Rating: 
Summary: New York City's 19th century underclass
Review: Luc Santé has written this wonderful book about the social history of New York City from the 1840s to WWI, with a particular emphasis on the very late 1800s. The author is interested in the 'low life' of the book's title, by which he means the working poor, the unemployed, and especially, the criminal element. Interwoven with this social history is a discussion of the physical environment of New York City (tenement architecture, the street grid, the elevated trains), as well as the literature of the era. The chapters, which are arranged by topic, include such things as tenement life, famous theatrical acts of the era, infamous saloons (the worst of which were merely fronts for mugging customers), the role of narcotics, gambling rackets, prostitution, the life of the typical policeman, and the first instance of neighborhood gentrification (Greenwich Village). Throughout it all, Santé enables the reader to imagine being there. The end result is a delight to read, giving the reader vivid insights into New York history that are overlooked in most history books.
Rating:
Summary: The prose of the underside of the city...
Review: Luc Sante has a poetic drift about him and the book is written in that style. In the afterward to the newest printing he describes how he fell in love with the decay of the city during the period of time when he lived there. Only at the time he didn't really recognize it as decay but as living history entombed in the rubble.It was only after the city had become a playground for the elite that it became apparent that what he loved was actually what was the underside. In other words, he's an artist and he sees beauty where others see only gloom, doom and obsolesence. From this perspective, then, he takes on a tour of those dregs of society upon which any society is built, if not running from those things then at least providing a place where they can in fact fall. Granted, this is thick with names and facts and tidbits all meshed into one composite whole, as if he was afraid to forget to include any of his wonderful research. It is a bit busy but it's easy to overlook because it is so much fun. Gangs of New York finds influence here and books such as The Alienist revel in this part of city life too often overlooked.
Rating:
Summary: new york from the ground up
Review: new york's seedy life is documented in this book discussing corrupt politicians, cops, lawyers with a very detailed discussions on all of the early gangs. the geographical layout of who ruled where is most interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Well written & entertaining tale of the REAL "old New York"
Review: People who think that New York City reached its low point in the 1970s (or the 1980s) as the Bronx burned and crime seemed to be on every streetcorner sometimes tend to idealize the past. Perhaps it was shaped from movies from the 20s and 30s that seemed to show a simpler NYC, or maybe it was just plain misguided nostalgia. Sante does a fantastic job of recounting the dark underbelly of New York City in the 19th and early 20th century, going into gory details about the horrible poverty along the Bowery and Lower East Side (areas that have seen extensive gentrification since the late 1980s), the filthy streets and disease outbreaks among the city's immigrant masses, the proliferation of street gangs (some of whom were representing NYC police) and other, well, "low lifes." Sante gives an engaging, well-paced description of the oft-overlooked problems a booming industrial-age city like New York was going through and boldly goes where no historian has gone before. Required reading if you are a NYC (or urban) history fan.
| 
