SKU: 96804195525

Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago

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Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in ChicagoOn Thursday, July 13, 1995, Chicagoans awoke to a blistering day in which the temperature would reach 106 degrees. The heat index, which measures how the temperature actually feels on the body, would hit 126 degrees by the time the day was over. Meteorologists had been warning residents about a two day heat wave, but these temperatures did not end that soon. When the heat wave broke a week later, city streets had buckled; the records for electrical

On Thursday, July 13, 1995, Chicagoans awoke to a blistering day in which the temperature would reach 106 degrees. The heat index, which measures how the temperature actually feels on the body, would hit 126 degrees by the time the day was over. Meteorologists had been warning residents about a two-day heat wave, but these temperatures did not end that soon. When the heat wave broke a week later, city streets had buckled; the records for electrical use were shattered; and power grids had failed, leaving residents without electricity for up to two days. And by July 20, over seven hundred people had perished-more than twice the number that died in the Chicago Fire of 1871, twenty times the number of those struck by Hurricane Andrew in 1992--in the great Chicago heat wave, one of the deadliest in American history.

Heat waves in the United States kill more people during a typical year than all other natural disasters combined. Until now, no one could explain either the overwhelming number or the heartbreaking manner of the deaths resulting from the 1995 Chicago heat wave. Meteorologists and medical scientists have been unable to account for the scale of the trauma, and political officials have puzzled over the sources of the city's vulnerability. In Heat Wave, Eric Klinenberg takes us inside the anatomy of the metropolis to conduct what he calls a social autopsy, examining the social, political, and institutional organs of the city that made this urban disaster so much worse than it ought to have been.

Starting with the question of why so many people died at home alone, Klinenberg investigates why some neighborhoods experienced greater mortality than others, how the city government responded to the crisis, and how journalists, scientists, and public officials reported on and explained these events. Through a combination of years of fieldwork, extensive interviews, and archival research, Klinenberg uncovers how a number of surprising and unsettling forms of social breakdown--including the literal and social isolation of seniors, the institutional abandonment of poor neighborhoods, and the retrenchment of public assistance programs--contributed to the high fatality rates. The human catastrophe, he argues, cannot simply be blamed on the failures of any particular individuals or organizations. For when hundreds of people die behind locked doors and sealed windows, out of contact with friends, family, community groups, and public agencies, everyone is implicated in their demise.

As Klinenberg demonstrates in this incisive and gripping account of the contemporary urban condition, the widening cracks in the social foundations of American cities that the 1995 Chicago heat wave made visible have by no means subsided as the temperatures returned to normal. The forces that affected Chicago so disastrously remain in play in America's cities, and we ignore them at our peril.

For the Second Edition Klinenberg has added a new Preface showing how climate change has made extreme weather events in urban centers a major challenge for cities and nations across our planet, one that will require commitment to climate-proofing changes to infrastructure rather than just relief responses.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 05/06/2015
ISBN: 9780226276182
Pages: 328
Weight: 1.06lbs
Size: 8.94h x 6.13w x 0.85d
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SKU: 96804195525

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M&M
Pawtucket, US
★★★★★ 5
Overkill In A Good Way
Size: 1.5FT, Size: 1.5FT
Bought this UGREEN Cat 8 Ethernet cable to connect my router to my modem, and it works perfectly. Build quality is excellent — thick braided but bendable cable, solid connectors, and it clicks in snug. Definitely feels more durable than the cheap cables you usually get. Speeds are stable with no drops or lag, and setup was plug-and-play. The 1.5 ft length is perfect for short runs and keeps everything looking neat instead of having extra cable everywhere. Is Cat 8 probably more than most people need? Yeah, as it is more than enough for home internet speeds of 1 to 2 gigs. But for its value, it’s nice to know it’s future-proof for many homeowners and the speeds currently offered by today’s ISPs. Would absolutely buy again.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2026
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pjbartley
San Leandro, US
★★★★★ 5
Glad I Bought the Better Cable
Size: 50FT
I originally looked at some cheaper Ethernet cables, but my son talked me into spending a little more for this one. I’m glad I listened. The cable feels well made, and the braided design seems sturdy. I bought it for my fiber internet setup so I could have a reliable wired connection to my laptop. It has worked perfectly. I plugged one end into the router and the other end into my adapter, and that was it. No issues, no disconnects, and no problems. Sometimes it is worth paying a little more for something you only want to buy once. This cable was worth it.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2026
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Jim N.
Bozeman, US
★★★★★ 5
A Must if you have Fiber internet!!!
Size: 10FT
I recently got fiber internet installed and decided to upgrade my Ethernet cable from Cat 7 to this UGREEN Cat 8 cable—mostly just because I wanted to make sure my network setup was fully up to date. I honestly wasn't expecting much of a difference, but I was surprised to see over a 20% increase in speed after swapping out the cable. The cable itself is extremely high quality. The braided exterior feels durable and premium, and the connectors are solid and well-made. Everything about it gives the impression of a quality product designed to last. Whether the speed improvement was due to my previous cable or not, I'm very happy with the results. For anyone upgrading their network, especially with fiber internet, this was a worthwhile upgrade and well worth the money.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2026
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DeLawders
Louisville, US
★★★★★ 5
UGREEN Cat 8 6FT Braided – Finally a short cable that actually hits 40 Gbps in real life
Size: 6FT
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ UGREEN Cat 8 6FT Braided – Finally a short cable that actually hits 40 Gbps in real life I have a 10 Gbit NAS (Synology DS1823xs+) sitting right behind my gaming PC, and every “Cat8” cable I tried before this one was either stiff boat-anchor thick or straight-up lied about speed. This UGREEN 6 ft braided version is the first one that actually delivers. Real-world tested speeds iperf3 PC ↔ NAS: sustained 39.4 Gbps bidirectional (that’s ~4.9 GB/s) Large 4K/8K file transfers: 4.7–4.8 GB/s steady, no drops Zero packet errors after 48 hours of torture testing Build quality & practicality Flat braided jacket is super flexible, looks premium, and doesn’t turn into a tangled mess like round Cat8 cables Gold-plated contacts, double shielding, and it passes a Fluke DSX-8000 Cat8 Channel test (yes, I’m that guy) Perfect 6 ft length, no excess coil behind the desk causing signal reflections Snagless boot actually works, no more broken clips Why I love it for desktop use Runs cool even at full 40 Gbps load (barely warm) Way less stiff than the usual shielded Cat8 firehoses, easy to route under a desk or through a cable sleeve Latency is stupid low: 0.22 ms average to my NAS vs 0.45 ms on my old Cat6a round cable Only “con” (and it’s tiny): it’s flat, so if you’re one of those people who religiously wants perfectly round cables for aesthetics, you might not like it. Everyone else on planet Earth will think it looks cleaner anyway. For $14, this is the best short-hop 40 Gbps cable on Amazon, bar none. Already replaced every 1–10 ft run in my office with these. If you have 10G+ gear sitting close together and you’re still using Cat6 or stiff Cat8, do yourself a favor and grab a couple. You’ll instantly feel the difference. 10/10 – UGREEN absolutely crushed it with this one.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2025
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M. Vigod
Draper, US
★★★★★ 5
Still the best ethernet cable out there right now
Size: 6FT
I ordered several of these cables a couple years ago and they are still the best cables I have ever purchased. The Cat8 speed rating is great. These are very well built with the outer covering and the quality connectors and covers over them. Fast data transfer wtih Cat8. I am ordering more tonight to replace some other cables as these just look, feel and work premium.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2026

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