Snow-Storm in August
Washington City, Francis Scott Key, and the Forgotten Race Riot of 1835

The “Snow Riot” or “Snow-Storm” that took place in Washington, D.C., in August of 1835 had nothing to do with frozen precipitation. Rather, it was a racially motivated civil disturbance in which a mob of white rioters attacked, among other targets, a popular Washington restaurant owned by a successf......more

This book needs to be read not only for the excellent analysis of how our political history led to our political present, but also for logic. The logic of mob mentality, the logic of blame, and the logic of 'divide and rule,' as our British friends say. White workers against Free men of Color rioted......more

A very interesting book. Morley is a professional writer, not a historian (but heck, I'm neither!) and it does show from time to time. Sometimes he can't resist to tell us what the characters are thinking and I believe he has no earthly method of knowing that. But Morley is a good writer, at least in......more

LOOK AT THIS! Beverly Snow, a former slave who came to own what is likely to have been the first modern restaurant in the country loved to start off his advertisements with that catchy phrase. What we learn of Mr. Snow is delightful...he is a fantastic cook and shrewd businessman, in addition to bein......more

This is an interesting depiction of Washington DC in the 1830s, and a good narrative interweaving the tales of several characters: a freed black man who moves to the city and opens a successful restaurant, city district attorney Francis Scott Key, an enslaved young man accused of attempted murder of......more