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The masterfully told story of twelve volatile days in the life of Chicago, when an aviation disaster, a race riot, a crippling transit strike, and a sensational child murder transfixed and roiled a city already on the brink of collapse.
/> When 1919 began, the city of Chicago seemed on the verge of transformation. Modernizers had an audacious, expensive plan to turn the city from a brawling, unglamorous place into "the Metropolis of the World." But just as the dream seemed within reach, pandemonium broke loose and the city's highest ambitions were suddenly under attack by the same unbridled energies that had given birth to them in the first place.
It began on a balmy Monday afternoon when a blimp in flames crashed through the roof of a busy downtown bank, incinerating those inside. Within days, a racial incident at a hot, crowded South Side beach spiraled into one of the worst urban riots in American history, followed by a transit strike that paralyzed the city. Then, when it seemed as if things could get no worse, police searching for a six-year-old girl discovered her body in a dark North Side basement.
Meticulously researched and expertly paced, City of Scoundrels captures the tumultuous birth of the modern American city, with all of its light and dark aspects in vivid relief.
The subtitle of City of Scoundrels is rather misleading: while several of the figures involved in the "12 Days of Disaster" that took place in Chicago in the summer of 1919 certainly helped to shape that city in profound ways, Gary Krist doesn't really prove that those twelve days in particular were some sort of formative moment or systemic break. Really, the events described here are a kind of microcosm that bring together several different aspects of the history of early twentieth-century America. From blimp crashes in the Loop to race riots, child abductions to bare-faced political corruption, Krist documents moments that reveal a lot about the history of power, race, and technology in Chicago that stood on the verge of the Roaring Twenties. Read City of Scoundrels for that "snapshot in time" feel, but not for something bigger than that. ( )
I had not at all heard about the accident that is one of the major threads in this book -- the crash of the Wingfoot Express (hydrogen fueled) airship in the middle of Downtown Chicago in the summer of 1919, which kicked off a fortnight of hell for the city. I found the book to be quite interesting, especially in that it covers the race riots that followed (and were unconnected) quite well. Recommended. ( )
If you grew up in Chicago and love Chicago History this book is for you. A great read and how Chicago moved ahead after that terrible month of July 1919.
Blatant machine politics, racial, ethnic and labor unrest. Murder and gang warfare. Epic battles between Springfield and City Hall. Accusations of buying of political appointments and a showdown over public transit. Big dreams and even bigger plans to transform the face of the city. A blustery, compelling, charismatic mayor fond of making great pronuncements not always based in fact. Chicago in the 21st century? Nope. Chicago, 1919. It's refreshing and disturbing that some things never change. The only major difference I can see is that no one really flies dirigibles around the city anymore. Nice little side stories of Carl Sandburg and Ring Lardner, too. I had no idea Sandburg lived in Maywood for a time. Totally worth reading. ( )
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Great wars have been followed by an unually large number of killings between private citizens and individuals.- Clarence Darrow
It came to me then that I had been fighting the wrong war. The Germans weren't the enemy. The enemy was right here at home.- Harry Haywood
Chicago ain't no Sunday school.- "Bathhouse John" Coughlin
Dedica
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for Anna, my favorite Chicagoan
Incipit
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(Prologue) The Spanish influenza had nearly killed Carl Otto that summer, but now the young bank telegrapher, clearly on the mend, was eager to return to work.
Wet snow pelted the city all evening, glazing the traffic-choked streets and wrapping every arc light in a gauzy halo of mist.
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Then he and the reporters burst into laughter and passed around a bottle of bourbon.
(Epilogue) And when it was all over, the results were hard to dismiss, for Thompson left behind him a city as vigorous, as deeply flawed, and as improbably magnificent as himself.
The masterfully told story of twelve volatile days in the life of Chicago, when an aviation disaster, a race riot, a crippling transit strike, and a sensational child murder transfixed and roiled a city already on the brink of collapse.
When 1919 began, the city of Chicago seemed on the verge of transformation. Modernizers had an audacious, expensive plan to turn the city from a brawling, unglamorous place into "the Metropolis of the World." But just as the dream seemed within reach, pandemonium broke loose and the city's highest ambitions were suddenly under attack by the same unbridled energies that had given birth to them in the first place.
It began on a balmy Monday afternoon when a blimp in flames crashed through the roof of a busy downtown bank, incinerating those inside. Within days, a racial incident at a hot, crowded South Side beach spiraled into one of the worst urban riots in American history, followed by a transit strike that paralyzed the city. Then, when it seemed as if things could get no worse, police searching for a six-year-old girl discovered her body in a dark North Side basement.
Meticulously researched and expertly paced, City of Scoundrels captures the tumultuous birth of the modern American city, with all of its light and dark aspects in vivid relief.
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