The Burning of the World: The Great Chicago Fire and the War for a City’s Soul

In this vivid and immersive history, Berg (38 Nooses) describes the Great Fire that devastated Chicago in October 1871. Over the course of three days, the conflagration burned more than three square miles of the then 34-year-old city, killed at least 300, and left more than 100,000—a third of its population—homeless. Even before the fire had run its course, the municipal government, led by city council president Charles Holden, set up makeshift headquarters in a church and made arrangements for public safety, food kitchens, and emergency public shelters. Their efforts, as Berg shows, were soon undercut by a coterie of powerful “stakeholders” bent on protecting their property and businesses who, over the objections of the police, enlisted the aid of Chicago resident and Civil War legend Gen. Philip Sheridan to declare martial law. In addition to Holden and Sheridan, Berg provides many other lively character portraits, including of influential Tribune publisher Joseph Medill; dry goods retailer Marshall Field; and real estate tycoon Potter Palmer. As Berg traces the battles between public and private interests that played out in the years after the fire, he astutely observes how the city was transformed into “a hothouse of populist democracy,” with the ever-growing working-class immigrant population, enraged by elite overreach, joining together as a unified voting bloc. This impressively researched account fascinates. (Sept.)