Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review Award of Superior Achievement, Illinois State Historical Society (ISHS), 2013.
"A masterful case for the power of intensive local studies."--Journal of Illinois History
"Excellent work."--Choice
"This first-rate study of an important city offers a careful, nuanced take on the relationship between modern capitalism and democracy."--
The Journal of American History "This is a superbly researched, well-conceived, and boldly argued interpretation of the rise of a permanent working class, the formation of an industrial bourgeoisie, and the relations between these social classes in Chicago from the antebellum years through the 1870s. Anyone who continues to question the salience of class analysis for understanding nineteenth-century social history, and, of course, those who are already convinced of this approach, will want to read this study."--James R. Barrett, author of
William Z. Foster and the Tragedy of American Radicalism"An indispensable study for anyone interested in the labor history of Chicago in the nineteenth century. . . . this book also provides a useful context to some of the most dramatic events in that history."--
American Historical Review"A tour-de-force example of local narrative used to illuminate historical theory."
--Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era"Scholars seeking to understand the intricacies of Chicago's political history in the era of the Civil War and Reconstruction should start here. Those with broader interests in the relationship between capitalism and democracy in the late nineteenth century will find in this book a provocative alternative to the dominant historiographical perspective."--
Reviews in American History"
Chicago in the Age of Capital will be useful to other historians for its extensive use of newspaper records and its solid grounding in the quantitative analysis of population and manufacturing trends. Its blend of social, political, and intellectual history contextualizes and deepens our understanding of the relationship between capital, labor and politics."--
The Historian "A well-written and much-needed labor history of Chicago during Civil War and Reconstruction. Labor historians of the Civil War era and/or nineteenth-century America will welcome this book into the historical conversation."--
H-Net Reviews / H-War "
Chicago in the Age of Capital is a welcome addition to our understanding of the emerging and early working class politics of the nineteenth century. Jentz and Schneirov have rightfully pushed us to continue thinking about Chicago and the Midwest within a larger national story--one that has previously been limited to southern regionalism--as boosterism, capitalism, ethnicity, and labor all formed a complex web of power and politics."--
Middle West Review "
Chicago in the Age of Capital is an unmatched scholarly investigation of the emergence of the political economy of the Gilded Age by two masters of Chicago's labor history."--
Labour
