Inside The Apple: A Streetwise History Of New York City Download Free (EPUB, PDF)

                
              
Inside The Apple: A Streetwise History Of New York City Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
How much do you actually know about New York City? Did you know they tried to anchor Zeppelins at the top of the Empire State Building? Or that the high-rent district of Park Avenue was once so dangerous it was called “Death Avenue”? Lively and comprehensive, Inside the Apple brings to life New York's fascinating past.This narrative history of New York City is the first to offer practical walking tour know-how. Fast-paced but thorough, its bite-size chapters each focus on an event, person, or place of historical significance. Rich in anecdotes and illustrations, it whisks readers from colonial New Amsterdam through Manhattan's past, right up to post-9/11 New York. The book also works as a historical walking-tour guide, with 14 self-guided tours, maps, and step-by-step directions. Easy to carry with you as you explore the city, Inside the Apple allows you to visit the site of every story it tells. This energetic, wide-ranging, and often humorous book covers New York's most important historical moments, but is always anchored in the city of today.
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Free Press; Original ed. edition (March 24, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 141658997X
ISBN-13: 978-1416589976
Product Dimensions:  5.5 x 1 x 8.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:  4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #53,982 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)   #34 in Books > Travel > United States > Northeast > Mid Atlantic   #68 in Books > Travel > Specialty Travel > Tourist Destinations & Museums   #604 in Books > History > Americas > United States > State & Local
I live in NYC and admit that I am daily taking all of the great sites around me for granted. I saw the positive NY Post review about the book and decided to buy it. It was well worth every penny. This book is broken down into concise, well-written and clever chapters (182 of them! Great info!) that do a phenomenal job of introducing the reader to little-known facts about a huge variety of areas in the city. I've learned more things about the city in reading the book than I have in the 6 years I've lived here!!I fully admit that I am not even "into" history and found this book fascinating. AND they include 14 walking tours at the end of the book.... my husband and I went on one this weekend as a "date" and had a wonderful (COST-FREE) day. I can't wait until the spring when we can go on all of the tours!I'm going to buy this for all of my NYC friends and will hand it over to any out-of-towners visiting me looking for fun things to do in the city. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who lives in or will visit NYC (or anyone just interested in learning more about the city).Can't wait to see what these authors have lined up next.
I really loved this book. Both the historical account of the city and the walking tours work amazingly well as if separate books, and the way they integrate into one another so seamlessly makes this a truly unique resource. I disagree with Publisher's Weekly where they said that "Inside the Apple" was not for cover to cover reading. In fact, I read it cover to cover and found it both fascinating and easy to read. You don't need to be out there using it as a tour book--it makes an excellent history of the city for anyone interested in New York.
As a historian, I'm truly impressed with the way this book succeeds in presenting a wealth of in-depth, thoroughly researched information about New York City history in a highly readable, sometimes downright humorous, manner.On one hand, Inside the Apple traces a chronological history of the city from its Native American settlements to the present, divided into thematic chapters such as The Early City (1600s), The Growth of the Immigrant City (mid-1800s) and Boom and Bust (1920s). By focusing on a number of well-chosen places, people and events in each period, the authors bring their stories to life. For instance, the section on The Great Port (1805-1835) includes detailed discussions of: DeWitt Clinton's role in implementing Manhattan's street grid; the consruction of the city's first tenement building; and the hugely destructive but little remembered Great Fire of 1835.Complementing the chronological history, the book also contains a collection of self-guided walking tours. Fourteen easy-to-follow tours, accompanied by maps, appear at the end of the book and continually refer readers back to the historical discussions. So, when you come upon a statue commemorating the Great Fire while walking through Central Park, you're directed to the earlier chapter on the fire.I recommend this book for visitors to NYC, for history buffs, and also for life-long New Yorkers who are sure to uncover layers of the past hiding in plain sight just beyond their doorsteps.
I was born and raised in NY and I love it so much. There's so much history everywhere. I can walk down a street in some parts and just "see" how it was to walk down that same street 100 years ago.I first got the kindle version, but did not find it to be very useful. You need to flip back and forth sometimes in the book because there are maps and such. So I got the paperback and I love it. Very informative book on NYC history and the famous people who helped built this city.Update: After reading some of the reviews it seems some tourists have bought this book as a means to sightseeing. If you plan on doing that I would highly recommend you get another book specifically for that purpose. This book is not a travel guide, but more of a history book and the maps and such are only there to supplement the telling of the history of this great city. However this can make a great supplement to a travel guide if you are a tourist. I am a NY native, but I learned a lot from this book. For example, I learned that the reason "Wall Street" is named such is because back in the late 1600's there was a literally a big wall there! Built to protect New Yorkers from British colonists and it was built by a collaboration of NY volunteers, residents and black african slaves. Perhaps this rare culture of black slaves working side by side with free men was the reason why in the 1700's "The New York Manumission Society" was founded... which was a group of white males who thought slavery was ungodly and wrong and they fought to abolish it. This society also founded a school specifically meant to educate the children of black slaves so that they could grow up to compete in the market place as free adults. All this and more happened right here in NY! I walked these streets for years not understanding their meaning and now I do.
If you're in New York and are lucky to take a walking tour with James Nevius, it will be the best one you'll ever have. Of the dozens of tours we've taken over the years, the skyscraper tour with James still stands out as the best. We are very seasoned New York visitors, ex-pat New Yorkers, actually, always looking for things we can do with family and friends to keep the visits fresh. James and Michelle have written a wonderful, comprehensive book, that's almost as good as having them walking beside you. They are incredibly knowledgable. Highly recommended!
I really enjoyed this book. I, like most other people that pick up this book, wanted to learn more about the city I live in. There is so much history packed into this small island that I can't even remember half of what I read. But you remember facts that were most interesting to you and those relevant to the neighborhoods that you frequent. I will probably reread this again eventually to try to actually learn more and commit to memory!
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