By the turn of the nineteenth century America was coming of age. No event better illustrated the American rise, better mirrored American society, or better presaged the American century ahead than the World's Columbian Exposition. "The grandest exposition this planet has ever witnessed" has been captured by Robert Muccigrosso in this lively survey of the Great Fair and its reflection of American values and tastes. With exhibits and visitors from all parts of the globe, the Columbian Exposition allowed America to consider its past, examine its present, and ponder its future. The nation's most celebrated architects overcame formidable obstacles to showcase science, technology, and the arts, and to provide a meeting place for assorted congresses. But the exposition was also an entertainment for the 27 million (a remarkable figure for 1893) who came to see the great event staged in that most fascinating city of wealth, culture, and corruption, Chicago. With photographs and maps. American Ways Series.