"City of Big Shoulders links key events in Chicago's development, from its marshy origins in the 1600s to today's robust metropolis. Robert G. Spinney presents Chicago in terms of the people whose lives made the city-from the tycoons and the politicians to the hundreds of thousands of immigrants from all over the world.
In this revised and updated second edition that brings Chicago's story into the twenty-first century, Spinney sweeps his historian's gaze across the colorful and dramatic panorama of the city's explosive past. How did the pungent swamplands that the Native Americans called ""the wild-garlic place"" burgeon into one of the world's largest and most sophisticated cities? What is the real story behind the Great Chicago Fire? What aspects of American industry exploded with the bomb in Haymarket Square? Could the gritty blue-collar hometown of Al Capone become a visionary global city?
A city of immigrants and entrepreneurs, Chicago is quintessentially American. Spinney brings it to life and highlights the key people, moments, and special places-from Fort Dearborn to Cabrini-Green, Marquette to Mayor Daley, the Union Stock Yards to the Chicago Bulls-that make this incredible city one of the best places in the world."
By:
Robert G. Spinney
Imprint: Northern Illinois University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: second edition
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 22mm
Weight: 907g
ISBN: 9781501748967
ISBN 10: 1501748963
Pages: 324
Publication Date: 15 May 2020
Recommended Age: From 18 years
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
1. The Early World of Chigagou, 1600–1750 2. Chigagou Becomes Chicago, 1750–1835 3. Boom, Bust, and Recovery in Early Chicago, 1835–1850 4. Chicago Conquers the Midwest, 1850–1890 5. Life in a City on the Make, 1850–1900 6. The Fire, the Bomb, and the Fair, 1871–1893 7. The New Immigration, 1880–1920 8. Progressivism and Urban Reform, 1890–1915 9. World War I and the Roaring Twenties, 1915–1929 10. The Great Depression, World War II, and Suburban Growth, 1929–1955 11. Richard J. Daley and the City That Works, 1955–1976 12. The Challenges of the Post-Machine Years, 1976–1997 13. Glamorous and Grim: Chicago in the Twenty-First Century
Robert G. Spinney is Professor of History at Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia. He is author of World War II in Nashville.
Reviews for City of Big Shoulders: A History of Chicago
Condensed yet energetic and substantial history of Chicago. Spinney has a firm sense of historical narrative as well as a keen eye for entertaining and illuminating detail. * Publishers Weekly * A much-needed, brief yet comprehensive analytical history of Chicago. * Journal of Illinois History *
