardens, harvest times, agricultural and laments, talking all the time about this and what they called several amusement. very much part of their life. and their passion for plants, nature, gardens, and agriculture deeply woven into the fabric of america and very much aligned

with their political thought. they did not just create the united states in a political sense. they also understood the importance of plants for the making of this nation. as such we can look at cornfields and cotton plants as a symbol of america's economic independence from britain. we can see towering trees as a reflection of a nation that is strong, young, independent, and for tile. native species were imbued with patriotism and proudly planted in their gardens. and drawn from the natural world, bringing plants into politics. so i think that it is almost impossible to understand the making of the united states without looking at the founding fathers as gardeners and as farmers. this is played out on many different levels.

obvious level is really the economic level. the importance of good agricultural crops for the country's self-sufficiency. it works on an ideological level, which is the jeffersonian vision of america as an agrarian republic. it works in terms of national identity because america spectacular left -- landscape becomes very much in the -- invested with patriotism. it was literally and symbolically because they all use to their gardens as a canvas to paint or let's say to grow their political statement. let me give you an example, and let me take you to the summer of 1776. america has just declared independence. manhattan is an apt camp where soldiers drill in the streets. george washington is the commander in chief, and new york is facing 30,000 british troops,

the largest in the fleet that has ever arrived on american shores. washington has about half the manpower, very few of his officers have experience in battle, and no one has seen warships as imposing as the ones which are sailing toward new york. there he is, george washington. the city is bracing itself for the first and largest battle of the war of independence. he is actually thinking about his garden in mount vernon. one evening a few days before the battle of new york he sends out his generals, pushes away his military maps, sits down, and writes a letter to his estate manager in mount vernon, his plantation in virginia. and with the chaos of canon's looming, he is asking his estate manager to design a new garden, and he is talking about the

mountain laurel, flowering dogwood and crabapple. soaring oaks and pines, the tulip poplar, and the magnolia. so what is even more remarkable than the timing, which i think is quite remarkable, he is asking only for native species. at the moment, at the very moment as the young nation is threatened by the almighty british army george washington seems to think that he should create an all american garden where note english trees were allowed to claw their roots in the soil. he continues this idea after the war of independence. returning to mount vernon in 1783 and builds the bowling green with shrubberies are rounded in the front of the house. the shrubberies are all planted with native species only. what we have to really remember,

remind ourselves, what he is doing is extraordinary and really remarkable because until then american gardeners were trying to recreate the gardens of the old world. they wanted to have european plants. we can see that very easily when we look at the customer list of john bartram the floor from all 13 states, but his customers were english. the few american customers he had, they wanted to have his european plants. john bachmann received them from his english customers. so washington is really the first american to create an all-american ornamental garden. the question is, why is this important? i think it's important because he is making a very deliberate choice. when he returns from the war of independence, he knows he is the

revolutionary hero, and he knows that mount vernon is going to be the most visited private home in the united states, and he is going to make sure that the first thing that visitors seek is an all american garden. this is a painting. you can see on the sides, shrubbery planted with native species. this is his view from his house. if this is not a celebration of american landscape and american species, i don't know what else it should be. so john adams and thomas jefferson experience something very similar when they go on a garden tour in 1786 in england. at that time john adams is the american minister in london. thomas jefferson is the american minister in paris. spring 1786 adams right to jefferson and asks him to join him in london to assist him with the difficult trade negotiations with the british. they had no luck. the british hated the americans

and had no interest whatsoever to assist their former colonies. in fact, they were so rude that jefferson speculated if it might be the amount of meat consumed by the british -- this is what jefferson says -- that renders their character and incapable of civilization. what do you do in a moment like this? a garden tour. what else? jefferson, despite his aversion, had to admit that they created the best gardens. that must have looked rather odd pair walking together through these gardens because you have thomas jefferson, all tall, thin, gangly, dressed up in a fringed silk and powdered here, towering almost 7 inches over john adams, a bit more round and stopped. but despite their differences, and there have once been compared to a candlestick and a cannon ball.

but despite their differences bay both absolutely adored gardens and where both partners. it may be in a slightly different way. john adams, very much a hands-on gardner who loves getting his hands dirty. whenever he is away from his garden, which is in quincy, just south of boston, really terribly missing his farm and his garden and always, you know, dreaming himself into his orchard or into his garden. whenever he is involved in political battles he says, you know, i would rather be digging in my potato yard. he has a quite volatile temper and is working off his temper by digging in the derek. jefferson is a little more theoretical. he spends a lot of time coming up with very elaborate garden designs that never quite make it from his notebooks to the soil. he is an obsessive list maker

who's been this many evening wedding very long lists of different types of vegetables. he writes down. compares, counts the number of peace that can fit into a glass. [laughter] but we also know from visitors accounts and diaries that he is actually also out in the garden. he is also selling. maybe not working -- maybe not doing as much backbreaking work as avens is doing, but he is out there in the garden enjoying the physicality. so they go on their garden tour, which is really not allegedly true. if you look at the itinerary, you can see that they travel every day between 40 and 50 miles, quite bad roads. that is quite a lot of miles you have to cover in a day, and they see every day several gardens. they don't have a lot of time to stroll around and have a look.

literally as many as possible. and what they see our so-called ornamental farms, gardens that combine beauty of a pleasure ground with the working elements, the arab cultural elements of a farm. gardens or you would see shrubbery, but at the same time you receive field and pasture. this is a depiction of the valley. you can see there are some sheep -- excuse me. there are some sheep in the garden. they went and had a look. this combination of they useful with the beautiful that very much giant with their vision of america as a continent, both of duty, but also vast land that would feed the nation. both jefferson and adams would later incorporate these elements in their gardens in america. but one -- thank-you. one of the most exciting

revelations for them was really to discover that the english garden was not english at all. in fact, densely populated with american trees and shrubs. it i am just going to flick threw a few so that you can get an idea of what kind of plants the english garden liked from america. white pine. the english gardeners loved american evergreens because britain only has four native evergreens. they saw the flowering dogwood and the french tree. what they saw where actually the growth over the past five decades from john bartram's seeds. over the course of this garden tour adams and jefferson discovered the english were crazy about american trees and shrubs. in this strange twist of irony, at the very moment as the colonies had declared

independence, the english garden was actually filled with american trees and shrubs. so jefferson, who had for so long admired the english garden, now could find it rather easy to admit that he liked the english garden because the english garden was kind of american. he could create one in monticello without feeling not patriotic. let me give you a slightly more speculative example about the importance of plants in the shaping of america because it is speculation to argue that a visit to john bartram's garden changed the course of history. it seems a little bit more than just pure coincidence. what happened here in the summer of 1787 when the delegates of the constitutional convention visited the garden. they had assembled in may, 1787, in philadelphia to work on the future of america. one of the most controversial

points during the convention was how the power between the larger and the smaller states was to be distributed. and until then each state had one vote. but now the larger states favored proportion representation because that would give them greater leverage in congress, while unsurprisingly the smaller states wanted to keep the one state one vote rule. the day was he did, ideas brought forward and overturned. by mid july the conventions were at that verge of collapse. someone suggested a visit to bartram's garden. on saturday the 14th of july 17877 delegates arrived here at 6:00 in the morning. this garden, which by then was run by john bartram's son, john jr., and william.

i know it is a bit obsolete, but i will still show you a picture of bartram's garden. the delegates spent three hours here. they admired that trees and shrubs that that bartram's had collected from all 13 states, and wherever they turned they basically saw yet another specimen from yet another part of the country. it seemed america's entire floor was assembled here from the trees that john bartram collected far up north from lake ontario to the flowering shrubs that william had collected in florida. here in bartram's garden they saw the trees and shrubs from the 13 states the arriving together, branches intertwined in which cultural union. two days later on monday they met again to vote on the so-called connecticut plan. the compromise which suggested

that the house of representatives should be based on proportional representation, while the senate, each state would have equal votes. they had previously voted on the connecticut plant and dismissed it. but to everybody's astonishment this time around the voting took a surprising course. the three delegates switched their votes. caleb strong from massachusetts, hugh williamson, and alexander martin from north carolina. all of whom had visited bartram's garden. and they must have changed their mind after the visit because until then they had always voted differently. so we don't know how or if this visit to bartram's garden influenced them in their decision, but what we do know is that the three men who changed their mind and therefore make the great compromise possible

had all walked in bartram's garden of munched the flora from all 13 states. i leave it up to you to make that decision. but let me tell you something which is less speculative, which is the importance of agriculture for the founding fathers. they all believed that agriculture should be the foundation of the american republic. jefferson, for example, said i think governments will remain virtuous for many centuries as long as they are chiefly agricultural. all experimenting with crop rotation. jefferson famously designed. washington was the first american to collect farm done in a specially designed building, and i have to say it took me by surprise to discover that america's first four presidents had all been utterly abscessed with newer. [laughter] washington was so enraptured by it that he wanted a farm manager

who might as like convert everything he touches into menu are. the first transmutation towards gold. jefferson called a pamphlet about manure a charming trees, and i think their is a more delightful picture then john adams as the american minister in london in his carriage driving down the road, jumping out of his carriage, jumping into a pile of manure. at the same time the other ambassadors are rushing through the corridors of st. james's palace bejeweled and thin silk, he is standing in a pile of manure teasing apart this trough from the dawn, declaring with police that this stinking pile was not equal to mine. [laughter] so this obsession might seem a little strange to us, but it was very much part of their political agenda. of course, farming provided the livelihood of most americans at

that time, but they believed that the independent farmers with their small self-sufficient farms, they were the foot soldiers of this infant nation, and with the elevation of the small farmer as the guardian of liberty, really, seemingly mundane tasks such as collecting manure or devising crop rotations became elemental parts of nation-building. planting, plowing, vegetable gardening or much more than just profitable occupations. they were important political act that brought freedom and independence. for them the improvement of agriculture was really very much a republican endeavor. madison said that the more prosperous farmers lived in the country the more free, more independent, and more happy must be the society itself. at the same time, nature gave the 13 states a very distinct

national identity, which i think very much resonates today. after the war of independence, the 13 states had to mature from being just a war alliance to becoming a truly united nation. and it was the constitution that will then together economically, legally, and politically, but it was america's spectacular landscape that provided this transcendent feeling of nationhood. so europe had antiquity and agent ruins. the new world had to find something that was better here than in the old world. they found it in america is rugged mountains and untamed forest. this was the perfect reticulation of a strong, for tile, young nation that had thrown off the shackles of tyranny. the founding fathers understood that early on. in the early 1780's jefferson wrote the book which was called the notes on the state of

virginia. he rode about the passage through the blue ridge mountains. this was one of the most stupendous scenes in nature and it was the most sublime of natures works. so they really understood how america's natural scenery could be used as a reflection of this strong nation. washington wanted artists to paint what he called the natural wonders. jefferson asked the american artist, john trammel, to paint so that he could present this to the world, this singular landscape which otherwise some bundling european will misrepresent. [laughter] so whereas previous generations had regarded as america's untamed landscape as a hostile environment and an obstacle to settlement and farming, it now became an object of national pride.

artists began to paint america's landscape. until then there really concentrated on historical moments of the american revolution. and just going to show you a couple. this is thomas cole, and this is another scene. nature becomes this object of national pride. the question is, what does this all mean today when we walked through the founding fathers in states? in the thing still visible? i think it is. if you go to mount vernon and you walk along the serpentine wall along the bowling green in d.c. they sure raised entirely planted with native species. and john adams garden in quincy can be read in the same sense. in the summer of 1796 adams was redesigning his garden, and he was concerned with the appearance of his garden at that time because he was kind of

approaching a new stage in his life. there were rumors that washington was considering to retire after his second term. adams was considering the office of president himself. this is a picture of his farm. his farm was a rather modest compared to the, say, washington's or jefferson's plantation. they had several thousand acres. adams only had around 500 acres. nonetheless he was very much inspired by what he had seen with jefferson on his garden to work in england, and he wanted to build and create an ornamental farm, bringing together the kind of useful and the beautiful. the first thing he did is he made a ha ha. that is it ditch which has security as offense or wall. it keeps up cattle, but it allows sweeping views across the

surrounding countryside, including fields, but also mountains. so what adams is also doing is opening also what he calls a prospect so that he can see the meadows and the western mountains. so he is really celebrating america's landscape. there were also flowers, which were filled with plants that abigail adams, his wife, compared to humble citizens. in contrast to the stately crown which she said was banned from the garden because it bears to monarchical name. by the end of the summer 1796 adams finally names his garden, after many, many years. he names a peace deal. i will read you why -- how he explains why he calls the peace field. this is what he says commemoration of the piece which i assisted in making in 1783 of

the 13 years peas and neutrality, which i have contributed to preserve and of the constant peace and tranquility which i have enjoyed in this residence. even in the name there is a political meaning for adams. let's have a look at monticello. when jefferson retired from his presidency in 89 he created a garden that was very much a reflection of what he believed america was. strong, beautiful, independent, agrarian, and sublime. monticello is a living tapestry of the themes that had occupied him for so long. so, for example, the majestic views that across the rolling landscape, which is his celebration of the american landscape. the plants that lewis and clark had brought from their expedition, which were a reminder of the promises that lay in the west. there were fields near the pleasure grounds, which was

jefferson's manifestation of his belief in america as agrarian, and then there was the vegetable terrorists. 1,000 feet long. this was the experimental hub, the kind of scientific lab of monticello, because jefferson very much believed that the introduction of a new and useful species was an important patriotic task. he says that the greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture. and so important that when he is judging his services to this country he, of course, writes another list. and on this list includes the declaration of independence, but he also includes his introduction of upland rice and the olive tree. he thinks this is as important as his political act. during the last years in the white house he creates this

ornamental farm in monticello. it is a very carefully staged landscape. i'm going to show you a slightly complicated plan of monticello. you can see wiggling lines. these are the paths, the roads that go up to the mountaintop. and what he is doing is, he is sending his visitors on these rather complicated network of roads up the mountain top. imagine you have just spent three days of riding through the virginia untamed forest to monticello. you're right. the thing you want to see is a straight, need driveway. no. he leads you on this detour up the mountain which starts at the untamed at the bottom. halfway up he introduces the first agricultural elements. and then he leads you through a very carefully planned -- excuse

me. 18-acre grove, past the vegetable terrace, and into the flower bed. it is a journey from the rugged to the refined. very much a journey, almost like from the wilderness to civilization. what we have to bear in mind is he is designing this while america is stuck between britain and france, at war. in order to avoid war and to pressure britain and france, jefferson is introducing the embargo act in 18 and seven which bans all foreign trade. so suddenly self-sufficiency in tom production becomes incredibly important again. it is almost like if he wanted to in print this. he draws this as you can see, almost like a necklace of fields that are just below the pleasure ground. let's have a look at james madison's home to montpellier.

he had seen that the presidential homes were becoming a very important part on the tourist itinerary in virginia. he knew he would have lots of strangers turning up at his garden gate. he presumed everything was carefully planned. the visitors would arrive at the front of the house, which you can see here. they would step into the house, walked through the parlor, and be led to the back portico. when there were standing on the back portico they would see the centerpiece of the ornamental landscape which was a flat, huge, beautiful lawn, which was literally embraced by the american forest. so where washington had gone into the forest to take me to species out and plant them in his robbery's, madison is going

a step further, letting the forest come close to his house and celebrating the american forest. this is a computer rendition of montpelier. they did a rather bad job on the trees, so ignore those for the moment. have a look at the six buildings on the right hand side. what you would see, right in the middle of the ornamental landscape, a model slave village. these buildings, these six buildings are very unlike the usual slave cabins, lindsay cabins with mud floors, which madison, by the way, had elsewhere on his plantation. these were buildings that were very sturdily built, raised floor is, brick chimney, glass in the windows, and slaves eight off of decorated plates. we know from visitors accounts that it was very much part of

the entertainment of guests to wander over to the slave village and have a look around. so where other plantation owners had separated their slave quarters from the main garden, either by placing them elsewhere on the plantation or by fencing or walls. madison places it in the middle of his ornamental landscape, putting a spotless, well-designed village into his garden. the question is why? i think he did it because like washington and jefferson, he has problems to reconcile the ideal of slavery with his beliefs and equality and liberty. he also knows that there will be lots and lots of foreigners scrutinizing his slave quarters as well as visitors from the north. many -- are going to write about this -- because he has seen that happening to washington and jefferson. by placing the small villages in the midst of his garden he

presents himself as as slave honor his slaves are happy and cared for, never mind the other ones elsewhere on the plantation. i would like to end with something which is very different, also to do with madison, but which was the greatest surprise when i was writing this book, which is that even the environmental movement can be traced back to the birth of the nation and to the founding fathers. in 1818 madison said in a widely circulated speech that the protection of the environment was essential for the survival of america. he did not suggest to live in misty eyed harmony with nature, but he said that if man wanted to live off of nature in the long term, something had to change. he said that nature was a very fragile out ecological system. he condemned the virginians for their ruthless exploitation of

the soil and destruction of the forest and feared that natures violence might become unhinged. he says something which i think it's extraordinary. he said that men had to return to nature what men took from nature. these are radical ecological views because this is a time when most people still believe that god has created animals and plants entirely for the use of mankind. at that time madison says that humankind could not expect that nature can be made subservient to the use of man. he says that man has to find a place in nature without destroying it, words which i big remain as important today as he will -- as they were when he spoke them. thank you. [applause] [applause] very happy to take questions, if you dare. [laughter]

the first question is always the most difficult. someone has to be asking the first one, and the normally it kind of works. >> how much of the research did you do? was it different? >> well, but it this way, it helped insofar that it gave me the idea. the research itself, i had to basically plow through the letters of the founding fathers because i think what happens is that we historians tend to -- writing history is a very subjective thing just by, you know, just by choosing what you choose to tell. and i think that something has changed. if you look at the biographies of the founding fathers, say from the 1940's and 50's's , you would have not really written about adams standing in a pile of manure. that would have been almost

blasphemous. they were these demigods of the revolution. when you look through secondary sources you don't see a lot of them being gardners. i had to basically go back through the letters and pull out the bits which other historians have ignored. so i think what helped me was the research i had done on american trees and plants. that helped me. the idea, for example, help me in that chapter about the garden tour of jefferson's and adams garden tour because of the john bartram connection.ñ any other questions? yes? >> when you talk about the delegates i don't know how much detail you got. the impressive now. [laughter] all the way out here. did they have a description of their trip?

>> yes. they met at 5:00 in the morning had the indian queen tavern. is that correct, joe? yes. two carriages, and they came out here across braves' terry and met at 6:00. they had not told william bartram that they were arriving. a wonderful description where he is literally standing barefoot, his sleeves up, digging in his garden. suddenly these two carriages rolled up with delegates dressed up nicely. there is this description that he is a little bit taken aback and then very quickly collects himself and shows them around for three hours. okay. over there. [inaudible question]

>> my next book is nothing to do with gardens, believe it or not. my next book is about the transit of venus, which is when venus moves between the earth and sun and six hours you can see it as a black dot crossing the face of the sun. it happens once a century in pairs of two, eight years apart. in 18th-century that was the only way to measure the distance between earth and son, and that held the key for the whole size of the solar system. it only worked, you could only measure it if several astronomers in the northern and southern hemisphere worked together, looked at the same time, collected data, and calculated. it it is the first scientific global endeavor, and it is -- 200 astronomers worked together in the 18th century at a time of the seven years' war, france, england, the american colonies, sweden, russia, italy, all working together.

it is this race across the world. for me it was a very logic collection. on the endeavor i describe this story from the perspective of the botanist on the boat. the endeavor is sent to tahiti to observe the transit of venus. in the second book sure enough benjamin franklin is involved. it's kind of popped up in both books. i thought this is an interesting subject. kind of, you know, i earthly pleasures and another heavenly pleasures. yes? >> particularly interested in your descriptions of the establishment of the district of columbia. talk about that a bit. i was surprised there was some much disagreement among the founding fathers as to what it should be. jefferson's attitude that it should be organic and not importance. >> yes.

basically. the storm is coming. i basically did not talk about that today because there is a whole story in itself. i will take three minutes. if you think that the first four presidents of the united states are all passionate gardeners, you would just assume that you are going to find the most amazing stuff about the white house garden. well, i did not find anything. you then think, oh, my god. this whole theory is not working. i came up with that theory, which i think fits in quite neatly. basically what happened is, when they decide that there is going to be in new capital in the district of columbia, especially washington and jefferson have two very different ideas how this capital should look, and both of them agree that the capitol should be a reflection of the power of the federal government. only washington believe that the federal government should have a lot of power. there should be a strong federal

government, while jefferson believed the federal government should be as invisible as possible. washington wanted to have this grand, amazing, big capital with kind of sweeping avenues, a big master plan. four or five times bigger than boston and new york and philadelphia. jefferson believes it should be a small town which organically grows from the middle then when it comes to the white house the design that washington with the architect comes up with is very grand and has 60 acres of presidential park. washington dice. the first president to actually move into the white house is john adams, but he only lives there for four months. jefferson is really the first to move in there as a gardener who could do something, and he does not do anything. quite frankly, for him, when he arrives he sees a building site,

and that is exactly what he wants to convey. he spends his whole presidency really trying to demystify the office of the president. you know, this is a man who has always dressed beautifully in french couture and silk. he dresses down so much that visitors say, you know, the toes are sticking out of his slippers, the linen is soiled, code threadbare, hair disheveled. only has very intimate dinner parties and round tables. everything he does is demystifying. he does not do anything in the garden because he thinks that this card should not be like an oversized, exuding power. and the only thing he does in the white house garden is to put a wall around it to make it only 5 acres. so his legacy in the white house garden is to make it small

because that is for him as much a reflection of power as they should be. that was a very long answer for a short question. sorry. [laughter] any more questions? okay. are we done? thank you. [applause] [applause] >> to find out more, visit the authors website, andrea wulf dot com. >> and here at book expo america, the publisher's annual convention in new york city. regnery publishing is here as well, and with book tv to preview some of their fall 2011 book titles among we are joined by the publisher of regnery, marji ross. i want to start with the book

that you don't have out yet because you just signed a deal today. what is that deal? >> you are right. thank you. well, the big news for marji ross -- regnery is that we just signed a big book with donald trump and will be doing a political book with him this fall. we are really interested in doing this book because we feel that he touched a nerve with our marketplace and with a lot of people out there in america who said, gosh, he is saying a lot of things i agree with. i kind of agree with what he says about oil and china and trade and taxes and the economy. refreshing to have someone who is able to say these things and not be afraid. >> are you speaking of me? in franklin. >> ben franklin. >> everyone shows up. >> very excited. it is about how to put america back on top and make america number one and how to make america rich again. frankly, no one better than donald trump to talk about how

to be competitive, and get what you want out of any deal and any negotiation, whether real estate or, frankly, whether you are a country negotiating with another country. >> marji ross, may 2011 and you say this will come out in fall 2011. >> probably the experts, for better or worse, at crashing bucks. because we do so many current events, news driven books, we do something that most of the rest of the industry does not do. we put books on the fast track. we know that when we have captured the imagination of the audience, we want to get that book out as fast as possible. we are putting this on the fast track and we will have it out there before christmas and we are very excited about that. >> well, you have a couple other books we want to talk about. let's start with newt gingrich's most recent book. >> very excited to be having our next book with newt gingrich. we have done several books over

the past six years with new. they have all been be best sellers. of course he is a leading figure in the conservative marketplace, on the republican states, and, in fact, has driven, and a lot of ways, the discussion about the important topics that are going to be coming up in this election cycle. this book is a little bit different from the books we have done with him before because previously his books were very policy heavy and talked about a lot of solutions for problems that we face. and what he's doing with this book, which is called a nation like no other, facing a more historical viewpoint. perfect -- perfectly poised to do because he is a historian and talking about what makes this country exceptional, great, and how we are in danger of losing bats. one of the most interesting things he said to me was that in polls across the country when you ask americans, do you believe in american exceptional is and they all say, oh, yes, we

do. when you follow up, what does that mean, most of them don't know or can't answer. his argument is that has given the liberal media and delete an opportunity to denigrate and to say american exceptional as some is just been a phobic word team ballistic, bragging about how wonderful we are and we are no better than anyone else. and newt gingrich makes the argument is not about us being better or more talented or smarter. it is actually about being luckier than everyone else for having the good fortune to be born in the country that really is based on freedom of expression, freedom of speech, the freedom to work hard, read the results of that, and mr. life with great individual liberty. >> marji ross, for the first time in six years mark stein has a new book coming out. >> he does, indeed. mark stein, one of the best

writers and most insightful riders on the scene wrote the book for us six years ago called america alone. it was an instant best seller, wonderful, wonderful book. we have been waiting another six years to have the follow-up. we have it and are very excited. it comes out in august, and it is called after america. it is as ominous as it sounds. his previous book argued that america was alone in sticking to the principles that made western civilization great. the follow-on is, not so sure that america is on the right path anymore, and if we abandon those things which made this great we are very much in jeopardy of losing it all. >> now, mr. stein -- i use the word recluse, and maybe i'm wrong. >> i use that word, to. >> will he be going on tour? >> see absolutely well. he is one of those rare authors who has said test before, you know, why would i be on tv if i

don't have a book to promote. wonderful words to year as a publisher. very excited about promoting the book. he is a terrific spokesperson, just witty and funny and incisive. you know, because what he is saying is so frightening and devastating, you need and a little humor and wit to make it palatable, and he has that perfect combination of all those things. >> marji ross is that publisher of regnery, well-known as a conservative political imprint, but they have a new project coming up, and it is called 54 history. marji ross, what is this about? >> very excited about watching and the books on history, military history and american history in particular. we published books in the past, and they have done quite well, the occasional history book, but we realize that this is a category that our market is very

interested in and likes a lot. and we were publishing our history books on the same sort of crash breakneck schedule that we were publishing our current events books on. that was not serving them well. almost successful despite our best efforts. this time around we said we will dedicated team and put these books on the kind of time line that really makes sense so that we can give them all of the support. the long the media will let them have galleys and get them in the hands of review or as long in advance. frankly, already proving successful because our first book out, which is called a omar bradley, which is a biography, of course, of the great world war two general, that book has been picked up by both the military book club and history book club. when we give ourselves enough time we see that these books really will thrive. we are excited about that. a couple of other books we have as well. >> what is one of the history

imprint books coming? >> another book that we think will be -- do very well, of very interesting book called bali. this is a book, not surprisingly, about teddy roosevelt, but one of the unique things about it is that it includes 200 plus original vintage political cartoons. so we feel that there are a lot of people out there, of course, who are big tr fans. this book is unique. these cartoons are unique because most of them have never been seen since they were published in the magazine or newspaper 100 years ago. pete feel like this is a wonderful way to illustrate his life, the times he was living in, and to give some flavor to a biography of one of the most interesting and beloved presidents. so this is going to be a lot of fun for us. >> we have been talking with marji ross, who is the publisher of regnery, getting a preview of

some of the upcoming books from regnery publishing. >> thank you very much. >> is there and nonfiction offer but you would like to see featured on book tv? send us an e-mail book tv at c-span.org, where tweet yes at twitter.com/booktv. >> would it be fair to say that there has been some level of more acceptance? when you look at recent scandals -- and correct me if my thesis is wrong -- but it is the ones that are attached, not just with parts of -- personal lives or sexual scandals, but some other wrongdoing that takes people out of office. surviving sex scandals. >> politicians can survive sex scandals. david hitter who frequented did d.c. madam, won his last election in a landslide victory. it is possible right now because americans have gotten more and more use to sex scandals involving their politicians.

ultimately we argue that is a good thing because it will enable us to stop eventually talking and obsessing about the sex lives of presidents and politicians and start focusing on what really matters. >> what makes it so bad is not just new orleans and washington d.c., but mr. abstinence in the senate. and when you have somebody that hypocritical getting caught up in a sexual escapades, it just makes it even worse. >> instead of talking about this conceptually before we go to phone calls, and our lines are already busy, let's give a one for instance. your favorite story? >> my favorite chapter turned out to be the eleanor roosevelt and franklin roosevelt. it was complicated. he had his girlfriend living in a better and next to him. she h h