On the positive side, many of Chicago's key spots are targeted, such as the Water Tower, the stockyards and Hull House, and the paragraphs that accompany each picture do convey a lot of interesting information.

If you are interested in Chicago or urban history you will undoubtedly still enjoy this volume, but lower your expectations a bit before the book arrives so you won't be disappointed.

18 of 18 found the following review helpful:


A look at old Chicago  Jan 21, 2002 By Timothy J. Mccarthy
An interesting look at Chicago as it appeared in the past, compared to now. More than just a picture book, it also gives some historical perspective for each location. If you're a Chicagoan, this is a must have. There are two problems that keep this from getting a top ranking. First, the focus of a "then and now" book should be to compare and contrast, so we can see how much has changed. There's several locations shown here that haven't really changed, and you wonder why they were included. Also, the "then" and "now" pictures should be shot from roughly the same location, showing the same perspective. That's not always the case here, and you may have to spend some time figuring out how to get things lined up. Still, it's a good way to see how the city used to look, and a rare look at some of the now-missing architectural treasures.

6 of 6 found the following review helpful:


Nice Review of Past and Present  Sep 15, 2003
I enjoyed this book. Some of the pictures do not compare well because they were taken at different angles or from a different side of the street. Nevertheless, this is a great book. I found lots of stuff to compare. Native Chicagoans, who take an interest in the city, will like it. I purchased it for my brother for Christmas...liked it so much I purchased one for myself.

4 of 4 found the following review helpful:


A Uniquely-Formatted Picture Book on the History of Chicago  Jul 07, 2008 By Jan Peczkis "Scholar and Thinker"
This book has a relatively unusual format. A picture (often dating from before 1900) of a building or structure is shown on the left page, and a modern picture of the same building or structure is shown on the right facing page. A number of reviewers have complained about the fact that the comparative pictures were not usually taken from the same spot. I am unsure how easy it is to take a new picture of a structure from the exact location of a previous photo, at least without special technical assistance. In addition, the spot from which an old photo was taken may have been an empty lot which now contains a building--thus ruling out a new photo getting taken from the exact same spot as the old.

Besides the familiar Chicago landmarks, this book contains some pictures of churches. I especially appreciated the photos of St. Ignatius Church and St. Stanislaus Kostka Church.

12 of 16 found the following review helpful:


A wonderful coffee table book  Apr 04, 2001 By Sue Durso
This books brought back lots of memeories for all my family. The pictures were excellent!! The stories of how they came to be and how they were reconstucted were so interesting. Alot of history here. A must have for all Chicagoans. I bought 5 of these as Christmas gifts for my family and friends. Thanks.

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