It seems more than passing strange that Atlanta, where the Sherman war machine attained the maximum in destructive force, should have become the most dynamic power in the rehabilitation of the South; that a city which was fed to the flames in times of internecine conflict, should have become as a shining light, leading an exhausted and impoverished people into peaceful conquests out of which came wealth and happiness undreamed. The intention of the author of this valuable book is to point out the important developments in the history of Atlanta, beginning with the transfer in 1821 of the land upon which the City stands and continuing until 1902.