Book Review

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Book Review | The Journal of American History, 86.2 | The History Cooperative

American Metropolis: A History of New York City. By George J. Lankevich. (New York: New York University Press, 1998. x, 273 pp. Cloth, $55.00, isbn 0-8147-5148-2. Paper, $18.95, isbn 0-8147-5149-0.)

Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898. By Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. xxiv, 1,383 pp. $49.95, isbn 0-19-511634-8.)

Big or small, fat or lean—which is better? The answer in regard to these two books of distinctly different lengths is that it depends on the intended purpose of each. By this measurement, both are splendid works of history that expand our understanding and appreciation of New York City. 1

George J. Lankevich's American Metropolis is well qualified to serve as the basic book in a course on the history of New York. Lankevich, a now retired professor of history from Bronx Community College, has turned numerous secondary sources into a tightly written study of the city from the first discovery to the year 1997. He wisely avoids trying to force the complexities of New York's development into some predetermined mold, observing in his preface that "if this history has any overarching theme, it is simply that the interaction of politics, economics, and changing circumstances has given the city a resilience and power beyond its statistics." He gives special attention to the long succession of Dutch governors and English-speaking mayors from Peter Minuit to Rudolph Giuliani, but he also includes such major influences as Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, William M. Tweed, William Randolph Hearst, and Charles Francis Murphy; Murphy probably was the best of numerous Tammany political bosses. While Lankevich has his heroes, most notably Fiorello La Guardia, he is evenhanded in his treatment of the leadership. . . .

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