Customer Reviews

Philadelphia Then and Now (Then & Now)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I sat down on a Sunday morning to casually glance through what I thought was just another coffee table photography book. Several hours later, thoroughly relaxed and enlightened, I closed Philadelphia Then and Now, having deliberately devoured every word, every image, every comparison-both visual and written, cover to cover. What fun it was to go back and forth. The effort taken to capture identical images was evident page after page. The attention to obscure and amusing snippets of historical detail tied the "then" black and white photos and the "now" colorful photos together perfectly.

Treat yourself to a Sunday morning journey to Philadelphia-Then and Now.

A must have for anyone of Philadelphia Origin. Makes for interesting reading and a great conversational coffee table book.

This is a really unique collection of photos from the last 150 years in Center City Philadelphia with recent photos taken at the same location. Would make a great gift for someone with Philadelphia ties.

It was interesting to see how things have changed - in many places for the better. Center City towards the Ben Franklin Parkway was a dirty grimy place at the turn of the century. The Parkway was a stroke of genius. The Art Museum used to be a water holding area.

This is the second book I have ordered in this series that arrived and a little dinky book about 1/3rd the size of the regular coffee table book. How can you even see the details? I won't have this happen again, I will check dimetions before I buy.

This book isn't full of words and is a little on the smaller size, but it's interesting and makes for a good coffee table read. The photographs are really what makes this book, and I can't help but enjoy looking through it, even when I have already done so many times before.

I like this book, but I wish that each picture was dated so a reader could instantly know what era each picture came from. Also, I've passed so many buildings in Philadelphia that I wish were in the book...maybe that just means it would be great to have an expanded version. I like the text that accompanies each photo.

I first discovered this book in a waiting room and managed to get through a page or two at each visit. Finally I bought the book and am so glad that I did. The pictures and text are wonderful and the information about places and events is right to the point. It is remarkable to see how much has been preserved, how much could have been preserved, and what has been lost forever. The pictures make me more alert when I am in Philadelphia to really take time to look at a building or location in more detail.

Excellent photo essay of the changes in the city of Philadelphia.
A beautiful look at how this historic city has grown around it's landmarks written by the definitive expert in this type of photo essay.

This book is clearly more visual and offers insightful and useful information if you are interested in Philadelphia history which is really also American history. The author does an adequate job in focusing on past and present while offering information without drowing it's reader into it. I would have liked to have read more and seen more.

This was an interesting book but a little disappointing. I have a book on Charleston,SC. The photos of "then and now" were set up where the site is exact of "then and now". The Philadelphia book takes different angles and misses the true change of the "then and now". It does contain interesting and unusual facts. It is a good coffe table book.