Rating: 
Summary: Dr. Burrows at Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Review: While I have just begun the incredible task of reading this book I have just had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Dr. Burrows at HWS. He spoke wonderfully about the city of New York. As a native of Cleveland and a former resident of New York as well as a student in the upstate I found his lecture to be stimulating and informative. Lucky are the students of Brooklyn College. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the megalopolis that is NY and anyone with the stamina to handle this 1400+ page mammoth.
Rating: 
Summary: "New York City" means just Manhattan
Review: Looks like a decent book, but by New York City, they mean only Manhattan. I was hoping for some borough information.
Rating:
Summary: Endlessly fascinating story of an endlessly fascinating city
Review: I have only read about a tenth of this mammoth work so far and I have found it to be one of the best written and most interesting books I've ever come across. As an Australian, I've always had a great fascination with New York (I've been there twice) - it's history, it's beautiful skyline and it's great contribution in so many areas like the arts & architecture (the Chrysler Building is one of the most gorgeous pieces of modern design in the world, in my opinion). So, to read such a marvellously written work on the city itself was a book I couldn't resist. Despite it's weight (it's quite a load to carry to work every day on the train) I LITERALLY can't put it down. Well done, Professors Burrows & Wallace - I can't wait for the next volume from 1898 onwards!
Rating:
Summary: Well written, fascinating and comprehensive but. . .
Review: The type is so small that if your vision isn't perfect you have to hold it a bit close. The book is so heavy that doing that is like a workout. It is so well written, so interesting and has so many details that I have never seen anywhere else that I am really trying to get through it all, but it is physically taxing! Why not publish in the victorian manner: three volumes or serialise in a magazine. But for its physical limitations, it would be five stars plus. Betsey Brister
Rating:
Summary: An amazing look into history
Review: This book takes you through a journey in time. The details are so precise it puts you right in the middle of slavery, wars with the indians and how people settled all over the island of Manhattan. It all makes sense why and how things are they way they are here in the Northeast and around the country. It also describes the components that makes NYC the capital of the world.
Rating:
Summary: This book is a must for every dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker
Review: This is undoubtedly one of the best books this New Yorker has ever read about the history of our city. Don't let the size put you off; there's something interesting on every page. It may take a while to finish this book, but it's well worth the time you put into it. It's intelligently written, but also quite readable, a rare combination. Buy it, read it, share it with your kids!
Rating:
Summary: A Captivating History of New York and America
Review: I was absolutely enthralled turning the pages and seeing our history come to life. Since New York was an incredibly iportant part of the new country, it seemed like all the familiar names we learned about just leap from the pages, filled with life and made real. This work is astonishingly well researched and written. If you are interested in writing,history or just our past you will really enjoy a long but good read. Long it is all 1200+pages. Thanks to the authors.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful work of the history of city-building
Review: Why is New York the way it is? This book provides the answers. It is written in the way history should be written -- lively, entertaining, thought-provoking, facinating. My son (15 years old) will come into our bedroom at night and announce -- "Dad's still reading Gotham. What page you on Dad?"I'm 2/3 done, and don't want it to end.
Rating:
Summary: King Solomon would approve
Review: About 100 pages into this book. I am enjoying it very much. Adding greatly to my joy is that after 10 pages and thighs that were quickly growing numb from the heft of this book resting on them, I realized drastic measures were needed. I took a utility knife to the tome and sliced it neatly in two. Took some duct tape and created new covers for my two volumes. The book is much more readable, literally. I look forward to volumes 3 and 4 from the authors soon.
Rating:
Summary: Gotham shows NY as a microcosm of US and Western history.
Review: From race, religion, the integration of modern technology, to welfare and fiscal policy, New York, as we learn about it from Gotham, serves as a model for the development, with all the attendant progress and problems, of the US and the entire western world in the 18th and 19th centuries.
| 
