He is the author of Second Cities: Globalization and Local Politics in Manchester, England, and Philadelphia, which earned the 2012 Urban History Association’s Kenneth Jackson Best Book Award, an annual honor presented for the best work relating to North American Urban History. The book explores the economics, culture, migration patterns and other qualities of Manchester and Philadelphia, comparing urban centers that are often viewed as second fiddles to their larger counterparts on the global scene. This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Sociology and the Ware College House and is free and open to the public.