This is a bibliography of selected publications on the history of Chicago.
For most topics, the easiest place to start is Janice L. Reiff, et al. eds. The Encyclopedia of Chicago (2004), which has thorough coverage by leading scholars in 1120pp of text and many illustrations. It does not include biographies. It is online free.
See also Frank Jewel, Annotated bibliography of Chicago history (Chicago Historical Society 1979; not online.
See also History of Chicago#Further reading
Surveys Reiff, Janice L. Ann Durkin Keating and James R. Grossman, eds. The Encyclopedia of Chicago (2004) thorough coverage by scholars in 1120pp online free Abu-Lughod, Janet L. New York, Chicago, Los Angeles: America's Global Cities (U of Minnesota Press, 1999), Compares the three cities in terms of geography, economics and race from 1800 to 1990 Andreas, A. T. History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time (1884) online v 1; online v 2; online v. 3 Gustaitis, Joseph. Chicago's Greatest Year, 1893: The White City and the Birth of a Modern Metropolis (2013) Gustaitis, Joseph. Chicago Transformed: World War I and the Windy City (2016). Longstreet, Stephen. Chicago: An Intimate Portrait of People, Pleasures, and Power, 1860-1919. (1973). 547 pp. popular Miller, Donald L. City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America (1997), popular epic; [ Pacyga, Dominic A. Chicago: A Biography (2011), 472pp; detailed history by a scholar, based on secondary sources. Pierce, Bessie Louise. A History of Chicago, Volume I: The Beginning of a City 1673-1848 (1937; excerpt and text search vol 1; Volume II: From Town to City 1848-1871 (1940); Volume III: The Rise of a Modern City, 1871-1893 (1957) (excerpt and text search vol 3; the major scholarly history Sawyers, June Skinner. Chicago Portraits (2nd ed. Northwestern University Press, 2012), 250 short biographies Spinney, Robert G. City of Big Shoulders: A History of Chicago (2000), popular epic;
Geography, region, housing
Bachin, Robin F., Building the South Side: Urban Space and Civic Culture in Chicago, 1890-1919. (2004). 434 pp. Barrett, Paul. The Automobile and Urban Transit: The Formation of Public Policy in Chicago, 1900-1930. (1983). 295 pp. Betancur, John J. "The Settlement Experience of Latinos in Chicago: Segregation, Speculation, and the Ecology Model." Social Forces 1996 74(4): 1299-1324. ISSN 0037-7732 Fulltext: Jstor Bigott, Joseph C. From Cottage to Bungalow: Houses and the Working Classes in Metropolitan Chicago, 1869-1929 (2001) excerpt and text search Bronsky, Eric, Neal Samors and Jennifer Samors. Downtown Chicago in Transition (2007) excerpt and text search Cronon, William. Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West. (1991). 530 pp. excerpt and text search Garb, Margaret. City of American Dreams: A History of Home Ownership and Housing Reform in Chicago, 1871-1919. (2005). 261 pp. Keating, Ann Durkin. Building Chicago: Suburban Developers and the Creation of a Divided Metropolis. (1988). 230 pp. Keating, Ann Durkin. "Chicagoland: More than the Sum of its Parts." Journal of Urban History 2004 30(2): 213-230. ISSN 0096-1442 Fulltext: Ebsco Mayer, Harold M., and Richard C. Wade. Chicago: Growth of a Metropolis (1969) 510pp Pacyga, Dominic A. and Skerrett, Ellen. Chicago: City of Neighborhoods. Histories and Tours. (1986). 582 pp. Randall, Gregory C. America's Original G.I. Town: Park Forest, Illinois. 2000. 236 pp. Venkatesh, Sudhir Alladi. American Project: The Rise and Fall of a Modern Ghetto, (2002), 360pp, on Robert Taylor Homes, a high rise public housing project with a negative reputation excerpt and text search WPA. Illinois: A Descriptive and Historical Guide (1939)
Pre-1871 Fehrenbacher, Don E. Chicago Giant: A Biography of "Long John" Wentworth. (1957). 278 pp. Karamanski, Theodore J. Rally 'Round the Flag: Chicago and the Civil War. (1993). 292 pp. Pierce, Bessie Louise. A History of Chicago, Volume I: The Beginning of a City 1673-1848 (1937; reprint 2007); Volume II: From Town to City 1848-1871 (reprint 2007) Quaife, Milo Milton. Chicago and the Old Northwest, 1673-1835. (1913, reprint (2001). 480 pp.
Politics
Allswang, John. A House For All Peoples: Ethnic Politics In Chicago, 1890-1936. (1973). 213 pp. Barnard, Harry. "Eagle Forgotten": The Life of John Peter Altgeld (1938) Beito, David T. Taxpayers in Revolt: Tax Resistance during the Great Depression. (1989). 216 pp. Bennett, Larry. “The Mayor among His Peers: Interpreting Richard M. Daley.” in The City, Revisited: Urban Theory from Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, edited by Dennis R. Judd and Dick Simpson, (University of Minnesota Press, 2011), pp. 242–72. online Biles, Roger. Richard J. Daley: Politics, Race, and the Governing of Chicago. (1995). 292 pp. Biles, Roger. Big City Boss in Depression and War: Mayor Edward J. Kelly of Chicago. (1984). 219 pp.
Bukowski, Douglas. Big Bill Thompson, Chicago, and the Politics of Image. (1998). 273 pp. excerpt and text search Cohen, Adam, and Elizabeth Taylor. American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley - His Battle for Chicago and the Nation. (2001). 614pp excerpt and text search Diamond, Andrew J. Chicago on the Make Power and Inequality in a Modern City (2017) Flanagan, Maureen A. Charter Reform in Chicago. (1987). 207 pp. Fuchs, Ester R. Mayors and Money: Fiscal Policy in New York and Chicago. (1992). 361 pp. Gottfried, Alex. Boss Cermak of Chicago: A study of political leadership (1962) Green, Paul M. and Holli, Melvin G., eds. The Mayors: The Chicago Political Tradition (1995) Green, Paul M. and Holli, Melvin G., eds. Restoration 1989: Chicago Elects a New Daley. (1991). 212 pp. Gosnell, Harold F. Machine Politics: Chicago Model (1937), classic statistical study Guterbock, Thomas M. Machine Politics in Transition: Party and Community in Chicago. (1980). 324 pp. Hartley, Robert E. Big Jim Thompson of Illinois (1979), governor 1980s Helgeson, Jeffrey. Crucibles of Black Empowerment: Chicago's Neighborhood Politics from the New Deal to Harold Washington (2014) Hogan, David John. Class and Reform: School and Society in Chicago, 1880-1930. (1985). 328 pp. Holli, Melvin G., and Jones, Peter d'A., eds. Biographical Dictionary of American Mayors, 1820-1980 (Greenwood Press, 1981) short scholarly biographies each of the city's mayors 1820 to 1980. online; see index at p. 408 for list. Jentz, John B. and Richard Schneirov. Chicago in the Age of Capital (2012) covers politics 1860 to 1880 excerpt and text search; 330pp Kantowicz, Edward R. Polish-American Politics in Chicago, 1888-1940. (1975). 260 pp. Kleppner, Paul. Chicago Divided: The Making of a Black Mayor. (1985). 313 pp. Littlewood, Thomas B. Horner of Illinois (1969), governor 1933-40 Lydersen, Karl. Mayor 1%: Rahm Emanuel and the Rise of Chicago's 99% (2014) Mantler, Gordon K. The Multiracial Promise. Harold Washington's Chicago and the Democratic Struggle in Reagan's America (U of North Carolina Press, 2023) Materson, Lisa G. For the Freedom of Her Race: Black Women and Electoral Politics in Illinois, 1877-1932 (2009) Merriner, James L. Grafters and Goo Goos: Corruption and Reform in Chicago (Southern Illinois U. Press, 2004) Merriam, Charles Edward. Chicago: A More Intimate View of Urban Politics (1929) online edition Miller, Kristie. Ruth Hanna Mccormick: A Life in Politics, 1880-1944 (1992) Miranda, Rowan A. "Post-Machine Regimes and the Growth of Government A Fiscal History of the City of Chicago, 1970-1990." Urban Affairs Review(1993) 28#3 pp: 397-422. Morton, Richard Allen. Justice and Humanity: Edward F. Dunne, Illinois Progressive (1997), 174pp Democrfatic mayor 1905-7 and governor 1913-17. Pacyga, Dominic A. Clout City: The Rise and Fall of the Chicago Political Machine (U of Chicago Press, 2025) online Peterson, Paul E. The Politics of School Reform, 1870-1940. (1985). 241 pp. Pinderhughes, Dianne M. Race and Ethnicity in Chicago Politics: A Reexamination of Pluralist Theory. (1987). 318 pp. Rakove, Milton. Don't Make No Waves...Don't Back No Losers: An Insiders' Analysis of the Daley Machine (1975_ Rivlin, Gary. Fire on the Prairie: Chicago's Harold Washington and the Politics of Race. (1992). 426 pp. Schmidt, John R. "The Mayor Who Cleaned Up Chicago": A Political Biography of William E. Dever. (1989). 239 pp. Schneirov, Richard. Labor and Urban Politics: Class Conflict and the Origins of Modern Liberalism in Chicago, 1864-97. (1998). 390 pp. excerpt and text search Simpson, Dick. Rogues, Rebels, and Rubber Stamps: The Politics of the Chicago City Council from 1863 to the Present (2001) 356pp online edition Smith, Joan K. Ella Flagg Young: Portrait of a Leader. (1979). 272 pp. Spirou, Costas, and Dennis R. Judd. “Richard M. Daley’s Ambiguous Legacy.” in Building the City of Spectacle: Mayor Richard M. Daley and the Remaking of Chicago, (Cornell University Press, 2016), pp. 149–81. online Tarr, Joel Arthur. A Study in Boss Politics: William Lorimer of Chicago. (1971). 376 pp. online edition Wendt, Lloyd, Herman Kogan, and Bette Jore. Big Bill of Chicago. (2005) , popular vio of mayor in 1920s
Crime, law and disaster
Adler, Jeffrey S. First in Violence, Deepest in Dirt: Homicide in Chicago, 1875-1920. (2006). 357 pp. excerpt and text search Adler, Jeffrey S. "'We've Got a Right to Fight; We're Married': Domestic Homicide in Chicago, 1875-1920." Journal of Interdisciplinary History 2003 34(1): 27-48. ISSN 0022-1953 Fulltext: Project MUSE Avrich, Paul. The Haymarket Tragedy (1984) excerpt and text search Bales, Richard F. The Great Chicago Fire and the Myth of Mrs. O'Leary's Cow. (2002). 338 pp. Brandt, Nat. Chicago Death Trap: The Iroquois Theatre Fire of 1903. (2003). 180 pp. Bruno, Robert. Reforming the Chicago Teamsters: The Story of Local 705. (2003). 203 pp. Cahan, Richard. A Court that Shaped America: Chicago's Federal District Court from Abe Lincoln to Abbie Hoffman. (2002). 273 pp. Chicago Commission on Race Relations. The Negro in Chicago: A Study of Race Relations and a Race Riot (1922) - 672 pages; full text online Cohen, Andrew Wender. The Racketeer's Progress: Chicago and the Struggle for the Modern American Economy, 1900-1940. (2004). 333 pp. Cooley, Will, "'Stones Run It': Taking Back Control of Organized Crime in Chicago, 1940–1975," Journal of Urban History, 37 (Nov. 2011), 933–51 Getis, Victoria. The Juvenile Court and the Progressives. (2000). 216 pp. Farber, David. Chicago '68. (1988). 304 pp. Heinz, John P. and Laumann, Edward O. Chicago Lawyers: The Social Structure of the Bar. (1983). 496 pp. Hendershot, Heather. When the News Broke: Chicago 1968 and the Polarizing of America (University of Chicago Press, 2023) on riots in the national news. Higdon, Hal. Leopold and Loeb: The Crime of the Century. (1975). 380 pp. Hilton, George W. Eastland: Legacy of the Titanic. (1995). 364 pp. The cruise ship capsized at its pier on a calm day in 1915, killing over 800 passengers. It was top heavy because of new federal laws (passed in response to the Titanic) requiring lifeboats. Hoffman, Dennis E. Scarface Al and the Crime Crusaders: Chicago's Private War against Capone. (1993). 192 pp. Krist, Gary. City of Scoundrels: The 12 Days of Disaster that Gave Birth to Modern Chicago. (2012). 347 pp. Lindberg, Richard Carl. To Serve and Collect: Chicago Politics and Police Corruption from the Lager Beer Riot to the Summerdale Scandal: 1855-1960. 1991. Merriner, James L. Grafters and Goo Goos: Corruption and Reform in Chicago, 1833-(2003). (2004). 302 pp. online edition Miller, Ross. The Great Chicago Fire (2000); 1st ed was American Apocalypse: The Great Chicago Fire and the Myth of Chicago 287 pp. Mumford, Kevin J. Interzones: Black/White Sex Districts in Chicago and New York in the Early Twentieth Century. (1997). 238 pp.