Chicago's Opulent Age


Book Description

The fires that destroyed Chicago in the 1870s just happened to be events that have led to the city's importance today. Chicago, after the destruction of its downtown, was free to use new architectural concepts and to examine how to use its crowded land space. It was free to reinvent itself. Soon, new Jenny-inspired "tower" buildings began to claw their way into the sky, enabling the city to concentrate its commercial core. By the turn of the century, Chicago had added many lakefront buildings, parks, and temples of art and music, built an elevated railway system, and hosted a World's Fair. Chicago was the first city to let the inventiveness of industrialism mold the way it went about its business and pastimes. Chicago's Opulent Age examines the buildings, events, parks, and people of the city from the 1870s through the 1940s. Also featured are "funlands," fairs, sculptures, and transportation. More than 200 pictures and colorful narratives provide a fitting tribute to the past history of this great city.




Chicago


Book Description

Since the late 1800s, Chicago has been a mecca for aviation. Chicago's Octave Chanute kept the skies filled with revolutionary gliders and his expertise in aeronautics contributed to the Wright Brothers' success. Chicago: City of Flight tells the story of aviation in the city with exciting chapters on early "birdmen," the birth of Chicago as a major airmail center, the spectacular chills and thrills of international airports and airplane manufacturers, and airlines, such as United Airlines, that were born in the city. Later topics include the city's modern aerospace industry and an exclusive look at Chicago's Wright Redux project, members of which designed and manufactured a replica Wright flyer. They plan to fly it over the city on December 17, 2003, in celebration of 100 years of manned, powered flight.




Chicago


Book Description

A history of Chicago told through a collection of vintage photographs.




The Opulent Interiors of the Gilded Age


Book Description

Examines Victorian homes, shows and describes their halls, drawing rooms, dining rooms, libraries, music rooms, guest rooms, and parlors




Great Lakes and Midwest Catalog


Book Description




America at the Fair


Book Description

At the time of the Worlds Columbian Exposition of 1893, the United States was fast becoming the worlds leading economy. Chicago, the host city, had grown in less than half a century from a village to the countrys second-largest metropolis. During this, the Gilded Age, the worlds most extensive railroad and steamship networks poured ceaselessly through Chicago, carrying the raw goods and finished products of Americas great age of invention and industrial expansion. The Fair was the largest ever at the time, with 65,000 exhibitors and millions of visitors. It has been called the Blueprint of the American Future and marked the beginning of the national economy and consumer culture.




The Unofficial Guide to Chicago


Book Description

From the publishers of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World "A Tourist's Best Friend!" —Chicago Sun-Times "Indispensable" —The New York Times The Top 10 Ways The Unofficial Guide to Chicago Can Help You Have the Perfect Trip: Information that's candid, critical, and totally objective Hotels reviewed and ranked for value and quality—plus secrets for getting the lowest possible rate More than 70 restaurants reviewed and profiled, with listings for dozens more A complete guide to Chicago's sights—museums, architecture, ethnic neighborhoods, and more Complete information on Chicago's lakefront beaches and parks The inside story on shopping—where to get the best for less, on and off the Magnificent Mile All the details on Chicago's nightlife—jazz and blues clubs, dance clubs, concerts, theater, and more The best places to play golf and tennis, ride a bike, go boating, and work out Tips on enjoying Chicago with your kids Advice on how to plan and make the most of your business trip Get the unbiased truth on hundreds of hotels, restaurants, attractions, and more in The Unofficial Guide to Chicago—the resource that helps you save money, save time, and make your trip the best it can be.




The reach


Book Description







Funding the Enemy


Book Description

With the vague intention of winning hearts and minds in Afghanistan, the US government has mismanaged billions of development and logistics dollars, bolstered the drug trade, and dumped untold millions into Taliban hands. That is the sobering message of this scathing critique of our war effort in Afghanistan. According to this book, America has already lost the war. While conducting extensive research and fieldwork in Afghanistan’s war zones, a drumbeat of off-the-record and offhand remarks pointed the author to one conclusion: "We blew it." The sentiment was even blazoned across a US military fortification, as the author saw at Forward Operating Base Mehtar Lam in insurgency-wracked Laghman Province: "I glanced over at a concrete blast barrier while waiting for a helicopter," Wissing says. "Someone had spray-painted in jagged letters: ‘The GAME. You Lost It.’" The author’s vivid narrative takes the reader down to ground level in frontline Afghanistan. It draws on the voices of hundreds of combat soldiers, ordinary Afghans, private contractors, aid workers, international consultants, and government officials. From these contacts it became glaringly clear, as the author details, that American taxpayer dollars have been flowing into Taliban coffers, courtesy of scandalously mismanaged US development and counterinsurgency programs, with calamitous military and social consequences. This is the first book to detail the toxic embrace of American policymakers and careerists, Afghan kleptocrats, and the opportunistic Taliban. The result? US taxpayers have been footing the bill for both sides of a disastrous Afghanistan war.