- Hardcover: 1416 pages
- Publisher: Oxford University Press (Oct 1 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0195116348
- ISBN-13: 978-0195116342
- Product Dimensions: 25.8 x 19.2 x 5.4 cm
- Shipping Weight: 1.9 Kg
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#249,195 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4 in Books > Reference > Genealogy > United States > New York
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Like the city it celebrates, Gotham is massive and endlessly fascinating. This narrative of well over 1,000 pages, written after more than two decades of collaborative research by history professors Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, copiously chronicles New York City from the primeval days of the Lenape Indians to the era when, with Teddy Roosevelt as police commissioner, the great American city became regarded as "Capital of the World." The sheer bulk of the book may be off- putting, but the reader can use a typically New York approach: Those who don't settle in for the entire history can easily "commute" in and out to read individual chapters, which stand alone nicely and cover the major themes of particular eras very well.
While Gotham is fact-laden (with a critical apparatus that includes a bibliography and two indices--one for names, another for subjects), the prose admirably achieves both clarity and style. "What is our take, our angle, our schtick?" ask the authors, setting a distinctly New York tone in their introduction. No matter what it's called, their method of weaving together countless stories works wonderfully. The startlingly detailed research and lively writing bring innumerable characters (from Peter Minuit to Boss Tweed) to life, and even those who think they know the history of New York City will no doubt find surprises on nearly every page. Gotham is a rarity, reigning as both authoritative history and page-turning story. --Robert McNamara
From Publishers Weekly
A tome matching the size of its subject, this doorstopper (the first of a two-volume history) more than justifies the 20 years Burrows and Wallace spent on itAnot to mention the space it will take on the nightstands of New Yorkers actual, former, future and presumptive. Its massive size permits the inclusion of details, minor characters and anecdotes of everyday life that vibrantly communicate the city's genesis and evolution. The authors have synthesized histories from various perspectivesAcultural, economic, political, etc.Ainto a novelistic narrative, providing the context for stories of the diverse denizens who shaped the city. Both New York academics (Brooklyn College and CUNY, respectively), Burrows and Wallace have produced a historical work that merits the term "definitive" yet still manages to entertain. Underneath reasoned academic prose lies a populist bent, unflinching in relating ugly events and describing the unsavory behavior of prominent figures; in its original sense, "Gotham" denotes a town of tricksters and fools, and this book is full of both. Vague documentation may, on occasion, frustrate the academic reader, but such quibbles should be left to professional historians. The rest will read with pleasure and await the companion volume's promised appearance in the year 2000. 160 photos and linecuts and 15 maps not seen by PW. 40,000 copy first printing.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
O this is Eden!" exulted the Dutch poet Jacob Steendam. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
O this is Eden!" exulted the Dutch poet Jacob Steendam. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Love New York,
By
This review is from: Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 (Paperback)
It is much easier in life to find fault and to be critical: one can point to specifics, and be relentless. It is harder to praise. So I find myself praising this work in cliche superlatives: it is a great book, wonderfully absorbing, fascinating, "well put together" (as New Yorkers say about smartly dressed women), and entertaining. And it is accessible without being dumbed down - so have your dictionary handy. I do have two minor criticisms, however. First, the absence of sufficient maps and provision in the table of contents for maps, which caused me to constantly flip around to what few maps there are, often leaving me lost and confused in unfamiliar parts of the city. Second, the book is unwieldy. Hopefully the next segment - 1898 to the present - for which I can't wait - will be easier to cart around.
3.0 out of 5 stars
I thought the Pulitzer was for good writing....,
By A Customer
This review is from: Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 (Paperback)
Detailed? Yes. Accurate? Probably. Well written? Um, not really. This book has a lot to recommend it in the way of byzantine detail. The flow is, however, sorely impaired by the fact that at least one of the authors refuses to adopt a perspective. I say "one of the authors" because this book is very unevenly written: one section will be great while the section immediately following will be mediocre at best or repetitious and confusing at worst. This book has two authors and that is unfortunately apparent in the text. These two guys should have done themselves a favor and either hired a ghost-writer to author a single, unified book or made their editor do his job. But simply taking the pages of two different works and randomly coalating them into a single book is not the best way to write a history. Now, the only question remaining is: who was on the pulitzer committee?
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unbelievable, Remarkable, fascinating,
By A Customer
This review is from: Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 (Paperback)
This is the definitive book on New York City history and is a remarkable accomplishment for it's authors. You'll find in Gotham not only a history of New York City (and an exhaustive one at that) but by default, a companion to the study of the foundations of this nation. Gotham is remarkably colorful in it's portrayal of the many characters that make up the history of this great city but doesn't skimp on poignant, and sometimes sobering, detail. An ambitious read, but worth every word. This is the kind of book that spawns the reading of ten more!A sure cure for the unfortunate predisposition of the popular media to portray the history of New York as beginning with the first immigrant who set foot on Ellis Island (the book terminates prior to 1900). Read Gotham and become immersed in the richness of the mostly untold New York story.
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