As a Southern Californian, I was not in a hurry to read a "New York" book. It's a hefty bundle. Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898. Although not the greatest city in the colonies (that honor would probably go to Philadelphia or Boston), New York was destined for greatness by its location. Outsized, egomaniacal, visionary, venal, public-spirited, saintly, carnal, criminal, moral, grasping, moralistic, hypocritical, self-dealing, self-deluding, creative, etc etc. A wonderful rich informative read. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Why did they think what they did? I picked it up in 2003, wanting to read a really good history of New York City, and for all that time it sat on my shelf, taunting me. “I could narrate many and very frightful occurrences of theft, fraud, robbery, and murder by the English soldiers which their love of drink excited,” said one dismayed German officer.”, https://global.oup.com/academic/product/gotham-9780195140491?lang=en&cc=us, New York City Book Award for Book of the Year (1998). Click here for the lowest price! If the authors read these reviews, I would absolutely love to read a book covering the years since 1898. What were they reacting to? Or get 4-5 business-day shipping on this item for $5.99 The contents never fail to capture the reader's interest. Michael Wallace is the co-author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning bok Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898. The period, which covered 274 years, was punctuated by events of major importance in national history, such as the displacement and disappearance of the native population, the revolutionary conflict of independence from England, the civil war, and the consolidation of the United States as a world power through trade and maritime communications with other countries, and the construction of a network of railways as a mean to control development of other regions in the nation. As this strange summer of staying put winds down, one thing remains truer than ever: Books offer us endless adventure and new horizons to... To European explorers, it was Eden, a paradise of waist-high grasses, towering stands of walnut, maple, chestnut, and oak, and forests that teemed with bears, wolves, raccoons, beavers, otters, and foxes. This is THE definitive history of New York. I began reading this book several years ago, put it down for a while, and picked it up again a few months ago. Greater Gotham: A History of New York City from 1898 to 1919 (The History of NYC Series), The Historical Atlas of New York City, Third Edition: A Visual Celebration of 400 Years of New York City's History, The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America, Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City, Five Points: The 19th Century New York City Neighborhood that Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections, and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum, The Colony of New Netherland: A Dutch Settlement in Seventeenth-Century America (Cornell Paperbacks), The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld. New York (N.Y.) — History. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Why did they think what they did? $38.96. Then come the Dutch who found New Amsterdam. Reading it on my Kindle, of course makes it much easier. In a modification of the adage originally attributed to Balzac, perhaps beneath every astonishing city is a crime, and New York was no stranger to its country's original sin. This is one of those books that you find on everyones shelf but which few have actually read. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. In Gotham, Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace have produced a monumental work of history, one that ranges from the Indian tribes that settled in and around the island of Manna-hata, to the consolidation of the five boroughs into Greater New York in 1898. ― Mike Wallace, Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898. This is an astoundingly comprehensive history of New York City, going from the geological formation of the area until the turn of the century. This ish jumpstarted my love affair with america. Gotham: A History of New ... I found this book while looking for Bat Man books. It's nice to have a choice. From the beginning, New York was destined to become the commercial and economic center of the country and later of the capitalist world. Here we begin with Indian Manahatta, an earthly paradise for the Lenape Indians, a nomadic tribe that visited the Island to hunt and fish. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in. The coverage is exhausting, the reading of sources nuanced; this is no straight trajectory to the top for America's best-loved and most-vilified city. Gotham is monumental history, in the sense of Mount Rushmore or the Holy Family Cathedral in Barcelona: the work of decades, an emblem of an age. Such a comprehensive review inevitably leads to a feeling that some communities--African-Americans, immigrants, the vanished Lenape--are underrepresented. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1999, Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 was a revelation to a generation of readers, transporting them from the modest Dutch colony of the 17th century to the behemoth that was New York by the end of the 19th. Factors of great importance in this progressive development were the immigration of European groups with specific skills such as the Dutch, English, Irish, Germans, Italians and Russian and German Jews; the emergence of a powerful and unique class of bankers, merchants, politicians, social and religious leaders, writers, artists, journalists, and inventors like Robert Fulton with his steamboat, Marconi and the telegraph, Isaac Singer and the sewing machine, and Thomas Edison and the electric bulb. 4.7 out of 5 stars 55. It is a history of America from the perspective of New York, written with great humor. A sprawling subject needs an angle. No other history of NYC even comes close to this. It is worth it. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 21, 2020, Well it is a BIG book for sure, but very quickly you are lost. The most comprehensive history of New York City ever. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published Alexander Hamilton, DeWitt Clinton, J. P. Morgan, Horace Greeley and Walt Whitman all get their moment, but so do Fanny Wright (an early feminist), Father Aaron McGlynn ("the Priest of the People"), Emma Goldman, the Plug Uglies gang of Five Points, problems of sewage, overcrowding and water supply. Prime members enjoy FREE Delivery and exclusive access to music, movies, TV shows, original audio series, and Kindle books. … But I ordered it, and didn't have the hassle of actually carrying the massive tome. It will still take you weeks, but you'll be much much richer for it. My son, Shannon, a resident of Chelsea gave me this book two years ago. It is ever so readable and incredibly informative. Textbook and eTextbook are published under ISBN 0195116348 and 9780195116342. It is far more than merely a history of New York. For more than twenty years, it has been the one academic institution devoted exclusively to promoting this critical field of study. The Parade magazine review kind of nails it (in addition to being a wonderful passive-aggressive bit of urbophobia): "If NYC is a great city, then it deserves a great book". I can't even imagine the research that went into this 1400 page volume. Its greatest man, fittingly foreign born, Alexander Hamilton, gave up the capital in exchange for the creation of a national bank: another instance of commerce taking first place in the city’s priorities. Unfortunately it only takes us up to 1898, and it took the authors Edwin G Burrows and Mike Walla. (Prices may vary for AK and HI.). Unable to add item to List. Welcome back. I found this. The book also covers all aspects of New York's history - labor movements, race relations, poverty, religious freedom, religious and ethnic minorities (nonconformists, Catholics, Jews, blacks, lrish, and others), early hotels and restaurants and taverns, theaters, culture, notables in New York history, you name it. I only hope that the second volume is available soon! There are no discussion topics on this book yet. In Gotham , Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace have produced a monumental work of history, one that ranges from the Indian tribes that settled in and around the island of Manna-hata, to the consolidation of the five boroughs into Greater New York in 1898. So, yeah, I bought the same book twice. I can't wait to try reading the sequel, Greater Gotham, which features the same bulk but covers only from 1898-1919! At the same time they leave the reader wanting even more. Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. How "the greatest city in the world" fit into the history of the world, from its very beginning. He received his B.A. Then the English partisans of James II, who christen it New York. Wallace & Burrows', I was surprised to find, is ideological: Their history of New York City is the history of its class struggle. Gotham is monumental history, in the sense of Mount Rushmore or the Holy Family Cathedral in Barcelona: the work of decades, an emblem of an age. Acknowledged authors Burrows, Edwin G., Wellace, Mike wrote Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 (The History of NYC Series) comprising 1416 pages back in 1998. I love the fact that the book is so large and yet does not include over a hundred years of the city's history. It is a history of America from the perspective of New York, written with great humor. This is the way I always wanted to read history. First hand perpectives give a real view of what it was like. Well written and informative, any lover of New York City should read it. I also put it off because of it's bulk(1236 pages!!). Greater Gotham. It is so in depth, and covers so many topics, and from so many angles. And, oh, what personalities! Outstanding description of New York City development from 1624 to 1898, Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2019. lt is astounding just how fascinating this great city can be. Kindle Edition. Wallace and Burrows cover an immense amount of history without getting lost in the detail. It means goat town and was the name of a perhaps fictional town i. Washington Irving gave NY that nickname in his literary magazine Salmagundi in 1807. always nice to get a nice fat gift... 1200 pages or was it 2000, anyway immense. Please try again. But why is it named Gotham? Not that "Gotham" is strictly revisionist history; the growth (and sometimes decline) of banks, Wall Street, railroad companies, great stores and mansions all appear, but so do the Germans, Irish, Italians, Jews and Chinese, women's causes and the labor movement. This was the first book I read primarily on my Kindle. print this page. The contents of this book are terrific. If you love modern New York, you owe it to yourself to buy this book and leave it by your bedside. Yes, Dutch people died as well, but the ratio of dead natives to dead Europeans was very high, and names like Vanderbilt and Van Cortlandt live on while the anonymous Lenapes were extinguished. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. 1898. New York City's history laid bare. Such a sense of achievement when you finish, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 7, 2015. But this is a story too often told exclusively in terms of the scarcity of real estate, the manipulation of wealth and the celebration of status. The authors definitely deserve the Pulitzer Prize for their deft, comprehensive history. The history of New York has become, in the last decade or so, an academic cottage industry. When I decided to re-read it, I opted for the kindle version. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. Here we begin with Indian Manahatta, an earthly paradise for the Lenape Indians, a nomadic tribe that visited the Island to hunt and fish. In fact the place was purchased with the torture and extermination of the native Lenapes. This ish jumpstarted my love affair with america. Summarizing this book is a bit like summarizing the Bible: the outline of both is easy to make out but what makes them memorable are the details. It's simply brimming with a wonderful mix of political, financial, social and geographical goodies. While Burrows and Wallace have unquestionably written a great work of synthesis history, they obviously could not have achieved such an excellence if that there had not been an extraordinary collection of monographs to synthesize. by Oxford University Press, USA, Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898. In summary, this is a splendid history, magnificent in conception, thorough and generous-spirited in execution. Maybe, but this is so going on my resume. The narrative thread is enlightening, although the book can also be used as a reference volume with respect to certain events, epochs, and personalities. To write something this huge it is necessary to compartmentalize, but keeping the compartmentalization. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, The Historical Atlas of New York City, Third Edition: A Visual Celebration of 400 Years of New York…, © 1996-2021, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. A host of masculine villains paraded through their plots—neglectful fathers, cruel husbands, and assorted gamblers, alcoholics, philanderers, failures, or murderers—with whom courageous and creative women did combat or from whom they fled.”, “On New Year’s Eve 1777, after performing in a play entitled The Devil to Pay in the West Indies, a party of drunken officers—one dressed up like Old Nick himself, complete with horns and tail—disrupted services at the John Street Methodist Church. As it spans the history of the time, it takes time to note how things developed (or didn't) for the black residents, the natives, the women, and other marginalized groups. Just flat out an outstanding history book. Burrows, who wrote most of the pre-industrialization part of the book, teaches a class on the History of NYC at Brooklyn College and, as you can probably tell from the book, is a fantastic teacher. In that year, the cities of New York—which then consisted of present-day Manhattan and the Bronx—and Brooklyn were both consolidated with the largely rural areas of Queens and Staten Island. This book ALMOST made me want to live in Manhattan so that I could visit locales and buildings while I was reading the book. I'm on board with this method, but franker cover copy would be a favor to the reader. Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 (The History of NYC Series) by Edwin G. Burrows; Mike Wallace Seller J. Mercurio Books, Maps, & Prints Published 1998 Condition Near Fine Edition 1st Edition ISBN 9780195116342 Item Price $ 0 likes. Gotham : a history of New York City to 1898 Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace. Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free. We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Full content visible, double tap to read brief content. Gotham: A History of New York City to . Often I found each chapter held so much information that it was more than enough to ponder and consider before moving on to the next one. Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 by Mike Wallace , Edwin G. Burrows To European explorers, it was Eden, a paradise of waist-high grasses, towering stands of walnut, maple, chestnut, and oak, and forests that teemed with bears, wolves, raccoons, beavers, otters, andfoxes. At 1,250 pages, this book takes a LONG time to read. A truly monumental romp through the first 275 years of the world's most monumental city, although I'm probably biased, since I was born in Brooklyn and now live in Manhattan. As Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace (not the Mike Wallace of Sixty Minutes, I hasten to add) note in their mammoth new book, Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898, Despite the wealth of detail, the writing is done with class and occasionally with humor. $70.03. lt reads as a thriller novel, with literally every page being captivating. It took me over twelve years to muster the courage to read it. Having only a rough concept of the New York landscape, I wish I was more familiar with the locales, but for an actual New Yorker, to hear that such and such happened at the corner of X St and Y Ave would have to bring history closer to heart. Isn't that Bat Man's fictional city? Re. In Gotham, Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace have produced a monumental work of history, one that ranges from the Indian tribes that settled in and around the island of Manna-hata, to the consolidation of the five boroughs into Greater New York in 1898. The coverage is exhausting, the reading of sources nuanced; this is no straight trajectory to the top for America's best-loved and most-vilified city. In Gotham, Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace have produced a monumental work of history, one that ranges from the Indian tribes that settled in and around the island of Manna-hata, to the consolidation of the five boroughs into Greater New York in 1898. The Encyclopedia of New York City: Second Edition Kenneth T. Jackson. "Gotham" is much more comprehensive than that, which is an accomplishment and not just in terms of weight. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. In Gotham, Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace have produced a monumental work of history, one that ranges from the Indian tribes that settled in and around the island of Manna-hata, to the consolidation of the five boroughs into Greater New York in 1898. At the same time they leave the reader wanting even more. This is the way I always wanted to read history. Something went wrong. So, for $0.50/hr you can hire a scribe to follow you around all day and read this book to you in your spare time. Leafing through it will make every encounter with today's New York feel like a shadow of the real New York, New York before it was captured by the skyscrapers. Those who write often know that to be able to write this way is extremely hard. It was a significant reason for buying the Kindle. This book was an incredible read. You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition. Like “Nothing made it harder for Europeans to see the link between the Lenapes and their environment than the fact that kinship—not class—was the basis of their society. Please try again. Some of the history I knew but the presentation tied it all together and made the history I knew (and the history I didn't) flow in cohesive, multidimensional and fascinating patterns. How the power shifted back and forth over the course of history. Because it is simply so large, I decided to only read one chapter per day, and gradually work my way through it. In a modification of the adage originally attributed to Balzac, perhaps beneath every astonishing city is a crime, and New York was no stranger to its country's original sin. Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 The organization was founded in 2000 by Mike Wallace, after his landmark work Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898, co-authored with Edwin Burrows, won the Pulitzer. Today, it is the site of Broadway and Wall Street, the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, and the home of millions of people, who have come from every corner of the nation and the globe.