In this groundbreaking work, a Yale University professor of history gives an environmental perspective on the history of 19th-century America. "No one has written about Chicago with more power, clarity, and intelligence than Cronon. Indeed, no one has ever written a better book about a city."--Boston Globe. Photographs and maps.
Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West
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Cronon's history of 19th-century Chicago is in fact the history of the widespread effects of a single city on millions of square miles of ecological, cultural, and economic frontier. Cronon combines archival accuracy, ecological evaluation, and a sweeping understanding of the impact of railroads, stockyards, catalog companies, and patterns of property on the design of development of the entire inland United States to this date. Although focused on Chicago and the U.S., the general lessons it teaches are of global significance, and a rich source of metaphors for the ways in which colonization of physical space operates differently from, and similarly to, colonization of cyberspace. This is a compelling, wise, thorough--and thoroughly accessible--masterpiece of history writ large. Very Highest Recommendation.
From Publishers Weekly
In a fresh approach that links urban and frontier history, Cronon ( Changes in the Land ) explores the relationship between Chicago, 1848-1893, and the entire West, tracing the path between an urban market and the natural systems that supply it. Examining commodity flows--meat, grain, lumber--and the revolution in transportation and distribution, the book chronicles changes in the landscape: cattle replace buffalo; corn and wheat supplant prairie grasses; entire forests fall to the ax. Thus Wyoming cattle, Iowa corn and Wisconsin white pine come together in Chicago. City and countryside develop in tandem. Cronon notes that gateway cities are a peculiar feature of North American frontier settlements and the chief colonizers of the Western landscape. He compares the world of rural merchants in the pre- and post-railroad eras, and cites the McCormack reaper works to illustrate the sale of manufactured goods to the hinterland. The culmination of this dynamic period is in the Columbian Exposition of 1893. Readers interested in the growth of capitalism will find this an engrossing study. Photos.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Before the city, there was the land. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Before the city, there was the land. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
By S. Pactor
Format:Paperback
Been dying to read this book for at least six months. Finally found it at a used book store for six bucks! Huzzah!
Having now read the book, I probably would have shelled out for it new or used at the 10+ bucks it commands here on Amazon. The 18 reviews below indicates that this is a fairly popular work. That's more then three times the reviews of the other history books I've checked out on Amazon.
Since the other reviews are substantial, I won't comment much, except to say that while several reviewers have commented on the role of "first" and "second" nature in this book, I didn't see anybody mentioning his use of "Central Place Theory", which was apparently developed by German theorists in the 1800's. He also doesn't discuss Lewis Mumford at all, even though he cites to that author in the bibliography.
I thought this book made an interesting contrast with "Imperial San Francisco", another book about the development of a western city. I was hoping Cronon would include more information about the "flow of capital" between Chicago and the FAR west, rather then focusing so intently on Chicago's immediate hinterland.
Cronon chose to focus on a description of the processes which led to the creation of Chicago. It might have been interesting to look at the ways in which the interests of wealthy individuals tracked across various industries and time. A point made in "Industrial San Francisco" was that the oligarch's who made money in mining gradually "cleansed" their money through the purchase of utilities and media firms(newspapers). Did something similar occur in Chicago? I suspect so, but Cronon's treatment of the newspaper/media industry is largely descriptive.
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
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.
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This was the best book I've ever had assigned in a class. It was part of the assigned readings for a Princeton University course "History of the American West". Perhaps the context of the class helped to make the book, but it is still well written and seems to strike a good balance between a historical view and an economic view of the story it tells.
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4.7 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good read, well done
I have a few criticisms of Nature's Metropolis, though overall I did enjoy this book quite a bit. First, I found the book curiously lacking people, that is, a human texture. Read more
Published on Feb 11 2002
5.0 out of 5 stars
"First Nature" and "Second Nature"
"Nature's Metropolis" is first, and foremost a naartive about the rise of Chicago in the 19th century. Read more
Published on Jun 30 2000 by Gutter-ball
4.0 out of 5 stars
not your usual historical perspective
If you prefer your history to be the story of human beings, their struggles, and their triumphs, this book will disappoint. Read more
Published on Jun 27 2000 by Peter A. Greene
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful
Grain, beef, and lumber. Chicago became what it became not only because of its location on the Great Lakes/railroad sytem, but also because of these resources. Read more
Published on Jun 18 2000 by M. Hamann
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating expanation of the growth of Chicago
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. Read more
Published on Aug 30 1999
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pamphlets or geography?
Nature's Metropolis is a book written under the spell of French poststructuralist theory--although you'd never know it if you read, as people used to say, "straight. Read more
Published on Jun 25 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful introduction to Enviromental History
History and the enviroment are the subject of this eye-opening work, which is one of the most exciting works in the new field of enviromental history. Read more
Published on April 20 1999
4.0 out of 5 stars
a blend of geographic, business and urban history
I bought this book during a business trip to Chicago. Late on a clear summers day I started reading as we flew west high above Cronon's America. I was still reading at L.A. Read more
Published on Mar 13 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lovely prose, powerful idea
This is not your typical history book. The lucid, flowing prose makes reading a pleasure. What stays with you, however, is the power of Cronon's idea. Read more
Published on Aug 23 1998
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must-read for planners, economists, and future-thinkers of all...
City Planners, Urban Economists, Futurists, and others whoponder the evolution of cities must read this engaging study ofChicago's development. Read more
Published on May 11 1998
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