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New York City in the Gilded Age
The drama, expansion, mansions and wealth of New York City's transformative Gilded Age era, from 1870 to 1910, captured in a magnificently illustrated hardcover.
In forty short years, New York City suddenly became a city of skyscrapers, subways, streetlights, and Central Park, as well as sprawling bridges that connected the once-distant boroughs. In Manhattan, more than a million poor immigrants crammed into tenements, while the half of the millionaires in the entire country lined Fifth Avenue with their opulent mansions.
The Gilded Age in New York captures what is was like to live in Gotham then, to be a daily witness to the city's rapid evolution. Newspapers, autobiographies, and personal diaries offer fascinating glimpses into daily life among the rich, the poor, and the surprisingly large middle class. The use of photography and illustrated periodicals provides astonishing images that document the bigness of New the construction of the Statue of Liberty; the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge; the shimmering lights of Luna Park in Coney Island; the mansions of Millionaire's Row. Sidebars detail smaller, fleeting Alice Vanderbilt posing proudly in her "Electric Light" ball gown at a society-changing masquerade ball; immigrants stepping off the boat at Ellis Island; a young Theodore Roosevelt witnessing Abraham Lincoln's funeral.
The Gilded Age in New York is a rare illustrated look at this amazing time in both the city and the country as a whole. Author Esther Crain, the go-to authority on the era, weaves first-hand accounts and fascinating details into a vivid tapestry of American society at the turn of the century.
In forty short years, New York City suddenly became a city of skyscrapers, subways, streetlights, and Central Park, as well as sprawling bridges that connected the once-distant boroughs. In Manhattan, more than a million poor immigrants crammed into tenements, while the half of the millionaires in the entire country lined Fifth Avenue with their opulent mansions.
The Gilded Age in New York captures what is was like to live in Gotham then, to be a daily witness to the city's rapid evolution. Newspapers, autobiographies, and personal diaries offer fascinating glimpses into daily life among the rich, the poor, and the surprisingly large middle class. The use of photography and illustrated periodicals provides astonishing images that document the bigness of New the construction of the Statue of Liberty; the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge; the shimmering lights of Luna Park in Coney Island; the mansions of Millionaire's Row. Sidebars detail smaller, fleeting Alice Vanderbilt posing proudly in her "Electric Light" ball gown at a society-changing masquerade ball; immigrants stepping off the boat at Ellis Island; a young Theodore Roosevelt witnessing Abraham Lincoln's funeral.
The Gilded Age in New York is a rare illustrated look at this amazing time in both the city and the country as a whole. Author Esther Crain, the go-to authority on the era, weaves first-hand accounts and fascinating details into a vivid tapestry of American society at the turn of the century.
295 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 27, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
February 20, 2024
I recently watched The Gilded Age tv series, which is fabulous, and I am now intrigued with this time period. This beautiful book is well written and full of great photos. Very well researched, with a comprehensive overview of events and timelines. Highly recommended for anyone interested to learn more.
May 4, 2017
If you love NYC or just love the time period covered by this beautiful book, you will be fascinated by this large history of NYC during what is called the Gilded Age (1870-1910). During these years, the city morphed into a metropolis to be reckoned with. The author has included many pictures of the buildings and people in early NYC ....especially the historic photographs by Jacob Riis who delved deep into the poverty of the tenements which sprang up all over the city and revealed the hell in which most immigrants lived. The narrative shows the reader the other side of the coin as well.....the rich robber barons' mansions lining 5th Avenue, their lifestyle, and their idiotic "rules" of society.
Every aspect of life in NYC is covered....politics, crime, Boss Tweed, landmark buildings, immigration, Central Park, sanitation, Coney Island, and Five Points. It is a wonderful and sometimes tragic tour of the Big Apple during a time of transition. Recommended.
Every aspect of life in NYC is covered....politics, crime, Boss Tweed, landmark buildings, immigration, Central Park, sanitation, Coney Island, and Five Points. It is a wonderful and sometimes tragic tour of the Big Apple during a time of transition. Recommended.
March 21, 2021
A must-read for anyone interested in The Guilded Age and/or the history of New York City. Enjoyed this book very much.
February 8, 2023
This mammoth tome covers just about every subject of the five boroughs of Manhattan from the time of the Civil War to 1910. There are sidebars that cover extraneous topics that don't fit elsewhere. My personal favorite subject is New Women and Suffragettes so I was excited to read that chapter even though I knew all of that. I did like the stories about women in crime too. That was new to me. I liked the more in-depth look at the tenements and immigrant life. I've studied that subject too and learned more about the laws and the new social housing that was built at the end of the period.
I also really, really liked the section on Brooklyn because my Scandinavian ancestors settled in Brooklyn during the Gilded Age. My grandmother's family are all buried in Greenwood and Woodlawn cemeteries and that was the next sidebar. Also of interest to my family was the "Great White Hurricane of 1888." My great-grandmother was born a few weeks later in April. I remember my grandmother telling me that and realizing that I share yet another connection with the ancestor I never met. I was born in April following the Blizzard of 1978, 90 years later. It was fascinating to see the pictures and read about how devastating the blizzard was to the city. It makes 1978 look like no big deal.
The photographs included in the book are incredible. Some have been colorized but most are black and white. There are maps too showing how much Manhattan changed over the period. It becomes recognizable to us by 1910 but in the early part of the period, it was just part of Manhattan, some of New York City. Then came Central Park and the city kept growing after that and then you add Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, Queens and Staten Island linked by first ferries and then modern marvels of bridges.
This book doesn't shy away from the tough stories of immigration, poverty, vice and crime but it ignores the Black history of the city- the ONLY character I liked in the HBO series "The Gilded Age" was Peggy and I wanted to know more about her family and community. That lack of inclusion dates the book a bit but otherwise I really enjoyed it. I wish the picture credits were more in depth so researchers can track down the originals if they wish.
This book took me months to read but it was worth it. I recommend this to those who have an interest in the time period, casual fans of the HBO series and others who enjoy learning about history but don't necessarily want to read in-depth books on one subject.
I also really, really liked the section on Brooklyn because my Scandinavian ancestors settled in Brooklyn during the Gilded Age. My grandmother's family are all buried in Greenwood and Woodlawn cemeteries and that was the next sidebar. Also of interest to my family was the "Great White Hurricane of 1888." My great-grandmother was born a few weeks later in April. I remember my grandmother telling me that and realizing that I share yet another connection with the ancestor I never met. I was born in April following the Blizzard of 1978, 90 years later. It was fascinating to see the pictures and read about how devastating the blizzard was to the city. It makes 1978 look like no big deal.
The photographs included in the book are incredible. Some have been colorized but most are black and white. There are maps too showing how much Manhattan changed over the period. It becomes recognizable to us by 1910 but in the early part of the period, it was just part of Manhattan, some of New York City. Then came Central Park and the city kept growing after that and then you add Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, Queens and Staten Island linked by first ferries and then modern marvels of bridges.
This book doesn't shy away from the tough stories of immigration, poverty, vice and crime but it ignores the Black history of the city- the ONLY character I liked in the HBO series "The Gilded Age" was Peggy and I wanted to know more about her family and community. That lack of inclusion dates the book a bit but otherwise I really enjoyed it. I wish the picture credits were more in depth so researchers can track down the originals if they wish.
This book took me months to read but it was worth it. I recommend this to those who have an interest in the time period, casual fans of the HBO series and others who enjoy learning about history but don't necessarily want to read in-depth books on one subject.
May 30, 2017
It took quite a while to read, but it was worth it. A great book for researchers with BEAUTIFUL photos.
March 13, 2023
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Its amazing photographs and illustrations combined with informative text did a great job of reinforcing and explaining much of what I've learned from reading historical fiction. The Gilded Age has always interested me, so I found this a wonderful reading experience.
October 13, 2016
The Big Apple: Capturing the beauty and complexity of a city
This is a lavish and handsomely produced book that captures the beauty and the complexity of a city that is an embodiment of ambition, aspiration, dream, romance, and a good life for millions of immigrants who came from all over the world. Yet there was a dark side to the island of Manhattan. The tumultuous years of 1870 to 1910 were the formative years for a city that was reinventing itself to be the city of hope. At the height of the Civil War, the city was torn amidst loyalties, political power, greed, racism, antisemitism and institutional bigotry. Very few were spared from this darkens; even Irish immigrants were targeted.
From its humble beginnings as a Dutch trading post in 1624, the city rose to prominence as one of the greatest cities in the world. Author Esther Crain offers an excellent narrative of the turbulent growth and change in the life of the city in the late nineteenth century, at the height of the American Civil War. The book has colorful and vibrant illustrations, hundreds of rare photographs, paintings, newspaper prints, and aerial photographs. The author brings alive the voices, poverty, sufferings, and tragic stories of men, women and children long forgotten in a city that never sleeps.
A brief summary of the book is as follows: The story is narrated in seven chapters that deals with the beginning of the Civil War; confederate plan to burn down the city; the funeral procession of President Lincoln along the Broadway approaching the Union Square; young Theodore Roosevelt witnessing the funeral procession from his grandfather’s house on Broadway; the war fever grips the city and racism boils down the alleys and streets leading to deaths and destruction; the rise of the New York Stock Exchange; shameless moneymaking by rich and famous; building obscene amount of wealth and living in the lap of luxury when the rest of the population was living in hopelessness, poverty, suffering and death; gradual rise of the city from its distress, the 1883 opening of the Brooklyn Bridge helping trade, commerce and employment; The first subway train in 1870; the construction of the Statue of Liberty and the dedication ceremony attended by President Grover Cleveland; beginning of bustling little Germany called Kleindeutschland in city’s 14the street area; Mulberry Street and the emergence of Little Italy; Jewish immigrants and the Hester Street; Mott Street and Chinatown. A growing number of poor immigrants and the rise in the population of the city and limited tenements lead to call for reform by numerous journalists and some wealthy people like Nellie Bly, Charles Loring Brace, Lillian Wald, the Salvation Army and many others. Reforms helped some to relieve the growing pain but diseases like cholera and tuberculosis also hit the city with fear and serious health crisis.
By the end of nineteenth century, the modern metropolis started to come together. Growth in business and industries pumped energy into the city. The city started to grow with steel towers and numerous spectacular structures. Manhattan expands from east to west and south to north. Soon 56 municipalities joined forces, with some dissent from citizens, but it became a 320 mile metropolis and doubled its population. The state’s new charter uniting the borough of New York City commenced. The metropolis was already connected by elevated trains and telephones. Soon it would be linked by a giant subway system and new bridges and tunnels.
There are numerous color pictures, paintings and cartoons of historical interest which I did not take time itemize, but this is definitely a collector’s book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and I strongly recommend this to anyone interested in the history of Manhattan.
This is a lavish and handsomely produced book that captures the beauty and the complexity of a city that is an embodiment of ambition, aspiration, dream, romance, and a good life for millions of immigrants who came from all over the world. Yet there was a dark side to the island of Manhattan. The tumultuous years of 1870 to 1910 were the formative years for a city that was reinventing itself to be the city of hope. At the height of the Civil War, the city was torn amidst loyalties, political power, greed, racism, antisemitism and institutional bigotry. Very few were spared from this darkens; even Irish immigrants were targeted.
From its humble beginnings as a Dutch trading post in 1624, the city rose to prominence as one of the greatest cities in the world. Author Esther Crain offers an excellent narrative of the turbulent growth and change in the life of the city in the late nineteenth century, at the height of the American Civil War. The book has colorful and vibrant illustrations, hundreds of rare photographs, paintings, newspaper prints, and aerial photographs. The author brings alive the voices, poverty, sufferings, and tragic stories of men, women and children long forgotten in a city that never sleeps.
A brief summary of the book is as follows: The story is narrated in seven chapters that deals with the beginning of the Civil War; confederate plan to burn down the city; the funeral procession of President Lincoln along the Broadway approaching the Union Square; young Theodore Roosevelt witnessing the funeral procession from his grandfather’s house on Broadway; the war fever grips the city and racism boils down the alleys and streets leading to deaths and destruction; the rise of the New York Stock Exchange; shameless moneymaking by rich and famous; building obscene amount of wealth and living in the lap of luxury when the rest of the population was living in hopelessness, poverty, suffering and death; gradual rise of the city from its distress, the 1883 opening of the Brooklyn Bridge helping trade, commerce and employment; The first subway train in 1870; the construction of the Statue of Liberty and the dedication ceremony attended by President Grover Cleveland; beginning of bustling little Germany called Kleindeutschland in city’s 14the street area; Mulberry Street and the emergence of Little Italy; Jewish immigrants and the Hester Street; Mott Street and Chinatown. A growing number of poor immigrants and the rise in the population of the city and limited tenements lead to call for reform by numerous journalists and some wealthy people like Nellie Bly, Charles Loring Brace, Lillian Wald, the Salvation Army and many others. Reforms helped some to relieve the growing pain but diseases like cholera and tuberculosis also hit the city with fear and serious health crisis.
By the end of nineteenth century, the modern metropolis started to come together. Growth in business and industries pumped energy into the city. The city started to grow with steel towers and numerous spectacular structures. Manhattan expands from east to west and south to north. Soon 56 municipalities joined forces, with some dissent from citizens, but it became a 320 mile metropolis and doubled its population. The state’s new charter uniting the borough of New York City commenced. The metropolis was already connected by elevated trains and telephones. Soon it would be linked by a giant subway system and new bridges and tunnels.
There are numerous color pictures, paintings and cartoons of historical interest which I did not take time itemize, but this is definitely a collector’s book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and I strongly recommend this to anyone interested in the history of Manhattan.
January 24, 2017
An oversized book full of fascinating photographs of New York in the Gilded Age (a term coined by writer Mark Twain) from 1870 to 1910. Sections on the development of New York City, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, Flushing and Staten Island. The rich and the poor. Cultural and scientific developments--electricity plays a big role, architecture, recreation, health issues, crime and political corruption. Truly fascinating, much added by unique photographs of the era.
May 19, 2020
I rated it 5 Stars for the joy that it brings me, after all its about my favorite era of New York. It is more of a coffee table book than anything else but I really love looking at it from time to time.
April 14, 2025
New York was the heart of the Gilded Age, and this book takes readers on a tour through the city. Of course whole books can be written on the subject of any one chapter. I found the book did an excellent job of providing specific, interesting nuggets about life in the city during that era. The book is written by the author of Ephemeral New York, a website I consult regularly when I'm doing online research.
If you want a broad overview of the era, or a decent introduction to point you towards more specific subjects, this book does that job, though I must confess, I picked it up because the edition I bought comes with a modern stereoscope and images from Gilded Age New York City. The stereoscope is fun and of shockingly good quality. If you can get that edition, it's worth the extra expense.
If you want a broad overview of the era, or a decent introduction to point you towards more specific subjects, this book does that job, though I must confess, I picked it up because the edition I bought comes with a modern stereoscope and images from Gilded Age New York City. The stereoscope is fun and of shockingly good quality. If you can get that edition, it's worth the extra expense.
March 31, 2022
Magnificent photographs and short essays tell the story of how New York became New York in this coffeetable book. It really starts at the close of the Civil War with Abraham Lincoln's funeral. The city has barely advanced above 34 Street and the boroughs are farmlands. The essays cover all aspects, including the middle class, blacks, religous and ethnic minorities and of course the gilded elites. It covers the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, the Flatiron Building, the slums of the Lower East Side, and Central Park. Whether you leaf through it or read it intently, it has a lot to offer.
April 3, 2018
I had to give it five stars because it was so in depth. There was nothing in here that wasn't interesting. There were subjects from the era that I wasn't expecting to find in this book and didn't realize that I really liked learning about.
From the title, I thought the whole thing was going to be on the luxurious buildings and high rollers, but there was a wide range: poor, immigrants, politicians and powerful.
From the title, I thought the whole thing was going to be on the luxurious buildings and high rollers, but there was a wide range: poor, immigrants, politicians and powerful.
November 29, 2016
A gorgeous, coffee-table-worthy book on the outside, and a lively, informative, entertaining read on the inside.
April 5, 2021
My Gilded Age obsession continues. Now brought to you by non fiction.
This was a very informative book.
This was a very informative book.
January 8, 2024
More to the Era Than Just Rich People
Hopefully, if the popular series The Gilded Age has spurred an interest in American history among Americans, then its portrayal of the fabulously rich robber baron class has been worth the effort. But as those who go on to explore this period in more detail will discover, the rich are only a part of the story. And this big book of pictures and text isn’t a bad place to begin learning that.
The Gilded Age in New York explores New York City’s expansion years, when the boroughs joined together to form the massive metropolis we know today, when skyscrapers sprouted to form the foundation of the dramatic skyline of present, when transportation, lighting, and communication innovations advanced the city’s prosperity, and when enterprising and societal minded people formed groups to help the abject poor, with which old New York abounded as it was the first stop for most immigrants on their journey to new lives in America. In all these respects, readers will find this book an engaging and enlightening introduction to the growth of the city that still attracts the ambitious and fascinates many Americans in general.
Some readers may have wished for more photographic art, and, perhaps, because of the streaming series, more emphasis on the super wealthy and their lifestyles. These readers can find plenty of books of this type online, as well as film about the period on YouTube (such as the PBS Gilded Age documentary, as well as a load of videos comparing the series’ characters to their real life counterparts). As for this volume, it provides a comprehensive introduction to the Gilded Age in New York.
Hopefully, if the popular series The Gilded Age has spurred an interest in American history among Americans, then its portrayal of the fabulously rich robber baron class has been worth the effort. But as those who go on to explore this period in more detail will discover, the rich are only a part of the story. And this big book of pictures and text isn’t a bad place to begin learning that.
The Gilded Age in New York explores New York City’s expansion years, when the boroughs joined together to form the massive metropolis we know today, when skyscrapers sprouted to form the foundation of the dramatic skyline of present, when transportation, lighting, and communication innovations advanced the city’s prosperity, and when enterprising and societal minded people formed groups to help the abject poor, with which old New York abounded as it was the first stop for most immigrants on their journey to new lives in America. In all these respects, readers will find this book an engaging and enlightening introduction to the growth of the city that still attracts the ambitious and fascinates many Americans in general.
Some readers may have wished for more photographic art, and, perhaps, because of the streaming series, more emphasis on the super wealthy and their lifestyles. These readers can find plenty of books of this type online, as well as film about the period on YouTube (such as the PBS Gilded Age documentary, as well as a load of videos comparing the series’ characters to their real life counterparts). As for this volume, it provides a comprehensive introduction to the Gilded Age in New York.
January 11, 2018
This is basically a historical blog in book form -- a series of historical vignettes, with period illustrations; this is perhaps unsurprising given that the author is the founder of the blog "Ephemeral New York". The research seems solid, the writing is clear, the images well chosen and well reproduced, and the book is nice and solid. There are some substantial holes (for example, there's basically no discussion of the Cuban and Puerto Rican community in the city, which was historically significant in this period); it mainly focuses on the well-off, with the poor and criminals getting their chapters but not really developing the complexity of the interrelationships of the classes. Not a substantial history, but a nice collection of glimpses into the period.
January 14, 2025
I ended up here because I'm a fan of The Gilded Age on HBO and discovered the author's blog (Ephemeral New York) after doing some Googling. I was not disappointed by this collection, full of interesting social, political and cultural histories and a wealth of photos. You can really let your imagination run wild when reading this book, whether that is cover to cover or on a casual flip-through. Highly recommend to enthusiasts of this era!
July 6, 2025
This is a richly illustrated overview of New York in the Gilded Age and covers an impressive variety of topics from architecture to immigration, the women’s suffrage movement and crime. The reason I’m giving it four stars is because the topics I was most interested in - food, leisure, women’s lives, fashion - didn’t feature much and I know I’ll need to seek out more specific books about those subjects.
July 20, 2025
The history of New York becoming the city it is today
The book details the important transitions of
New York evolving from a collection of small villages with specific economic roles to the birth of the boroughs, with their unique attributes, to the consolidation of those boroughs into the the largest city in the United States from the late 1800s to the 1920s. A fascinating history of the city.
The book details the important transitions of
New York evolving from a collection of small villages with specific economic roles to the birth of the boroughs, with their unique attributes, to the consolidation of those boroughs into the the largest city in the United States from the late 1800s to the 1920s. A fascinating history of the city.
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May 28, 2021I loved this book! A comprehensive look back at the New York of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. From Jacob Riis to Cornelius Vanderbilt, you'll get a true feeling of life in the City. Plus the bonus of amazing photographs. If you're interested in the history of New York, you certainly will enjoy this book.
February 15, 2019
New York city history
Being from the midwest I was fascinated how this city came to be. I still do not understand why so many millions of people want to live so close to each other. What a wild and crazy history!
Being from the midwest I was fascinated how this city came to be. I still do not understand why so many millions of people want to live so close to each other. What a wild and crazy history!
August 16, 2022
Great history book covering the Gilded Age of New York City. Was very happy to see the book didn’t only cover the rich society but also that if the middle class and poor. It covered the history of the outer boroughs as well. It includes great historical pictures.
December 4, 2023
Easy-to-read and comprehensive look at New York during the Gilded Age, covering not only the scandalous and dramatic lives of the very rich but also the poor, the immigrant experience, etc., including sections on Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Harlem. A really nice overview.
November 14, 2025
interesting
Not my usual genre, but I do love reading about New York and the Gilded Age. Read more like a history book. Liked reading about Queens, especially Astoria during the Gilded Age.
Not my usual genre, but I do love reading about New York and the Gilded Age. Read more like a history book. Liked reading about Queens, especially Astoria during the Gilded Age.
January 2, 2018
A forty year NYC history
Very interesting history of New York City from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of the 20th Century.
Very interesting history of New York City from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of the 20th Century.
December 27, 2019
Not applicable.
February 15, 2021
Greatly detailed and researched about the title topic. If you are a New Yorker, it may interest even more. great resource for research and / or term paper. Enjoy!
February 12, 2022
This book is very comprehensive and supplies a fairly in-depth view of the times.
November 22, 2022
A great companion read to The Age of Innocence
November 2, 2023
Very enjoyable and informative. Nice quality. Can't speak to accuracy or anything because this was a primer for me.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews