Chicago Days: 150 Defining Moments in the Life of a Great City

Every Chicago will debate the moments: How could they forget that? However, this book will remind Chicagoans why they love this city, even with the politics.

I had been looking for something with the history of Chicago and some good pictures. Despite the fact that this book doesn't really cover the history of the city, it does cover indeed most, if not all highlights of the city's history since the Chicago Tribune was founded. The texts of the 150 subjects have just the correct size, and most of the pictures are as breathtaking as you would expect from a newspaper as important as the Tribune.

As a professional tour director and author I am always on the lookout for good information to share with my clients. When I took out a tour titled "A Week in Chicago" I needed a reference that would give me an insight to the city that guidebooks truly don't have.This was the book that I luckily bought!Here's 150 one or two page articles of the most defining moments in Chicago's history. I shared the stories about Chicago Deep Dish Pizza, the Black Sox Scandal, Reversing the River, John Dillinger's Death, The Bi-level Commuter Train, and of course, the Great Fire.I was able to give fresh accounts of these widely varied events to tourist on their first trip to Chicago. These are the stories that mature people really want to know or remember. And this book delivers 150 of them.Whether you're a tourist or a resident, this a book to treasure if you really want to appreciate this great city. It's a professional tour director's secret resource for Chicago.

With excellent photography and sometimes gritty, big city narrative, Chicago Days is the sum of Chicago's history in an easy to read, fast paces, well written book that you won't put down until you reach the end.Objective and very tongue and cheek at times, the educational and nostalgic value of this work can't be put into words. It will evoke powerful memories and feeling in Chicagoans and teach volumes to those from other cities. It would also make an excellent primer for those re-locating to Chicago from other countries, dispelling the popular myths about the City and its people.Covering people, places, events and accomplishments with impartiality not always found in books about Chicago, this is a must read. It deserves six stars.

"Chicago Days" is an excellent chronological summation of some of the important events that have occurred in Chicago over the past 150 years. Each event is given at least one page of written description and one photo. It is good occassional reading and has something of interest for almost everyone, making it a great gift. Some featured events are historic, some sports-related, some fads or 'firsts' out of Chicago, some frivolous and some heart-warming. You needn't live in Chicago to appreciate the stories, events and historic news items found in this book.