City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America"A wonderfully readable account of Chicago's early history" and the inspiration behind PBS's American Experience (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times). Depicting its turbulent beginnings to its current status as one of the world's most dynamic cities, City of the Century tells the story of Chicago—and the story of America, writ small. From its many natural disasters, including the Great Fire of 1871 and several cholera epidemics, to its winner-take-all politics, dynamic business empires, breathtaking architecture, its diverse cultures, and its multitude of writers, journalists, and artists, Chicago's story is violent, inspiring, passionate, and fascinating from the first page to the last. The winner of the prestigious Great Lakes Book Award, given to the year's most outstanding books highlighting the American heartland, City of the Century has received consistent rave reviews since its publication in 1996, and was made into a six-hour film airing on PBS's American Experience series. Written with energetic prose and exacting detail, it brings Chicago's history to vivid life. "With City of the Century, Miller has written what will be judged as the great Chicago history." —John Barron, Chicago Sun-Times "Brims with life, with people, surprise, and with stories." —David McCullough, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of John Adams and Truman "An invaluable companion in my journey through Old Chicago." —Erik Larson, New York Times–bestselling author of The Devil in the White City |
Contents
Empire City of the West | |
Let Us Build Ourselves a City | |
The Chicago Machine | |
The Streetcar City | |
Stories in Stone and Steel | |
A PROUD AND SOARING THING | |
The Battle for Chicago | |
1893 | |
THE GOMORRAH OF THE WEST | |
Abbreviations Used in Notes and Bibliography | |
My Lost City | |
Illustrations | |
Endnotes | |
Other editions - View all
City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America Donald L. Miller Limited preview - 1997 |
Common terms and phrases
Addams American architects architecture Armour arrived in Chicago became began Bertha Palmer Bourget building built Burnham Burnham and Root businessmen called canal capitalists cars Carter Harrison Chicago River Chicagoans city’s civic Columbian Exposition construction crowd cultural Daniel Burnham downtown Dreiser elevators engineering fair fire George Pullman Harrison Hull-House hundred Hutchinson Illinois immigrants industrial Irish Jenney John Joliet Kinzie labor lake land later lived Louis Louis Sullivan Marquette Marshall Field Michigan miles morning neighborhood night North Ogden Olmsted organized Palmer Park Paul Cornell Philip Armour political Potter Palmer Prairie Avenue rail railroad reporter saloons skyscraper South steel story Street suburbs Sullivan Sunday Theodore Dreiser thousand tower town trade train Tribune Union Stock Yard urban village Ward West William women workers wrote yards Yerkes York young