Informed by current scholarship and richly illustrated with full-color photographs and maps, Greater Philadelphia and the World and its companion volumes The Greater Philadelphia Region and Greater Philadelphia and the Nation bring to the public an up-to-date, diverse history of Philadelphia across its many dimensions.
This visually stunning reference—assembled by the editorial team of the online Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia—reveals the influence of empires and nations on Greater Philadelphia while also emphasizing the dynamic role the region and its people have played in shaping the modern world. The book illuminates the relationship between the Delaware Valley and the Atlantic basin, from British colony to commercial center and immigration hub to a crucible of revolutionary conflict over liberty and enslavement. It shows how the Greater Philadelphia region grew into an industrial behemoth that drew migrants and exiles, not only from Europe but also from Asia, Africa, and across the Americas, and how it became a political, intellectual, and cultural beacon to other New World republics. Greater Philadelphia and the World highlights the exchanges throughout the Pacific World—of industry, people, and ideas—that also helped make Philadelphia the city it became.
The book is arranged thematically, with chapters containing:
· Histories of various waves of immigration from around the world across multiple centuries and the ways in which their impacts continue to be visible in the region today;
· Explorations of the world religions that took root in the region;
· An overview of the environmental factors, from hurricanes to pollution, that contribute to the region’s changing demographics as well as the epidemics and public health emergencies, from cholera to COVID;
· A survey of the institutions, practices, movements, and industries that have been shaped by global developments and, in turn, contribute to worldwide advancements in knowledge, commerce, and activism—from universities to international peace movements and from labor unions to global industries;
· Historical accounts of the military conflicts—local, regional, national, and global—that had an effect on the evolution of the Greater Philadelphia region and in which the region and its citizens played a part.
Each chapter also features an “Explore More” section that provides opportunities for further reading and research, including places to visit and sites to investigate, to encourage discovery beyond the book’s pages.
Exploring the immigrants who peopled the Delaware Valley, the faiths they practiced, the environment they shaped, the wars they waged, and the global connections they forged, Greater Philadelphia and the World reveals a city and its surroundings that has been continually molded by its links to the Atlantic, the Americas, and the Pacific.
