![A collection of books that cover of ecology, history, and human actions within Chicago and the Great Lakes region](https://www.chicagolakefront.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/chicago-lakefront-michael-courier-060423-1436-1024x682.jpg)
Recommended Books
Many historians and scholars have written about the history of Chicago from various perspectives. Here are a few options if you’re looking for recommendations.
- Environmental History of Chicago
- Chicago History
- Great Lakes
- Other Recommendations
Environmental History of Chicago
![](https://www.chicagolakefront.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/book-cover-natures-metropolis-cronon.jpg)
Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West
William Cronon
Considered by many as the authoritative book on Chicago’s relationship with the environment and it was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1992. This book covers the economic and ecological perspective of Chicago and the surrounding hinterland.
Availability:
- Chicago Library
- World Cat
- Thriftbooks
- Bookshop
![](https://www.chicagolakefront.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/bookcover-placeholder.jpg)
City of Lake and Prairie: Chicago’s Environmental History
William C. Barnett, Kathleen A. Brosnan, and Ann Durkin Keating
Availability:
- Chicago Library
- World Cat
- Thriftbooks
- Bookshop
![](https://www.chicagolakefront.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/bookcover-placeholder.jpg)
A Natural History of the Chicago Region
Joel Greenberg
Availability:
- Chicago Library
- World Cat
- Thriftbooks
- Bookshop
Chicago History
![](https://www.chicagolakefront.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/bookcover-placeholder.jpg)
City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America
Donald L. Miller
Availability:
- Chicago Library
- World Cat
- Thriftbooks
- Bookshop
![](https://www.chicagolakefront.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/bookcover-placeholder.jpg)
Packing Them In: An Archaeology of Environmental Racism in Chicago, 1865-1954
Sylvia Hood Washington
Availability:
- Chicago Library
- World Cat
- Thriftbooks
- Bookshop
![](https://www.chicagolakefront.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/bookcover-placeholder.jpg)
The Tunnel Under the Lake: The Engineering Marvel That Saved Chicago
Benjamin Sells
Availability:
- Chicago Library
- World Cat
- Thriftbooks
- Bookshop
![](https://www.chicagolakefront.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/bookcover-placeholder.jpg)
Liquid Capital: Making the Chicago Waterfront
Joshua A. T. Salzmann
Availability:
- Chicago Library
- World Cat
- Thriftbooks
- Bookshop
Great Lakes
![](https://www.chicagolakefront.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/bookcover-placeholder.jpg)
Death and Life of the Great Lakes
Dan Egan
Availability:
- Chicago Library
- World Cat
- Thriftbooks
- Bookshop
![](https://www.chicagolakefront.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/bookcover-placeholder.jpg)
![](https://www.chicagolakefront.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/bookcover-placeholder.jpg)
The Late, Great Lakes: An Environmental History
William Ashworth
Availability:
- Chicago Library
- World Cat
- Thriftbooks
- Bookshop
![](https://www.chicagolakefront.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/bookcover-placeholder.jpg)
The Great Lakes: The Natural History of a Changing Region
Wayne Grady
Availability:
- Chicago Library
- World Cat
- Thriftbooks
- Bookshop
![](https://www.chicagolakefront.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/bookcover-placeholder.jpg)
The Women’s Great Lakes Reader
Victoria Brehm
Availability:
- Chicago Library
- World Cat
- Thriftbooks
- Bookshop
Other Recommendations
![](https://www.chicagolakefront.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/bookcover-placeholder.jpg)
City Water, City Life: Water and the Infrastructure of Ideas in Urbanizing Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago
Carl S. Smith
Availability:
- Chicago Library
- World Cat
- Thriftbooks
- Bookshop