Capital of the World: The Race to Host the United Nations

The Race to Host the United Nations

Steve, thank you for hosting this stop on my blog tour for Capital of the World. The story reminds me of the headquarters for the United Federation of Planets, too. Glad to host the book tour. Your account of how the UN got to New York was really enjoyable. Capital of the Cyber world - From The Square. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Twitter account.

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Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Official Home of the Anti-Chaps. The Race to Host the United Nations: March 5, at Professor Glad to host the book tour. March 6, at March 10, at Thanks for being a part of the tour. March 13, at Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Email required Address never made public.

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Mires really makes this story come to life! We get to read about all of the different places that wanted to be in the running to be the home of the United Nations.

We get to read about all of their various campaigns. Some of the places had very active campaigns even though it seems like they were definitely behind the pack. The book is relatively short but is so richly detailed!

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I loved getting a behind the scenes look at the various things that were considered when the UN committee was making the decision on where it would be located. One part that I found very interesting was all of the different mock-ups for what various architects thought that the United Nations complex should look like. The design that ended up getting chosen for NYC is absolutely iconic and it's very strange to imagine anything different in another place. I loved seeing the different designs that other places came up with.

They were very interesting. I'm making my architect husband read this book next! This book will appeal to history and even some architecture lovers too! Mar 05, Jennifer rated it liked it. I knew the ending of Capital of the World.

Capital of the World: The Race to Host the United Nations by Charlene Mires

The United Nations is headquartered in New York. What I didn't know was how it ended up there. I definitely didn't know how many cities were begging for the UN to set up camp in their backyard. Some of these towns went to great lengths to lure the United Nations to their neck of the woods.

Capital of the World: The Race to Host the United Nations

Perhaps I only think they were ridiculous because I know where the UN ended up? Still, some of their shenanigans made me giggle. There were serious matters to consider.

The United Nations was to be a venture that promoted peace and equality. It wouldn't do to put the headquarters in places where equality was regularly tested. A LOT of places had troubles with that particular issue. The UN had to be fairly accessible to people from around the world. Even though San Francisco successfully hosted the charter conference of the UN, the powers that be decided that any city on the West Coast was out.

This book is well researched and full of interesting historical tidbits. Entertaining and spirited, Capital of the World hits the right notes. Mar 14, Jaylia3 rated it really liked it. Capital of the World tells that story in entertaining detail. Because of the conflicting national interests of the countries involved in the site search, and the fact that Europe was still recovering from WWII, the United States was chosen as the host country, but where in the US? With patriotism and civic pride buoyed up by the war, over hundred cities and even small towns lobbied for the honor, including the re How did the UN wind up in New York City when just about nobody wanted it there?

With patriotism and civic pride buoyed up by the war, over hundred cities and even small towns lobbied for the honor, including the remote but beautiful Black Hills area of South Dakota--my personal favorite. While the detail is at times more than I wanted, Capital of the World is fascinating as a history of the evolving events, mindsets, and viewpoints that guided developments during the middle years of the last century.

Jun 10, Margaret Sankey rated it liked it. While the actual planning of the UN proceeded in San Francisco, excited boosters began lobbying to host the permanent headquarters, a decision that spoke volumes about the post-war priorities of the US a Pacific shift? While the promoters pulled out all the available stunts and advertising tropes, there were real problems--many US cities had insufficient infrastructure, others would produce mortifying racial incidents with international visitors, While the actual planning of the UN proceeded in San Francisco, excited boosters began lobbying to host the permanent headquarters, a decision that spoke volumes about the post-war priorities of the US a Pacific shift?

While the promoters pulled out all the available stunts and advertising tropes, there were real problems--many US cities had insufficient infrastructure, others would produce mortifying racial incidents with international visitors, some were just inaccessible Sault Ste. Mires follows the memos to the eventual selection of New York, as well as the activities of the singularly ill-fated delegation pushing Rapid City, SD.

Apr 03, David R. An almost amusing retelling of the race to site the United Nations between its chartering in and the construction of the headquarters complex in New York City in The contest, entirely unsolicited by the UN, was initially a pathetic round of invitations and tourism-board-pitches from a vast array of generally unsuitable sites.

In the end, budget realities and influence politics made the An almost amusing retelling of the race to site the United Nations between its chartering in and the construction of the headquarters complex in New York City in In the end, budget realities and influence politics made the final determination. In retrospect, it's a pretty sad commentary on the US of the time that so many had such unrealistic ideals for a "Capital of the World" that they wanted it in their own back yards.

Jul 17, Jim Blessing rated it liked it Shelves: This was a mildly amusing book about the UN decision-making process in selecting a headquarter city for the new UN. I was not familiar with this process and was amazed how many small towns and out of the way places tried to compete with larger cities to be the "Capital of the World. However, at the last minute John Rockefeller Jr at the suggestion of his son, Nelson purchased a site in NYC This was a mildly amusing book about the UN decision-making process in selecting a headquarter city for the new UN.

Otherwise, it seems like Philadelphia would have been the choice. Adam Sharp rated it really liked it Jun 06, Feb 16, Rj rated it did not like it. Mandy rated it it was ok Mar 20, Chris rated it really liked it Jul 28, Howie rated it liked it Jun 11, Barbara Capehart rated it it was amazing Apr 11, Tyler Dos Santos-Tam rated it liked it Aug 27, Nathan rated it it was ok Apr 30, Kathleen rated it really liked it Sep 01, Amy McVay rated it it was amazing Apr 25, Melinda rated it liked it Mar 06, Kim rated it liked it Mar 18, Christine Schmid rated it it was ok Sep 08, Stacey rated it it was ok Oct 04, Sam Ritholtz rated it really liked it Feb 05, Tyler Ostergaard rated it liked it May 25, NYU Press added it Jan 04, Carly Thompson marked it as to-read Jan 23, Wcplanfi added it Feb 04, Aviv marked it as to-read Mar 01, Emily marked it as to-read Mar 04, Matt added it Mar 07, Misty marked it as to-read Mar 08, Sandy WI girl at heart marked it as to-read Mar 10, Harry marked it as to-read Mar 11, Todd marked it as to-read Mar 13, Svenja marked it as to-read Mar 13, Erika marked it as to-read Mar 21,