City People: The Rise of Modern City Culture in Nineteenth-Century America

I had to read City People for my history class in college this year. I have never been much of a history buff (the only reason the course was taken was because it was required), but I have to say I was fairly impressed with this book. It's full of information, which is all organized quite nicely and very easy to find with just the chapter titles, and though it goes into almost too much details now and again, keeps the language easy to understand without making it feel Barth is "talking down" to you. I'd definately reccomend this book, whether you're a "history-oriented" person or not.

I constantly pull City People off my shelf to reread sections. The book takes snapshots from city spaces (including the press) and shows how these community places help form an understanding of society. The public spaces examined include the department store and the ball park. Barth ties the different spaces together through the press and how each of these components help enculture new members to this society. The ball parks for example give immigrants a central forum communicate with others and a common bond to share with others. The book is writing in a light scholarly format, but remains accessible and a good easy read.