History Lover's Guide to Chicago, A

Book excerpt: Founded next to a great lake and a sluggish river, Chicago became the home to modern retailing, skyscrapers, and an increasingly concentrated downtown. The Chicago stockyards fed the world, and railroads turned the city into the nation's transportation hub. When a great fire leveled the city, Chicago rose again. Borzo helps you explore a missile site that became a bird sanctuary; explains how the city's first public library was located in an abandoned water tank; and introduces us to business leaders, society dames, anarchists and army generals. -- adapted from back cover