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evamadera1's review against another edition
5.0
This book is absolutely massive. I love the fact that the book is so large and yet does not include over a hundred years of the city's history. If the authors read these reviews, I would absolutely love to read a book covering the years since 1898. Wallace and Burrows cover an immense amount of history without getting lost in the detail. At the same time they leave the reader wanting even more. The authors definitely deserve the Pulitzer Prize for their deft, comprehensive history. I found this book to be absolutely fabulous.
I highly recommend this book.
I highly recommend this book.
moreteamorecats's review against another edition
3.0
A sprawling subject needs an angle. Wallace & Burrows', I was surprised to find, is ideological: Their history of New York City is the history of its class struggle. Almost every chapter takes on the POV of a class formation (capital, labor, or the middling classes), then follows it through a change in some facet of political, social, or economic life. I'm on board with this method, but franker cover copy would be a favor to the reader.
The result is a very full-fiber, whole-grain sort of history. I learned a tremendous amount. What I'll retain is probably through prior familiarity with the city's institutions and landscape. The pleasures are familiar, low-key but constantly repeated-- especially that of marking origins (e.g.: "That's who Hoyt and Schermerhorn were!" "That's how we got Northern Boulevard!"). That's appropriate for a book that wants to center morally on the value of everyday life and everyday people.
The result is a very full-fiber, whole-grain sort of history. I learned a tremendous amount. What I'll retain is probably through prior familiarity with the city's institutions and landscape. The pleasures are familiar, low-key but constantly repeated-- especially that of marking origins (e.g.: "That's who Hoyt and Schermerhorn were!" "That's how we got Northern Boulevard!"). That's appropriate for a book that wants to center morally on the value of everyday life and everyday people.
eleneariel's review against another edition
4.0
I couldn't have planned it better if I'd tried: I ended my reading year with this Pulitzer Prize-winning tome, finishing the last of the 1,400-odd pages just a week before I hop a plane to NYC herself. Although there were times I despaired of finishing on time (or finishing at all - it took me two months to read this, which is unheard of in my world), I am SO GLAD I read it. It's deepened my appreciation for the history of NYC so incredibly much, and I learned so many random things - about the man the Pulitzer is named after, 1700th c. fire-fighting techniques, that Edgar Allen Poe lived in NYC for a time, that there was once a literal wall at Wall Street and a literal canal at Canal street, and that when the Dakota was built people laughed at it because it was so far out in the sticks (?!) that they thought no one would want to live there.
Although I was more interested in the random trivia and everyday minutia than the big political picture, the politics taught me one thing: there really is nothing new under the sun. The same issues that have us all (quite rightly) worked up today were by and large the same ones people were freaking out out over in the 1800s. That doesn't mean we don't face real challenges today or that things couldn't get seriously bad, but at least there's historical evidence that people lived through horrible times before?
Although I was more interested in the random trivia and everyday minutia than the big political picture, the politics taught me one thing: there really is nothing new under the sun. The same issues that have us all (quite rightly) worked up today were by and large the same ones people were freaking out out over in the 1800s. That doesn't mean we don't face real challenges today or that things couldn't get seriously bad, but at least there's historical evidence that people lived through horrible times before?
va87's review
2.0
Like a Midtown skyscraper, this is an astounding achievement. Also like a Midtown skyscraper, I'm going to basically avoid being around it, admiringly look at it from a distance, and tell people I've been to it if they care enough to ask.
No, I don't read history very often. I was glad to hear, however, for the 70th time that New York City's economy was improving/declining after [event], which helps to contextualize some quirky occurrence that probably includes a bawdy woman or sailor. Approachably written, brimming with modern sensibility, and inevitably the same six or seven damned things one after the other, which is plain if you read more than one chapter in one sitting. After a whole year and a move to the city, I had to surrender circa 1840.
No, I don't read history very often. I was glad to hear, however, for the 70th time that New York City's economy was improving/declining after [event], which helps to contextualize some quirky occurrence that probably includes a bawdy woman or sailor. Approachably written, brimming with modern sensibility, and inevitably the same six or seven damned things one after the other, which is plain if you read more than one chapter in one sitting. After a whole year and a move to the city, I had to surrender circa 1840.
kjc's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Read this a chapter a day and found it a rewarding and enriching companion for those 2 months and more. The authors blend their voices perfectly and have an obvious deep love of the city and especially all the people who make it up. They’re fond of sly puns, too.
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