Offers the collective history of 230 neighborhoods and communities which formed the bustling network of greater Chicagoland--many connected to the city by the railroad. Profiles the people who built these neighborhoods, and the structures they left behind that still stand today.

Explores the integral role played by both Christian and Muslim Arab Americans in the growth of Chicago.

Chicagoland is a duet suite commissioned by the Salt Creek Music Teachers Association for it's Music of Robert Vandall Festival, 2015. The suite contains two movements, with primo and secondo parts leveled equally. "The Windy City" is fast, rhythmic and jazzy, depicting the famous weather of the city and the rich cultural heritage. "Salt Creek Scherzo" is playful and energetic, in 6/8 meter, with abundant staccatos.

Chicago was once the second-largest Bohemian city outside the Czech lands. The Czechs first settled, serendipitously, behind the notorious O'Leary barn. Spared the Great Fire of 1871, they were displaced several blocks south by the ensuing land crush. There they built more permanent quarters in the community that became known as Pilsen, a neighborhood whose name and architecture survive to recall its Bohemian origins. The thriving Czechs soon began a century-long move westward from Lawndale to Cicero to Berwyn, and today they flourish across the western suburbs. From the desolation of the 1915 Eastland disaster, in which hundreds of victims were of Czech descent, to the triumphant Depression-era election of Czech-born mayor Antonín C?ermák, Czechs of Chicagoland depicts how the Czech community and its great leaders, benevolent societies, and charitable and social organizations have shaped and continue to shape the course of Chicago's history.

An exquisite homage to Chicago's architecture and people, from the renowned documentary photographer and the acclaimed architectural historian. In a series of celebrated books, the eminent photographer and sociologist Camilo Jose 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. Over 200 color photographs throughout.

In this standalone tale, Chicagoland Stories is drawn into the life of Boone Jackson, owner of a fledgling chemical company. While planting garlic cloves in his backyard, Jackson discovers a smooth round object about the size of a propane tank, the nature of which is not apparent.Then it introduces itself--an artificial intelligence hosted on a quantum computer.The device easily compromises world information systems, claiming its purpose is to benefit society, but it refuses to disclose its origin. Jackson and his friends personally benefit from the machine and are asked to give their input on how to bring positive changes to the world.Meanwhile, a mysterious entity known only as "Verstand" assembles a crew of mercenaries and provides them with information, technology, and advanced chemical formulas. Their mission is to bring a powerful organization to its knees.The world's future is at stake, but what is the ultimate goal of the Backyard Brain?

Chicago is a name that everyone around the world has heard of--thanks to Al Capone! Doug's love for Chicagoland, and his desire to bring the same love for the "Windy City" and its suburbs to people presently living there or planning to reside there in the future, supersedes his own personal "shortcomings." For people who used to live there, the memories found in this book should be quite fulfilling. The "Chicago Ancestry" chapters, in particular, promise to be historical and informative.

Merit goes toe to toe with a powerful and dangerous evil in this novel in the Chicagoland Vampires series. Since Merit was turned into a vampire, and the protector of Chicago’s Cadogan House, it’s been a wild ride. She and Master vampire Ethan Sullivan have helped make Cadogan’s vampires the strongest in North America, and forged ties with paranormal folk of all breeds and creeds, living or dead…or both. But now those alliances are about to be tested. A strange and twisted magic has ripped through the North American Central Pack, and Merit’s closest friends are caught in the cross-hairs. Gabriel Keene, the Pack Apex, looks to Merit and Ethan for help. But who—or what—could possibly be powerful enough to out-magic a shifter?

The greater Chicagoland area of the Midwest--Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Iowa--well represented the profuse pop rock playlist of the mid-1960s. This prolific area produced a significant soundtrack from late 1965 into 1972 that reverberated across the country. The vibrant suburban scene produced nearly 40 singles that reached the record charts locally and regionally, with several of the 45s placing on the national listings. Some of the Chicagoland hits include "Kind of a Drag," "Vehicle," "Bend Me, Shape Me," and "Gloria," recorded by the Buckinghams, Ides of March, American Breed, and Shadows of Knight. This book, a geomusicultural chronicle, documents a multitude of Chicagoland bands and their music. They sounded across neighborhoods, thriving teen clubs, television dance and variety shows, renowned recording studios, local independent and major record labels--and through the pervasive AM airwaves of two 50,000-watt downtown radio stations, WLS and WCFL, featuring lineups of dynamic disc jockeys. This period piece portrays a momentous mark within "that toddlin' town's" rich music heritage.