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Lilpup
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Username: Lilpup

Post Number: 4847
Registered: 06-2004
Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 6:04 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Which books would you recommend to someone who knows nothing about Detroit history except the auto industry? I'm looking for two or three that cover from founding to relatively recently, but most titles either focus on a particular subject or person or are basically timelines with little depth of story.

This is Detroit 1701-2001
Detroit in Its World Setting

What else? Or what non-comprehensive histories or biographies would you recommend as Detroit must reads?
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Ed_golick
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Username: Ed_golick

Post Number: 1055
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 7:20 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Detroit Across Three Centuries by that Richard Bak guy.
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Mikem
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Username: Mikem

Post Number: 3661
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 7:42 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Detroit: A Motor City History - Poremba
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Wash_man
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Username: Wash_man

Post Number: 848
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 8:18 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I've learned a lot from The Detroit Almanac, from the Freep.

http://freepressbookstore.stor es.yahoo.net/detroitalmanac.ht ml
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Putnam
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Username: Putnam

Post Number: 131
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 9:05 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"Detroit Across Three Centuries by that Richard Bak guy."

Second.
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Richard_bak
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Username: Richard_bak

Post Number: 338
Registered: 04-2008
Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 9:09 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks, Mom and Dad.
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Detroithabitater
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Username: Detroithabitater

Post Number: 165
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 9:29 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

If you are looking for recent history "Poletown: A community betrayed" is an excellent book.

Couldn't put it down.
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Neilr
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Username: Neilr

Post Number: 768
Registered: 06-2005
Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 9:39 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

To me, the best, most readable history of Detroit is American Odyssey by Robert Conot (1974). According to the dust cover blurb:
quote:

A dramatic narrative, a stunning history, and a analytic study, this book interweaves all three approaches to tell the life story of America through the development of a great city, Detroit.


Conant combines the fictional (but reality based) stories of the various branches of two families, one white, one black, into our history to show how we got to where we were in 1974. Nothing else I've read comes close to American Odyssey as a readable, understandable history of Detroit and its people.
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Cman710
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Post Number: 452
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Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 9:43 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

If you would like some insight into housing and racial issues in the 1950s into the 1960s, pick up a copy of Thomas Sugrue's "The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit." It will be very informative, and probably gives the best analysis of the broad set of reasons behind the Detroit's post-war decline.
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Frankg
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Post Number: 503
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Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 10:24 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I second the motion about the Sugrue book. That is the best book I have EVER read!

He has another book coming out this Fall, too, about how the North is more racist than the South. Well, something along those lines.

I also suggest reading an Olivier Zunz book: "The changing face of inequality: Urbanization, industrial development, and immigrant in Detroit, 1880-1920." This book sets the stage for the Sugrue book pretty well, so I do suggest reading this one, and reading it before the Sugrue book.
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Steve
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Username: Steve

Post Number: 245
Registered: 02-2006
Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 10:33 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'll second the Conot book. It's history the way it should be written.
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Mikem
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Username: Mikem

Post Number: 3663
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Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 10:43 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I would also recommend Conot but it's over 30 years old so you can't run down to Border's to pick it up and it might not be "recent" enough for your friend. Sugrue and Zunz are too narrow and academic for anyone not from Detroit or not interested in race relations. They would put me to sleep after a few pages.
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Richard_bak
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Username: Richard_bak

Post Number: 339
Registered: 04-2008
Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 11:10 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

What the hell, might as well chime in while I'm waiting for the second pot (already!?) of the morning to percolate.

As a starting point to get a nice overall sense of Detroit's past, I recommend three books, all of which have previously been mentioned. Robert Conot took several years to research and write "American Odyssey," and he did a masterful job of tying together threads that explain how Detroit came to be the city it became. The problem is, it no longer works---if it ever did---as a one-volume history of Detroit. The book was published in 1974, which means it ends just as things REALLY get interesting. There's not a single mention of Coleman Young in Conot's book (I know that'll please some potential readers). Even if Conot updated his book (don't hold your breath for the publisher to offer to do that), I have a problem with Conot's approach. It's obvious he was in a real hurry to get to the 20th century. He ignores the epic story of missionaries, explorers, Native Americans, etc. of the 17th and 18th centuries and skims over most of the 19th century. Gabriel Richard---one of the most important figures in Detroit's history---makes a couple cameo appearances and by page 30 of a 750-page book is gone forever.

Arthur Woodford's "This Is Detroit" (which is an updated version of the book he did in 1969 with his father, Frank Woodford, called "All Our Yesterdays") may be the most satisfying general overview of Detroit. It's well-written and covers most of the bases, though it's hard to get really in-depth in just 100,000 or so words. It was brought out for the city's Tricentennial in 2001, so it's pretty current. "The Detroit Almanac" works as a great fun-to-read supplement to Conot's and Woodford's books and can settle just about any bar bet. The material is arranged thematically vis-a-vis chronologically, though there are some timelines of events to guide readers. Bill McGraw told me he and his co-author worked on that book exclusively for two years while on staff at the Freep. Sweet gig!

Beyond that, there are scores of wonderful biographies, histories, memoirs, etc., all fleshing out topics and personalities in the books mentioned above. I recommend spending a nice quiet day in the stacks at John King's bookstore going through their city/regional history section. You never know what you'll come across. Some great stuff that was published 50-100 years ago, as well as the more current stuff.

Finally, about "Detroit Across Three Centuries...." Buy it (if you can find a copy, it's been out of print for years), but beware that it's a coffee-table book filled with great art and photos but pretty superficial. Because of a deadline timed to take advantage of the Tricentennial, I wrote that book in a rush, holding down a fulltime staff job while trying to assemble all the elements of a monster of a book. I really needed another year to do it justice. I wound up using material that had previously appeared in pubs like Detroit Monthly magazine, the Detroit News, etc. (See, I was recycling before it became popular.) The result is uneven emphasis (six pages on the Purple Gang, for example, and about six words on the Poletown controversy of the 1980s). The copy-editing was rushed, so there are some errors that many readers might not notice but which still make me cringe. On the other hand, I don't want to beat up my baby too much---I like to think there are some pretty cool things in there, from a story about Detroit's first auto fatality to the mysterious life of Daniel West, who set the standard for Detroit politican/con men. And, as I said, lots of cool photos, many in color.

Like a lot of folks, I've been waiting for that one sweeping, well-written epic history of Detroit to appear in bookstores, the kind you can plan on spending several satisfying nights really getting into. Similar to the trilogy Sidney Fine wrote on Frank Murphy, but twice as long (there's a lot of ground to cover) and filled with maps and photos (but not a coffee table book). All the main players, from the 1600s to the present, would be fleshed out---all those people whose names adorn our streets, parks, statues, automobiles---but there'd also be an emphasis on what everyday life was like. I used to think I'd be the guy to write this kind of book. I even did some cursory work on an outline and came away with some numbers: In order to research and write a comprehensive, readable, authoritative three-volume history of approximately 1 million words, it would take roughly 20 years. If there's any millionaire out there who wants to act as my benefactor for the next two decades, I'm willing to take on the task. Otherwise, there is no publisher willing to foot the bill for such a project, and no working writer who can afford to spend that much time on a project of great local interest but very limited sales potential. If it's to be done, at least in the manner that I've described, it'll probably have to be by a retired local historian who can devote that kind of effort and not be continually distracted by the constant need to make a buck. That person also better have good genes. Even Will and Ariel Durant, who made the 11-volume "The Story of Civilization" their life's work, could only get up to the Napoleonic era before they became too feeble to finish the series.

OK, coffee's done. Outta here.

(Message edited by richard_bak on August 12, 2008)
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Hornwrecker
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Post Number: 2049
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 11:39 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Silas Farmer's History of Detroit and Michigan

http://books.google.com/books? id=RH9FDeAyUJ4C&printsec=front cover&dq=detroit
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Bits
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Username: Bits

Post Number: 25
Registered: 02-2005
Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 12:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My favorite is June Manning Thomas book: "Redevelopment and Race - Planning a Finer City in Postwar Detroit"
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Traxus
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Username: Traxus

Post Number: 137
Registered: 02-2006
Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 12:54 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Techno Rebels by Dan Sicko


While this book definitely holds the 'Detroit invented dance music' bias, it goes into a lot of great detail about the city's music scene that other books just skim over. A great read if you've got any interest in the music.
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Mickeymac
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Username: Mickeymac

Post Number: 12
Registered: 08-2008
Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 4:07 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

For the music history I would reccomend Grit, Noise and Revolution. I cant think of the author's name right now, but its thourough going from John Lee Hooker, to Fortune Records, Motown and other R&B labels, Mitch Ryder, the garage rock scene, and up to later hard rock and psychedelia music.

Two flaws though:
1.) Other than the Flaming Ember there is no mentinon of Hot Wax/Invictus(the labels Holland Dozier Holland started after they split Motown).
2.) Three chapters on the MC5 is just too much
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Sumas
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Username: Sumas

Post Number: 207
Registered: 01-2008
Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 8:03 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

All Our Yesterdays and Detroit, Then and Now. One more that I can't think of . I will post when I remember.
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Urbanoutdoors
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Username: Urbanoutdoors

Post Number: 1027
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 9:38 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The Burton's are a good source for older material especially if you get a full set. I only have 4 out of 5. I like Bridging the River of Hatred: the Pioneering Efforts of George Edwards by mary Stolberg. I also would say that Manning Thomas and Sugrue are two of my faves.
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Andylinn
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Username: Andylinn

Post Number: 973
Registered: 04-2006
Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 10:35 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

aMUST:

American Odyssey (think a People's History of the United States, but about Detroit... - written in the 1970s, out of print. check John King.)
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Mickeymac
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Username: Mickeymac

Post Number: 15
Registered: 08-2008
Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - 5:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Anybody here read that book TV Land Detroit???
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Ed_golick
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Username: Ed_golick

Post Number: 1082
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - 5:59 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I did. I liked the the quotes from that Detroit TV kids show guy.
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Whithorn11446
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Username: Whithorn11446

Post Number: 267
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - 7:38 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

---"I like to think there are some pretty cool things in there, from a story about Detroit's first auto fatality to the mysterious life of Daniel West, who set the standard for Detroit politican/con men."

Richard Bak,
It has been since the summer of 1965 that anyone in these parts has heard from "Mr. West", correct ? He ranks at the very top of the list of con men that ever set foot into Detroit. He sure was an expert on identity theft as well.

I think his district as a State Rep. included the area around Olympia and Northwestern High School. Both Federal Court and Detroit Recorders Court wanted to "throw the book at him". One of these days I will look into the stories about him for the time to see who the judges were.
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Leoqueen
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Username: Leoqueen

Post Number: 2153
Registered: 07-2004
Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - 8:16 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I looked for "Detroit Across Three Centuries" and found it on Amazon for $101. Its on Ebay for around $36.
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Dannyv
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Username: Dannyv

Post Number: 340
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - 8:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Daniel West? Was that the guy who took over Federal's Department store?
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Ed_golick
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Username: Ed_golick

Post Number: 1085
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - 9:16 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

That was Steve West.
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Terryh
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Username: Terryh

Post Number: 925
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - 10:51 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Working Detroit. Pick up a copy at the local library. It covers the history of organized labor in Detroit.
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Rhymeswithrawk
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Username: Rhymeswithrawk

Post Number: 1437
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - 11:24 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"Buildings of Detroit" by William Hawkins Ferry is great for both buildings and history, although sometimes minute bits of history.
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Professorscott
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Username: Professorscott

Post Number: 1590
Registered: 12-2006
Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - 11:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Richard_bak, major kudos for your long and thoughtful post. A trip to John King is in order and I plan to spend many delightful evenings poring over your selections.

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