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

Author: Donald L. Miller

Narrator: Johnny Heller

Unabridged: 24 hr 18 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 01/02/2015


Synopsis

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.

About Donald L. Miller

Donald L. Miller is the John Henry MacCracken Professor of History Emeritus at Lafayette College and author of ten books, including Vicksburg, and Masters of the Air, currently being made into a television series by Tom Hanks. He has hosted, coproduced, or served as historical consultant for more than thirty television documentaries and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other publications.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Rosalinda on March 16, 2016

I gained much knowledge about my hometown by reading this. I knew the general history but not all of the details. The recent shutdown of a political candidate's visit made me proud of my city & as I am miles away from visiting there at the present moment, needed a reminder of all I love about the Wi......more

Goodreads review by Peter on February 04, 2018

A sprawling, comprehensive history of Chicago in the 19th Century, when the city rose from a swampy trading post to one of the greatest industrial metropolises of the world. My only reservation is that I’ve already read about many of Miller’s major subjects (Pullman, the stockyards, the 1893 World’s......more

Goodreads review by Erik on September 23, 2023

I'd never read a general history of Chicago covering the nineteenth century before, just books about specific topics or ones about more contemporary events. This one ranges from the retreat of the last glaciers through the Columbian Exposition with especial attention to the physical character of the......more

Goodreads review by DW on May 15, 2017

I was honestly a little surprised by how much I ended up liking this book. The beginning of it felt oddly old-fashioned: the descriptions of Marquette and Jolliet's expedition to the northern Mississippi felt like it belong in an earlier generation of history books. However, as the book went on, it......more

Goodreads review by Tim on May 21, 2019

This was an epic history of Chicago and indeed much of 19th century America, as true to the title, much of what happened in Chicago had lasting impacts on the rest of the United States in the 19th, 20th, and even arguably the 21st centuries. The book can be read several ways, the author succeeding i......more