Customer Reviews

Atlanta Rising: The Invention of an International City 1946-1996

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A good, somewhat objective guide to the history of Atlanta over the last 50 years, the sort of book that describes every mayoral election in detail. More boosterish about Atlanta than I would have been, perhaps because of the timing (i.e. right before the Olympics). Not nearly as much analysis as reporting, and not as much discussion of Atlanta's failures (e.g. why do Atlantans drive 34 miles a day? Why is Atlanta's crime rate after 10 years of decline as high as New York's in the bad old days of the early 90s?). But there are plenty of books on Atlanta that supply a more critical perspective (e.g. Bullard's Sprawl City).

As a native Atlantan who is fully aware of the city's rich history, Frederick Allen's book opned my eyes to the breakneack, full throttle, tight-rope-walking nature of her growth. The book describes in entratining but expert fashion the chain of events that brought Atlanta into the international spotlight so quickly and so successfully. The relationships among Atlanta's decision makers and the backroom deals that shaped the city are fascinating and engaging as put forth by Allen.

This is a great book for anyone interested in Atlanta and how it became what it is at the end of the twentieth century.

Atlanta is an amazing success story, this city was on the ropes in the seventies, it was going the way of Memphis, Birmingham, and New Orleans, then, Atlanta's white business elite and it's black majority decided to work together, and Atlanta become the capitol of the new south, rising like a Pheonix from the ashes of racial striff and economic stagnation, with the help of fortune 500,Coca Cola and Delta, and forward thinking mayors like Hartsfeld, Young, and Jackson. The rise of Atlanta is not just a great southern story, it's a great American story, as New Orleans tries to pick up the ashes of a one proud city, it should look to Atlanta, though if history is any indication it won't, that's why half of New Orleans population is in the two most succesful southern cities, Houston and....Atlanta.

Since I was very little, I have always admired Atlanta for its role as one of the world's major international centers - and I've also always wondered exactly how it accomplished this status and mind-boggling growth while other Southern cities such as Birmingham, Memphis, and New Orleans failed to capitalize on their full potentials. This book provides just that insight by exploring the powerful men, such as William Hartsfield, MLK Jr, Ivan Allen, etc. who shaped Atlanta's development over the last half-century. A fun book and a definite must read for those into the 20th Century history of American cities.

If you any interest in Atlanta history, including Coca-Cola history, then this book is a must read at only 250 pages. The writing style makes the reading very enjoyable. The author previously wrote "Secret Formula", a history of Coca-Cola.