Description
Book SynopsisA city is more than a massing of citizens, a layout of buildings and streets, or an arrangement of political, economic, and social institutions. This book explores this infrastructure of ideas through an examination of the development of the first successful waterworks systems in Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago between the 1790s and 1860s.
Trade Review"City Water, City Life is a gem of a book, a tightly focused meditation on the antebellum city's 'infrastructure of ideas.' By masterfully compressing myriad period sources, Carl Smith makes major contributions to our understanding of American society and culture." (Harold Platt, Loyola University Chicago)"
