Publisher's Synopsis
A well-researched historical novel based on actual events during the politically tense period leading up to the American Civil War. It tells the tragic story of the sculptor, Thomas Crawford, chosen to create this iconic image, Statue of Freedom crowning the Capitol Dome in Washington, DC. His life intermingles with some of the most interesting personages of the era-the great abolitionist Senator from Massachusetts, Charles Sumner, a self-taught sculptor and Washington insider, Clark Mills, and Captain Montgomery C. Meigs construction supervisor of the of extension of the capitol and its new dome. The story moves back and forth between Crawford's studio in the ancient capital of Italy, Rome, and the new capital of America, Washington, DC. Includes 25 pictures.