Chicago’s Block Clubs: How Neighbors Shape the City
Amanda I. Seligman. University of Chicago Press, 2016
Seligman, a professor of history, encountered the phenomenon of the Chicago block club while investigating the transitions of Chicago neighborhoods. The clubs were so ubiquitous and embedded in the city’s culture that she initially took them for granted. But this book shows how small battles waged by these organizations are vital to understanding the city’s political and social history.