**A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERGoodreads Choice Award Winner in History & BiographyOne of Time’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2024"A spirited defense of this important, odd and odds-defying American retail category." —The New York Times"It is a delight to wander through the bookstores of American history in this warm, generous book." —Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author and owner of Books Are MagicAn affectionat...

Cycling has experienced a renaissance in the United States, as cities around the country promote the bicycle as an alternative means of transportation. In the process, debates about the nature of bicycles—where they belong, how they should be ridden, how cities should or should not accommodate them—have played out in the media, on city streets, and in city halls. Very few people recognize, however, that these questions are more than a century old.The Cycling City is a shar...

Cycling has experienced a renaissance in the United States, as cities around the country promote the bicycle as an alternative means of transportation. In the process, debates about the nature of bicycles—where they belong, how they should be ridden, how cities should or should not accommodate them—have played out in the media, on city streets, and in city halls. Very few people recognize, however, that these questions are more than a century old.The Cycling City is a shar...

Subways and yellow taxis may be the icons of New York transportation, but it is the bicycle that has the longest claim to New York’s streets: two hundred years and counting. Never has it taken to the streets without controversy: 1819 was the year of the city’s first bicycle and also its first bicycle ban. Debates around the bicycle’s place in city life have been so persistent not just because of its many uses—recreation, sport, transportation, business—but because of changing conceptions o...

**A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERGoodreads Choice Award Winner in History & BiographyOne of Time’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2024"A spirited defense of this important, odd and odds-defying American retail category." —The New York Times"It is a delight to wander through the bookstores of American history in this warm, generous book." —Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author and owner of Books Are MagicAn affectionat...

Subways and yellow taxis may be the icons of New York transportation, but it is the bicycle that has the longest claim to New York’s streets: two hundred years and counting. Never has it taken to the streets without controversy: 1819 was the year of the city’s first bicycle and also its first bicycle ban. Debates around the bicycle’s place in city life have been so persistent not just because of its many uses—recreation, sport, transportation, business—but because of changing conceptions o...

In this new work, prizewinning author, professor, and Slate architecture critic Witold Rybczynski returns to the territory he knows best: writing about the way people live, just as he did in the acclaimed bestsellers Home and A Clearing in the Distance. In Makeshift Metropolis, Rybczynski has drawn upon a lifetime of observing cities to craft a concise and insightful book that is at once an intellectual history and a masterful critique.

This illustrated Travel Guide is designed for optimal navigation on eReaders and other electronic devices. It is indexed alphabetically and by category, making it easier to access individual articles. Articles feature information about attractions, landmarks, districts, transportation, cultural venues, dining, history and much more. Addresses, telephones, hours of operation and admissions information are included. The guide is complimented by clearly marked maps that are linked to city att...

This illustrated Travel Guide is designed for optimal navigation on eReaders and other electronic devices. It is indexed alphabetically and by category, making it easier to access individual articles. Articles feature information about attractions, landmarks, districts, transportation, cultural venues, dining, history and much more. Addresses, telephones, hours of operation and admissions information are included. The guide is complimented by clearly marked maps that are linked to city att...

A lively and provocative history of the contested landscapes where the majority of Americans now live.From rustic cottages reached by steamboat to big box stores at the exit ramps of eight-lane highways, Dolores Hayden defines seven eras of suburban development since 1820. An urban historian and architect, she portrays housewives and politicians as well as designers and builders making the decisions that have generated America’s diverse suburbs. Residents have soug...

  Our illustrated travel guide will take you to Chicago, Illinois.   Chicago is the home of the blues and the truth of jazz, the heart of comedy and the idea of the skyscraper. Here, the age of railroads found its center, and airplanes followed suit. Butcher of hogs and believer in progress, it is one of the world's great cities, and yet the metropolitan luxuries of theater, shopping, and fine dining have barely put a dent in real M...

This first full-scale history of the development of the American suburb examines how "the good life" in America came to be equated with the a home of one's own surrounded by a grassy yard and located far from the urban workplace. Integrating social history with economic and architectural analysis, and taking into account such factors as the availability of cheap land, inexpensive building methods, and rapid transportation, Kenneth Jackson chronicles the phenomenal growth of the American su...