Out of the Ashes: How the Great Chicago Fire Changed American Cities - and America Itself

Thursday, April 11, 2024
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Zoom

Scott W. Berg, author of 38 Nooses: Lincoln, Little Crow, and the Beginning of the Frontier's End, returns to discuss his new book, The Burning of the World: The Great Chicago Fire and the War for a City's Soul, an engrossing look at the fire itself and the surprisingly bitter and hard-fought battles for control of the city that took place in its aftermath. Then as now, disaster meant tragedy for some and opportunity for others, as the hairline cracks between political coalitions that had existed before the Great Fire swiftly turned into seismic rifts that would change the very nature of American cities.

• Presenter: Born and raised in the Twin Cities, Scott W. Berg is the author of three works of narrative history: The Burning of the World: The Great Chicago Fire and the War for a City’s Soul; 38 Nooses: Lincoln, Little Crow, and the Beginning of the Frontier’s End; and Grand Avenues: The Story of Pierre Charles L’Enfant, the French Visionary Who Designed Washington, D.C. A nominee for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence and recipient of the Library of Virginia Literary Award for Nonfiction, Scott teaches writing, literature, and publishing at George Mason University and lives in Reston, Virginia.
• Location: Zoom only (Register to receive the Zoom link by e-mail.)
• Sponsor: Steve Gilbert