Maximum City by Michael Pye

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Summary

This is a biography of New York, aiming to use the past to explain many facets of the modern city. From the first struggling settlers to the glitz of Nouvelle Society, it explores how the myth of New York was formed, and how people came to equate the city with corruption, excess and danger.

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Maximum City by Michael Pye

Maximum City is the biography of New York City. It has an exact purpose: to use the past to understand how New York came to be its glorious, dangerous self. From the first struggling settlers to the glitz of Nouvellle Society, it tells how the myth of New York was formed, and the calamities and realities that underlie all the headline assumptions about the city: Corruption, Excess, Glory, Danger and the sensuality which brings its bleak streets to life. But it also asks why - why cramped Manhattan should be high society's city; why such a metropolis fell into the hands of mobsters and con-men; why travellers always go in fear of its startling streets; why anyone who wanted success, a new life, even a new sex, had to come to Maximum City. It is full of the voices of New Yorkers, past and present, drawn from the newly available archives and direct reporting, as well as from letters, diaries, movies, maps and archaeologists' finds.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9781856190930
ISBN 10 1856190935
Title Maximum City
Author Michael Pye
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Hardback
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Year published 1991-10-21
Number of pages 320
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.