Customer Reviews

Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West

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"Nature's Metropolis" is first, and foremost a naartive about the rise of Chicago in the 19th century. Being very similar in tone to the author's first book "Changes in the Land" (1983). Cronon seeks to establish in "Nature's Metropolis" that any understanding of the American west can not truly be comprehended unless one looks at the dominant role that Chicago played in ordering the landscape between the Great Lakes and the Rocky Mountains. By arguing that the two (city and countryside) are linked, Cronon is directly refuting the Frontier Thesis of Fredick jackson Turner - which held that the frontier (countryside) existed in isolation of the city. This is then the major premise of the book; that human actions are very much determined by the landscape.

In building his case Cronon presents some excellent case studies of the Rail+Canal, wheat, forestry and meat packing industries in Chicago, and how they helped to turn the city into a first-rank metropolitan centre. Chapter #3 on wheat is especially interesting as Cronon describes how the Board of Trade revolutionized the exchange of grain by turning the physical crop into an abstract commodity that could be easily traded amongst merchants, traders and farmers. Central to this was of course the implementation of a standardized grading system.

A final note, one of the more intriguing aspects of the book was Cronon's use of the terms "first" and "second nature". These are two concepts which he explains in the preface are derived from Hegelian and Marxist interpretations of nature - yet he does not give the reader too much more of an insight. Essentially, "first nature" is a realm where species (be they plant, animal, human) succeeded and failed mainly because of circumstances encountered within their immediate habitats. "Second nature" (such as a city like Chicago and all of its built-up environs) would put economic pressures on species hundreds of miles away - effectively altering the landscapes of these places. Unfortunately, in discussions about Cronon's book these two concepts do not really generate much debate. I find them to be very fascinating and wish they had been better explained in the book. If you too are intersted in these concepts of "first" and "second nature" I think the recent book by Steven Stoll "The Fruits of Natural Advantage" (1998) would be a good place to start - it is next up on my reading list!

There are going to be other reviewers who can provide more erudite reviews-- reviews better grounded in the study of cities or economic history. I am nothing more than an average reader who enjoys non-fiction.

First of all, potential readers should be aware that this is an economic history. It follows flows of goods and capital rather than following the lives and careers of the men and women of Chicago. I knew what to expect, but for people looking for a more standard history of Chicago this may make Nature's Metropolis difficult to engage.

I really enjoyed reading the book. It stretched my understanding of the economic growth of cities and raised issues that I had not considered about the role of the city *in* nature (not as opposed to nature). The examination of elements that made Chicago into both a city and The City was fascinating. The chapters tracing grain, lumber and meat as goods were clearly written and underscored the central theses.

I guess it goes without saying that Nature's Metropolis is far from a light read, but that does not make it less rewarding. As someone who does not have a background in history, I only longingly wished that the bibliography had been annotated to help support further reading.

I remember, many years ago, standing next to an Illinois corn field at the intersection 212th and Cicero and wondering how Chicago's street grid system had worked its way so far into the country side. What in the world did this corn field and the intersection of State and Madison in downtown Chicago have to do with each other? This book explained it to me along the economic history of Chicago -- a history that went a lot farther in explaining the citys size, influence, and even existence than the biographies Marshal Field, Potter Palmer, the Colonel, and the rest.

Great read.

If you prefer your history to be the story of human beings, their struggles, and their triumphs, this book will disappoint. Cronon presents the history of Chicago and the midwest as the history of commodities and trade. It's an interesting approach, and he shows the global implications of many of his insights-- he correctly observes that much of what he demonstrates with Chicago could also be shown with other cities as well. Some of his insights didn't strike me as being nearly as unexpected as he seems to think they are (the interdependence on commodities wholesalers and their markets, for example), but most of his ideas are well-argued and supported. Ultimately this is not so much about Chicago's history as it is about using Chicago and the west as a case study to show how cities grow, and how city and country are inter-related.

This is a very distinctive, well researched and argued book about how Chicago developed. Starting with a standard model of Urban Economics - the von Thunen model of central place theory- the author quickly moves beyond it. The distinctive contribution of his book is Cronon's emphasis on how the roots of Chicago's remarkable development lay in the "soil" of its surrounding hinterlands. He carries this argument further by examining how the transportation and communication revolutions of the 19th century - the railroad and the telegraph - created unique advanatages for Chicago relative to other competitive metropolitan areas (such as St. Louis, Cincinnati, Milwaukee) and finally, how in turn, new metropolitan areas (such as KC, Omaha) arose to steal aways Chicago's dominance.

As other reviewers have noted, the book offers really fascinating, detailed discussions and original research on - for example - the grain and lumber industries as well as capital flows in the midwestern US creatively using court records on corporate failures to track the flow of investments.

This books contains a rich lode of intellectual wealth and it is well worth the effort to mine it.

I don't know how I lived in Chicago for two years without reading this book. Cronon answers the question of why Chicago grew to become the country's central metropolis in the Nineteenth Century. The answer is complicated, and is not simply a function of Chicago's location at the southwest corner of the Great Lakes. Cronon discusses trade in grain, timber and beef, the rise of the railroads, Chicago's competition with St. Louis, and the World's Fair. All of these subjects are presented in impressive but accessible detail. This is impressive history

I was impressed by this book. I read it for its history of Chicago's commodity markets, and it gives the best history of those that I've found, but I was fascinated by the entire thing. I found the story of the lumber industry particularly interesting -- it would have been easy for the author to lapse into moralizing but he stuck to the facts, explaining how bosses, workers, customers, lumber yard owners all felled the forests. He showed how people in the city and country shaped the midwest together, and he argued this using extensive historical fact, having apparently spent 10 years reading what seems like every available periodical, bankruptcy record and resource available. I feel as though what I regularly see in my own life validates his point -- go to Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and surrounding states and you will always find a connection to Chicago. It seems a particularly good read for these times, as people are uniting to address environmental problems, but I suspect readers will be able to say it's a timely read for years to come.

The author's easy natural style makes this book a real pleasure to read. His thesis is so intriguing that the book difficult to put down. The explanation of the interaction of town and country, and how each organizes the other, is fascinating. The book contains a careful balance between theory and rich details about the industries that drove Chicago's growth -rail, timber, and meat packing...

I "had" to read this book for a college history class so I went to the library and checked it out. Somewhere in Chapter 2 I returned the library book and bought my own copy. This is one of the best books I've ever read. There were times I felt that I was reading something that happned 10 years ago... not over 150! While this may not be a book you'd first be drawn to, I've found myself reading this 'textbook' over my other personal picks. Everyone with any kind of intrest to the past should own their own copy of this book! (The chapters on grain and lumber were my favorite!)

The author weaves together many esoteric topics (ranging from political scandal to ecology to railroad development to grain prices) in a compelling and enjoyable way. This book has given me a much deeper understanding of the development of Chicago, the West, and the country as a whole. It's also an excellent explanation of the development of the American economy (and the world economy). Thoroughly researched and elegantly written, it is just as enjoyable as any fiction book. I finished it in two days.

-Ian Holzhauer