The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Frères & Co.

Book Description

A grand and revelatory portrait of Wall Street’s most storied investment bank

Wall Street investment banks move trillions of dollars a year, make billions in fees, pay their executives in the tens of millions of dollars. But even among the most powerful firms, Lazard Frères & Co. stood apart. Discretion, secrecy, and subtle strategy were its weapons of choice. For more than a century, the mystique and reputation of the "Great Men" who worked there allowed the firm to garner unimaginable profits, social cachet, and outsized influence in the halls of power. But in the mid-1980s, their titanic egos started getting in the way, and the Great Men of Lazard jeopardized all they had built.

William D. Cohan, himself a former high-level Wall Street banker, takes the reader into the mysterious and secretive world of Lazard and presents a compelling portrait of Wall Street through the tumultuous history of this exalted and fascinating company. Cohan deconstructs the explosive feuds between Felix Rohatyn and Steve Rattner, superstar investment bankers and pillars of New York society, and between the man who controlled Lazard, the inscrutable French billionaire Michel David-Weill, and his chosen successor, Bruce Wasserstein.

Cohan follows Felix, the consummate adviser, as he reshapes corporate America in the 1970s and 1980s, saves New York City from bankruptcy, and positions himself in New York society and in Washington. Felix’s dreams are dashed after the arrival of Steve, a formidable and ambitious former newspaper reporter. By the mid-1990s, as Lazard neared its 150th anniversary, Steve and Felix were feuding openly.

The internal strife caused by their arguments could not be solved by the imperious Michel, whose manipulative tendencies served only to exacerbate the trouble within the firm. Increasingly desperate, Michel took the unprecedented step of relinquishing operational control of Lazard to one of the few Great Men still around, Bruce Wasserstein, then fresh from selling his own M&A boutique, for $1.4 billion. Bruce’s take: more than $600 million. But it turned out Great Man Bruce had snookered Great Man Michel when the Frenchman was at his most vulnerable.

The LastTycoons is a tale of vaulting ambitions, whispered advice, worldly mistresses, fabulous art collections, and enormous wealth—a story of high drama in the world of high finance.

Customer Reviews:

Oh, the memories.......2007-07-27

This book brought back so many memories of the time (late eighties/early nineties) and place. Looking back while reading this book, I realize how much I learned about people and industry while working in investment
banking (albeit a bit remotely) in NYC in those years. The level of detail
that Bill Cohan brings to the topic of Lazard is noteworthy. It's a fun
read for insiders and non-insiders alike. I hope things are better for
women now - my daughter wants to be an investment banker when she grows up!

A great book for "warped" people (like myself)!.......2007-06-11

660+ pages about the 150+ year history of Lazard Feres might put most people to sleep. Not me! As someone who actually likes this stuff, I found this book fascinating. The history of big money and finance is actually one of big personalties, and this book gives an inside look at several of the major players. Although tedious at times to read, I made it through the entire book in a couple of days. The most fascinating part of the entire story is simply that money at the levels discussed in this book doesn't seem real--most people could never fathom how corporate finance is conducted. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject of investment banking, especially those considering a career in that arena.

Long but worth it.......2007-05-30

extremely long, but it gives you a great description of how an organization rises and falls with the times and the great men who are at the wheel.

Destined to be a Classic.......2007-05-24

Cohan has brought to life a vivid and spellbinding tale of the legendary giants in the investment banking field (Meyer, Rohatyn, David-Weill, Rattner, and Wasserstein) at Lazard, offering a compelling and revealing portrait of the relentless personalities that invented, dominated and defined the last few decades of M&A banking. At the same time, The Last Tycoons is, at its core, a saga of ambition, egotism, greed, vanity and pride of Shakespearean proportions played out on the grand stage of corporate takeovers and national politics.

What emerges is not a noble picture of what these ostensibly "Great Men" purported themselves to be. Instead, it is apparent that at Lazard, the black arts of power and greed were the currency used to exhort and extort men of high ambition and intellect to achieve stature and enormous fees. The long shadow of Andre Meyer (unquestionably a Sith Lord) looms over the Lazard partnership and his protégés and successors, Felix Rohatyn and Michel David-Weill. Meyer was a brilliant financier with no peer with the exception of Bruce Wasserstein and it's fitting and deserving that the story of Lazard begins and ends with these two men. In between, Michel and Felix weave a complex and fascinating legacy of fear and loathing in the intervening decades.

For bankers and professionals in the field, Cohan's detail and emotional and psychological nuances will be tantalizing and relevant. For those aspiring to enter the field, it's a cautionary tale - it's very hard to play on the big stage on Wall St without darkening your soul. This story is destined to be a Classic amongst Barbarians and Den of Thieves

barbarians at the gates of central park .......2007-05-19

maybe the first casualty of wealth is self-knowledge. that is the takeaway from William Cohan's fine history of the fabled lazard freres banking house. in these pages we watch titans of finance gloat and preen while their castle crumbles from corruption and mismanagement.

Its a terrific story peopled with fascinating characters. who wouldn't, after reading this book, want to dine with the formidable felix rohatyn. He fled the Nazis as a boy, rescued New York from financial ruin and ditched Lazard at just the right moment to serve the nation as Bill Clinton's Ambassador to France. His intellect and achievement dominate the book, just as Felix dominated wall street for a generation. His departure from the firm caps the end of "the great man" era in investment banking. In Rohatyn's day only a select handful of wise men could be trusted to guide transactions. Nowadays all you need is armani and a spread sheet.

Even as he maps the tectonic movement in investment banking, Cohan keeps it light with plenty of well-researched dish on criminal investigations, love affairs, fabulous art collections, New Yorkana and the occasional drop to earth by some of Lazard's wax-winged partners. I closed the book -- a whopping 750 pp's -- edified and thoroughly entertained.

Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan

Average customer rating:

What an interesting philosophical dissertation
Way Too Much To Think About Sometimes....
Eating oysters with boxing gloves, naked, on the nth floor.
best koolhaas ever, man
the culture of congestion

Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan
Rem Koolhaas
Manufacturer: Monacelli
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1885254008

Amazon.com

In this fanciful volume, Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, founder of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (O.M.A.), both analyzes and celebrates New York City. By suggesting the city as the site for an infinite variety of human activities and events--both real and imagined--the essence of the metropolitan lifestyle, its "culture of congestion" and its architecture are revealed in a brilliant new light. "Manhattan," Koolhaas writes, "is the 20th century's Rosetta stone . . . occupied by architectural mutations (Central Park, the Skyscraper), utopian fragments (Rockefeller Center, the U.N. Building), and irrational phenomena (Radio City Music Hall)." Filled with fascinating facts, as well as photographs, postcards, maps, watercolors, and drawings, the vibrancy of Koolhaas's poignant exploration of Gotham equals the heady, frenetic energy of the city itself. Anyone who loves New York will want to own this book.

Customer Reviews:

What an interesting philosophical dissertation.......2007-02-05

through the exhaustive historiography of the phases of congestion coney island brought to manhattan, koolhaas provides a rather cynical view of the Grid as being an ulimatley neutral zoning system of constraining ideas that represent the continual decline of a phantastically realistic civilization, represented as mutated symbols of architecture in the "void" of repeated "pregnancies."

it's really well written. funny. uses, like above, a somewhat inefficient vocabulary but remains in the same vein throughout. it is also a graphic design hubris consuming every page, even the left-justified text, showing off koolhaas's interpretation of the importance to combine scholarship and marketing.

buy it. it's a very good book.

Way Too Much To Think About Sometimes.... .......2006-11-09

A very inventive concept of New York's "culture of congestion" and how people are affected by the architecture they create. It is heavily researched and exhaustive, and after pretty much the third page I agreed with his concept of NY being "totally fabricated by man". What could of been a fascinating article becomes a spastic, heavy-handed read with a sledgehammer effect to your brain. (However,for those of us reading it for school, there are plenty of pictures that fill up the almost devastatingly vast 300+pages quickly.) It will scramble your brain with its thousands of nearly bumper-stickerish statements ("It hides life." "The Mountain MUST become architecture.") written with pretentious glee. However, I believe an independent scientific study has concluded that when pretending to read this book on the train people around you will assume your IQ is 40% higher than truth.

Eating oysters with boxing gloves, naked, on the nth floor........2005-05-25

The quote written above is excerpted from Delirious New York. It is a perfect example of the lyrical quality of the writing prevalent throughout this amazing book. Delirious New York is not an objective chronological listing of New York's development, but a collection of manifestos and stories with opinionated perspectives about a city founded on the idea that maximum congestion is a desirable factor. It is informative, funny (the midget firefighters of Coney Island had me laughing aloud for a solid minute or two), twisted, and inspiring.

Rem Koolhaas is edgier and far more interesting literary figure in architecture than say, Le Corbusier. Koolhaas's analytical yet shockingly refreshing writing style is a blessing for architecture, since he stays away from academic incoherent writing style that most architectural historians and architects tend to employ.

Get a copy of this book if eclectic (and at times disturbing) tales of architecture and urban development is something you think you will enjoy.

best koolhaas ever, man.......2004-01-30

koolhaas is a bit over-the-top for me, but this I think is is best work. it's worth checking out if only for the story of coney island. once you get past blisteringly pretentious phrases like "coney island is a fetal manhattan", you'll find it gloriously entertaining as both a narrative and theoretical work.

the culture of congestion.......2002-12-24

This is by far Koolhaas's most accessible work, as it is rooted so clearly in detail from the city's past. Further, the book is simply brilliant. His take on urban history is to Jane Jacobs what Socrates is to common sense. New York is a special case of modernism that sprang from a special constellation of poltiical and technological forces that collectively create a cultural "big-bang" at the turn of the century. Read it. Blow your mind.

The Landmarks of New York: An Illustrated Record of the City's Historic Buildings

Average customer rating:

Landmarked but Flawed
Over 1,100 buildings which have earned landmark status over the past forty years
Over 1,100 buildings which have earned landmark status over the past forty years
Over 1,100 buildings which have earned landmark status over the past forty years
Over 1,100 buildings which have earned landmark status over the past forty years

The Landmarks of New York: An Illustrated Record of the City's Historic Buildings
Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel
Manufacturer: Monacelli
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1580931545
Release Date: 2005-05-09

Book Description

The Landmarks of New York is a definitive resource book on the architectural history of the city, documenting and illustrating more than 1100 buildings that have been accorded landmark status over the past forty years. The chronological organization gives the reader a sequential overview of the city's architectural richness and diversity. The book presents a broad range of styles and building types-simple colonial farmhouses, churches, schools, libraries, Gilded Age mansions, and the great twentieth-century skyscrapers that are recognized throughout the world.

That so many of these structures have endured is due, in large measure, to the efforts of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, established in 1965. Since then, New York city has become the leader of the preservation movement in the United States, with more buildings and districts designated and protected than in any other city. Within this constantly changing metropolis, old buildings are often adapted to new uses, offering further proof of the quality of their design and construction.

Customer Reviews:

Landmarked but Flawed.......2006-12-18

Pound for pound this was the most disappointing of a series of books on New York City architecture that I have read over the past several years. This does not make it a bad book; its 600+ pages are filled with more information on New York City's 1100 designated landmarks than any other single volume, and each is accompanied by a fine black and white photo. Its format, with the buildings ordered by the year they were build allows the reader to thumb through the 1860's for example and see a succession of French Second Empire buildings with their iconic mansard roofs.

Still there are several flaws I have found with this book that weighs nearly seven pounds and has a sticker price of $65.00.

First and most egregious is the apparently careless editing.

One entry, that of the Van Cortlandt Mansion in the Bronx, seems to be lifted word-for-word, without attribution from Goldstone and Dalrymple's wonderfully literate book, "History Preserved". It is possible that Ms. Diamondstein-Spielvogel had permission to do this, perhaps the authors were friends from their days together on the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Maybe "The Landmarks of New York," is a successor to the older book. As there is no bibliography or explanation we will never know.

A second entry, that of Staten Island's Gardiner-Tyler House, the author writes in part, "Mrs. Tyler rarely visited the house before 1868, when as a widow she returned to Staten Island with Tyler's seven children from a previous marriage."

The author is of course referring to President Tyler's second wife Julia, whom he married in 1844, when she was 24 and he 54. By 1868, Tyler's youngest child from his first wife Letitia, Tazewell Tyler was 38, a physician, and living in California; his oldest surviving child Robert Tyler was 52; and only four of his children from Letitia were still alive. It is hardly likely that any of them followed Julia to Staten Island. What the author meant to say was that Julia moved there with her seven children from Tyler.

Another example, more one of carelessness than error is found in her entry on 359 Broadway, a fine Italianette style building found on the corner of Broadway and Leonard Street and best known for housing the studios of the great Civil War photographer, Mathew Brady, for a few years in the 1850's.

The last paragraph stated, "At the end of the century, the Ladies Mile neighborhood changed from a fashionable shopping district to a textile and wholesaling zone."

My first, surprised reaction upon reading this, was how the author could place this building, situated at the edge of today's Tribeca, in the Ladies Mile, which as anyone interested in New York history knows was located further uptown, along Broadway and 6th Avenue from about West 8th Street to West 23rd Street. As it turns out, this area was once called a ladies-mile, about a half-century before its better-known successor. But the entry doesn't explain this subtlety and there lies the confusion.

What this book is really lacking are neighborhood or area maps that locate each of the Landmarks. While a map isn't necessary to conceptualize the location of a building with a typical Manhattan grid address, the Alwyn Court Apartments at 182 West 58th St. for example, it would be nice to be able to quickly see the location of a farmhouse in Brooklyn or an old church in Staten Island, especially when that farmhouse or church is positioned on a page with a townhouse on the Upper East Side, a building it has nothing in common with aside from the year in which it was built. Perhaps in a future edition a map section could be added to the end of the book and an easy key can be developed to clearly cross-reference an entry to its map number or page.

In a book devoted specifically to "designated" New York City landmarks, how does one handle those buildings that are good enough to be landmarks on their own, but have never been designated individually because their inclusion in one of the several dozen Historic Districts before being considered for individual designation obviated the need for such designation? New York's two greatest Historic Districts, Greenwich Village and Brooklyn Height contain many of these worthy buildings. In its" Guide to New York City Landmarks", the Landmarks Committee deftly handled this issue by separately listing and discussing the dozen or so most important buildings in each of those two districts. Ms. Diamondstein-Spielvogel, however, chose to ignore them completely. So there is no mention of the famous Washington Memorial Arch, no mention of the unique teak wood detailing of the façade of the Lockwood deForest House, no mention of the great Jefferson Market Library, that whimsical Victorian Gothic building that has become a symbol of the village and was one of the first and finest examples of use conversion envisioned by the Landmarks Preservation Committee as a way to save old buildings. There is also no discussion of Brooklyn Heights' best buildings including Plymouth Congregational Church, where the fiery abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher preached, or Minard Lafever's Gothic Revival masterpiece First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn.

The book does however have a section that describes each of the Historic Districts so that a reader can get an overall feel for these districts, and ironically, given their nonexistence elsewhere in the book, has fine maps attached to each entry, showing the boundaries of each of these districts.

Any single book with this much information about its subject certainly deserves a recommendation, but for this book to reach its pretensions of being the standard reference of New York City Landmarks there is much that can be improved.

Over 1,100 buildings which have earned landmark status over the past forty years.......2005-10-06

If it's one weighty, definitive library reference you need to New York City's landmarks, make it Landmarks Of New York: An Illustrated Record Of The City's Historic Buildings: its scope and format can't be beat. Art and architectural libraries as well as New York City specialty collections will welcome documentation of over 1,100 buildings which have earned landmark status over the past forty years. A chronological arrangement guides readers through a wealth of building styles and types, from farmhouses and churches to mansions, with black and white photos of each accompanying descriptions, comments on style and design, listings of architects involved in the building's construction and redesign over the decades, and style descriptions. A 'must' for any serious architectural or New York history collection.

Over 1,100 buildings which have earned landmark status over the past forty years.......2005-10-06

The Violin Maker: Finding a Centuries-Old Tradition in a Brooklyn Workshop

Average customer rating:

Great insight into the mind and craft of a luthier
Enjoyable and generally accurate

The Violin Maker: Finding a Centuries-Old Tradition in a Brooklyn Workshop
John Marchese
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0060012676
Release Date: 2007-03-27

Book Description

How does a simple piece of wood become a violin, the king of instruments? Watch and find out as Eugene Drucker, a member of the world–renowned Emerson String Quartet, commissions Sam Zygmuntowicz, a Brooklyn craftsman, to make him a new violin. As he tells this extraordinary story, journalist John Marchese shares the rich lore of this beloved instrument and illuminates an art that has barely changed since the Renaissance.

Marchese takes readers from start to finish as Zygmuntowicz builds the violin, from the first selection of the wood, to the cutting of the back and belly, through the carving of the scroll and the fingerboard, to the placement of the sound peg. Though much of the story takes place in the craftsman's museum–like Brooklyn workshop, there are side trips across the river to the rehearsal rooms of Carnegie Hall and Lincoln center, and across the world. Stops on the itinerary include Cremona, Italy, the magical city where Antonio Stradivari (and a few of his contemporaries) achieved a level of violin–making perfection that has endured for centuries, as well as points in France and Germany integral to the history of the violin.

A stunning work of narrative nonfiction that's also a finely crafted, loving homage to the instrument that most closely approximates the human voice.

Customer Reviews:

Great insight into the mind and craft of a luthier.......2007-06-06

Sam Zygmontowicz is one of the great contemporary violinmakers, and John Marchese has more than done him justice in describing the process of his making a violin (for the Emerson String Quartet's first violinist, Gene Drucker). In the process, Marchese takes us not only into Zyg's studio, but also to Cremona, the birthplace of the violin in its modern form (in the 1560s) and the home of the three greatest families of violinmakers--Amati, Stradivari, and Guarneri. In addition, Marchese reports on his meetings with Drucker, who commissioned the violin, and on Drucker's reaction to his new instrument--which complements the Strad on which he had been playing but cannot, in his opinion, fully replace it.

Enjoyable and generally accurate.......2007-04-02

The author gets to the heart of violin making by studying the work of a modern master. The trip to Cremona is a nice feature of the book, along with the interview with the customer for whom the featured violin is being crafted. I'd love to see a documentary film that parallels this book, with Marchese directing. The references for further reading will help a reader who's inspired by Marchese's book to pursue the study of violin fact and violin mythology.

Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York

Average customer rating:

A top pick not just for New York libraries
ITS A WONDER HE DID NOT TRY TO PART THE EAST RIVER
A modern take on the metropolis that Moses crafted

Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York

Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0393732061

Book Description

A fresh look at the greatest builder in the history of New York City and one of its most controversial figures.

In various roles in city and state government from 1930 to 1965, Robert Moses reshaped the fabric of the city. From Lincoln Center to the Triborough Bridge, the West Side Highway to the Cross Bronx Expressway, his public projects, reassessed in this book by notable urbanists, continue to exert a strong influence in the lives of New Yorkers. 250 illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

A top pick not just for New York libraries.......2007-07-07

ROBERT MOSES AND THE MODERN CITY: THE TRANSFORMATION OF NEW YORK, which offers a new look at legendary architect Robert Moses, who reshaped the skyline of New York City. Readers familiar with New York will readily recognize some of his major contributions from the Lincoln Center to the Cross Bronx Expressway - so it's surprising to note this is the first major publication since the 1974 biography THE POWER BROKER appeared - and ROBERT MOSES AND THE MODERN CITY: THE TRANSFORMATION OF NEW YORK comes packed with photos that his biography doesn't provide. Far from hastening the demise of New York, this book shows how his works strengthened the central city and brought it into modern times, altering road systems and creating an urban design plan to foster changes. Plenty of detailed history surround the photos and descriptions of each project's special challenges, making this a top pick not just for New York libraries, but for any college-level art or urban planning collection.

ITS A WONDER HE DID NOT TRY TO PART THE EAST RIVER.......2007-03-22

Now this man had POWER. It is amazing how much control he had over the building of infastructure in NYC, he was the first and last word. He was like a 20th century Baron Hausemann. This book is well written and scholarly and frankly just fascinating. I saw a documentary on Robert Moses one time and was just blown away at his hubris and power. His reign over NYC spanned several powerful mayors and to this day no person has ever had so much power of the cities infrastructure. Great book, highly recommended.

A modern take on the metropolis that Moses crafted.......2007-03-19

The Power Broker (another prominent work on Moses) is a product of the 1970s pessimism concerning the death of the city, saying that Moses helped bring about the downfall experienced in 1974 when the book was published. In Ballon's book, we have the experience that 30 years of hindsight provides, and the tone is radically different Ballon and other essayists provide a more modern insight to Moses and his achievements. Do not be fooled, this is not a coffee table book, but almost a text book for urban planners on the practices employed by Moses. The book was inspired by the museum exhibits going on currently in New York City concerning Moses and his works, and is an excellent supplement to them. If you are interested in NYC, public works, or Urban History- this is a must buy, and will become more important as time wears on.
I also recommend The Power Broker and Moses' own book Public Works: A Dangerous Trade

Average customer rating:

Liebling Puts the Lumpen Back in Lumpenproletariot

The Telephone Booth Indian
A. J. Liebling
Manufacturer: North Point Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0865474516

Book Description

A classic work on Broadway sharpers, grifters, and con men by the late, great New Yorker journalist A. J. Liebling.

Often referred to as “Liebling lowlife pieces,” the essays in The Telephone Booth Indian boisterously celebrate raffishness. A. J. Liebling appreciated a good scam and knew how to cultivate the scammers. Telephone Booth Indians (entrepreneurs so impecunious that they conduct business from telephone booths in the lobbies of New York City office buildings) and a host of other petty nomads of Broadway—with names like Marty the Clutch and Count de Pennies—are the protagonists in this incomparable Liebling work. In The Telephone Booth Indian, Liebling proves just why he was the go-to man on New York lowlife and con culture; this is the master at the top of his form, uncovering scam after scam and writing about them with the wit and charisma that established him as one of the greatest journalists of his generation and one of New York’s finest cultural chroniclers.

Customer Reviews:

Liebling Puts the Lumpen Back in Lumpenproletariot.......2000-09-02

This collection of stories, written mostly in the late 30's for "The New Yorker," describes a motley group of a certain type, what Liebling calls (with his usual dry, inventive humor) "a capitalist...in a state of pre-primary acquisition." Call them what you will-- lowlifes, riff-raff, or con men--Liebling describes them with both humor and humanity. The "Telephone Booth Indian," for example is a man or woman so poor as to not have an office; so poor, in fact, as to not have a "nickel with which to make a telephone call, and so must wait in the booths until another fellow calls him."

Among Leibling's most successful entrepreneurs are the two men who put on shows at Fairs and Exhibitions. They drop an intended religious display because, "Rogers says, without any intended disrespect, `the nuns would not play ball with us.'" Liebling is attuned to social forces at work in these late depression years; for example, the minority group boxing amateurs fighting for $15 watches, and still having an easier time making a living than the professionals. And, in great detail, Leibling describes the occupants of the composite "Jollity Building," including the telephone booth Indians (those without offices), heels (those who rent offices for $10 to $12.50 a month) and tenants (those who lease offices, but who often rotate back to "Indians" within a short time). "Heels are often, paradoxically, more affluent than the official lessees of larger offices" who often share desk time and name on the office door time, since the manager allows only one official lessee. They get around this by having their names painted and taped to the door during their scheduled time. "One two-desk office ... may serve as headquarters for four theatrical agents, a band leader, a music arranger, a manager of prize fighters, and a dealer in pawn tickets."

Liebling provides a wonderfully rich lexicography here as well, such as the two show producers who explain that they do not provide "hokum" to the masses, but "gonk." "Gonk is hokum with raisins in it...gonk is what we do." Liebling writes with detail, vigor, and affection. This talent, along with his socioeconomic insight, gives dignity to these people and to Liebling's dry wit: These are people doing what they can do in difficult times. I was reminded a bit of Woody Allen's "Broadway Danny Rose" which similarly chronicles those on the fringe. At first, I pitied those people, but Allen, like Liebling, shows that they do not pity themselves (not that there isn't an underlying injustice and inequality portrayed here). Liebling's humorous book shows great insight into their struggles, and an appreciation of how they creatively (and, sometimes, illegally) negotiate their needs both because of, and, in spite of, the American entrepreneurial dream. Definitely worth looking for!

Average customer rating:

Good speed reading practice

Fascinating and informative -- definitely worth a read.

A Fascinating Look at the "Noble Experiment"

Dry Manhattan: Prohibition in New York City
Michael A. Lerner
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 067402432X

Book Description

In 1919, the United States embarked on the country's boldest attempt at moral and social reform: Prohibition. The 18th Amendment to the Constitution prohibited the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol around the country. This "noble experiment," as President Hoover called it, was intended to usher in a healthier, more moral, and more efficient society. Nowhere was such reform needed more, proponents argued, than in New York City--and nowhere did Prohibition fail more spectacularly. Dry Manhattan is the first major work on Prohibition in nearly a quarter century, and the only full history of Prohibition in the era's most vibrant city.

Though New Yorkers were cautiously optimistic at first, Prohibition quickly degenerated into a deeply felt clash of cultures that utterly transformed life in the city. Impossible to enforce, the ban created vibrant new markets for illegal alcohol, spawned corruption and crime, fostered an exhilarating culture of speakeasies and nightclubs, and exposed the nation's deep prejudices. Writ large, the conflict over Prohibition, Michael Lerner demonstrates, was about much more than the freedom to drink. It was a battle between competing visions of the United States, pitting wets against drys, immigrants against old stock Americans, Catholics and Jews against Protestants, and proponents of personal liberty against advocates of societal reform.

In his evocative history, Lerner reveals Prohibition to be the defining issue of the era, the first major "culture war" of the twentieth century, and a harbinger of the social and moral debates that divide America even today.

Customer Reviews:

Good speed reading practice.......2007-10-04

Lerner has a fascinating story to tell, and he tells it over and over, repeating himself three and four times on every page. He seems to believe that if something is worth saying, it's worth saying again and again, with very minor variations.

There is much interesting material in this book, as the previous reviewers have noted, but I heard most of it in a few minutes when Lerner appeared on WNYC with Leonard Lopate. I learned some things from reading the book: Prohibition was viewed as a nuisance to be ignored by lots of New Yorkers until bootleggers started to shoot each other and innocent bystanders; repealing Prohibition provided work for a significant number of people during the Depression; Franklin Roosevelt became a strong leader only after he was elected President; Herbert Hoover was paralyzed in office by his political beliefs.

But this book was so tedious to read! Lerner's style is flabby; he can't write a follow-up sentence without repeating most of the previous one; the 300 pages could fit into a 30 page monograph. Slogging through it made me wish I could speed-read.

Fascinating and informative -- definitely worth a read........2007-04-22

Lerner's fascinating book brings the period of prohibition to life -- from the early days of temperance campaigning, to prohibition's final undoing more than a decade later. Stories of individual people on all sides of the issue bring the book to life, making the it fun to read. And Lerner doesn't try to draw parallels to present day politics -- he lets you do that for yourself.

In an engaging, well-flowing narrative, Lerner covers prohibition from beginning to end, focusing on New York City. It was there that the dry campaign won an improbable victory, deftly manipulating the political system to secure a ratification that was not supported by popular opinion. Lerner describes a series of failed efforts to enforce prohibition in New York City. He shows how bigotry against immigrant groups was used to maintain support for prohibition. He chronicles a political climate in which anti-prohibition politicians were effectively silenced by prohibition advocates. And most interestingly, Lerner describes the role that women played in ultimately bringing prohibition to an end.

The book is meticulously researched (and heavily footnoted), but does not have the dry, academic feel of many history texts. Instead, Lerner enlivens the pages with anecdotes from prohibition agents, bartenders, managers of speakeasies, "jazz age" journalists, and New Yorkers of all social statuses.

If you read the footnotes, you will see that he draws these vignettes from an incredible variety of primary sources -- police records, notes of prohibition campaigners, newspapers and magazines of the day, court records and more. The effect is a rich tapestry of personal stories -- one that flows with his narrative and truly reflects the diversity of New York city.

Lerner wisely avoids drawing comparison to current-day politics. Instead, he leaves it to you to connect the dots. There are powerful lessons about how our political system can be manipulated, and how attempts to legislate morality in a democracy are misguided. But he leaves these conclusions for you to make.

Fascinating and informative -- definitely worth a read.

A Fascinating Look at the "Noble Experiment".......2007-04-04

A well written look at prohibition that provides good perspective from the wet and dry, working class and society and black and white sides. It flows smoothly with excellent portraits of the key figures in the city and the nation and is filled with entertaining anecodotes about this unusual time. Well worth a read.

The Complete New Yorker: Eighty Years of the Nation's Greatest Magazine (Book & 8 DVD-ROMs)

Average customer rating:

this version is outdated!
6 stars for content; 1 star for presentation
Wow! A Great Gift for any New Yorker Fan!
20th century in a box!
how about it mac users?

The Complete New Yorker: Eighty Years of the Nation's Greatest Magazine (Book & 8 DVD-ROMs)

Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1400064740
Release Date: 2005-09-20

Amazon.com

Fans of The New Yorker will be dazzled by The Complete New Yorker, a collection that includes every page of every issue, from full-color covers to spot drawings, from poetry to Profiles, from cartoons to advertisements--all on 8 searchable DVDs. No need to save old issues, with this package, you'll have every article, cartoon, illustration, and advertisement, as it appeared in print, at your fingertips. The Complete New Yorker covers the magazine's entire history, from February 1925 to February 2005, providing a detailed yet panoramic history of the life of the city, the nation, and the world.

With The Complete New Yorker, you'll be able to:

Browse by Cover (click to zoom):

Search by Keyword (click to zoom):

View Entire Articles (click to zoom):

Search the archives for your favorite articles, cartoons, covers, and see them exactly as they appeared in print:

(October 13, 1934):

(August 31, 1946)

(September 23, 1961):

(July 22, 1974):

(September 10, 2001):

Book Description

EVERY PAGE OF EVERY ISSUE
ON 8 DVD-ROMS, WITH A COMPANION BOOK OF HIGHLIGHTS.

A cultural monument, a journalistic gold mine, an essential research tool, an amazing time machine.

What has the New Yorker said about Prohibition, Duke Ellington, the Second World War, Bette Davis, boxing, Winston Churchill, Citizen Kane, the invention of television, the Cold War, baseball, the lunar landing, Willem de Kooning, Madonna, the internet, and 9/11?

Eighty years of The New Yorker offers a detailed, entertaining history of the life of the city, the nation, and the world since 1925.

Every article, every cartoon, every illustration, every advertisement, exactly as it appeared on the printed page, in full color. Flip through full spreads of the magazine to browse headlines, art work, ads, and cartoons, or zoom in on a single page, for closer viewing. Print any pages or covers you choose, or bookmark pages with your own notes.

Our powerful search environment allows you to home in on the pieces you want to see. Our entire history is catalogued by date, contributor, department, and subject.

4, 109 ISSUES. HALF A MILLION PAGES. YOURS TO SEARCH AND SAVOR.

Customer Reviews:

this version is outdated!.......2007-09-16

Buy the 9 DVD set directly from the New Yorker at half the price. I discovered this AFTER I bought from Amazon and when I pointed this out, they were of no help. Amazon basically told me it was my problem - caveat emptor!

6 stars for content; 1 star for presentation.......2007-08-12

To have finger-tip access to the complete contents of the New Yorker magazine throughout its entire publication history, even with the inconvenience of swapping discs, is a dream come true. One cannot have any criticism that the content of this product is an incredible value--the asking price is entirely fair.

The proprietary client that users are forced to access the contents through, however, is among the worst pieces of software design I have ever seen. The various panes, for example, cannot be resized, so that the abstract view, in most cases, is cut off. The `Article Abstract' pane is always 756 pixels wide and 88 pixels high, no matter how long the abstract is. Only by clicking in the abstract pane and using the up and down arrows can one view the full text of the abstract.

The client was designed by Bondi Digital Publications, whose slick website proudly claims credit for it. Bondi's developers should be forced to crawl on their knees from Manhattan to Murray Hill to beg forgiveness for their programming sins. I purchased and installed the 1.1 DVD, but the client remains the same DOS 5.1-era obscenity it was before.

The index is also less than trustworthy. Touted by its developer, Innodata Isogen, as "99.995% accurate," it has, in fact, some gaping flaws. From a fairly thorough browse through most of 1933's issues, for example, I found that no material beyond page 40 of most issues was actually captured by the indexing engine. So, despite the fact that virtually every issue included a "Books" section, according to the index, only four 1933 issues contained this section (and only one in 1932 and only nine in 1931). Clifton Fadiman wrote most of the main reviews in the "Books" section in 1934, yet there is a gap from the 17 Feb to the 9 June issue where no author is credited. Such omissions mean that serious researchers should think twice before relying on the search tool. I suspect the true accuracy figure is under 95%, which is pretty poor by today's standards.

It's a real shame that the management of the New Yorker didn't put this product into the hands of a technical team of the caliber of the one that implemented their website. The net result of their poor choice of subcontractors is akin to taking the Hope Diamond and wrapping it up in a used Big Mac wrapper.

Wow! A Great Gift for any New Yorker Fan!.......2007-05-24

First, I applaud the guys at the New Yorker for bringing this remarkable gift of the last 80 years on 8 CDs. You can reprint or print as often and as much as you want. I have to say that I didn't care for the book included. But this is truly a complete New Yorker with ads, indexes, authors, dates, subjects, etc. I have to say since I'm a big fan of Janet Flanner's who wrote Letters from Paris from 1925 to 1975. Fortunately, I don't have to spend a fortune seeking New Yorker magazines for a lot more money. It's easy to install and easier to use all the time. I love it. It's the perfect gift for anybody who loves to read, for any New Yorker fan, or anybody who has acquired the New Yorker Taste. It's not for everybody but it's for me.

I have to say that was the main purpose behind this purchase was the opportunity to have the magazine without collecting too much dust and space as magazines have been known to do. As a fan of Janet Flanner for the last couple of years, this complete New Yorker edition on dvd and book is fabulous and quite a bargain. I'm so glad that I got it and now I can print as much without having to go elsewhere to get the magazine editions. Janet Flanner was one of the most important voices of the last century and more so was that she was the voice of Paris from the American point of view from 1925 to 1975. Her name was synomous with New Yorker and the Letters from Paris edition. I am so happy to receive this wonderful item at a fraction of the price and be able to use it on my computer. I wonder what Janet would say about today's technology, the smoking ban everywhere but home, and the state of Paris, London, Rome, and New York City today. I won't say that Janet was a New Yorker because her heart was truly in Paris where she spent most of her life. We were very lucky to have her there reporting from 1925 until 1975. She was there between two World Wars. I think some of her finest writing came about during World War II and afterwards until she was no longer to write. I have to say that I think Paris changed after World War II. It wasn't so much about the lost generation of American expatriates like Flanner, her partner Solita Solano, Natalie Clifford Barney, Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Beach etc. who relocated. Sure the hardcore expatriates like Flanner stayed behind but the change in Paris was obvious after the war. Nothing after the war was ever the same. In a way, all of Europe lost it's innocence during World War II and even Janet probably fondly remembered days before the war that ripped everybody apart. Nothing is for sure, nothing can last forever, maybe that's what Genet would say today.

Anyway, the product is excellent. There are a couple of pages missing in old issues but the quality is adequate. You get 80 years of print on 8 compact discs which I found accessible and easy to use on my computer. The first disc is to install the information which includes by author, subject, title, year, etc. This index is invaluable tool. It would also be a great addition to the schools for students to research. They have a wide variety of literature like cartoons, poems, short stories, non-fiction, profiles, reporter at large series etc. It would be a terrible shame not take the opportunity to buy this treasure.

20th century in a box!.......2007-05-13

Name a subject and the Complete New Yorker addresses it ...and probably from many perspectives and in every decade! This collection is a goldmine of research and personal library of literature.

how about it mac users?.......2007-05-01

all of the problems listed in all of the, amazon, reviews dealing with computer problems seem to be software conflict with various hardware suppliers. all of the, mac, users seem happy with the product. is this true mac users?

Mr. Untouchable: My Crimes and Punishments

Average customer rating:

You Had Me at the Book's Dedication!
Mr. Untouchable
A Great Read!
Cracking book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Mr. Untouchable: THE BIGGEST SNITCH IN AMERICA!!

Mr. Untouchable: My Crimes and Punishments
Leroy "Nicky" Barnes , and Tom Folsom
Manufacturer: Rugged Land
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 159071041X
Release Date: 2007-03-06

Book Description

From inside the Federal Witness Protection Program, the "Black Godfather" chronicles the 1970s New York City underworld and the most devastating urban crime wave in history.

1962 LEROY "NICKY" BARNES walks out of Green Haven State Prison. There are an estimated 153,000 heroin abusers in the United States.

1977 Two million junkies score $100 million worth of Barnes's smack a year. Sporting flashy suits, riding in a CitroÃ«n with a Maserati engine and satisfying a wife while pleasuring a harem of mistresses, Barnes presides over a staggering multinational dealership that pushes dope and launders money with the efficiency of a Fortune 500 company. Despite President Nixon's creation of the Drug Enforcement Administration and New York State's adoption of the no tolerance Rockefeller drug laws, Barnes's operation seems impregnable.

How does a small-time hustler and heroin addict end up on the cover of the New York Times Magazine as MR. UNTOUCHABLE, the one gangster the Feds can't touch? And how is the future Mayor of New York City Rudolf Giuliani involved? With Machiavellian pragmatism matched with biblical fury, Barnes lays bare his life's remarkable trajectory--a rise, fall and resurrection defined by brutality, brotherhood and betrayal.

Customer Reviews:

You Had Me at the Book's Dedication!.......2007-10-04

Mr. Untouchable finally got touched...hard! The book offers a great retelling and details of the life of a druglord and CEO of one of New York's most infamous criminal enterprises. My greatest concern after reading the book and the passing of so many years since Mr. Barnes drug activities is his level of bitterness at others. The only true person to blame is the one who made the decision to enter such a lifestyle. That would be you Mr. Barnes...not Guy Fisher or the other council members, not the government, or even your ex-wife or society. You authored your life's path just like you did this great book.

Mr. Untouchable.......2007-09-17

I enjoyed the book. It was intersting to see how one man was able to organize a huge drug operation but to see it all fall in the end. A good book and a lesson to learn about the drug buisness. Its not all about the glitz and glamour but also the lies and betrayal.

A Great Read!.......2007-08-10

I actually grew up in NYC during the time of the events in this book. I also come from people who ran in the same circles as Barnes. I remember him as a Harlem legend, so it's interesting to read this book and get from the horse's mouth, as it were, the behind the scenes story of his rise and ignomious fall.

This book has a raw style, and apparently very little editing. This is evident in the fact that nobody seemed to tell Barnes that some of the things he admits paint him in EXTREMELY unflattering lights. This is, for me, a large part of the appeal. Much like the African American Experience in the latter decades, it is what it is...and very little is done to hide the facts. Things are kept real.

A VERY interesting read indeed.

Cracking book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!........2007-07-22

I really enjoyed this book, it takes you right in to 'Their world', anyone who is thinking of getting involved in that business should read it, it doesn't matter what level you get to the people around will turn and send you to jail just to save their own life.
Greed takes over and ruin's everything.
A very good book, highly recommended.

Mr. Untouchable: THE BIGGEST SNITCH IN AMERICA!!.......2007-07-11

I REALLY LOVED THIS BOOK AT FIRST HANDS DOWN!! TILL I READ GANSTERS OF HARLEM. I REALLY THOUGHT HE WAS A STAND UP MAN WHO HAD TO JUSTIFY HIS MEANS OF LIVING, BUT I KNEW SOMETHING WASN'T RIGHT WHEN HE GOT FREE AFTER HE CHOSE NOT TO CUT A DEAL WITH THE GOVERMENT!!!
WTF!! WOW!!
THIS DUDE DID NOT TELL THE REAL STORY...HE HONESTLY TRY TO GLORIFY HIMSELF AS BEING A STAND UP GUY AND SNITCHED ON HIS WHOLE CREW BECAUSE OF GUY FISHER!! COME ON THAT IS BS....THIS DUDE SNITCHED ON EVERYBODY HE CAME IN TO SITE WITH PEOPLE IN HIS CELL TO BE FREED UP...I'm NOT MAD ABOUT THAT ....BUT PLEASE IF U TELL A STORY TELL THE WHOLE STORY YOU ABOUT 10 CHAPTERS SHORT!!! TELL HOW U BROUGHT THE WHOLE MOB DOWN IN THE FACE OF AMERICA!!!! **PLEASE READ GANGTERS OF HARLEM** VERY GOOD BOOK WITH SEARCHABLE FACTS!! LEROY STAY IN YA HOLE!!!RAT

Average customer rating:

Amazing Record of an Important Part of Our History
Amazing collection of photographs by a very gifted photographer
A True Memorial
Excellent Documentary
Incredible 9-11 Photos!!

Aftermath: World Trade Center Archive
Joel Meyerowitz
Manufacturer: Phaidon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0714846554

Book Description

For 9 months, during the day and night, Meyerowitz photographed "the pile," as the World Trade Center came to be known, and the over 800 people a day that were working in it. Influenced by Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange's work for the Farm Security Administration during the Great Depression, he knew that if he didn't make a photographic record of the unprecedented recovery efforts, "there would be no history."

Sept. 23. Assembled panorama of the site from the World Financial Center, looking east. (All images copyright Joel Meyerowitz from Aftermath: World Trade Center Archive (Phaidon).

Sept. 25. The south wall of the South Tower.
Oct. 11. An FDNY rescue team resting on Liberty Street.

Nov. 8. Spotters in the South Tower.
May 1. Ralph and Paul Geidel waiting for a fresh raking field.

Marking the 5th anniversary of September 11th, Phaidon Press has published this extraordinary new book AFTERMATH: THE WORLD TRADE CENTER ARCHIVE with photographs and text by Joel Meyerowitz, which will feature, for the first time, the vast collection of Meyerowitz's previously unpublished photos from Ground Zero along with the engaging account of his experience in his own words. This historic publication is the only existing photographic record of the monumental recovery efforts post-9/11.

From portraits of the people he met to the accidental beauty of the ruins at dusk, AFTERMATH features 400 breathtaking color photographs, many taken with a large format camera. Bronx-born Meyerowitz brings his trademark sensitivity, intelligence and eye for beauty to these poignant images that will hold an important place in American history.

AFTERMATH brings to life the tireless determination of the scores of individuals who assisted in the clean-up process, including construction workers, police officers, firefighters, welders or "burners," engineers, crane operators and volunteers. Presented on a monumental scale, and interspersed with fascinating stories, the book documents the transformation of the site chronologically from piles of devastation to an empty pit six stories below ground. This landmark book offers current and future generations the opportunity to finally travel inside a forbidden city where thousands were brought together by a common cause.

"I was taking pictures for everyone who didn't have access to the site," says Meyerowitz in AFTERMATH, "so I decided to work with a large-format wooden view camera. This camera was impossible to hide, but it enabled me to make images of the fullest description, with a sense of deep space. I wanted to communicate what it felt like to be in there as well as what it looked like: to show the pile's incredible intricacy and visceral power.... I could provide a window for everyone else who wanted to be there, too--to help, or to grieve, or simply to try to understand what had happened to our city."

The World Trade Center Archive, consisting of thousands of Meyerowitz's images, is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of the City of New York where it is available for research, exhibition and publication. For the past few years, a small selection of these photographs was featured in an exhibition, "After September 11: Images from Ground Zero," which traveled to more than 200 cities in 60 countries, reaching over 3.5 million people.

Book Description

After September 11th, 2001, the Ground Zero site in New York City was classified as a crime scene and only those directly involved in the recovery efforts were allowed inside. The press was also prohibited from the site, but with the help of the Museum of the City of New York and sympathetic city officials, award-winning photographer Joel Meyerowitz managed to obtain unlimited access. By ingenuity and sheer determination, he was the only photographer granted unimpeded right of entry into Ground Zero.For 9 months, during the day and night, Meyerowitz photographed "the pile," as the World Trade Center came to be known, and the over 800 people a day that were working in it. Influenced by Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange's work for the Farm Security Administration during the Great Depression, he knew that if he didn't make a photographic record of the unprecedented recovery efforts, "there would be no history."Sept. 23. Assembled panorama of the site from the World Financial Center, looking east. (All images copyright Joel Meyerowitz from Aftermath: World Trade Center Archive (Phaidon).Sept. 25. The south wall of the South Tower. Oct. 11. An FDNY rescue team resting on Liberty Street.Nov. 8. Spotters in the South Tower. May 1. Ralph and Paul Geidel waiting for a fresh raking field. Marking the 5th anniversary of September 11th, Phaidon Press has published this extraordinary new book AFTERMATH: THE WORLD TRADE CENTER ARCHIVE with photographs and text by Joel Meyerowitz, which will feature, for the first time, the vast collection of Meyerowitz's previously unpublished photos from Ground Zero along with the engaging account of his experience in his own words. This historic publication is the only existing photographic record of the monumental recovery efforts post-9/11.From portraits of the people he met to the accidental beauty of the ruins at dusk, AFTERMATH features 400 breathtaking color photographs, many taken with a large format camera. Bronx-born Meyerowitz brings his trademark sensitivity, intelligence and eye for beauty to these poignant images that will hold an important place in American history.AFTERMATH brings to life the tireless determination of the scores of individuals who assisted in the clean-up process, including construction workers, police officers, firefighters, welders or "burners," engineers, crane operators and volunteers. Presented on a monumental scale, and interspersed with fascinating stories, the book documents the transformation of the site chronologically from piles of devastation to an empty pit six stories below ground. This landmark book offers current and future generations the opportunity to finally travel inside a forbidden city where thousands were brought together by a common cause."I was taking pictures for everyone who didn't have access to the site," says Meyerowitz in AFTERMATH, "so I decided to work with a large-format wooden view camera. This camera was impossible to hide, but it enabled me to make images of the fullest description, with a sense of deep space. I wanted to communicate what it felt like to be in there as well as what it looked like: to show the pile's incredible intricacy and visceral power.... I could provide a window for everyone else who wanted to be there, too--to help, or to grieve, or simply to try to understand what had happened to our city."The World Trade Center Archive, consisting of thousands of Meyerowitz's images, is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of the City of New York where it is available for research, exhibition and publication. For the past few years, a small selection of these photographs was featured in an exhibition, "After September 11: Images from Ground Zero," which traveled to more than 200 cities in 60 countries, reaching over 3.5 million people.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing Record of an Important Part of Our History.......2007-10-08

Meyerowitz his taken a step out of his usual repetoire in making these remarkable photographs. He has provided us with a devastating and incredibly imporant record of all that transpired in the Aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy. We have been staurated with images of the event itself; what we see here is the heroic and painstaking recovery work that followed.

Amazing collection of photographs by a very gifted photographer.......2007-07-14

I first saw photographs from this collection at the Museum of Modern Art in Salzburg, Austria. Anyone who entered the gallery was immediately struck by a panorama of ground zero on one wall, each emitting an audible gasp, then standing before it for several minutes in silence. Meyerowitz is an extremely gifted photgrapher, and I recommend other of his collections for viewing. Cape Light: Color Photographs by Joel Meyerowitz, Tuscany: Inside the Light: Inside the Light (Photography). The "Aftermath" collection is the only archive of the activities following 9/11 at ground zero, and it is quite moving. Meyerowitz had access to many vantage points to capture for posterity the many facets of ground zero and this tragic event in our history. Viewing these photos takes time and thought, as Meyerowitz has also included brief descriptions and stories about each photograph. You will be struck by many emotions, sadness, anger, shock, and awe. But, there is an eeriness and a beauty, as well as hope in these photographs, inspired by the photographer's exquisite eye for detail, composition, lines, faces, and light. Photographers, professional and amateur alike, will deeply appreciate and learn from these aspects. Anyone to whom I have shown this book has been as immensely moved as I, from the UPS driver who delivered the package, to my father, a refugee of WWII, who still cannot speak easily of the events of 9/11. This book is highly recommended as an addition for one's library.

A True Memorial.......2007-04-13

Aftermath represents the efforts of Joel Meyerowitz to document the destruction and cleanup of the World Trade Center following 9/11. This is a beefy coffee table book that is large enough to give his photos some real impact. Unlike most photo essays, however, you won't find hundreds of beautiful images. After a couple of pages show what New York's skyline once looked like, you are confronted by image after image of the horrific destruction of these huge landmarks. There are also many instances where we see the people who worked the cleanup site. Many of these are the most moving images as you can imagine the emotions that sometimes overcame these men and women who were there every day for months on end.

In addition to the photos, Mr. Meyerowitz also shares some anecdotes about what he went through to get these photos. He also talks about some of the people he met. I found these stories at least as powerful as his words. Most Americans were obviously distraught by the events of that day, but most of us were also able to start moving on with our lives and slowly put it behind us. But these people were there on the ground confronting the effects for months. Recovering bodies and personal objects, as well as being asked by survivors to put mementos on the pile of rubble as little memorials to their lost loved ones.

This is not the happiest book you can buy. It doesn't have the prettiest photos or the most elegant prose. But it may be the most worthwhile book I've ever purchased. I would urge everyone to buy a copy and read it cover to cover.

Excellent Documentary.......2007-03-28

I have other books on the 9/11 disaster but this is by far the most comprehensive. The photographs are excellent. The price was reasonable for the quality.

Incredible 9-11 Photos!!.......2007-03-04

Of all the books on the aftermath of 9-11, this is absolutely the best ever!! These photographs are stunning and capture all of the remaining structures at Ground Zero. This is the most comprehensive book I have seen to date. I highly recommend it.

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