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Review
| Shock Cities: The Environmental Transformation and Reform of Manchester and Chicago, by Harold L. Platt. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005. 592 pages. $49.00, cloth.
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| Harold L. Platt's Shock Cities is a comparative environmental history of the cities of Chicago, Illinois, and Manchester, England. The author chose these two particular cities because they are "shock cities"—cities that embody both the horror and wonder of the emerging industrial revolution that included changes in land use, social geography, and the character of the built environment. Shock Cities makes a sizable contribution to technological, urban and environmental history. The author's determination to keep his work centered on the people of these cities rather than the process of their actions, or the development of technologies, is to be commended. Consequently, the author's work is remarkably holistic. While he examines the development of technology, he also provides both the human and environmental ramifications that technology had as it was implemented in his subject cities. This methodology is quite effective, as it places these technologies within a uniquely human context, as well as an environmental one. The book presents a highly detailed examination of how technology, political decisions and the ever-increasing desire for city services affected life across the social spectrum in both Manchester and Chicago and places the history of these cities within a larger framework of their environmental and ecological history. While the book falls into the general category of urban and environmental history, the subfields of technological, political and cultural history are well represented in these pages. |
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The author focuses his work on three aspects of these emerging industrial cities—the streets, the waterworks, and the breweries. While it is fairly easy to understand why Platt chose to examine the streets and waterworks, the idea of including breweries is not something most readers would readily understand. Platt defends this decision by stating that the brewery offers the best industry to study air pollution because it consumes large amounts of coal. Also, the production of beer during this particular era incorporated ever-increasing amounts of scientific investigation. The industry as a whole also has gender, class and ethnic issues surrounding it, allowing the author to explore the cultural and political issues that surround this industry. Shock Cities' trans-Atlantic dimension is also something that sets this book apart from others in the field. While Manchester and Chicago seem to be vastly dissimilar, Platt reveals that this is not necessarily so. Each city sought to limit the effects of natural forces and to integrate the most modern machinery, and both were more than willing to see the environment as expendable in these efforts. As rampant industrialization began to critically degrade the environment, the cities sought the advice of experts and scientists to understand and solve the evolving environmental crisis. |
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One of the book's best aspects is how the streets, the waterworks, and the breweries caused urban reorganization that resulted in cities that are segregated by function, social and economic factors. While many historians have commented on this subject, Platt's work is unique as he examines the process of how and why it happened in both of these cities. The author argues that the ramifications of these forms of segregation are interlocking and reinforcing, as well as having a great effect on the urban decision-making process. Shock Cities has a lot to offers its readers, and would make a valuable addition to any college—level environmental or urban history reading list. It might be best used in a college level advanced urban or environmental history class or graduate seminar reading list, especially one that is focused on the Victorian and Progressive eras. While some instructors might find its length prohibitive, the book's originality and depth easily justify the effort. |
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| University of Houston |
Tom McKinney |
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