Why Place Matters: Geography, Identity, and Civic Life in Modern America (New Atlantis Books) - Hardcover

"In this important book, insightful thinkers--from poets and philosophers to geographers and planners--explore one of the most disorienting results of our dazzling technological advances: an increasingly attenuated sense of place. Just decades ago, such a book would have been superfluous; today it is essential in a rapidly globalizing and digitizing world."
BRUCE COLE
Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center
Former Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities
"Both liberals and conservatives celebrate, each for their own reasons, the freedoms that modern life gives us, but we all too easily forget that to be liberated from one set of constraints is to become captive to another. Neither nostalgic nor polemical, Why Place Matters illuminates the "mind-forg'd manacles" of modern mobility, and in so doing teaches us why learning to love where we live--and, so to speak, learning to live where we live--is critical to human flourishing."
ROD DREHER
Author of "The Little Way of Ruthie Leming"
"Cities are the crucibles of modern civilization. This unique and thought-provoking collection of essays will be crucial for helping anyone who cares about cities understand how they do or do not meet human needs in this new century. I will refer to this collection again and again."
ROD GOULD
City Manager, Santa Monica, California
"In our age of increasing rootlessness and digital disembodiment, this splendid book shows us how to think our way back, practically and philosophically, to the solid ground of place--the home, the neighborhood, and the city."
STEVEN LAGERFELD
Editor, "The Wilson Quarterly"
"In this important book, insightful thinkersfrom poets and philosophers to geographers and plannersexplore one of the most disorienting results of our dazzling technological advances: an increasingly attenuated sense of place. Just decades ago, such a book would have been superfluous; today it is essential in a rapidly globalizing and digitizing world."
BRUCE COLE
Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center
Former Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities
"Both liberals and conservatives celebrate, each for their own reasons, the freedoms that modern life gives us, but we all too easily forget that to be liberated from one set of constraints is to become captive to another. Neither nostalgic nor polemical, Why Place Matters illuminates the mind-forg d manacles of modern mobility, and in so doing teaches us why learning to love where we liveand, so to speak, learning to live where we liveis critical to human flourishing."
ROD DREHER
Author of The Little Way of Ruthie Leming
"Cities are the crucibles of modern civilization. This unique and thought-provoking collection of essays will be crucial for helping anyone who cares about cities understand how they do or do not meet human needs in this new century. I will refer to this collection again and again."
ROD GOULD
City Manager, Santa Monica, California
"In our age of increasing rootlessness and digital disembodiment, this splendid book shows us how to think our way back, practically and philosophically, to the solid ground of placethe home, the neighborhood, and the city."
STEVEN LAGERFELD
Editor, The Wilson Quarterly"
"In this important book, insightful thinkers--from poets and philosophers to geographers and planners--explore one of the most disorienting results of our dazzling technological advances: an increasingly attenuated sense of place. Just decades ago, such a book would have been superfluous; today it is essential in a rapidly globalizing and digitizing world."

BRUCE COLE
Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center
Former Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities

"Both liberals and conservatives celebrate, each for their own reasons, the freedoms that modern life gives us, but we all too easily forget that to be liberated from one set of constraints is to become captive to another. Neither nostalgic nor polemical, Why Place Matters illuminates the "mind-forg'd manacles" of modern mobility, and in so doing teaches us why learning to love where we live--and, so to speak, learning to live where we live--is critical to human flourishing."

ROD DREHER
Author of The Little Way of Ruthie Leming

"Cities are the crucibles of modern civilization. This unique and thought-provoking collection of essays will be crucial for helping anyone who cares about cities understand how they do or do not meet human needs in this new century. I will refer to this collection again and again."

ROD GOULD
City Manager, Santa Monica, California

"In our age of increasing rootlessness and digital disembodiment, this splendid book shows us how to think our way back, practically and philosophically, to the solid ground of place--the home, the neighborhood, and the city."

STEVEN LAGERFELD
Editor, The Wilson Quarterly

Wilfred M. McClay is the SunTrust Chair of Humanities at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Ted V. McAllister is the Edward L. Gaylord Chair and Associate Professor of Public Policy at Pepperdine University.