- 288 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
About this book
"[The] book makes you care what happens to its main protagonist, the U.S. Postal Service itself. And, as such, it leaves you at the end in suspense." —USA Today
Founded by Benjamin Franklin, the United States Postal Service was the information network that bound far-flung Americans together, and yet, it is slowly vanishing. Critics say it is slow and archaic. Mail volume is down. The workforce is shrinking. Post offices are closing.
In Neither Snow Nor Rain, journalist Devin Leonard tackles the fascinating, centuries-long history of the USPS, from the first letter carriers through Franklin's days, when postmasters worked out of their homes and post roads cut new paths through the wilderness. Under Andrew Jackson, the post office was molded into a vast patronage machine, and by the 1870s, over seventy percent of federal employees were postal workers. As the country boomed, USPS aggressively developed new technology, from mobile post offices on railroads and airmail service to mechanical sorting machines and optical character readers.
Neither Snow Nor Rain is a rich, multifaceted history, full of remarkable characters, from the stamp-collecting FDR, to the revolutionaries who challenged USPS's monopoly on mail, to the renegade union members who brought the system—and the country—to a halt in the 1970s.
"Delectably readable . . . Leonard's account offers surprises on almost every other page . . . [and] delivers both the triumphs and travails with clarity, wit and heart." — Chicago Tribune
Founded by Benjamin Franklin, the United States Postal Service was the information network that bound far-flung Americans together, and yet, it is slowly vanishing. Critics say it is slow and archaic. Mail volume is down. The workforce is shrinking. Post offices are closing.
In Neither Snow Nor Rain, journalist Devin Leonard tackles the fascinating, centuries-long history of the USPS, from the first letter carriers through Franklin's days, when postmasters worked out of their homes and post roads cut new paths through the wilderness. Under Andrew Jackson, the post office was molded into a vast patronage machine, and by the 1870s, over seventy percent of federal employees were postal workers. As the country boomed, USPS aggressively developed new technology, from mobile post offices on railroads and airmail service to mechanical sorting machines and optical character readers.
Neither Snow Nor Rain is a rich, multifaceted history, full of remarkable characters, from the stamp-collecting FDR, to the revolutionaries who challenged USPS's monopoly on mail, to the renegade union members who brought the system—and the country—to a halt in the 1970s.
"Delectably readable . . . Leonard's account offers surprises on almost every other page . . . [and] delivers both the triumphs and travails with clarity, wit and heart." — Chicago Tribune
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Yes, you can access Neither Snow Nor Rain by Devin Leonard in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Government & Business. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Neither Snow Nor Rain
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Epigraphs
- Contents
- Prologue
- 1 The Founding Father
- 2 Interlopers I
- 3 Comstockery
- 4 A Businessman at the Post Office
- 5 Into the Sky
- 6 A Stamp Collector at the White House
- 7 Mount Semrow
- Photo Insert
- 8 The Day the Mail Stopped
- 9 Interlopers II
- 10 Going Postal
- 11 You’ve Got Mail!
- 12 “Thank God for Amazon”
- 13 “The Postal Service Is a Joke”
- 14 “The Whole Country Is in an Uproar!”
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Index
- Back Cover