Award-winning journalist Eugene L. Meyer directs a tour across the "Free State" that is part love letter, part oral history, part obituary. He explores what makes Maryland special, the people who make it unique, and the places and livelihoods that have vanished over the years. The whole of the American experience is found within the state's borders and between the covers of this book--megalopolis, Appalachia, Chesapeake Bay, Deep South, industrial North, rich farmland, a major port and the primary car and rail routes along the East Coast. 

Anne Tyler, Washington Post Book World:  "The state emerges entire: colorful and passionate and full of character, a collection of gritty, indomitable individuals."  James H. Bready, Baltimore Sun:  "Meyer is our own Marco Polo, balancing interviews, explanatory background and lively commentary."  paperback, 280pp