The South Carolina State House Grounds

"[A]s handy as the book will prove to Columbia visitors, its real value lies elsewhere. Commemoration of any sort is always as much about the present as about the past, and Brandt's treatment of statuary, monuments, and other forms of memorialization detailed in this book provides vivid snapshots of the white South's troubled and troubling racial history from the beginnings of the republic to the twenty-first century."—The Journal of Southern History

"The South Carolina State House Grounds sets a new standard for guidebooks. Brandt offers insightful histories of individual monuments and charts changes in the capitol's landscape to illuminate the state's political and social history. Brandt brings alive the State House Grounds in a way that will reward even those readers who have never visited them."—Dell Upton, author of American Architecture: A Thematic History

"This is the definitive book about the State House grounds. Thoroughly researched and readable entries focusing upon each monument make the park-like setting meaningful."—John M. Bryan, author of Creating the South Carolina Statehouse

"Brandt provides a fresh understanding of South Carolina's prime public space. This well-written and well-illustrated study will be valuable not only to the state's citizens and visitors but also for people thinking about public spaces far and wide."—Catherine W. Bishir, author of North Carolina Architecture