Upper West Side Story: A History and a Guide [Hardcover]

Peter Salwen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1989

This work is both a biography and an architectural history of a city within a city spiced with lively anecdotes. Any estate agent or restauranteur will tell you that the Upper West Side is "hot"; but despite what recent urban trends suggest, it was not discovered by a band of Young Urban Professionals in the 1980s. Dutch farmers with names like Theunis Idens (he lived on what would be West End Avenue and 97th Street) and Egbert Woutersen settled it 300 years ago. The names of later residents are much more familiar: William Tecumseh Sherman, U.S. Grant, Flo Ziegfeld, Humphrey Bogart, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Arturo Toscanini, William Randolph Hearst, Gertrude Stein, Mae West, Leonard Bernstein and John Lennon. Peter Salwen tells the whole story, from the colonial merchants whose mansions commanded views of the lordly Hudson to the 19th century, when the Bloomingdale Lunatic Asylum at 116th and Broadway (now the site of Columbia University) was a prime tourist attraction; from the turn of the century, when "The West End" became synonymous with fashionable society through 50 years of decline to today's galloping renaissance.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An exhaustive but entertaining history, complete with old photos and annotated walking tours. -- The West Side Spirit

Filled with charming period photographs, spicy folklore, outrageous personalities, even a walking tour . . . an engaging romp through time and space. -- The New York Times

Get this book! If you're into history, you'll flip . . . . If not, you will be by the time you've finished reading. -- The Westsider

Guaranteed to be the most entertaining book of its kind. -- Paragon Cable Television

Salwen . . . tells his lively story with irreverent good humor. -- Smithsonian Magazine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 376 pages
• Publisher: Abbeville Press Inc.,U.S.; First Edition edition (December 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896598942
• ISBN-13: 978-0896598942
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #508,921 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Eye-opening and Insightful, January 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Upper West Side Story: A History and Guide (Paperback)

History that reads like good fiction. For any native New Yorker, this book is more like seeing your family tree for the first time than studying history. Incredible historical photographs of the area and the era gone by.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, April 29, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Upper West Side Story: A History and Guide (Paperback)

This is an excellent book with many interesting photographs. It is well-written, and a joy to read. If you love New York, this book will make you love it more!