City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America [Paperback]

Donald L. Miller (Author)

Book Description

Series: Illinois | Publication Date: April 3, 1997

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A desolate fur-trading outpost in 1830, Chicago became, within half a century, the nation's railroad hub, livestock and packing center and a manufacturing giant. A glorious anthem to a tumultuous city, this synthesis of industrial, social and cultural history captures the raw, robust spirit of Chicago on every page. Miller, a history professor at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, peoples his big, colorful, engrossing canvas with architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan, railroad entrepreneur George Pullman, settlement-house workers Jane Addams and Florence Kelley, "Meat king" Philip Armour, dry-goods merchant Marshall Field, retailers Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck, reaper inventor Cyrus McCormick, mail-order pioneer Aaron Montgomery Ward, Theodore Dreiser, Lincoln Steffens and others. Chicago-with its experience of mass transit, a regimented workforce, instant suburbs, the Americanization of diverse immigrant groups and battles between privatism and the public good-serves as a prism through which we watch the emergence of modern American life.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

No other American city experienced the growth and development, destructive natural disaster, and rebirth that Chicago did in the 19th century. The Great Fire of 1871 was potentially the end of the largest city in America's heartland, but by 1893 Chicago had rebuilt and hosted the World's Columbian Exposition. The story of that growth, loss, and reemergence is remarkable, and historian Miller (Lewis Mumford: A Life, LJ 6/1/89) has written an equally remarkable story of Chicago, what he terms an industrial history. Miller carefully develops the saga of Chicago's growth, despair, and recovery in an extraordinary text that is readable yet scholarly. In his narrative Miller tells of Chicago's historical and literary figures, reform leaders, architects, industrialists, and entrepreneurs. Several histories of the city have appeared over the years (e.g., Edward Wagenknecht's Chicago, LJ 3/15/64), yet Miller's is a model for future historians. Highly recommended for all libraries.?Boyd Childress, Auburn Univ. Lib., Ala.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 704 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (April 3, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684831384
• ISBN-13: 978-0684831381
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #178,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #77 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Regional U.S. > Midwest

More About the Author

Donald L. Miller is the John Henry MacCracken Professor of History at Lafayette College. He hosted the series A Biography of America on PBS and has appeared in numerous other PBS programs in the American Experience series, as well as in programs on the History Channel. He is the author of eight previous books, among them the prize-winning City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America, The Story of World War II, and D-Days in the Pacific.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now I Know Why Chicago is Chicago!, January 13, 2003

By 

Donald Meyerson (Easton, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America (Paperback)

Donald L. Miller's "City of the Century" is one of the best books of its genre. The book has the sweep of a novel with the detail of an exegesis. Miller's forte is the taking of several historical characters and weaving the truth of their lives into the fabric of the history he would have us read. And in "City", he has excelled at his own methodology.

We are introduced to those who settled the "City" and become close to those who not only grew Chicago but soon after it had reached new heights in the 19th century were faced with the destruction by fire of most of what had been built. And we learn that they were not daunted by this monumental task of re-building the "City". And reading the gripping description of the ruins, we are yet elated by the notion that Chicago is not finished. In less than a decade Chicago rose from the ashes -- to become by the end of the century on of America's greatest cities.

Dr. Miller takes us through the whole of Chicago's century of growth, destruction, and rebirth never losing command of the many threads that made the final fabric. And in the telling of Chicago's story we also learn much about the America that contributed its people and its wealth, along with their hopes and dreams to making the "City of the Century".

Read this book and you will agree that the only thing lacking is a volume two depicting the continuing evolution of Chicago through the 20th century.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating read for the casual or avid historian, November 18, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America (Hardcover)

I have had the privilege of having Donald Miller as a professor for three semesters, and when City of the Century first came out, I was one of the first to read it. From the opening pages of Joliet and Marquette's exploration of the Mississippi River, the reader is transplanted into the muddy plains that were to become Chicago. Following the next 200+ years, Miller takes you on a fantastic voyage of the successes and failures of one of the most influential cities in American History. The characters and the stories they have are retold by Miller in a style that makes the reader want to learn more. It is the closest that most will ever come to having him as a professor, for his book reminds me very much of his teaching style. A lot of information wound around hours of stories and antecdotes. Miller has the uncanny ability to trick you into learning . You feel as though you are simply sitting at a bar with the man, laughing and discussing whatever topic comes up. But when you finish, you realize that you will walk away with a greater understanding than you ever had before. Donald Miller translates this style into an award winning masterpiece of writing. I would whole heartedly recommend this to all.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Interesting, April 19, 2004

By 

Joe (Wauconda,IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America (Paperback)

I thought this book was one of the more interesting pieces on Chicago history. I am lucky enough to work in the Loop and loved the section of the book about the buildings and to my surprise many of them are still around. I even took a walk to the Rookery and Monadnock buildings to see them for my self and now have a renewed respect for these buildings. I see some readers have complained about the apparent lack of organization throughout the book but that is because it is theme based and not a chronological history of the city like a history book would be but rather he covers topics of the city's past that cover years,decades or even generations. Anyone that considers themselves a Chicagoan will understand and like this book.