
Nature's Metropolis
Chicago and the Great West
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Narrated by:
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Jonah Cummings
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By:
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William Cronon
About this listen
Awarded the 1992 Bancroft Prize and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Award for Best Nonfiction Book of 1991.
In this groundbreaking work, William Cronon gives us an environmental perspective on the history of nineteenth-century America. By exploring the ecological and economic changes that made Chicago America's most dynamic city and the Great West its hinterland, Mr. Cronon opens a new window onto our national past. This is the story of city and country becoming ever more tightly bound in a system so powerful that it reshaped the American landscape and transformed American culture. The world that emerged is our own.
©1992 William Cronon (P)2013 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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Like the revolutions, it got off to a good start
- By Anonymous User on 06-23-23
However, this particular reader strongly detracts from the text. Words are frequently mispronounced (if I hear potah-wah-tomeee one more time..) making obvious and distracting breaks from believing our narrator knows what he's talking about. An attempt at adding character has him putting on very poor and distracting accents when reading quotations. I also particularly did not enjoy the cadence of the reading, though I understand that is subjective.
Lovely book, I strongly suggest people read it in their lives, but maybe let Professor Cronon's own voice read in your own mind rather than get the audiobook.
Good book, dire narrator
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Hinterlands
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But how do I get access to the many illustrations/charts I'm sure the book contains ?
The narrator is fine except for his terrible attempt at a British accent when quoting British characters.
Missing illustrations ?
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I agree that the attempts at an English accent are completely absurd, but otherwise the performance is good.
Good story
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The author briefly discusses Indians but I would have liked to see how Indians were already choosing the best areas based on nature for their trade. As we know natives had vast shipping networks already and the author could have discussed this more in full to show how initially we copied those routes already established.
There are a few chapters that don’t fit the authors topic but rather discuss the history of Chicago which felt out of place. The narrator was pretty dry as well but the story carried the audiobook.
Growing up in the Midwest especially you will still see many of the aspects discussed in the book and the topics are still relevant today.
I would like to see how China changes pretty much most aspects to this topic discussed in the book.
Great perspective not your typical history
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Recommend for everyone.
If you grew up in the Chicago area, it is a true eye opener.
Historical Accuracy
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Great Analysis- interesting perspective.
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Moving
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magisterial great job on the performance as well
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outstanding
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