Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0874744806, Hardcover)

An elegant, completely updated edition of the landmark study of Washington’s lost architecture The publication of Capital Losses a quarter century ago created a clarion call for preservation action by documenting the wanton destruction of many architecturally and culturally significant buildings in the nation’s capital. In the decades since, rising public awareness and the passage of the Historic District and Historic Landmark Protection Act in 1978 have slowed the pace of thoughtless destruction. But as this completely new and updated edition of Capital Losses demonstrates, vigilance remains the watchword, especially as pressures for urban growth continue to intensify in historic neighborhoods.

At once a visual delight, a fascinating social history, and an eloquent appeal for ongoing awareness, Capital Losses reveals the Washington that was and how it became what it is today. This updated edition includes eighteen more treasures lost and ninety additional historic photographs. The 270 buildings featured here represent a legacy forever gone, a cultural heritage destroyed in the name of "progress." A thoughtful introduction by noted architectural historian Richard Longstreth brings the preservation story up to the present.