Customer Reviews

Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 (The History of New York City)

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have only read about a tenth of this mammoth work so far and I have found it to be one of the best written and most interesting books I've ever come across. As an Australian, I've always had a great fascination with New York (I've been there twice) - it's history, it's beautiful skyline and it's great contribution in so many areas like the arts & architecture (the Chrysler Building is one of the most gorgeous pieces of modern design in the world, in my opinion). So, to read such a marvellously written work on the city itself was a book I couldn't resist. Despite it's weight (it's quite a load to carry to work every day on the train) I LITERALLY can't put it down. Well done, Professors Burrows & Wallace - I can't wait for the next volume from 1898 onwards!

When I see a 1,000+ page book on any subject, I really have to wonder if it will be worth the time I'd have to invest reading it. I am happy to say that Burrows and Wallace's GOTHAM was worth every second I spent poring through its pages. BOTH TIMES! GOTHAM is very compelling and very witty, and, at the same time, terrifying and troubling when you read about some of the atrocities committed on this tiny island. The treasure-trove of illustrations along the way only add to the enjoyment of the narrative. I can't recommend it highly enough. To me, however, the book is an important reminder that the history of New York City is richer, older, and more complex than the other US cities we tend to think of as historic, like Boston, Philadelphia, or DC. The history of New York City, laden with hope and tragedy, friction and cooperation, tolerance and intolerance, greed and charity, has never been given the majestic yet human voice it deserves, until now. GOTHAM lets you celebrate the history of New York as you learn about it. To me, that's worth every second of reading.

This is the definitive book on New York City history and is a remarkable accomplishment for it's authors. You'll find in Gotham not only a history of New York City (and an exhaustive one at that) but by default, a companion to the study of the foundations of this nation. Gotham is remarkably colorful in it's portrayal of the many characters that make up the history of this great city but doesn't skimp on poignant, and sometimes sobering, detail. An ambitious read, but worth every word. This is the kind of book that spawns the reading of ten more!

A sure cure for the unfortunate predisposition of the popular media to portray the history of New York as beginning with the first immigrant who set foot on Ellis Island (the book terminates prior to 1900). Read Gotham and become immersed in the richness of the mostly untold New York story.

Gotham is the deserved winner of the Pulitzer Prize. While it took me months to complete it--and I am a voracious reader--it was time well spent. Not only is the book immensely informative, it is utterly readable. I also found Gotham to be highly balanced, covering a wide range of topics. In no way did the book feel overly PC, dwelling on certain subjects at the expense of others. Yes, it covers (as it should), the slave conspiracy scare, Helen Jewett murder, abortion, environmentalism, Henry George, and the various labor movements, but Gotham gives equal room to Stuyvesant, Alexander Hamilton, Dewitt Clinton, Fernando Wood, Roosevelt, baseball, and Coney Island. Compare Gotham to a pick-and-choose textbook, or slanted politicized history like Howard Zinn or Patriots History of America, it's no contest.

Gotham is a significant achievement as a work of history. The beauty of this book is that, despite its length, it is engrossing and very readable all the way through. Indeed, the last 100 pages are as interesting if not more interesting than the first 100 pages. Rich with interesting anecdotes, and a cast of dozens of characters and true stories that are as colorful as the fiction in any Dickens novel, it is a rewarding read, albiet a somewhat challenging one if only because of its 1236 pages of text. Particularly interesting are the sections on the New Amsterdam period, the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, including the Draft Riots, crime, the development of Wall Street and the Stock Exchange, Boss Tweed, the Brooklyn Bridge, transportation and the rail boom, electric lighting, the Astor Place riot, fire companies, immigration, the Astors, Teddy Roosevelt, Coney Island, the skyscraper and building booms,... and the list goes on and on. This is not just a history of New York, but also a history essential to understanding America's past. The book is an enriching read, and heartily recommended.

Nobody can deny that this is a mammoth work of scholarship deserving of praise, but before you dive into this one with determination and zeal you should know a few things. First, despite what others are saying about the book, it does NOT read like a novel. It's narrative history to be sure, but it's also full of numbers, dates, figures, statistics and other analytical details which make the thing feel far more academic than is frequently suggested or expected. Also, the authors greatly emphasize the political and (especially) commercial history of the city, sometimes to the neglect of cultural matters. This huge and allegedly definitive book is largely and conspicuously absent of substantive references to Columbia University, for example. Are the authors suggesting that Columbia is not an institution deserving of our more focused attention? In this way, the book is quite different from Kevin Starr's treatment of California history, largely as a history of its institutions. Commercial and political institutions get many pages, but important cultural institutions are sadly neglected.

Gotham is like the City itself: almost too much to absorb. It may not be the book to take to the beach for a weekend (or a week), but is sure will make the time on an airplane pass quickly.

In terms of form, I would have liked to see a work this massive (almost 1,500 pages and oversized, at that) be cut into two volumes. It could never be read in one sitting, so a division would make it easier to schlepp around. This is particularly so given the small typeface.

But if it happened in the early centuries of the City, it is here, in meticulous detail. As a Native, I knew who J. Bronck was, and his signifigance, but it was interesting to see the origins of now common names like Delancy and Sutphin. I knew of Boss Tweed and Tammany, but had no idea the depth and breadth of their corruption, and how paradoxically, they also benefitted their constituents.

The history of New York as a commercial center is well developed, as was the accuracy and falaciousness of the "New York as melting pot" truism. Obviously well researched and written with a easily readable style.

Another way the book parallels the subject: Some parts will be off-putting to some people, but the book is sufficiently segmented that the reader may skip a page or a section or even a full chapter, and then pick up a very worthwhile read without feeling as if something has been missed. In this way, it is kinda like riding the Eighth-Avenue express.

I cannot wait for the second volume (1900 to present)!

Compellingly written social history of what my Korean friends jokingly call "a country in itself." The breadth and depth of this narrative gives weight to that description -- Burrows and Wallace present details and facts mingled with a sense of what it was like to live in the city. The book's strength is the effortless weaving of customs and lifestyles of notables and the less famous within the more salient factual material. For anyone who loves the city or a well-written single volume history. David R. Bannon, Ph.D.; author "Race Against Evil."

This is the best work of popular history I've ever read. I've just finished it, and will surely read it again soon. The narrative is basically driven by New York's boom-and-bust cycles, and the authors cover all aspects of social change these economic roller coasters wrought. The middle chapters on the Irish and German immigrants' struggles against exploitation and the corrupt machinations of Tammany Hall particularly stand out. Anecdotes are artfully woven throughout; this approach has actually made a narrative as compelling as any good work of fiction. (And the volume's ample weight gives one a physical workout should you cart it along to work every day, as I have).

Prof. Wallace is working alone on volume two, which covers the 20th century, and I can't wait.

It is much easier in life to find fault and to be critical: one can point to specifics, and be relentless. It is harder to praise. So I find myself praising this work in cliche superlatives: it is a great book, wonderfully absorbing, fascinating, "well put together" (as New Yorkers say about smartly dressed women), and entertaining. And it is accessible without being dumbed down - so have your dictionary handy. I do have two minor criticisms, however. First, the absence of sufficient maps and provision in the table of contents for maps, which caused me to constantly flip around to what few maps there are, often leaving me lost and confused in unfamiliar parts of the city. Second, the book is unwieldy. Hopefully the next segment - 1898 to the present - for which I can't wait - will be easier to cart around.