The Vine: November 28, 2007
Sars —
Can you recommend a book on New York City that chronicles its historical, political, and social evolution from its discovery to today? I want something that is thorough, but readable, more like Peter Ackroyd’s London: The Biography. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
By the way, I just finished reading Rumspringa a few days ago and really enjoyed it.
L
Dear L,
I haven’t read much NYC history, but a few years ago I reviewed Pete Hamill’s Downtown for MSNBC.com, and I really liked it; it’s not very long, and Hamill talks a lot about the history of various parts of the city and then compares them to their present-day incarnations. Plus, the book includes a suggested reading list.
Beyond that, I don’t have anything to suggest in the way of a comprehensive history, but I’m sure the readers have some ideas. Readers?
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For the early part, I’d check out Burrows & Wallace’s “Gotham: a history of New York City to 1898.” You might also look at anything by Kenneth T Jackson, the guy who wrote The Encyclopedia of New York City and who was president of the New-York Historical Society for several years. He co-edited a volume called “Empire city: New York through the centuries,” that might be worth checking out. Another option is a book from the 1970s, called “New York: a chronological & documentary history, 1524-1970.”
Unfortunately, though, I’m not aware of any single book that gives the entire span of NYC history in one readable gulp, even though our history is a lot shorter than London’s.
The only issue I ever seem to have with any thorough founding-to-present book – if there actually is a current one – on NYC is that they’re huge. I found Edward Robb Ellis’ “The Epic of New York City” very good for a general comprehensive local history book, though it ends in the 1960s. Otherwise, for some titles that are a bit more specific, I’d recommend “Gotham” by Edwin Burrows & Mike Wallace (founding to amalgamation), “Five Points” by Tyler Anbinder (detailed history of that extremely colourful neighbourhood), and “Island at the Center of the World” by Russell Shorto (NYC’s Dutch colonial history) all quite interesting.
I’d also suggest having a historical atlas of NYC on hand when reading any history; the geography & other physical features have changed so many times over the course of the city’s history that it’s hard to keep track through 400 years without the atlas.
A good combo book is Ric Burns’ “New York: An Illustrated History”, which was the accompanying book to his bother Ken Burns’ PBS series on the city.
I’ve read a lot of NYC history, but I can’t think of a comprehensive one, beginning to end off the top of my head. Lemme do a little searching:
There’s Gotham, by Edwin Burrows and Mike Wallace, which goes up to 1898.
I highly recommend Lowlife, by Luc Sante. That only goes up to the 19th century as well, and focuses on the seedy side of NYC. For 20th century, I’m a big fan of You Must Remember This, by Jeff Kisseloff, an oral history of the city collected from many different people and broken down by Manhattan neighborhood (most books on NYC history focus on Manhattan unless they specify otherwise in the title). For comprehensive, you want The Encyclopedia of New York City, but that’s a reference book, not something to be read straight through. For a good collection of historical period pieces going up to the present day, try Empire City: New York through the Centuries, by Kenneth Jackson. I haven’t read The Epic of New York City, by Edward Ellis, and its reviews on Amazon are mixed, but it might be what you’re looking for.
There’s that companion book to Ken Burns’ PBS series. I’ve had it for at least ten years, but I’ve never read it, so I can’t comment on whether it’s any good. I think I was saving it for if ever I break my leg and have to lie on the couch for a month or Brooklyn is snowbound for weeks on end. Something like that.
How crazy is this – I was just about to e-mail the exact same question! I’m looking forward to reading the answers…I’m so excited to be living in New York and my experience of a place is always so much richer when I know the history.
I’m sure someone’s going to come up with a single volume, but I’ve got a few selections for different eras that you might find interesting.
First, though, is not a book, but a TV Series – the Ric Burns “New York: a Documentary History” (originally produced for PBS) I think it’s up to 8 episodes now, and it’s really quite comprehensive. I believe that there’s also a companion book, so that may be something to look into.
Second, era specific – for a nice history of the dutch founding of Manhattan, there’s “Island at the Center of the World” – I actually read this last year.
“The Great Bridge” by David McCullough is ostensibly about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, but it pretty nicely captures a lot of what went on during the late 1800s era in New York.
And finally, my favorite book ever, “The Power Broker” by Robert Caro. Again, it’s ostensibly a biography of Robert Moses, but its 1200 pages pretty definitively capture New York City and it’s development during the first half of the 20th Century.
Well, it’s not up to the present, but you might try the very detailed Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898.
Sars, I second you on “The Power Broker.” And though it’s only a mere snapshot of the city, I did enjoy “Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning”.
The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell by Mark Kurlansky. He wrote Salt: A History which I loved and this one is good, if from a slightly weird angle, on NYC history.
Every one should immediately read Salt.
Also check out http://www.forgotten-ny.com. Not quite the subject matter you’re looking for, but they have a sources list that might point you in the right direction.
Nici: Great site.
I’d also recommend Joseph Mitchell’s “Up In The Old Hotel,” or any collected Mitchell that isn’t heavy on the Joe Gould.
I second Pete Hamill; I was also thinking of his novel Forever. It’s fiction, but a) covers NYC history from the Revolutionary War to 2001, and b) has a list of acknowledgements & further reading at the end.
(PS – ‘Salt’ is awesome!)
In Old New York by Thomas Janvier is an interesting one – it only goes up to 1894 owing to the fact that that’s when it was written, and it’s certainly not without author bias, but despite the dated language it’s eminently readable and full of weird factoids that I don’t see in many NYC histories.
Other than that, Gotham is great, the Burns companion book is great, and also, great fiction abounds, of course. NYC history expert extraordinaire Pete Hamill’s Forever is one of my all-time favorite novels. It presents a wonderfully detailed (and extremely accurate) portrait of the city in several of its most interesting eras.
Most of the books I’ve read on New York are era-specific. I found The Epic of New York hard to slog through, but the big Ric Burns, et al, book is pretty good and has lots of pretty pictures.
In addition to the books mentioned (Island at the Center of the World and Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning are both great reads), for some niche-y history, I would highly recommend Triangle by David von Drehle about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, Gangsters and Gold Diggers by Jerome Charyn about Broadway in the Jazz Age (it is very well written and has a bit of a Runyonesque vibe), Higher by Neal Bascomb about the skyscraper race of the late 20s (Chrysler Building, 40 Wall Street, Empire State Building), and Ghosts of 42nd Street by Robert Blanco, a history of Times Square. Daniel Okrent’s book on the history of Rockefeller Center, Great Fortune is pretty interesting, too.
Believe it or not, Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City’s Most Unwanted Inhabitants by Robert Sullivan is a great NYC history. He uses the subject of rats to give what amounts to a people’s history of New York City, from its colonization to the present day. It’s a great read, all kinds of entertaining, especially if you know the city at all (and are not terribly squeamish).
I third anything by Pete Hamill – Downtown was great and goes through the city in sections. Forever is also wonderful though it’s fiction.