Here is a first-hand account of life in Philadelphia in the 1840s, as recorded in the diary of a prosperous citizen, Charles McKaraher. The author of this book is the namesake of his daughter, Helen Rosalie, who was married to Benjamin Reynolds. Helen Rosalie McKaraher (1820-1896) was the daughter of Charles and Eleanor Gethen McKaraher. Charles, who was a successful merchant and quite active in politics, wrote a personal diary from 1843 to 1845, which Ms. Blizard has transcribed verbatim. To give life to the diary entries, she skillfully added vignettes-her descriptive interpretations of the...