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Summary: Richie's Picks: THE POWER BROKER
Review: Having read thousands of other books since reading and re-reading THE POWER BROKER has not dulled my glowing enthusiasm for nor vivid memory of this gem of a biography. THE POWER BROKER absolutely brings New York's history to life. Anyone who has lived in New York, anyone who has loved or hated New York, and anyone who is at all intrigued by New York absolutely needs to read this unforgettable story of a man who was unequaled both in his power and in his effect on the landscape of the City and the State, not to mention his effect on the governments of all 50 states through his creation of the public authority. When high school students ask me about a really great biography, this remains my first choice.
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Summary: Wonderful blend of writer and historian --
Review: While Robert Caro's biographical works are voluminous, he is a spellbinding storyteller and consummate historian -- all of which leaves the reader wanting more! The excitement and wonder of his personal journey of discovery is evident to the reader. His thorough and meticulous research (with his bride Ina's able assistance) enables him to weave apparent isolated insignificance into a cohesive study of his subject's psychological formation and its effect upon the subject's gaining and wielding of power.
This same rigorous, precise and professional methodology has been applied to his first three (of four intended) volumes of LBJ's biography - leaving the reader anxiously awaiting the study's capstone volume.
With the wordcraft precision of a Lincoln, historical accuracy of Will & Ariel Durant and the captivating storyline of a Dickens, Caro is, I believe, one of the finest living historians and superb writer.
So --- don't let volume put you off! Good things may come in small packages -- but -- just occasionally -- GREAT things come in big ones!
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Summary: Long, but good
Review: Makes me hate politics and New York City even more. A long, depressing but important read, especially if you're in to politics, cities or power.
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Summary: Manual for Aspiring Dictator In A Liberal Democracy
Review: Robert Caro illuminates a man and a city.This book works on a number of levels. It is a story about Robert Moses' accumulation of power and the greatest engineering desiger since Rome. The man Robert Moses re-created the physical enviornment of my native city. Caro's page-turning story illuminates Moses' rise to power. At his apex, Moses did not hold elected office, yet was the most powerful person in the state. Moses had his own police force and ability to raise funds. Caro details Moses'accumulation of dictatorial "authority." One is chilled how Moses became so powerful and stayed unanswerable for so long in a democratic society. You will also realize how Moses' construction quirks assured his immortality The author creates such a complex character that by the end of the book, though the reader realizes Moses is a monster, you cannot help feeling sorry for him when his Japanese visitors depart.
This is one of the very few books that I would award five stars.
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Summary: Power like Money can be a scourge
Review: Took me only 10 days to read. I found it very hard to put down and literally raced to the end. No question in my mind that Robert Moses was an abuser of power and that the heart wrenching acts he committed were hard on MANY people. Do I fault him? His visions were pure, but his methods impure to humanity. A very good read. Look forward to reading the rest of Mr Caro's books which I have already bought and are waiting for me in my library.
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Summary: A long book, but even 1200 pgs isn't enough for Moses
Review: At 1200 pages, the Power Broker is one of the longest books about a New York City figure ever written. Yet, despite its length, even the Power Broker can't go into everything Moses did. Some things, like Moses stopping O'Malley from building a new stadium for the Dodgers, and Moses almost flattening Greenwhich Village and Soho aren't gone into at all, other things, like Moses building Lincoln Center and Shea Stadium, do not receive much attention, despite being major events. How on earth does Caro neglect to mention Jane Jacobs? There is also little contrast between what Moses was doing and what was done in other major cities. Did not Boston build an elevated highway through its downtown? If Caro leaves things out, then how did the Power Broker make it to 1200 pages? Caro has these annoying five page descriptions of how beautiful the financial district's skyline is, and how great Jones Beach is. Caro is also repetitive about Moses' dislike of public transit. Finally, Caro has a tendency to only focus on Moses' victories, and not his defeats. If you read Jameson Doig's Empire on the Hudson, about that other monster transportation entity, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, you will see that Moses had more defeats than Caro will admit. The Port Authority won its battle with Moses over the Manhattan Bus Terminal, won its battle with Moses over the Queens airports, won its battle with Moses over the Twin Towers, and several other smaller victories. Also, Caro says Moses was soooo powerful that it took a governor of the stature of Nelson Rockefeller, the ultra rich governor of New York and brother of the chairman of Chase-Manhattan could beat him. But by the time Nelson was beating Moses in the late 1960s, Moses was already very unpopular. Anyway though, this is a great book about New York. You should read it. If you want to know more of Moses, try to watch Ric Burns' New York: A Documentary History. They have a lot of archival footage of Moses giving interviews. He literally said things like "cities are for traffic" and "if the end doesn't justify the means, what does?"
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Summary: Fantastic
Review: I have just read this book. It is like reading the annals of the Roman Emperors. Caro gives the hubris-laden life of Moses full and dramatic treatment. It is also the story of New York, of power, of frustrated desire. Highly recommended. A page turner.
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Summary: a masterpiece of modern biography
Review: This famous book is kept on the shelves because, like Plutarch's 'Lives', it is a masterpiece of biography. THis vast story of Robert Moses and New York City in the 20s and 30s is large in comperser and minute in details. It combines many great American characters from La GUardia to Al SMith. All these important New York politicians. it describes the Tamanny Hall machine. It is also the story of Mr. Moses and his restructuring of the parks and parkways around New York and Long Island. An amazing book about power and about Americana.
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Summary: How unlimited power works
Review: Robert Moses, in this well written biography by Caro, was more powerful than the elected officials he served. Beholden only to his first and only mentor, Governor Al Smith, Moses, as told by Caro, became an unrelenting centralized power house in the administration of public works in both New York City and State government. Caro brings Moses to life in this long, but enjoyable biography. Moses' intelligence, vision and bigatory are all brought out in Caro's the Power Broker. The master and ruler of the parks in New York, the great builder of bridges, roadways and beaches and the author of the fourth arm of government (the public authority), Moses weilded his power with great strength and little or no accountability. Moses, as told by Caro, changed the face of New York State Government and was literally unstoppable until (in his 70's) he was taken down by Nelson Rockefeller. In the Power Broker, for example, Caro conveys how Franklin D. Roosevelt as President was unable to limit Moses' influence in New York. Moses imprint on New York is still visible today when you drive on the Northern or Southern State Parkways in Long Island, travel across the various bridges in New York City or drive by the New York Power Authority in Western New York. In every corner of New York, Moses, through his ability to garner support (even reluctantly by some) of each of the Governors he served, was able to drive the public works agenda in New York for 50 years. One interesting irony is that Moses did not drive. The Power Broker is a great work to read if you have any interest in politics generally or New York history in particular.
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Summary: Amazing, but flawed
Review: Caro's biography of Robert Moses is an engrossing tale of a man who accumulated an extraordinary amount of power and was unafraid to use every bit of it. It's incredibly detailed and researched and is invaluable to anyone trying to learn about 20th Century New York. However, the book is flawed. Perhaps it's because Caro was writing 30 years ago, when Moses was still alive and people knew only the good he'd done, but he seems to have focused entirely on the negative side of Moses' legacy. Moses loved power, but he acquired it not only for its own sake, but to use it. He was no corrupt Tammany boss, lining his own pockets. Moses had a vision. For better or worse, his dream was nothing short of breathtaking. He wanted to reshape New York. And he did it. To me, that's the most interesting thing about Robert Moses, and Caro doesn't explain it. He explains Moses' lust for power and his sharp mind, but not why he chose to channel his energies in this direction. There are some family clues, but that's all. It still doesn't explain the desire of a man to remake a city and a state. I also think Caro was too close to the events to be able to evaluate the consequences of Moses' decisions. As another reviewer said, it's quite likely that East Tremont would have changed at some point. The Jewish lower-middle class has mostly left the Bronx. There's also the question of how much Moses was influenced by national trends--the building of roads to the exclusion of public transit, the problematic idea of urban renewal, and the endless sprawl of the postwar suburbs. As a lifelong resident of Long Island, I continue to be awed by Moses' legacy. Jones Beach, the parkways, bridges and tunnels--these form part of the fabric of my daily life. Moses' influence extended far beyond the projects themselves. Without the parkways and then the LIE extending to Long Island, it would still be estates and potato fields. My suburban homeland, filled with its 1950s houses on their 60' lots and tree lined streets, would never have been so much as a dream. Caro has made me aware of the immense costs, financial and political, of Moses' projects. But I don't know if he truly appreciated them. He writes nice words about Jones Beach and other park projects, but I don't get the sense that he really felt anything. Driving down the Northern State, with its stone bridges, trees, and absence of billboards, I can and do appreciate what Moses did. Perhaps true greatness can only come at a great cost. Despite focusing on the flaws in this review, I'm not trying to denigrate the book. It's truly a monumental achievement. However, I think it's important to be able to look at it with some perspective, which I don't think Caro was able to do.
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