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A review by scgbean
Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 by Edwin G. Burrows, Mike Wallace
5.0
This is a beast of a book. It took me almost 2 years to finish but happy to say I finally did!
I'm so impressed by the sheer amount of information in this book and the years and years of writing and research that it took to complete it.
If I had to choose one statement to sum up the book, it would be that some things never change. One striking example of this was the cholera outbreak of the 1830's that was eerily similar to the COVID pandemic that's happening now.
I find it interesting to think about how easily NYC and the country would have been transformed if not for decisions such as the Dutch relinquishing control in the 1600's to merging the 5 boroughs to prevent Chicago from becoming the commercial and cultural center of the United States (among other reasons) in the late 1800's.
If anyone is really interested in a thourogh history of New York City, this book is a must.
I'm so impressed by the sheer amount of information in this book and the years and years of writing and research that it took to complete it.
If I had to choose one statement to sum up the book, it would be that some things never change. One striking example of this was the cholera outbreak of the 1830's that was eerily similar to the COVID pandemic that's happening now.
I find it interesting to think about how easily NYC and the country would have been transformed if not for decisions such as the Dutch relinquishing control in the 1600's to merging the 5 boroughs to prevent Chicago from becoming the commercial and cultural center of the United States (among other reasons) in the late 1800's.
If anyone is really interested in a thourogh history of New York City, this book is a must.