Too High and Too Steep

Reshaping Seattle's Topography

By: David B. Williams

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Hardcover | 1 September 2015

At a Glance

Hardcover
264 Pages

Age
22+

Dimensions(cm)
23.5 x 15.88 x 3.18

Hardcover

RRP $99.00

$87.75

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Residents and visitors in today's Seattle would barely recognize the landscape that its founding settlers first encountered. As the city grew, its leaders and inhabitants dramatically altered its topography to accommodate their changing visions. In Too High and Too Steep, David B. Williams uses his deep knowledge of Seattle, scientific background, and extensive research and interviews to illuminate the physical challenges and sometimes startling hubris of these large-scale transformations, from the filling in of the Duwamish tideflats to the massive regrading project that pared down Denny Hill.

In the course of telling this fascinating story, Williams helps readers find visible traces of the city's former landscape and better understand Seattle as a place that has been radically reshaped.

Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af51FU8hHLI

Too High and Too Steep was made possible in part by a grant from 4Culture's Heritage Program.

Industry Reviews

"Williams does a marvelous job of evoking the cityscape that used to be. He clues us in to the spirit of civic ambition that drove Seattle's geographical transformations. He methodically chronicles the stages by which its regrade, canal and landfill projects were accomplished. And he's meticulous about placing his readers on present-day street corners where they can, with some sleight of mind, glimpse the hills, lake shores and tide flats that vanished."

-- Michael Upchurch * Seattle Times *

"A great story about the beginnings of Seattle. The focus is the topography of our city, but Williams fills in all the details on politics, the economy, our original neighbors, and much more. A very good read."

-- Tim Burgess, former Mayor of Seattle

"[An] absorbing and accessible book. . . . [A] fascinating guided tour that residents and visitors can utilize to envision a changing place. I plan to carry it the next time I visit Seattle, and I hope that both its library sales and holiday gift sales will be brisk."

-- Carl Abbott * Western Historical Quarterly *

"Run, don't walk to buy it."

-- James Crossley, Mercer Island Books

"Williams is a brilliant writer who combines an intense and scholarly curiosity with in-the-field research, and has a gift for explaining-[he] offers a detailed yet sweeping overview of the way Seattle's landscape has literally been reshaped."

-- Knute Berger * Crosscut *

"This engaging and informative history will surprise many readers, providing them with a glimpse of how Seattle looked not too long ago. ... Williams's book is a comprehensive study of the early settlers' relationship with Seattle's unique landscape and of how that early relationship continues to influence the city."

* Pacific Northwest Quarterly *

"[M]asterful...history of Seattle topography."

* Seattle Times / Pacific NW Magazine *

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