It pairs vintage black-and-white photographs--including those of pioneers of American and commercial photography such as John Plumbe and Mathew Brady--with splendid color photographs taken from the same vantage points today.

The book includes all the tourist must-see places of the capital city. Sites include, the Capitol, White House, Library of Congress, Supreme Court, Treasury Building, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Smithsonian Museum, Union Station, Ford's Theatre, Pentagon, Arlington Cemetery, Folger Shakespeare Library, Old Post Office and the offices that Mark Twain described as "the ugliest building in America."

It also features some breathtaking vintage panoramas taken from the Washington Monument showing the nascent capital in glorious detail.