An impassioned meditation on American identity and its ebb and flow through the Capitals great waterwayAs she walks the length of the Potomac River clambering up its banks and sounding its depths Charlotte Taylor Fryar examines the geography and ecology of Washington D.C. with all manner of flora and fauna as her witness. The ecological traces of human inhabitancy provide her with imaginative access into Americaampamp8217s past for her true subject is the origin of our splintered nation and racially divided capital.From the gentrified neighborhood of Shaw to George Washingtonampamp8217s slave labor camp at Mount Vernon Potomac Fever maps the troubled histories of the United States by leading us along the lesstrafficked trails and side streets of our capital city steeped in the legacy of white supremacy and colonialism.