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Neither Snow nor Rain: A History of the United States Postal Service
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About Neither Snow Nor Rain: A History Of The United
Product Description The United States Postal Service is a wondrous American creation. Seven days a week, its army of 300,000 letter carriers delivers 513 million pieces of mail, forty percent of the world’s volume. It is far more efficient than any other mail servicemore than twice as efficient as the Japanese and easily outpacing the Germans and British. And the USPS has a storied history. Founded by Benjamin Franklin, it was the information network that bound far-flung Americans together, fostered a common culture, and helped American business to prosper. A first class stamp remains one of the greatest bargains of all time, and yet, the USPS is slowly vanishing. Critics say it is slow and archaic. Mail volume is down. The workforce is shrinking. Post offices are closing. In Neither Snow Nor Rain, journalist Devin Leonard tackles the fascinating, centuries-long history of the USPS, from the first letter carriers through Franklin’s days, when postmasters worked out of their homes and post roads cut new paths through the wilderness. Under Andrew Jackson, the post office was molded into a vast patronage machine, and by the 1870s, over seventy percent of federal employees were postal workers. As the country boomed, USPS aggressively developed new technology, from mobile post offices on railroads and air mail service to mechanical sorting machines and optical character readers. Neither Snow Nor Rain is a rich, multifaceted history, full of remarkable characters, from the stamp-collecting FDR, to the revolutionaries who challenged USPS’s monopoly on mail, to the renegade union members who brought the systemand the countryto a halt in the 1970s. An exciting and engrossing read, Neither Snow Nor Rain is the first major history of the USPS in over fifty years. Review Praise for Neither Snow nor Rain: Named a Favorite Book of 2016 by the Washington Independent Review of Books Delectably readable . . . [Leonard] has a zesty prose style, a great sense of humor, a fine eye for the telling anecdote and a lucid way of unraveling some of the controversies and challenges our postal service has faced in its 224 years of existence. Leonard’s account offers surprises on almost every other page . . . [and] delivers both the triumphs and travails with clarity, wit and heart.” Chicago Tribune [A] sweeping and entertaining history . . . offers a host of interesting anecdotes.” New York Times Book Review Intensely readable . . . Colored by entertaining and lively retellings, including the exploits of the Pony Express and of Wells Fargo . . . Leonard mines important moments from the history of the postal service.” Nation Engaging [and] well-written.” Washington Post Neither Snow nor Rain . . . serves up a colorful array of visionaries, hucksters, daredevils and crackpots . . . What’s most remarkable is the way [the] book makes you care what happens to its main protagonist, the U.S. Postal Service itself. And, as such, it leaves you at the end in suspense.” USA Today A lively examination of America’s most ubiquitous public institution . . . Captivating and thoughtful.” Washington Independent Review of Books Answers every question you’ve ever had about the United States Postal Service . . . Surprises abound. Who knew, for instance, that some early-20th-century families sent their children by parcel post to save on train fares?” Week A good, quirky history book . . . Lively, fun . . . Leonard delivers a lot here, and moves fast as he entertains . . . Remember how exciting it was to get birthday cards in the mail? Neither Snow nor Rain is that much fun, and I think you’ll enjoy it. If you’re stamping around for something different to read, you’ll love every letter.” Journal Record Equally rollicking and relevant . . . this is history on an epic scale . . . Engaging and concise . . . Leonard writes with a hard-nosed understanding of the organization’s current problems, but also sympathy and a fair amount of hope.
