jasonweber4 wrote:
i'm looking for a book on the cultural history of new york city...like 1940s or 50s. any ideas? thanks
That's really such a broad sweep, I wouldn't know where to start. Also, I'm tempted to say that you might get more out of urban anthro texts on the subject than general histories, and if that's something you're interested in, I can see if my wife can recommend any. I confess I haven't read much specifically on New York in that time, but if I were to jump in anywhere myself I'd probably take a more structural approach and begin with the massive (but really entertaining)
The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro. So much of the history of postwar New York is owed to the development plans of planner Robert Moses that an understanding of the social change of the period is going to be tied to planning. Moses, for instance, advocated almost any changes to the structure of the city that favored automobile traffic over public transit, and as such is probably the one person you could — if you wanted to — give sole credit for the creations of Levittown, commuter communities, white flight and the collapse of tax bases around minority communities and the polarizing stratification of New York society. Because Moses was capable, via contacts, of accomplishing so much, he was able to reshape the structure of the city in his own image and with little accountability to the public officials he ostensibly served.
It's a fascinating book and, for the subject matter, sort of startlingly engrossing, but it's pretty huge and is going to discuss planning above all other things first. Like I said, personally I would start here — the planning ultimately underlies so many of the fundamental postwar changes in the city — but I can understand where others would not want to. If you want to get a much much briefer look at this same phenomenon, you could probably check out the relevant chapters in James Howard Kuntsler's The Geography of Nowhere. Again, as for the broader questions you have about that period, I'm at something of a loss. Hopefully your fellow posters will jump in here.
Call me ambitious, but I just started reading this:
Gotham (history of New York City up to the consolidation of the five boroughs in 1898)
It'll probably take me forever, but it's just so damn thorough, and (from what I've read of the first 20 pages) so well-written that it'll be worth the effort. This is another one I was exposed to from watching the Ric Burns documentary. Historian Mike Wallace, who co-wrote Gotham, is interviewed extensively in the documentary.
JL_Garner wrote:
Call me ambitious, but I just started reading this:
Gotham (history of New York City up to the consolidation of the five boroughs in 1898)
It'll probably take me forever, but it's just so damn thorough, and (from what I've read of the first 20 pages) so well-written that it'll be worth the effort. This is another one I was exposed to from watching the Ric Burns documentary. Historian Mike Wallace, who co-wrote Gotham, is interviewed extensively in the documentary.
Yeah, Gotham looks really good and I've been meaning to read it for a while. However I have to admit I'd be much more interested in a similarly thorough history of 20th century New York, and Gotham only covers the 18th and 19th centuries.
Though not a sweeping history of 20th century New York, as Gotham seems to be for the 18th and 19th centuries, I have heard good things about Nicholas Bloom's work on New York City's Housing Authority. I haven't read it myself, but a friend of mine was assigned it for a class and found it useful. I would have added it to the suggestions on this thread, previously, but didn't really consider it a history.
It's definitely a targeted study, Jon, so not exactly what you're looking for. But as a New Yorker, I'm sure you're aware how substantially relevant housing is for any discussion on New York in the 20th century.
As I left the train Saturday night, I picked up a discarded brochure that described the following exhibition at the New York Library, called "Mapping New York's Shoreline, 1609-2009."
Sounds fascinating and worth a visit if in the area or of a special interest.
There are some related programs in other libraries. And a another site on the exhibition, with links itself.
The brochure includes a reading list on NYC -- which was what reminded me of this thread. At least one that we have mentioned here is on that list: The Island at the Center of the World by Russell Shorto.
Now that I have seen it again and care less about the crowding ( 
)!, I'll remind you all that Vermeer's Milkmaid is at the Met until November 29.
JL_Garner wrote:Call me ambitious, but I just started reading this:
Gotham (history of New York City up to the consolidation of the five boroughs in 1898)
It'll probably take me forever, but it's just so damn thorough, and (from what I've read of the first 20 pages) so well-written that it'll be worth the effort. This is another one I was exposed to from watching the Ric Burns documentary. Historian Mike Wallace, who co-wrote Gotham, is interviewed extensively in the documentary.
I want to read this sometime, I prefer some of the earlier history of NYC so this would be perfect. Not sure when I'll get to it though
