The Washington Story: The case of how national story is constructed and deconstructed.

Washington is one of the nation's favorite tourist spots. But instead of seeing it as one photo-opportunity after another, what if you visited it as if you were reading a book. What do the monuments say to us about the national story?

When we take visitors to the Capitol Building or to the steps of the Superior Court, we ask them to close their eyes and forget for a minute where they are. Then, when they reopen them, to tell us what city might they be in?

Most people say Rome or Athens, and they are right. A few hundred yards away is the magnificently restored Union Station, built as the replica of the Roman Baths of Caracalla.  Then, if they turned the opposite direction and looked at the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, they would be forgiven if they thought they were attending an opera night in Paris. Because once again, the buildings are meant to transport us somewhere else, to Rome or Paris or Athens and then, bring us back, with the appreciation that we are in a city of the same stature.

The story of a nation can be read in the monuments of Washington, and in the fascinating history of the controversies that surrounded most of them.