Greater Gotham A History of New York City from 1898 to 1919

Mr Wallace's lively style turns an invaluable work of reference into a gripping read. His swift portraits of New York's heroes and villains are vivid and memorable. And like every great work of history, his book casts light on the present: he writes lucidly, for example, of Puerto Rico's economic travails in the aftermath of the Spanish-American war, his account of American colonialism still resonant in 2017. The book is enriched by those who lived in tenements, skyscrapers or Fifth Avenue palaces. Like the city itself, Greater Gotham contains multitudes. Economist