This is an excellent book. I've also contacted Prof. Duis with general questions about Chicago history, and he was very gracious to answer. Linda in Boston --- On Mon, 4/19/10, Sandra <[email protected]> wrote: From: Sandra <[email protected]> Subject: [COOK-CO-IL] Chicago History/book To: "Cook List" <[email protected]> Date: Monday, April 19, 2010, 8:14 PM The very best book I've read to understand conditions in Chicago "back in the day" is "Challenging Chicago - coping with everyday life, 1837-1920", by Perry R. Duis, (1998 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.                  Sandra ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message