Skid Road, Murray Morgan
Skid Road, Murray Morgan
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Skid Road
An Informal Portrait of Seattle

Author: Murray Morgan, Mary Ann Gwinn

Narrator: Bob Souer

Unabridged: 10 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/08/2024


Synopsis

Skid Road tells the story of Seattle "from the bottom up," offering an informal and engaging portrait of the Emerald City's first century, as seen through the lives of some of its most colorful citizens. With his trademark combination of deep local knowledge, precision, and wit, Murray Morgan traces the city's history from its earliest days as a hacked-from-the-wilderness timber town, touching on local tribes, settlers, the lumber and railroad industries, the great fire of 1889, the Alaska gold rush, flourishing dens of vice, the 1919 general strike, the 1962 World's Fair, and the stuttering growth of the 1970s and '80s. Through it all, Morgan shows us that Seattle's one constant is change and that its penchant for reinvention has always been fueled by creative, if sometimes unorthodox, residents.

With a new introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic Mary Ann Gwinn, this redesigned edition of Murray Morgan's classic work is a must for those interested in how Seattle got to where it is today.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Brian on May 28, 2018

(4.5) Great Seattle history read Goes deep into key periods of Seattle history such as arrival of non-native Americans, establishment of the local industries (in particular timber, railroads, outfitting the Klondike fortune-seekers, sex), the fits and starts of the northern railroad lines (and rivalr......more

Goodreads review by Preston on June 12, 2021

A lot of interesting Seattle history, told in a reasonably compelling way. Picked this up because I literally live on “skid road” in Seattle. However I’m reading Caro’s LBJ series and so my bar for writing that makes history come alive is ridiculously high right now, and Morgan lost my interest a co......more

Goodreads review by Chase on February 02, 2020

Murray Morgan's classic "Skid Row", first published in the 1950s and then updated in the early '80s, narrates the unfiltered and raw history of the city of Seattle. With a focus on case studies in different time periods, there is no doubt that Seattle has a controversial past! Its early days are ful......more

Goodreads review by Larisa on September 16, 2008

After living in Seattle for 11 years, I figured it was time to learn more about its history then I'd gleaned from taking tours when my parents came to visit. The first few chapters are engaging and enlightening. Morgan's focus on the lives of the people who founded the town (particularly Doc Maynard......more

Goodreads review by Rachel D on August 01, 2019

The first third of this book was riveting. Stories of the first non-native settlers and power players were interesting and entertaining - 4 stars for the first section of the book. The rest of the book was mundane. Details of power struggles between labor, politicians, and newspapermen could not grab......more