Chicago Books!

In a series of celebrated books, the eminent photographer and sociologist Camilo José Vergara has observed and recorded the evolution of America's inner cities for over twenty years, documenting the effects of time, commercialism, culture, and neglect on the built environment, with an aesthetic vision that has been hailed by the New York Times as persuasive and moving.

Here, in a unique collaboration with Timothy Samuelson, Chicago's leading architectural historian, Vergara probes the power and resonance of one of America's greatest cities. Unexpected Chicagoland includes over two hundred stunning color photographs, accompanied by a fascinating original narrative of the hidden history of Chicago's renowned architectural past. Vergara's photographs are a treasure trove of historically and visually interesting buildings and environments, most of them on the abandoned urban fringes. Included are examples of rarely seen work by some of the greatest architects of the twentieth century, such as Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and William Burley Griffin, as well as dazzling examples of Art Deco design.

Unexpected Chicagoland presents an authentic and gritty view of the metropolis at a time when the public's understanding of all American cities has become increasingly sanitized and homogenized. The book itself, in a large format and exquisitely designed, is packaged to be a lasting visual treasure.

With The University of Chicago: A History, John W. Boyer, Dean of the College since 1992, presents a deeply researched and comprehensive history of the university. Boyer has mined the archives, exploring the school's complex and sometimes controversial past to set myth and hearsay apart from fact. The result is a fascinating narrative of a legendary academic community, one that brings to light the nature of its academic culture and curricula, the experience of its students, its engagement with Chicago's civic community, and the conditions that have enabled the university to survive and sustain itself through decades of change.

Boyer's extensive research shows that the University of Chicago's identity is profoundly interwoven with its history, and that history is unique in the annals of American higher education. After a little-known false start in the mid-nineteenth century, it achieved remarkable early successes, yet in the 1950s it faced a collapse of undergraduate enrollment, which proved fiscally debilitating for decades. Throughout, the university retained its fierce commitment to a distinctive, intense academic culture marked by intellectual merit and free debate, allowing it to rise to international acclaim. Today it maintains a strong obligation to serve the larger community through its connections to alumni, to the city of Chicago, and increasingly to its global community.

Published to coincide with the 125th anniversary of the university, this must-have reference will appeal to alumni and anyone interested in the history of higher education of the United States.

Detective Sgt. Morgan Strongbow and his new partner, Sara Rydell are assigned to the case. Soon, another Muslim girl turns up dead, and the detectives find themselves thrust into a religiously charged case that could cost one or both of them their lives.

When Sara learns Strongbow once dated her aunt, matters are complicated even further. Strongbow must fend off bittersweet memories of first love as his partner picks at his emotional scabs, trying to uncover his deepest secrets.

Filled with mind-bending plot twists, Veiled Threats explores the most daunting issues of today: the war in Iraq, the problems of America's returning veterans, and how people of different faiths treat each other in a post-September 11 world.