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Old 05-17-2018, 08:52 PM
 
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I was recently visiting Chicago and took the Architecture Foundation 90 min river tour (excellent!) and am now eager to learn more about the history of Chicago's development. What book or books would you recommend for someone who wants to learn about how Chicago's politics, architecture and parks have influenced each other?
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Old 05-18-2018, 05:40 AM
 
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"Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West" is pretty good.
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Old 05-18-2018, 08:39 AM
 
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If you want 20th-century, postwar history, read Mike Royko's books about Richard Daley I. Fascinating..
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Old 05-18-2018, 09:59 AM
 
Location: Chicagoland
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City of the Century by Donald Miller - a highly readable, well-researched book on Chicago's origins and 19th-century history (with indeed a lot of focus on "politics, architecture and parks"). It also formed the basis for a documentary of the same name in PBS' American Experience series, which is available on DVD.
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Old 05-19-2018, 12:03 PM
 
Location: Eureka CA
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The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. Don't read it late at night by yourself.
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Old 05-19-2018, 06:50 PM
 
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Mike Royko's book about Daley is titled "Boss". I was going to recommend that one too.
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Old 05-19-2018, 07:07 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eureka1 View Post
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. Don't read it late at night by yourself.
I read this one a few years ago! Fascinating and now that I've been to Chicago, I should read it again!

Thanks!
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Old 05-20-2018, 02:34 PM
 
Location: Cleveland, OH USA / formerly Chicago for 20 years
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Not "history" exactly -- although the book came out in 1979 so is now a bit dated -- but I'm rather partial to "Who Runs Chicago?" by Michael Kilian, Connie Fletcher, and F. Richard Ciccone. It's a detailed account of the people who were Chicago's movers and shakers at the time, in various fields from politics to real estate to "The Mob" and many others, and is packed with plenty of information as well as a good dose of wry humor.

Who Runs Chicago?
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Old 05-20-2018, 06:00 PM
 
Location: Chicagoland
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Also worth reading for the mid-20th century is Thomas Dyja's The Third Coast, which focuses largely on the cultural and commercial scene in Chicago (the period of Nelson Algren, Chess Records, early TV, and the Compass Players).
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Old 05-20-2018, 06:14 PM
 
Location: Wicker Park/East Village area
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https://youtu.be/rQRUTEr229I
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