City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America

City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America
by Donald L. Miller

City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America
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Book Summary Information

Author: Donald L. Miller
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1997-04-03
ISBN: 0684831384
Number of pages: 704
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Book Reviews of City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America

Book Review: THE Chicago history text
Summary: 5 Stars

If you have an interest in learning Chicago history, if you live in Chicago and think you know its history, read this book. This book is the foundation of the largest city in America truly founded by "Americans". A lot of Chicagoans can recite tidbits from the past century, focusing on Capone and the city's Daley-run government as the most intriguing aspects of The Windy City.

But few fail to really understand the foundation of Chicago. This book takes you from its pre-white "settler" days through the city's, and one of the nation's, defining moments on a world scale, the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893.

Donald Miller takes you on an eloquently-written journey through the facts, people, architecture and overwhelming ideals that made Chicago what was in the 1900s and continues to be into the 21st century. Miller's writing, filled with information squeezed into each sentence via the ever-present use of the comma, can at times become overwhelming. However, Miller's style forces the reader to take his or her time and absorb each historic moral.

I do believe a reader can turn this book into a quicker read. Though its incredible amount of information and wonderful description of Chicago culture will not be fully understood in this way. This book is best treated like a fun but serious read. Grab a highlighter and some page flags so you'll be able to go back from time to time and remember little facts that will astound your friends, though your understanding of the city's history will already greatly impress anyone who casually asks a question about Chicago.

This book's build to the 1893 World's Fair is especially apropos currently, given Chicago's bid to bring the 2016 Olympics to the Second City. Many parallels can be drawn.
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Summary of City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America

The epic of Chicago is the story of the emergence of modern America. Here, witness Chicago's growth from a desolate fur-trading post in the 1830s to one of the world's most explosively alive cities by 1900.

Donald Miller's powerful narrative embraces it all: Chicago's wild beginnings, its reckless growth, its natural calamities (especially the Great Fire of 1871), its raucous politics, its empire-building businessmen, its world-transforming architecture, its rich mix of cultures, its community of young writers and journalists, and its staggering engineering projects -- which included the reversal of the Chicago River and raising the entire city from prairie mud to save it from devastating cholera epidemics. The saga of Chicago's unresolved struggle between order and freedom, growth and control, capitalism and community, remains instructive for our time, as we seek ways to build and maintain cities that retain their humanity without losing their energy. City of the Century throbs with the pulse of the great city it brilliantly brings to life.

It's hard to believe that as late as 1830, Chicago was a desolate fur-trading outpost. Within half a century, it become a manufacturing, agriculture and industrial center and the railroad capital of the country. Donald L. Miller, a history professor at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, chronicles the evolution of the "Windy City" and the people who made their mark in it. From railroad entrepreneur George Pullman, to retailers Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck, to reaper inventor Cyrus McCormick and architect Frank Lloyd Wright, Chicago was built by innovators. With its system of mass transit, regimented work force, diverse immigrant groups and historic battles between private and public good, Chicago symbolizes the emergence of modern American life.

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