Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!

Create Free Account

Chicago's Great Fire: The Destruction and Resurrection of an Iconic American City

3.8/5 ( ratings)

From an acclaimed historian, the full and authoritative story of one of the most iconic disasters in American history, told through the vivid memories of those who experienced it

Between October 8–10, 1871, much of the city of Chicago was destroyed by one of the most legendary urban fires in history. Incorporated as a city in 1837, Chicago had grown at a breathtaking pace in barely three decades, from just over 4,000 in 1840 to greater than 330,000 at the time of the fire. Built hastily, the city was largely made of wood. Once it began in the barn of Catherine and Patrick O’Leary, the Fire quickly grew out of control, twice jumping branches of the Chicago River on its relentless northeastward path through the city’s three divisions. Close to one of every three Chicago residents was left homeless and more were instantly unemployed, though the death toll was miraculously low.

Remarkably, no carefully researched popular history of the Great Chicago Fire has been written until now, despite it being one of the most cataclysmic disasters in US history. Building the story around memorable characters, both known to history and unknown, including the likes of General Philip Sheridan and Robert Todd Lincoln, eminent Chicago historian Carl Smith chronicles the city’s rapid growth and place in America’s post-Civil War expansion. The dramatic story of the fire―revealing human nature in all its guises―became one of equally remarkable renewal, as Chicago quickly rose back up from the ashes thanks to local determination and the world’s generosity and faith in Chicago’s future.

As we approach the fire’s 150th anniversary, Carl Smith’s compelling narrative at last gives this epic event its full and proper place in our national chronicle.

Language: English

Pages: 400

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press

Release: October 06, 2020

ISBN: 0802148107

ISBN 13: 9780802148100

Chicago's Great Fire: The Destruction and Resurrection of an Iconic American City

3.8/5 ( ratings)

From an acclaimed historian, the full and authoritative story of one of the most iconic disasters in American history, told through the vivid memories of those who experienced it

Between October 8–10, 1871, much of the city of Chicago was destroyed by one of the most legendary urban fires in history. Incorporated as a city in 1837, Chicago had grown at a breathtaking pace in barely three decades, from just over 4,000 in 1840 to greater than 330,000 at the time of the fire. Built hastily, the city was largely made of wood. Once it began in the barn of Catherine and Patrick O’Leary, the Fire quickly grew out of control, twice jumping branches of the Chicago River on its relentless northeastward path through the city’s three divisions. Close to one of every three Chicago residents was left homeless and more were instantly unemployed, though the death toll was miraculously low.

Remarkably, no carefully researched popular history of the Great Chicago Fire has been written until now, despite it being one of the most cataclysmic disasters in US history. Building the story around memorable characters, both known to history and unknown, including the likes of General Philip Sheridan and Robert Todd Lincoln, eminent Chicago historian Carl Smith chronicles the city’s rapid growth and place in America’s post-Civil War expansion. The dramatic story of the fire―revealing human nature in all its guises―became one of equally remarkable renewal, as Chicago quickly rose back up from the ashes thanks to local determination and the world’s generosity and faith in Chicago’s future.

As we approach the fire’s 150th anniversary, Carl Smith’s compelling narrative at last gives this epic event its full and proper place in our national chronicle.

Language: English

Pages: 400

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press

Release: October 06, 2020

ISBN: 0802148107

ISBN 13: 9780802148100

More books from Carl Smith

Urban Disorder and the Shape of Belief: The Great Chicago Fire, the Haymarket Bomb, and the Model Town of Pullman

3.7/5 ( ratings)

Gettysburg 1863: High Tide of the Confederacy

3.6/5 ( ratings)

Chancellorsville 1863: Jackson's Lightning Strike

3.6/5 ( ratings)

City Water, City Life: Water and the Infrastructure of Ideas in Urbanizing Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago

3.6/5 ( ratings)

Fredericksburg 1862: 'Clear The Way'

3.5/5 ( ratings)

The Shady Dragon Inn

US Paratrooper 1941–45

3.7/5 ( ratings)

Dungeon #1: Adventures for TSR Role-Playing Games (Dungeon Magazine #001)

Residential Landscape Sustainability: A Checklist Tool

The Forest Oracle

Theory of Computing: A Gentle Introduction

Tortured Hero

Learn Spanish for Beginners.: Starter book for learning spanish language with simple, common phrases and dialogues used in everyday life.

Learning and Geometry: Computational Approaches (Progress in Computer Science and Applied Logic, 14)

Passing For Normal: A Memoir

Digital Futures and the City of Today: New Technologies and Physical Spaces

Gettysburg 1863: High tide of the Confederacy

Pearl Harbor 1941: Hari Laknat

Spanish short stories for Beginners.: Short stories funny and easy to read that enrich your vocabulary for learning Spanish Language with realistic dialogues.

Moleb the Giant: a tale of the Cardinal Fates

Rate this book!

Write a review?