What do you think?
Rate this book
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, Volume 2 of 3
Audio
Published May 17, 2011
8 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Robert A. Caro
35 books2,964 followersRobert Allan Caro is an American journalist and author known for his biographies of United States political figures Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson.
After working for many years as a reporter, Caro wrote The Power Broker (1974), a biography of New York urban planner Robert Moses, which was chosen by the Modern Library as one of the hundred greatest nonfiction books of the twentieth century. He has since written four of a planned five volumes of The Years of Lyndon Johnson (1982, 1990, 2002, 2012), a biography of the former president. Caro has been described as "the most influential biographer of the last century".
For his biographies, he has won two Pulitzer Prizes in Biography, two National Book Awards (including one for Lifetime Achievement), the Francis Parkman Prize (awarded by the Society of American Historians to the book that "best exemplifies the union of the historian and the artist"), three National Book Critics Circle Awards, the Mencken Award for Best Book, the Carr P. Collins Award from the Texas Institute of Letters, the D. B. Hardeman Prize, and a Gold Medal in Biography from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2010 President Barack Obama awarded Caro the National Humanities Medal.
Due to Caro's reputation for exhaustive research and detail, he is sometimes invoked by reviewers of other writers who are called "Caro-esque" for their own extensive research.
After working for many years as a reporter, Caro wrote The Power Broker (1974), a biography of New York urban planner Robert Moses, which was chosen by the Modern Library as one of the hundred greatest nonfiction books of the twentieth century. He has since written four of a planned five volumes of The Years of Lyndon Johnson (1982, 1990, 2002, 2012), a biography of the former president. Caro has been described as "the most influential biographer of the last century".
For his biographies, he has won two Pulitzer Prizes in Biography, two National Book Awards (including one for Lifetime Achievement), the Francis Parkman Prize (awarded by the Society of American Historians to the book that "best exemplifies the union of the historian and the artist"), three National Book Critics Circle Awards, the Mencken Award for Best Book, the Carr P. Collins Award from the Texas Institute of Letters, the D. B. Hardeman Prize, and a Gold Medal in Biography from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2010 President Barack Obama awarded Caro the National Humanities Medal.
Due to Caro's reputation for exhaustive research and detail, he is sometimes invoked by reviewers of other writers who are called "Caro-esque" for their own extensive research.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 25, 2023
Probably 3.5 rounded to 3. It is an interesting take but it seems to detail most of Robert Moses life and after a while although good it is more of the same. Probably done and not sure about vol 3. Maybe if I was familiar with more of NY it would mean more to me.
February 28, 2025
In Volume 1 it was Lawful Evil Bob Moses; Volume 2 it’s Chaotic Evil Bob. Looking forward to Volume 3.
March 18, 2026
A strong and incredibly vivid read. Caro really knows how to describe a tale that an inexperienced hand could dry up. Moses’ story proves just as notorious, intriguing, and full of power as the first volume. It gives a sharp understanding of what it takes to make a city, or at least a city one person desired to be a specific way. Needless to say, I look forward to volume 3.
Caro continues with his insights of Robert Moses, and his career that changed the face of New York, and much more besides. The first volume cultivated the past of Robert Moses, showing us his dreams, the idealism that drove him to his career in public works. This volume pulls up that stone, showing the worms and snakes underneath, initially unseen. Caro describes how Moses used public power as a bludgeon. He browbeat mayors of New York into accepting his way, threatening them with resignation or scandal. He betrayed the reform movement he initially belonged to, despite initial alignment with their goals. Moses’ actions even entangled him with such titans of power as Franklin Roosevelt, from which Moses would come away unscathed.
Moses was personally nefarious in addition to these sometimes national moments. Indeed while his public use of power had real consequences for the city, his personal relationships were no less contentious. He ensured his own brother, Paul, never got a job in his chosen field, ensured that he was essentially written out of his mother’s will, and saw to it he was abandoned by his remaining family. While Caro does give view to the often personal disregards Moses dealt those he knew well, Caro emphasizes how Moses had his own ideas for New York and would deal any way to make them so. These ideas, that were, according to the author, frequently classist and racist. Moses displaced brown and black neighborhoods, seizing their land for highways and bridges. He favored toll roads and bridges, locking out New York’s poorer residents from parts of their city. His projects, while frequently impressive, indebted the city. The projects of his rivals he ensured never saw the light of day, unless they bore his name when presented to the mayor. The portrait Caro paints is of a tyrant, petty and authoritarian, and exact.
Caro continues with his insights of Robert Moses, and his career that changed the face of New York, and much more besides. The first volume cultivated the past of Robert Moses, showing us his dreams, the idealism that drove him to his career in public works. This volume pulls up that stone, showing the worms and snakes underneath, initially unseen. Caro describes how Moses used public power as a bludgeon. He browbeat mayors of New York into accepting his way, threatening them with resignation or scandal. He betrayed the reform movement he initially belonged to, despite initial alignment with their goals. Moses’ actions even entangled him with such titans of power as Franklin Roosevelt, from which Moses would come away unscathed.
Moses was personally nefarious in addition to these sometimes national moments. Indeed while his public use of power had real consequences for the city, his personal relationships were no less contentious. He ensured his own brother, Paul, never got a job in his chosen field, ensured that he was essentially written out of his mother’s will, and saw to it he was abandoned by his remaining family. While Caro does give view to the often personal disregards Moses dealt those he knew well, Caro emphasizes how Moses had his own ideas for New York and would deal any way to make them so. These ideas, that were, according to the author, frequently classist and racist. Moses displaced brown and black neighborhoods, seizing their land for highways and bridges. He favored toll roads and bridges, locking out New York’s poorer residents from parts of their city. His projects, while frequently impressive, indebted the city. The projects of his rivals he ensured never saw the light of day, unless they bore his name when presented to the mayor. The portrait Caro paints is of a tyrant, petty and authoritarian, and exact.
May 5, 2020
this dude sucks. Anybody who made him feel not like an idol he fucked over for eternity (including his own brother). The question is not how this man had enough time in the day to make public works as prolifically (not accurately or in service to the people, mind you) as he did, but how he had enough time in the day to exact as much revenge as he did - especially to these extents.
I really thought one guy was going to be able to stop him but no. Just a momentary slow down.
Fuck Robert Moses. Did enjoy the solid amount of time dedicated to exalting the southern tip of Manhattan as the most glorious place on earth. Solid agreement.
"Moses attacks, Kearns was to conclude, were an example of his irresponsible brutality, a wantonness almost, a sadistic joy in hurting other people. As well as of his willingness to beat little people on occasions when he was reluctant to go to the mat with big people, like the mayor."
I really thought one guy was going to be able to stop him but no. Just a momentary slow down.
Fuck Robert Moses. Did enjoy the solid amount of time dedicated to exalting the southern tip of Manhattan as the most glorious place on earth. Solid agreement.
"Moses attacks, Kearns was to conclude, were an example of his irresponsible brutality, a wantonness almost, a sadistic joy in hurting other people. As well as of his willingness to beat little people on occasions when he was reluctant to go to the mat with big people, like the mayor."
September 10, 2025
Volume 2 somehow goes even harder. Just when you think Caro’s said it all, he digs deeper into Moses’ grip on the city—and it’s both impressive and horrifying. The scale of control this man had is honestly unreal, and Caro doesn’t let up for a second. It’s more political, more personal, and somehow even more maddening. You watch allies fall away, enemies multiply, and yet Moses keeps building—literally and figuratively. The writing is so sharp it hurts, and by the end you’re left wondering how someone could do so much damage and still walk away convinced they were the hero. I need a break before the final volume.
February 25, 2026
Again, there is so much detail in this section of the work it is nearly overwhelming. The looks on people's faces when certain news was broken, or direct quotes down to the enunciation--the level of research undertaken to compile this masterpiece is incredible.
We finally get a deeper dive into the people around Robert Moses including his family (mother and brother) and his wife. The portrait painted is one of striking verisimilitude, a person layered with nuance and competing desires. The fact that Robert Moses' brother Paul carried many of the same ideals but was far more willing to work with people across the aisle is a natural experiment of sorts. There is a part of the book that describes Robert going to various funding and authority groups basically saying the other stakeholders have already agreed and the current one just needs to sign off (he then repeats this exact convo with every one of the stakeholders until it is inevitable they've all signed off). This isn't a display of maniacal conniving so much as how things actually get done when government is involved. Perhaps to the layperson that may seem underhanded, but Moses was truly playing the political game and getting things done. It is an abomination that such an influential man was so casually racist (not providing the same parks/resources to minority communities as he would to more privileged groups), and it also goes to show that people really can be multitudes. He did do great things, and he also did terrible things with terrible consequences.
The bit of power he was able to wield went to his egotistical head and perhaps got in the way of some of the greater good he could've accomplished with his particular set of skills. It is a rare occurrence to have such detailed history on a man who tangentially shaped the Western world and the layout of large cities.
I still have one-third to go and feel so inundated with Robert Moses media already!
We finally get a deeper dive into the people around Robert Moses including his family (mother and brother) and his wife. The portrait painted is one of striking verisimilitude, a person layered with nuance and competing desires. The fact that Robert Moses' brother Paul carried many of the same ideals but was far more willing to work with people across the aisle is a natural experiment of sorts. There is a part of the book that describes Robert going to various funding and authority groups basically saying the other stakeholders have already agreed and the current one just needs to sign off (he then repeats this exact convo with every one of the stakeholders until it is inevitable they've all signed off). This isn't a display of maniacal conniving so much as how things actually get done when government is involved. Perhaps to the layperson that may seem underhanded, but Moses was truly playing the political game and getting things done. It is an abomination that such an influential man was so casually racist (not providing the same parks/resources to minority communities as he would to more privileged groups), and it also goes to show that people really can be multitudes. He did do great things, and he also did terrible things with terrible consequences.
The bit of power he was able to wield went to his egotistical head and perhaps got in the way of some of the greater good he could've accomplished with his particular set of skills. It is a rare occurrence to have such detailed history on a man who tangentially shaped the Western world and the layout of large cities.
I still have one-third to go and feel so inundated with Robert Moses media already!
February 20, 2025
The story of Robert Moses continues in this fantastic work of deep, detailed reporting. It's an incredible story too and I felt the echoes of these themes in modern political landscapes. For a decent chunk of this book, the book dragged as it detailed Moses' power, or amassing of power. But the last part details some of the newfound, ineffective opposition to Moses, which was very interesting. I believe the author said in Part 1 that the story ends with Moses' fall. At least I believe that was the arc of the story. Either way, I'm here for it.
December 22, 2025
This book exposed a darker side of Robert Moses, one that was certainly part of the first part, but not as pronounced. Robert was a son of a bitch, though productive. It's hard to wish things were different, because of what are some certainly beneficial aspects of his work, but he was a rascist ass in a lot of ways too.
Fascinating read, start with volume 1 if you're doing the audio book!
Fascinating read, start with volume 1 if you're doing the audio book!
Read
December 19, 2025Sooo long--some of the chapters clock in at 4 hours. The organization is thematic and extremely non-chronological, leading to a lot of "wait, has happened yet?" It's very effective in driving Caro's points home though.
December 23, 2025
A totemic book and a solid second part. Truly insane the type of things that people get away with. A book worth reading to understand so much about the modern machinations of power.
February 4, 2026
Just incredible.
February 10, 2020
A fascinating history of the middle part of the career of Robert Moses. While Volume 1 discussed his early life, his failure to achieve a leading role in civil service reform and his subsequent rise as the mastermind of the Long Island parkway system, this volume finds Moses well-established on the Parks Commission and in charge of parks development for New York. The book discusses how Moses was able to get huge amount of money to develop New York's infrastructure from the federal government, and discusses how the attempts by FDR, an old enemy of Moses, to pressure Mayor LaGuardia to remove him from office were eventually undermined by the public outcry against this heavy-handedness. It discusses Robert Moses' nomination and campaign for the governorship of New York, in which, running as a Republican, he showed such open disdain for constituents, so little interest in campaigning, and such blatant disregard for the truth in his increasingly unhinged attacks on his political opponents that he led the Republican Party to lose the state senate for the first time in decades. It details how Moses' popularity eventually recovered, and how he came to disregard the effect of his building projects on the neighborhoods that his new highways destroyed. We get a step-by-step detailing of how Moses managed to raise, from various sources and by ingenious schemes, the money to build the Henry Hudson Bridge, and how his unwillingness to change its location (due to the strictures imposed on him by his many different sources of financing) led him to ignore a much more suitable location in favor of one that destroyed several of the few remaining wilderness areas in New York. It discusses the construction of the West Side Highway, in which Moses, cobbling together money for highways, money for parks, and money for "park access roads" from the Federal Government which he used towards highway on- and off-ramps, was able to build a highway and a series of parks all along the West Side of Manhattan, disregarding the advice of other planners who realized that by situating the highway next to the river, the highway robbed Manhattanites of their access to the river by casting a major highway across their path. As Moses became more and more responsible for parks, his antipathy towards the African-American community came to be reflected in the almost total absence of any effort to build parks in Harlem or in the adjoining parts of the West Side Highway park space, and his inability to personally examine the design of so many parks at once led to their becoming ill-designed for the people they were intended to serve.
Perhaps the key development in the process of Moses' gaining power was his clever insertion, into the legislation creating the Triboro Authority, the ability of the authority to issue bonds after its initial bond issue. While overlooked by the legislators, this one line made the Triboro Authority essentially an infinitely-lived, extremely wealthy corporation run solely by Moses, since the Authority's creation dictated that it could continue to exist until its bonds had been repaid, but this particular authority could ensure that it always had outstanding bonds by continually refinancing. With control over the revenues of the Triboro and Henry Hudson bridges, among others, Moses became essentially the only source of money for highway development in the city. With this power, he almost managed to force the city to accept the construction of a lower Manhattan bridge that would have cast much of Battery Park into shadow and resulted in the destruction of historic Fort Clinton. Thwarted in this attempt by the machinations of FDR, who managed to get the Army Corps of Engineers to refuse to certify the bridge on national security grounds, Moses nevertheless used false claims of structural failures to destroy the New York City aquarium that had been located in Fort Clinton, and was narrowly prevented (by an equipment shortage) from destroying the fort itself (seemingly just to spite the urban planners who favored a tunnel in place of his bridge.)
Perhaps the key development in the process of Moses' gaining power was his clever insertion, into the legislation creating the Triboro Authority, the ability of the authority to issue bonds after its initial bond issue. While overlooked by the legislators, this one line made the Triboro Authority essentially an infinitely-lived, extremely wealthy corporation run solely by Moses, since the Authority's creation dictated that it could continue to exist until its bonds had been repaid, but this particular authority could ensure that it always had outstanding bonds by continually refinancing. With control over the revenues of the Triboro and Henry Hudson bridges, among others, Moses became essentially the only source of money for highway development in the city. With this power, he almost managed to force the city to accept the construction of a lower Manhattan bridge that would have cast much of Battery Park into shadow and resulted in the destruction of historic Fort Clinton. Thwarted in this attempt by the machinations of FDR, who managed to get the Army Corps of Engineers to refuse to certify the bridge on national security grounds, Moses nevertheless used false claims of structural failures to destroy the New York City aquarium that had been located in Fort Clinton, and was narrowly prevented (by an equipment shortage) from destroying the fort itself (seemingly just to spite the urban planners who favored a tunnel in place of his bridge.)
May 28, 2023
Great exposé of New York City planning. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews