Description
Book SynopsisWith the passing of Zane L. Miller in 2016, academia lost a renowned scholar and one of the key founders of new urban history—a branch of the discipline that placed urban life at the center of American history and treated the city as an arena for civic and political action. He was a devoted, tireless mentor who published or fostered dozens of books and articles on urban history. He also co-founded Temple University Press’ foundational series Urban Life, Landscape, and Policy.
Bringing the Civic Back In provides a critical overview, appreciation, and extension of Miller’s work as scholar, editor, mentor, colleague, and citizen. Included are three excerpts from Miller’s final, unfinished work, in which he presented cities as the source of a civic nationalism he viewed as fundamental to the development of American democracy. The editors—along with contributors Robert B. Fairbanks and Charles Lester—reflect on the life and work of
Trade Review
"[This book] should be appreciated both for the soundness of the scholarship that went into the pieces and as an affectionate and thoughtful memorial to the man who inspired them. Whether cities today can help us rekindle the spirit of 'civic nationalism' that were instrumental in creating remains to be seen. But these authors clearly hope they will, an aspiration they inherited from their mentor and colleague."—Journal of Urban Affairs
