Château Higginson: Social Life in Boston's Back Bay, 1870-1920

What a wonderful gift Margo Miller has given us in Château Higginson, a vivid and absorbing account of one man's efforts to construct a building that would create "a new way for Bostonians--and Americans--to live." Not only does Henry Lee Higginson (best known for founding the Boston Symphony Orchestra) and his housing gamble come to life, but a whole social class, indeed, all of nineteenth-century urban America, spread themselves before us in the narrative. Perspectives abound. Anecdotes enrich. Details, statistics, and little-known facts amaze. And it is written with elegance, confidence, grace, and wit. 'A must-read for any lover of Boston history, any student of American urban history.' --William Martin, New York Times bestselling author of Back Bay and The Lincoln Letter.