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Title details for Neither Snow Nor Rain by Devin Leonard - Available

Neither Snow Nor Rain

A History of the United States Postal Service

by Devin Leonard
L.J. Ganser
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
Few institutions are as loved, as loathed, and as historically important as the United States Postal Service, the subject of this landmark century-spanning social, political, and economic history. 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 service-more 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 system-and the country-to 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.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 3, 2016

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781501924873
      • File size: 295387 KB
      • Duration: 10:15:23

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      An audiobook about the almost 300-year-old U.S. Postal Service seems rather ironic. After all, this is an organization that is still paper-based and relies primarily on human foot power for its work, as opposed to contemporary technology. Its history is the history of the United States, and this book recounts it from Benjamin Franklin's founding to the present. Narrator L.J. Ganser tackles this subject with an upbeat voice and a lively pace that keep the story interesting. At times, though, he reads too fast and sounds breathless, which impedes our ability to think about what he's reading. But, overall, Ganser uses his clear, friendly voice to the benefit of the story. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 13, 2016
      Leonard, a staff writer at Bloomberg Businessweek, briskly and ably revisits the origins of the U.S. Postal Service and traces its myriad changes up into the 21st century. He covers the institution's major figures, including founder Benjamin Franklin, who introduced home delivery; President Benjamin Harrison, who first suggested the ideas of rural delivery and a postal bank (ideas that respectively came to fruition under the Theodore Roosevelt and Taft administrations); Anthony Comstock, a zealous anti-vice crusader; and Winston Blount, Nixon's postmaster general and the man who made jobs merit-based at the USPS, long a bastion of patronage. Of note are the chapter on the introduction of air delivery, which features anecdotes of the enormous risks early postal pilots took, Leonard's recounting of the short but devastating postal strike of 1970, and his examination of how the USPS has survived significant challenges from both private delivery companies and the growth of online bill-paying. What currently helps keep the USPS afloat is delivering about 40% of Amazon's packages. Readers may expect is an institutional history of a vast governmental organization (now a semi-private corporation) to be a bit dry, but Leonard is a sure-footed writer who has produced a well-researched work that uncovers some colorful characters and reflects basic dynamics of American democracy. Agent: Adam Eaglin, Elyse Cheney Literary.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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