Bargains! PROMOTIONS
CARL SMITH is Franklyn Bliss Snyder Professor of English and American Studies and Professor of History, Emeritus, at Northwestern University. His books include Chicago and the American Literary Imagination, 1880-1920; Urban Disorder and the Shape of Belief: The Great Chicago Fire, the Haymarket Bomb, and the Model Town of Pullman; The Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City; and City Water, City Life: Water and the Infrastructure of Ideas in Urbanizing Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago.
Praise for Chicago's Great Fire: A definitive retelling of one of America's 'most fabled disasters.' -Publishers Weekly Chicago's Great Fire is just that, great-a notable history, rich in detail, and powered by a narrative that moves at the speed of the galloping flames. It unravels the mystery of Mrs. O'Leary and her poor cow, and is also sadly relevant, in revealing the steps and missteps, the generosity and greed, the stupidity and invention that accompanied a great city's recovery from near-total disaster. -Scott Turow This is a bracing and impeccably written history by a true master of the craft. Smith captures beautifully Chicagoans' hubris in building their great flammable city and their resilience as they survived the unthinkable. -Daniel Immerwahr, author of How to Hide an Empire Carl Smith has written the definitive work on the Great Chicago Fire-the context, the stories, and the aftermath. He masterfully demonstrates how disaster can unveil forces at work in society. -Gary T. Johnson, President, Chicago History Museum A gripping description of a modern urban catastrophe, filled with the recollections of men, women, and children who fled their homes as the fire advanced. Carl Smith is a master at taking well-known events and making them new. -Ann Keating, author of Rising Up From Indian Country: The Battle of Fort Dearborn and the Birth of Chicago
