Most people, specialists or not, typically think of New York City or Boston when considering the early development of parks and open spaces in American cities. Despite the size and importance of the Chicago park system, its history is less well known-even to many of those Chicagoans who regularly enjoy its facilities.

City in a Garden, developed in association with the Chicago Park District itself, changes that: its 184 large--format pages, packed with 140 images and a closely integrated text, provide the first official documentary chronicle of Chicago's parks. Thirty-one of the city's finest spaces are profiled, using photographs--both contemporary and historical-along with detailed vignettes and captions to trace their development. The visual treat of the book's fine-art duotones combines with its emphasis on narrative history to create a rich and magnificent exploration of a city's most beautiful sites.