50 FAVORITE NEW YORK CITY HISTORY BOOKS CHOSEN BY BOWERY BOYS AND READERS

1.
Downtown: My Manhattan
Downtown: My Manhattan 3.98 avg rating — 1,513 ratings
2.
Five Points: The Nineteenth-Century New York City Neighborhood That Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum
Five Points: The Nineteenth-Century New York City Neighborhood That Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum 3.96 avg rating — 1,576 ratings
3.
Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898
Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 4.30 avg rating — 2,773 ratings
4.
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York 4.52 avg rating — 27,084 ratings
5.
Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center
Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 404 ratings
6.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City 4.12 avg rating — 3,693 ratings
7.
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (Theodore Roosevelt, #1)
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (Theodore Roosevelt, #1) 4.23 avg rating — 59,131 ratings
8.
The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell
The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell 3.95 avg rating — 5,151 ratings
9.
Empire State Building: The Making of a Landmark
Empire State Building: The Making of a Landmark 3.97 avg rating — 117 ratings
10.
The Gangs of New York
The Gangs of New York 3.57 avg rating — 4,076 ratings
11.
Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World 1890-1940
Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World 1890-1940 4.27 avg rating — 3,391 ratings
12.
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton 4.22 avg rating — 194,790 ratings
13.
The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America
The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America 4.17 avg rating — 11,143 ratings
14.
Harlem: The Four Hundred Year History from Dutch Village to Capital of Black America
Harlem: The Four Hundred Year History from Dutch Village to Capital of Black America 3.83 avg rating — 254 ratings
15.
Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York
Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York 4.11 avg rating — 2,579 ratings
16.
New York: An Illustrated History
New York: An Illustrated History
by: Ric Burns
4.48 avg rating — 262 ratings
17.
A Pickpocket's Tale: The Underworld of Nineteenth-Century New York
A Pickpocket's Tale: The Underworld of Nineteenth-Century New York 3.77 avg rating — 481 ratings
18.
Triangle: The Fire That Changed America
Triangle: The Fire That Changed America really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 7,587 ratings
19.
Up in the Old Hotel
Up in the Old Hotel 4.33 avg rating — 4,191 ratings
19.
The Village: 400 Years of Beats and Bohemians, Radicals and Rogues
The Village: 400 Years of Beats and Bohemians, Radicals and Rogues 4.12 avg rating — 515 ratings
21.
American Passage: The History of Ellis Island
American Passage: The History of Ellis Island 3.77 avg rating — 750 ratings
21.
Punk Avenue: Inside the New York City Underground, 1972-1982
Punk Avenue: Inside the New York City Underground, 1972-1982 3.98 avg rating — 474 ratings
21.
City of Dreams: The 400-Year Epic History of Immigrant New York
City of Dreams: The 400-Year Epic History of Immigrant New York 4.33 avg rating — 964 ratings
21.
Bowery Mission: Grit and Grace on Manhattan’s Oldest Street
Bowery Mission: Grit and Grace on Manhattan’s Oldest Street 4.25 avg rating — 36 ratings
21.
When Brooklyn Was Queer
When Brooklyn Was Queer
by: Hugh Ryan
4.31 avg rating — 1,863 ratings
21.
When Brooklyn Was the World, 1920-1957
When Brooklyn Was the World, 1920-1957 4.10 avg rating — 48 ratings
21.
Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, & Criminal in 19th-Century New York
Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, & Criminal in 19th-Century New York 3.64 avg rating — 2,834 ratings
28.
Amusing the Million: Coney Island at the Turn of the Century
Amusing the Million: Coney Island at the Turn of the Century 3.56 avg rating — 633 ratings
28.
Subway: The Curiosities, Secrets, and Unofficial History of the New York City Transit System
Subway: The Curiosities, Secrets, and Unofficial History of the New York City Transit System 4.22 avg rating — 207 ratings
30.
Beyond the Melting Pot: The Negroes, Puerto Ricans, Jews, Italians, and Irish of New York City
Beyond the Melting Pot: The Negroes, Puerto Ricans, Jews, Italians, and Irish of New York City 3.57 avg rating — 89 ratings
30.
Greater Gotham: A History of New York City from 1898 to 1919 (The History of NYC Series Book 2)
Greater Gotham: A History of New York City from 1898 to 1919 (The History of NYC Series Book 2) 4.34 avg rating — 361 ratings
32.
The Bridge: The Building of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
The Bridge: The Building of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge 4.07 avg rating — 544 ratings
33.
Bums: An Oral History of the Brooklyn Dodgers
Bums: An Oral History of the Brooklyn Dodgers 4.32 avg rating — 426 ratings
33.
The Ghost Ship of Brooklyn: An Untold Story of the American Revolution
The Ghost Ship of Brooklyn: An Untold Story of the American Revolution 3.74 avg rating — 306 ratings
35.
Conquering Gotham: A Gilded Age Epic: The Construction of Penn Station and Its Tunnels
Conquering Gotham: A Gilded Age Epic: The Construction of Penn Station and Its Tunnels 3.96 avg rating — 835 ratings
36.
Eat the City: A Tale of the Fishers, Foragers, Butchers, Farmers, Poultry Minders, Sugar Refiners, Cane Cutters, Beekeepers, Winemakers, and Brewers Who Built New York
Eat the City: A Tale of the Fishers, Foragers, Butchers, Farmers, Poultry Minders, Sugar Refiners, Cane Cutters, Beekeepers, Winemakers, and Brewers Who Built New York 3.91 avg rating — 679 ratings
37.
Epic of New York City: A Narrative History
Epic of New York City: A Narrative History 4.07 avg rating — 284 ratings
38.
The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt
The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt 3.90 avg rating — 8,806 ratings
39.
The Flash Press: Sporting Male Weeklies in 1840s New York
The Flash Press: Sporting Male Weeklies in 1840s New York 3.94 avg rating — 49 ratings
40.
Forgotten Patriots: The Untold Story of American Prisoners During the Revolutionary War
Forgotten Patriots: The Untold Story of American Prisoners During the Revolutionary War 3.83 avg rating — 242 ratings
41.
The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge
The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge 4.25 avg rating — 18,115 ratings
42.
The Hudson: A History
The Hudson: A History 3.64 avg rating — 152 ratings
43.
Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt's Doomed Quest to Clean up Sin-loving New York
Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt's Doomed Quest to Clean up Sin-loving New York 3.66 avg rating — 2,026 ratings
44.
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention 4.19 avg rating — 19,917 ratings
45.
Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City
Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City 4.13 avg rating — 556 ratings
46.
The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher
The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher 3.96 avg rating — 1,039 ratings
47.
The Murder of Helen Jewett: The Life and Death of a Prostitute in Nineteenth-Century New York
The Murder of Helen Jewett: The Life and Death of a Prostitute in Nineteenth-Century New York 3.72 avg rating — 1,224 ratings
48.
New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan
New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan 3.69 avg rating — 929 ratings
49.
New York in the 50s
New York in the 50s 3.82 avg rating — 164 ratings
50.
New York Underground: The Anatomy of a City
New York Underground: The Anatomy of a City 3.94 avg rating — 108 ratings
51.
Playing the Numbers: Gambling in Harlem between the Wars
Playing the Numbers: Gambling in Harlem between the Wars 3.85 avg rating — 13 ratings
52.
Rise of the New York Skyscraper: 1865-1913
Rise of the New York Skyscraper: 1865-1913 3.93 avg rating — 15 ratings
53.
The Savage City: Race, Murder, and a Generation on the Edge
The Savage City: Race, Murder, and a Generation on the Edge 3.95 avg rating — 1,506 ratings
54.
Scenes from the Life of a City: Corruption and Conscience in Old New York
Scenes from the Life of a City: Corruption and Conscience in Old New York 3.40 avg rating — 10 ratings
55.
The Tiger: The Rise And Fall Of Tammany Hall
The Tiger: The Rise And Fall Of Tammany Hall 3.93 avg rating — 46 ratings
56.
Unearthing Gotham: The Archaeology of New York City
Unearthing Gotham: The Archaeology of New York City really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 59 ratings
57.
Waterfront: A Walk Around Manhattan
Waterfront: A Walk Around Manhattan 3.74 avg rating — 310 ratings
58.
World of Our Fathers: The Journey of the East European Jews to America and the Life They Found and Made
World of Our Fathers: The Journey of the East European Jews to America and the Life They Found and Made 4.13 avg rating — 428 ratings
59.
You Must Remember This: An Oral History of Manhattan from the 1890s to World War II
You Must Remember This: An Oral History of Manhattan from the 1890s to World War II 4.37 avg rating — 51 ratings