Customer Reviews

A Natural History of the Chicago Region (Center for American Places - Center Books on American Places)

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What makes this book unique and so valuable is that it pulls together a wide diversity of material into a unified whole. To access equivalent information one would have to consult hundreds of separate sources (indeed, the bibliography includes approximately 500 entries.) Greenberg paints a complete picture of the natural history of the greater Chicago area, from southwestern Michigan around the lake into southeastern Wisconsin, with a wide-ranging view of the geology, ecosystems, flora, and fauna. I have been a resident of this area for 50 years and always had a keen interest in nature, but reading this book I realized how little I actually knew about my surroundings. I was saddened at many points while reading of what has been destroyed here in the past 300 years. Greenberg's accounts of this violence are neither shrill nor hand-wringing, and he injects hope for what can yet be saved and how. This wonderful book has a place on the shelves of all nature lovers in the greater Chicago area, and is an absolute must for all public and school libraries!

If I could select one regional work that should be required reading for all high school seniors of the region, this would be it. Greenberg's ability to tell this incredible story simultaneously on both the historical and natural levels, while maintaining continuity, is by itself, fascinating. How one region of such incredibly diverse land and seascapes, flora, fauna and natural beauty could be ravaged, wasted and in some cases recovered makes riveting reading. The wetlands of the Kankakee and Calumet may have been as diverse and abundant with wildlife as any areas this continent has ever seen. His descriptions of these areas, as well as descriptions of the great prairies and the dunes and the battles that were fought to save them need to be taught as we teach any core discipline. Having spent most of life in the Chicago region, I am amazed at how little most of us know of our own natural past. As both a historical essay and a reference volume, A Natural History of the Chicago Region is a remarkable work and just great reading.

As a professional in a technical area I appreciated the technical details that occur throughout the book. I am, however a novice on most of the subject matter so its validity is beyond my capabilities to evaluate. However, as a novice I found the book not only interesting, captivating (which is highly unusual for a technical subject), and stimulating. It has stimulated my interested into the broad range of not only natural history but the natural habitat that surrounds me today. I am not from the Chicago region but some of the topics were still on target for my area, Ohio. I wish someone would write a book for this area too. The book has made me want to go into the great outdoors and appreciate it a bit more. I would think that the book would make an excellent introductory text at a college on the subject of natural history. Mr. Greenberg seems to find a way of connecting the historical and current activities in such a smooth and sometimes humorous way that I believe it would be a text even students would enjoy.

Professor of Computer Science
Sandra M. Fabyan

Being born and raised in Lake County Indiana, I had now idea of what the region was really like before Europeans arrived. In a world now that is predominated by concrete, steel and noise, the pristine nature must have been staggering when Fr. Marquette first arrived. However, after Europeans settled in the region, what they did was absolutely tragic. American history often focuses on the depletion of the natural resources west of the Mississippi River, especially the Bison. I was amazed just how efficiently humans exploited the Chicago region, it almost pales in terms of Western US history. This is a well written and documented book of the complete exploitation of the entire area and every possible ecosystem. Reading about it made me depressed. But I also was amazed how many species (>90%) still can be found. Many people fought outrageously lopsided battles to save a few acres here and there. Had it not been for these forward thinking people, surely little or none of the praries, woods, wetlands and dunes would be left. Anyone reading this book should think twice and then again about killing the next snake they see in their garden, or dumping out that last bit of herbicide from their lawn sprayer. Thanks Mr. Greenburg for sharing your labor of love with us.

I covet knowledge of natural history and live in the Chicago Area. I learned a ton from this book. Everything from orchids to rattlesnakes to mussels is covered in this book. Another strongpoint is helping to paint a mental picture of the region pre-settlement, which I believe is of extreme importance for anyone interested in flora/fauna of the region. A must read IMO.

As soon as I started reading the book, I found it to be authoritative and easy enough to read by the average interested reader. The diagrams helped explain a lot for me and gave me a reference so as to follow the text.

This book teaches far more than what Chicago had been in the past. Every imaginable topic of nature is presented in this single volume. There are many photographs in the book, some of which go back a century or more. What's more, there is an extensive bibliography in the back of the book for further research. The book includes maps which show the probable distribution of prairies, forests, etc., in the Chicago area prior to European settlement. It is interesting to note that the areas immediately east of the Des Plaines and the Chicago Rivers had been forested, whereas the areas immediately west of those rivers had been prairies.

The section on insects includes details of the 17-year cicada, and how the settlers first reacted to this unusual spectacle. The section on birds includes detailed studies of bird-building collisions. The section on mammals includes focus on deer, coyotes, raccoons, and buffalo.

Much emphasis is placed on the prairie and efforts to recreate it. I was delighted to read about the pioneering work of Drs. Robert Betz, Herbert Lamp, and Ron Panzer. I have known all three men, and the first two had formerly been my professors at Northeastern Illinois University.