Reaching much deeper than the myths that still surround this justifiably legendary urban disaster, historian Carl Smith’s new book, Chicago’s Great Fire, recounts both the harrowing destruction of the dynamic young city on October 8-10, 1871, and the extraordinary recovery that immediately followed. Join Smith for a richly illustrated talk in which he will consider how this catastrophe irreversibly altered the physical cityscape and reflect on how Chicago’s destruction and resurrection, revealed and deepened troubling social divisions. Smith will also discuss how the maps created for his book attempt both to enrich the narrative and tell their own story.

Copies of the book are available for purchase at the Lake Forest Book Store and through Bookshop.org at https://bit.ly/3rTKeJC