THE FIRST POPULAR HISTORY OF THE MAKING OF THE MASON-DIXON LINE The Mason-Dixon line-surely the most famous surveyors' line ever drawn-represents one of the greatest & most difficult scientific achievements of its time. But behind this significant triumph is a thrilling story, one that has thus far eluded both historians & surveyors. In this engrossing narrative, professional surveyor Edwin Danson takes us on a fascinating journey with Charles Mason & Jeremiah Dixon, two gifted & exuberant English surveyors, through the fields & forests of eighteenth-century America. Vividly describing life in the backwoods & the hardships & dangers of frontier surveying, Drawing the Line discloses for the first time in 250 years many hitherto unknown surveying methods, revealing how Mason & Dixon succeeded where the best American surveyors of the period failed. In accessible, ordinary language, Danson masterfully throws the first clear light on the surveying of the Mason-Dixon line. Set in the social & historical context of pre-Revolutionary America, this book is a spellbinding account of one of the great & historic achievements of its time. Advance Praise for Drawing the Line Drawing the Line combines a fast-moving story, a human drama, & a clear account of surveying in the era of George Washington. An intriguing interaction of politics & science.-CHARLES ROYSTER, Boyd Professor of History, Louisiana State University, & Winner of the Bancroft Prize in History