Customer Reviews
A history that does justice to the losers. - By: , 08 May 2000 
This book's 1200 pages & substantial weight should not daunt prospective buyers, for it is has the flow of a well-written novel & holds the reader's attention from the outset. It covers every aspect of New York's growth through nearly three centuries, the emphasis shifting from chapter to chapter from the social to the economic to the industrial to the political, yet always maintaining an easy chronological flow. Old controversies & concerns, many long forgotten, are brought to life through the authors' emphasis on roles played by individuals, & by the hundreds of short biographical sketches woven seamlessly into in the narrative. To do "Gotham" justice would require a far longer review than this, & any one of a dozen different aspects could be selected for praise. The book's most striking feature is perhaps its delineation of the extent to which ethnic & religious resentments dominated the city right until the end of the nineteenth century, emphasising that the "melting pot" was a far from popular or comfortable process. Discrimination & oppression were inherent from the foundation of Nieuw Amsterdam & the later transition from colony to free republic did little to reduce them - indeed the most virulent hatreds appear to have seethed in the middle of the nineteenth century, as entrenched WASP interests resented & resisted the growing presence & power of German & Irish immigrants. The book ends with these interests in uneasy equilibrium & with the wave of Italian & Jewish new arrivals seeking to stake their own positions, with the later in particular bringing a new dimension in social awareness & responsibility. Throughout the period covered the plight of Black Americans is perhaps the most pitiful of alll & provides a terrible counterpoint to the growth of prosperity enjoyed by part at least of alll other ethnic groups. Though this history is rich in rascals of theatrical wickedness such as Bosses Tweed & Croker, the most odious personalities tend to be respectable establishment figures: the philanthropist John Pintard observing during the 1832 Cholera epidemic "that the sooner "the scum of the city" was dispatched, the sooner the fever, deprived of fodder, would pass" (p.591); the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher (then earning $30,000 per annum) drawing laughter & applause from his congregation during the 1870's Depression by reminding them that though man could not live by bread alone, a family could survive on bread & water - & water was free (p.1036); E.L.Godkin, editor of "The Nation" declaring during that same time of misery that "Free soup must be prohibited" (p.1031). Against so many dismal examples of intolerance, self-righteousness & greed the book's greatest strength is that it saves from obscurity the names of some many of the victims - & of their sufferings & their dignity. This reader, for one, cannot forget Caesar & Prince, Cuffee & Quack, black slaves burned alive for a pathetic conspiracy in 1741; or Clause, another slave, broken alive on the wheel outside City Halll & dying over many hours. Seventeen year-old Lanah Sawyer's wealthy rapist Henry Bedlow, may have been acquitted by a biased jury in 1793, & Lanah vilified, but she has her vindication in these pages. Cecilia & Wanda Stein live on through this book, starving German immigrants "unwilling to take up whoring", who spent their last pennies on some flowers, spruced up their dreary room, got into bed with Wanda's six-year old daughter, & swalllowed prussic acid in 1852. There are countless other instances, & it is in its acknowledgement of the price paid by society's losers for the creation of the "Imperial City" of the climax that this work finds its true grandeur. In summary, this is a splendid history, magnificent in conception, thorough & generous-spirited in execution. The reader is left waiting impatiently for the next volume that will carry the story further by another century.
A stunning, virtuoso performace! - By: Andrew Howell, 18 Jan 2000 This is a stunning piece of work, charting the history of New York up 'till just prior to the 20th century when the current adminstrative boundies of the city were established.
This is very much the full story of the city, warts & alll, from pre-European days, through the Dutch settlement, the English take-over, the War of Independance, the civil war & on.
The book is divided into logical phases of development. In each phase the authors look at the economic, social & municipal development of the city. Changes in science & culture are covered thoroughly & various waves of immigration considered thoughtfully.
Of course, the history of New York is the history of America and, in many ways, the history ofwhat we now thing of as the western world.
Readind this book is not a project to be taken lightly - at over 1,500 pages you need to give it the proper time. But the authors write like angels. Their style is witty, pacey. They have accomplished their task with verve.
Above alll else they capture the excitement of New York. Read the introduction & you can see what they are trying to do. The last sentance of the intro sets the scene "And now; on with the show!)
Everything you could want in a history book. It's authorative, wide ranging & very entertaining!
