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Seligman's study reveals that the responses of white West Siders to racial changes occurring in their neighborhoods were both multifaceted and extensive. She shows that, despite rehabilitation efforts, deterioration in these areas began long before the color of their inhabitants changed from white to black. And ultimately, the riots that erupted on Chicago's West Side and across the country in the mid-1960s stemmed not only from the tribulations specific to blacks in urban centers but also from the legacy of accumulated neglect after decades of white occupancy. Seligman's careful and evenhanded account will be essential to understanding that the flight of whites to the suburbs was the eventual result of a series of responses to transformations in Chicago's physical and social landscape, occurring one block at a time.

Blood Runs Green tells the story of Cronin's murder from the police investigation to the trial. It is a story of hotheaded journalists in pursuit of sensational crimes, of a bungling police force riddled with informers and spies, and of a secret revolutionary society determined to free Ireland but succeeding only in tearing itself apart. It is also the story of a booming immigrant population clamoring for power at a time of unprecedented change.

From backrooms to courtrooms, historian Gillian O'Brien deftly navigates the complexities of Irish Chicago, bringing to life a rich cast of characters and tracing the spectacular rise and fall of the secret Irish American society Clan na Gael. She draws on real-life accounts and sources from the United States, Ireland, and Britain to cast new light on Clan na Gael and reveal how Irish republicanism swept across the United States. Destined to be a true crime classic, Blood Runs Green is an enthralling tale of a murder that captivated the world and reverberated through society long after the coffin closed.

The idea that progressives are better at businesses than conservatives will surprise most people - including many progressives. But as The Blue Way shows, in nearly every sector of the economy, blue companies are the top performers. As a result, an investor who places his money in stocks of blue companies will do better than one who chooses red companies or who chooses to invest in the market as a whole. In The Blue Way, Daniel Adamson and Joe Andrew, cofounders of Blue Investment Management, identify the companies that have the most progressive social values - fair wages, equal opportunity, environmental responsibility - and also contribute to progressive political causes (or are at least neutral). They describe the portfolio they have built around those companies, which to date has out-performed the market. Their innovative investment strategy offers a profitable approach for investors seeking a principled and successful stock portfolio.

But The Blue Way is also a stirring manifesto, a call to embrace socially and politically progressive values. As the authors show, these values aren't anti-business; they are pro-American. For decades the American economy has performed better under Democratic administrations than under Republicans. Americans who "buy blue," say Adamson and Andrew, aren't just acting on their values; they are helping to grow the American economy. The authors explain how to build a "blue infrastructure," a progressive ecosystem in which companies and activists with progressive values can support blue politicians and causes. The Blue Way shows how the progressive movement can learn from the success of the blue business world and create a new progressive majority for the future.
The Blue Way describes a revolutionary investment strategy back by solid financial research that benefits investors while fostering socially progressive American values.

Now considered a dysfunctional mess, Chicago s public housing projects once had long waiting lists of would-be residents hoping to leave the slums behind. So what went wrong? To answer this complicated question, D. Bradford Hunt traces public housing s history in Chicago from its New Deal roots through current mayor Richard M. Daley s Plan for Transformation. In the process, he chronicles the Chicago Housing Authority s own transformation from the city s most progressive government agency to its largest slumlord.

Challenging explanations that attribute the projects decline primarilyto racial discrimination and real estate interests, Hunt argues that well-intentioned but misguided policy decisions ranging from design choices to maintenance contracts also paved the road to failure. Moreover, administrators who fully understood the potential drawbacks did not try to halt such deeply flawed projects as Cabrini-Green and the Robert Taylor Homes. These massive high-rise complexes housed unprecedented numbers of children but relatively few adults, engendering disorder that pushed out the working class and, consequently, the rents needed to maintain the buildings. The resulting combination of fiscal crisis, managerial incompetence, and social unrest plunged the CHA into a quagmire from which it is still struggling to emerge.

"Blueprint for Disaster," then, ""is an urgent reminder of the havoc poorly conceived policy can wreak on our most vulnerable citizens."

Remember Ralph? He was the kid who failed grade school not once but twice, the kid who was constantly, unwaveringly up to no good. He was the outsider you avoided at all costs. But who precisely was Ralph? And whatever happened to him?

"The Book of Ralph," a resonant tale of boys growing up together, reintroduces you to the Ralph you once knew. Suffused with wit and charm, this dazzling story draws readers inexorably into the lives and antics of Hank -- a good boy, a B+ student -- and his troublemaking classmate Ralph, who takes Hank to places he has never dreamed of -- places on the edge, sometimes, of genuine danger.

It is 1978 in Chicago. Hank wants eighth grade to be his big year to shine. But when Ralph starts acting as if he and Hank are best friends, things don't go quite according to plan -- in fact, Hank's special year spirals into an odyssey that is as frightening as it is hilarious, as poignant as it is bizarre.

Reluctant cohort though he may be, Hank none-theless joins forces with Ralph and his older cousins, Norm and Kenny, employees of the Tootsie Roll factory; together, they wreak havoc over Chicago's southwest side. For good or ill, Hank's right there by his side when, for instance, Ralph becomes a thug-for-hire and starts stalking a fellow eighth-grader with plans to bite off his ear (rate: $15.00). For his part, Ralph proves his loyalty in unexpected ways, including a show of solidarity with Hank's grandmother when she's hauled in for a series of shoe-store robberies. Through it all, in a year that sees the rise of Styx, Cheap Trick, and Kiss, Hank doesn't win the popularity or acclaim he'd hoped eighthgrade would bring. But as the adult world seems increasingly opportunistic and indifferent, his alliance with Ralph offers him an escape, and even some wisdom. By the end of the school year, though, unanticipated events have altered the nature of their friendship, possibly forever.

John McNally, an award-winning author and an exciting new voice in fiction, presents a delightful, warm-hearted coming-of-age tale replete with the terrors and wonders of early adolescence. Hank and Ralph are an irresistible and entirely surprising blend of wise beyond their years and awestruck at the world made available to them as high school approaches. Beautiful in its plainspoken insight into the experience of teenage boys and all human beings, this story exquisitely renders those flashes of transcendence that can occur in everyday life.

As they seek to survive eighth grade, a bad economy, and threadbare family lives, Hank and Ralph give us a window into the ties that bind us together, hold us back, and sometimes redeem us.

New edition of the classic story of the late Richard J. Daley, politician and self-promoter extraordinaire, from his inauspicious youth on Chicago's South Side through his rapid climb to the seat of power as mayor and boss of the Democratic Party machine. A bare-all account of Daley's cardinal sins as well as his milestone achievements, this scathing work by Chicago journalist Mike Royko brings to life the most powerful political figure of his time: his laissez-faire policy toward corruption, his unique brand of public relations, and the widespread influence that earned him the epithet of "king maker." The politician, the machine, the city--Royko reveals all with witty insight and unwavering honesty, in this incredible portrait of the last of the backroom Caesars.

New edition includes an Introduction in which the author reflects on Daley's death and the future of Chicago.