Review by Booklist Review
At a time when New York City is re-experiencing a surge of rumors about its impending demise, it's reassuring to read about how the city has survived past assaults on its reputation. Allen's brief history of the city, while not boosterism per se, takes less than a hard-eyed look at where New York (specifically Manhattan) has been these past 400 years and where it's headed. His basic premise is that, love it or hate it, New York City is the true birthplace of our nation; for, unlike Plymouth or Jamestown, New York has always epitomized what the rest of the nation was becoming or has aimed to become. Allen puts to good use the popular history style that was his strong suit as a writer for Time-Life Books, giving this lively account broad appeal. A native New Yorker and longtime inhabitant of that city, he also has unearthed some previously overlooked nuggets of information, missing from other histories, about the people, places, and events that shaped the city. Contains numerous photos and illustrations, notes, and an extensive bibliography. To be indexed. ~--Mary Banas
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Allen, a former editor and writer for Time-Life Books, spans in one entertaining volume New York City's history, from its earliest days as a bustling port to its recognition as financial capital of the world. Using as his leitmotif the great harbor, which has shaped New York from the start as a port of entry for people, money and power, he covers noteworthy aspects of the city from the 1700s to the present--prominent citizens, political figures, scandals and crises, financial organizations, immigrant groups, cultural institutions and majestic buildings. Telescoping so much history into fewer than 500 pages, the narrative is as fast-paced as New York City itself, as Allen conveys the energy and excitement that have enabled the city to thrive and prosper. Photos not seen by PW. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Allen, a former editor and writer for Time Life Books, offers a narrative history of the city from its establishment in 1624 to the 1990 mayoral election. He attributes the prominence of present-day New York to its financial power, symbolized by Wall Street, and to its harbor, which contributed to its economic clout and served as the destination for a diverse immigrant population. Though promising a description of the 375-year history of New York, Allen concentrates mainly on the Colonial/Revolutionary era and the Gilded Age, and summarizes the findings of books published during the last half century. Writing in an offhand, journalistic style, he focuses on the more visible, popular elements of New York and seldom explains the dynamics of the city or the people who have lived in it. Useful only as a basic introduction to the complex history of a paradoxical city.--David Szatmary, Univ. of Washington, Seattle (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A former editor for Time-Life Books leads an engaging charge through almost four centuries of N.Y.C.'s turbulent history. What has molded the character of the ""most powerful city in the world,"" in Allen's view, is its harbor, which in turn produced ""its formidable financial power and its role as a cosmopolitan port of immigration."" This anecdote-crammed chronicle starts with the Dutch, tracing Manhattan's commercial bent and tolerant attitudes to their 40-year dominance. Skillfully, and evenhandedly, Allen outlines the political, social, and economic forces at work through the Revolution, the heyday of the clipper ships, the rise of Wall Street, the Gilded Age, the Twenties, the Depression, the prosperous postwar years, the 1975 fiscal crisis, and the economic boom of the 80's. Allen brings on the major personalities like Stuyvesant, Hamilton, Burr, Astor, Morgan, Lindsay, and Koch, and influential choruses of immigrants--Irish, Italians, Eastern Europeans, etc. Today, when once again New York seems sliding toward a financial precipice, this broad-brush account offers useful perspectives on a contradictory city that has in the past overdrawn its accounts, elected scoundrels, and tolerated the juxtaposition of flaunted wealth and extreme poverty. In the 1860's, Boss Tweed's Ring is estimated to have plundered taxpayers of over $50 million; but the city thrived even as homeless haunted the streets and more than half of the children under the age of five died. Allen also recalls the achievement of the ""autocratic and stubborn"" Fiorello La Guardia, who balanced the budget and ""established a record of honest government that few thought was possible."" A rich character sketch that explains much about N.Y.C.'s precocious American nature. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
