Dennis Patrick Halpin argues that Baltimore is key to understanding the trajectory of civil rights in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. A Brotherhood of Liberty traces the civil rights victories scored by black Baltimoreans that inspired activists throughout the nation and subsequent generations.

Cracked Foundations reveals that the postwar suburban boom was built on debt and speculation. Historian Michael R. Glass shows how home mortgages and municipal bonds made suburban life increasingly precarious and insecure, and how they established inequalities that have persisted to this day.

Wildcat of the Streets reveals how the “community policing” approach of Mayor Coleman Young (1974–1993) transformed Detroit into a crucial site of experimentation in policing while continuing to subject many Black Detroiters, especially young people, to police brutality and repression.

Community-Engaged Scholarship is a collection of stories told by alumni of the University of Pennsylvania who, as students, participated in the Barbara and Edward Netter Center for Community Partnerships, and whose lives were transformed by engaging with the West Philadelphia community.

Mobilization Politics reveals how activists in Philadelphia, working inside and outside the conventional political system, have effected important changes in criminal justice, immigrant rights, precarious labor, affordable housing, and community development while transforming how the city is governed.

To outsiders, there are two Souths: the South of the cross and the gun in the region’s interior, and the tourist’s South of Creole food and fine linen on the region’s coasts. Captive City explores the Souths between, mapping the legacy of slavery in the cities on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.

Philadelphia: A Narrative History presents a comprehensive portrait of the city’s history, from the region’s original Lenape inhabitants to the myriad of residents in the twenty-first century. Understanding Philadelphia’s past, Paul Kahan says, is key to envisioning future possibilities for the City of Brotherly Love.

Laura Wolf-Powers chronicles five decades of planning in and around West Philadelphia’s University City, advocating a reorientation of redevelopment practice around the recognition that, despite their negligible worth in real estate terms, the time, care, and energy people invest in their local environments are precious urban resources.

Vanishing Vienna reveals the foundational role philosemitism played in the effort to reimagine urban cultures after the Holocaust. Frances Tanzer uncovers a seldom discussed aspect of the postwar era—a society that continues to consume, redefine, and bestow symbolic meaning on the victims in their relative absence.

Enrique Peñalosa Londoño’s book describes how cities can become powerful means to achieve equality and inclusion. It provides democratic and practical criteria for conceiving and constructing different and better cities, describes the obstacles that are confronted when doing so, and identifies ways to overcome them.