Four Streets and a Square: A History of Manhattan and the New York Idea
From a Sibert Medalist comes the epic story of Manhattan—a magical, maddening island “for all” and a microcosm of America.

A veteran nonfiction storyteller dives deep into the four-hundred-year history of Manhattan to map the island’s unexpected intersections. Focusing on the evolution of four streets and a square (Wall Street, 42nd Street, West 4th Street, 125th Street, and Union Square) Marc Aronson explores how new ideas and forms of art evolved from social blending. Centuries of conflict—among original Americans and Europeans, slavers and the enslaved, rich and poor, immigrants and native-born—produced segregation, oppression, and violence, but also new ways of speaking, singing, and being American. From the Harlem Renaissance to Hammerstein, from gay pride in the Village to political clashes at Tammany Hall, this clear-eyed pageant of the island’s joys and struggles—enhanced with photos and drawings, multimedia links to music and film, and an extensive bibliography and source notes—is, above all, a love song to Manhattan’s triumphs.
1138803078
Four Streets and a Square: A History of Manhattan and the New York Idea
From a Sibert Medalist comes the epic story of Manhattan—a magical, maddening island “for all” and a microcosm of America.

A veteran nonfiction storyteller dives deep into the four-hundred-year history of Manhattan to map the island’s unexpected intersections. Focusing on the evolution of four streets and a square (Wall Street, 42nd Street, West 4th Street, 125th Street, and Union Square) Marc Aronson explores how new ideas and forms of art evolved from social blending. Centuries of conflict—among original Americans and Europeans, slavers and the enslaved, rich and poor, immigrants and native-born—produced segregation, oppression, and violence, but also new ways of speaking, singing, and being American. From the Harlem Renaissance to Hammerstein, from gay pride in the Village to political clashes at Tammany Hall, this clear-eyed pageant of the island’s joys and struggles—enhanced with photos and drawings, multimedia links to music and film, and an extensive bibliography and source notes—is, above all, a love song to Manhattan’s triumphs.
29.99 In Stock
Four Streets and a Square: A History of Manhattan and the New York Idea

Four Streets and a Square: A History of Manhattan and the New York Idea

by Marc Aronson
Four Streets and a Square: A History of Manhattan and the New York Idea

Four Streets and a Square: A History of Manhattan and the New York Idea

by Marc Aronson

Hardcover

$29.99 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    In stock. Ships in 1-2 days.
  • PICK UP IN STORE

    Your local store may have stock of this item.

Related collections and offers


Overview

From a Sibert Medalist comes the epic story of Manhattan—a magical, maddening island “for all” and a microcosm of America.

A veteran nonfiction storyteller dives deep into the four-hundred-year history of Manhattan to map the island’s unexpected intersections. Focusing on the evolution of four streets and a square (Wall Street, 42nd Street, West 4th Street, 125th Street, and Union Square) Marc Aronson explores how new ideas and forms of art evolved from social blending. Centuries of conflict—among original Americans and Europeans, slavers and the enslaved, rich and poor, immigrants and native-born—produced segregation, oppression, and violence, but also new ways of speaking, singing, and being American. From the Harlem Renaissance to Hammerstein, from gay pride in the Village to political clashes at Tammany Hall, this clear-eyed pageant of the island’s joys and struggles—enhanced with photos and drawings, multimedia links to music and film, and an extensive bibliography and source notes—is, above all, a love song to Manhattan’s triumphs.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780763651374
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Publication date: 12/03/2021
Pages: 440
Product dimensions: 7.31(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.19(d)
Lexile: 1190L (what's this?)
Age Range: 12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Marc Aronson is an award-winning author and editor whose books include 1968: Today’s Authors Explore a Year of Rebellion, Revolution, and Change and1789: Twelve Authors Explore a Year of Rebellion, Revolution, and Change, both coedited by Susan Campbell Bartoletti; War Is. . .: Soldiers, Survivors, and Storytellers Talk About War, coedited by Patty Campbell; and Master of Deceit: J. Edgar Hoover and America in the Age of Lies. He is part of the graduate faculty at Rutgers University School of Communication and Information. Born in Manhattan, he now lives in New Jersey.

Table of Contents

How this Book is Organized 1

Two Books in One 2

Introduction: The Bridge 4

Creating the City: Wall Street 1600-1800 8

Chapter 1 Manna-hata 12

Chapter 2 Wall 18

Chapter 3 British New York 28

Chapter 4 Two City Hall Trials 39

Chapter 5 Revolution 49

Chapter 6 Capital 62

Chapter 7 Money 68

Building the City: Union Square 1800-1890 84

Chapter 8 Redrawing the Map 89

Chapter 9 Private Homes and Public Shopping 98

Chapter 10 The Wickedest House on the Wickedest Street 110

Chapter 11 Can the City Hold Together? 126

Chapter 12 New York's Civil War 138

Chapter 13 Across the Square 146

Chapter 14 "The Streets Belonged to Us" 157

The City Electric: 42nd Street 1900-1920s 170

Chapter 15 Greater New York 175

Chapter 16 The Immortal 183

Chapter 17 "Come On and Hear" 192

Difference: West 4th Street, 125th Street 1900-1930s 208

Chapter 18 "Our Whole Big Human Selves" 211

Chapter 19 War 222

Chapter 20 "The Pulse of the Negro World" 234

The City Suffers: Wall Street, 42nd Street, West 4th Street, 125th Street, Union Square 1930-1945 252

Chapter 21 "The Splendid Mirage" 255

Chapter 22 Depression New York 263

Chapter 23 "Sing, Sing, Sing"-Experiments in Integration 269

Chapter 24 "Tear Down the Old 281

World City, Fractured City, World City: 42nd Street, West 4th Street, Union Square, Wall Street, 125th Street 1945-present 292

Chapter 25 "Somewhere" 295

Chapter 26 New York Center, Left, Far Left 302

Chapter 27 Generations 316

Chapter 28 City on the Brink 326

Chapter 29 Windows on the World 346

Chapter 30 New York and the Nation, Two Versions 364

Terminology 378

Author's Note 379

Source Notes 383

Bibliography 407

Image Credits 418

Index 423

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews