The City Beneath Us: Building the New York Subway

Rating:
Summary: Not as impressed as I thought I'd be
Review: I had high hopes for this book, after several delays and all the hype. But I was somewhat disappointed by the very poor quality of materials (especially the dustjacket), despite it being printed in Italy. The photos are worth 5 stars, but I expected more of them and a more coherent presentation. There are plenty of good histories of the NYC Subway--this book was supposed to be a treasure trove of photos.

I also think this book would have been more impressive if it were a larger format.

Rating:
Summary: No Maps!
Review: The book presents an illustrated history of the NY subway in the first 81 pages with the remainder of the 160+ pages devoted to historic photographs. Since it was published by the NY Transit Museum I had high hopes. After reading the book, I felt that the history narrative was somewhat condensed being that 100 years were covered in 81 pages including photos. I was disappointed that there is not a single map or line drawing of the NYC transit system in the entire book! (I still find this hard to believe.) Having lived in NYC for 25 years I am familiar with the geography and layout of the subway system. But without a map, readers who are unfamiliar with the layout will be totally lost. How is one supposed to know the how the BRT, IRT and IND lines relate to each other geographically without a map? I had hoped that the book would illustrate how the subway expanded over time using maps and diagrams which it did not. I also expected more engineering drawings or diagrams. If you are looking for some great photos of building the subway then this book has hundreds of excellent pictures. If you are looking for a more detailed explanation of the history to include maps of how the subway expanded over the first 40 years then look for another book. I gave this book 4 stars because of the excellent photographs.