Gotham Rising

Jules Stewart is a journalist, historian and author. He was born in New York and worked there in various guises including a yellow cab driver over the years. His books include Madrid: The History; Albert: A Life; The Kaiser's Mission to Kabul; On Afghanistan's Plains: The Story of Britain's Afghan Wars (all published by I.B.Tauris); Crimson Snow: Britain's First Disaster in Afghanistan; The Savage Border: The Story of the North-West Frontier; Spying for the Raj: The Pundits and the Mapping of the Himalaya and The Khyber Rifles: From the British Raj to Al Qaeda. He lives in London.

• List of Illustrations Foreword by Amor Towles Acknowledgements PrefaceIntroduction 1. Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?2. The Little Flower and Goliath 3. Trouble in the streets4. ‘I Can’t Figger What Dis City is Comin’ To’ 5. All That Jazz 6. Gotham Gets a Facelift 7. The Thing about Skyscrapers 8. Seventy-Seventh Floor, Please 9. Anything You Can Do10. You’re the Top11. They All Laughed at Rockefeller Center 12. Village Life13. Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free Notes Bibliography Index

[This] book may not be revelatory for many New York aficionados, but its historical digressions, nuggets of forgotten footnotes and the stark contradictions in a city ascendant — but also disproportionately poor, homeless and unemployed — make for riveting reading.