Customer Reviews

Seeing New York: History Walks for Armchair and Footloose Travelers (Critical Perspectives On The P)

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4 star:		(1)
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This book is a very interesting exploration of old New York, written by an interesting woman, Hope Cooke, who among other things was married to the prince of Sikkim, and (enjoyed?) much publicity in the 60's. I read her autobiography after reading this, but actually, she come across as being much more interesting in this scholarly book. I wish she would write more on the subject of old New York.

I have used this book for interesting reading and as a practical, useful guide while walking around NYC. It is a little dated (published 1999, I think) but still my favorite.

A deep exploration of the social and architectural history of Manhattan with a few highlights in areas of other boroughs, e.g. Brooklyn Heights, "Asian Flushing", Sailors' Snug Harbor in Staten Island. Before I read this book, I thought I knew a lot about the history of much of the architecture and public spaces of Manhattan, bu...t there are a few things in here that were new to me. This is pretty impressive when you consider that I am a life-long New Yorker and the authoress lived in NYC as a child and returned after a long absence. Writing this book, collecting the material and information in order to do so, was a learning & orienting experience for her, and ultimately a labor of love. I plan to take this book with me sometime when I have an unlimited amount of time to go to Manhattan (yeah, right!) and walk in her footsteps. The book is designed with such an endeavor specifically in mind: it starts out at the southern tip of Manhattan, and gives background information on Battery Park and some of the monuments and features therein as well as the surrounding edifices, and continues northward through all significant areas of Manhattan.
Warning: this book is dated. A number of old buildings which are listed in various areas, and for which historical and cultural information are given, are now long gone. A prime example of this is Luchow's restaurant, which used to be a prominant and conspicuous building in Union Square, and of which there is no no trace.