Neither Snow Nor Rain: A History of the United States Postal Service

Neither Snow Nor Rain: A History of the United States Postal Service

by Devin Leonard
Neither Snow Nor Rain: A History of the United States Postal Service

Neither Snow Nor Rain: A History of the United States Postal Service

by Devin Leonard

Paperback

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Overview

Few institutions are as loved, as loathed, and as historically important as the United States Post Office, the subject of this landmark century-spanning social, political, and economic history.

Updated with new reporting from the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic and the historic 2020 election, the first full history of the United States Postal Service.

The first major history of the United States Postal Service in decades, now updated with new reporting, Neither Snow nor Rain is the fascinating, centuries-long story of an extraordinary American creation, originally founded by Benjamin Franklin. In this rich, character-driven, multifaceted history, journalist Devin Leonard relates how the USPS bound far-flung Americans together, fostered a common culture, and helped American business to prosper. While over recent decades the USPS has been imperiled by corporate competitors and falling federal support, the horrors of COVID-19 and the surge of mail-in voting during the pivotal 2020 election reminded everyone that this essential service offers a crucial source of contact and connection in a time of unprecedented isolation, once more reaffirming the importance of the Postal Service to American lives and the future of the country.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780802159014
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Publication date: 11/16/2021
Sales rank: 442,112
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Devin Leonard is a senior writer for Bloomberg News and a regular contributor to Bloomberg Businessweek. Previously a senior writer at Fortune and a staff writer for the New York Observer, he has also written for the New York Times, New York magazine, Wired, and the Philadelphia Daily News. He lives in Manhattan.
devinleonard.com

Table of Contents

Prologue xi

1 The Founding Father 1

2 Interlopers I 22

3 Comstockery 46

4 A Businessman at the Post Office 65

5 Into the Sky 87

6 A Stamp Collector in the White House 113

7 Mount Semrow 141

8 The Day the Mail Stopped 159

9 Interlopers II 182

10 Going Postal 202

11 You've Got Mail! 221

12 "Thank God for Amazon" 237

13 "The Postal Service is a Joke" 254

14 "The Whole Country Is in an Uproar!" 270

Epilogue 295

Acknowledgments 299

Notes 303

Index 349

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