{"product_id":"milwaukee-a-city-built-on-water-9781976600708","title":"Milwaukee: A City Built on Water","description":"\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003ePaddle through the watery history of the Midwest's Cream City.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The success and survival of Milwaukee lies in the rivers that meander through its streets and the great lake at its eastern boundary. The Indigenous peoples of the region recognized the value of an abundant, clean water supply for food and transportation. Generations of immigrants, entrepreneurs, innovators, and recreationists used the same waters to travel greater distances, power million-dollar industries, and even have a bit of fun. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In \u003ci\u003eMilwaukee: A City Built on Water\u003c\/i\u003e, celebrated historian John Gurda relates the history of the waters that gave Milwaukee life--and occasionally threatened the city through erosion, invasive species, and water-borne diseases. Telling tales of brewers, brickmakers, ecologists, and engineers, Gurda explores the city's complicated connections with its most precious resource and greatest challenge. You'll meet the generations of people, from a Potawatomi chief to fur traders and fishermen, who settled on the small spit of land known as Jones Island; learn how Milwaukee's unique water composition creates its distinct cream-colored bricks; visit Wisconsin's first waterparks; and see how city leaders transformed the Milwaukee River--once described as a \"vast sewer\" with an \"odorous tide\"--into today's lively and lovely Riverwalk. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Now available in paperback, \u003ci\u003eMilwaukee: A City Built on Water\u003c\/i\u003e is the sweeping chronicle of a critical natural resource that has weathered heavy use and flagrant abuse to emerge as a focal point of both celebration and concern in the twenty-first century.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Gurda\u003c\/b\u003e is a Milwaukee-born writer and historian who has been studying his hometown since 1972. He is the author of twenty-three books, including \u003ci\u003eBrewtown Tales\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Making of Milwaukee, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMilwaukee: City of Neighborhoods\u003c\/i\u003e. In addition to his work as an author, Gurda is a lecturer, tour guide, and local history columnist for the \u003ci\u003eMilwaukee Journal Sentinel\u003c\/i\u003e. The common thread in all of his work is an understanding of history as \"why things are the way they are.\"\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Wisconsin Historical Society Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51807221547282,"sku":"9781976600708","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_28cf65bd-044e-46a6-9eaa-068f753a3f77.jpg?v=1766046005","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/milwaukee-a-city-built-on-water-9781976600708","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}