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Summary: The Answer to a Childish Question
Review: When I was a child at Christmas riding in the back seat across one of New York's cheerily illuminated bridges I asked my parents why we had to pay tolls when it seemed likely that the bridges had already been paid for. Why I remember asking that I don't know, but I'm glad I do because here I am now 25 years later with the answer: Robert Moses, who for 40+ years almost singlehandedly shaped the face of New York City for better (nice beaches and parks) and worse (the LIE). Brilliant and ambitious, Moses's acquisition of power and the bad things he did with it is unlike anything I've read--except for Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, which details Hitler's backroom powergrabs and eventual undoing due to hubris in much the same thoughtful and thorough manner.
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Summary: Political power primer
Review: This massive work, published in 1975, is unfortunately just as timely today as it was a quarter century ago. It is the story of Robert Moses, arguably one of the most important and influential men of the second half of the 20th century. He, for better or for worse, gave us our models for the modern highway transportation system and wielded enormous power in the city and state of New York -- without ever being elected to a single public office.At 1,162 pages, Caro's work will undoubtedly always face the charge that it needed editing. But to address large themes, a writer needs to expand, and Caro does, brilliantly for the most part. "The Power Broker" takes on the question of whether democracy in America really works. Using Moses' life as a model, the answer is "no." Moses began as a passionate believer in reform, a man who wanted to end favoritism and corruption in New York. Yet early on he concluded that to "get things done," he needed to beat the power-wielders at their own game, and he did. He built an enormous network of influence that included politicians, unions, banks and big business. And he used that power to build the most enormous transportation system in the nation, often over the objections of elected officials. But the book also makes clear the cost of power. For one thing, there were political losers. Moses was ruthless in his attacks on those who opposed him, often lowering himself to attacking character. Mass transportation was a loser during the time Moses wielded power. He considered the automobile the premier mode of transportation, and he steadfastly refused to accommodate plans for subway, bus, and train improvements. And the poor and working class were losers in Moses' power game. He had no respect for the poor, particularly those with dark skin, and he ruthlessly destroyed their neighborhoods in his grand building schemes. In the end, we have all lost because of Moses' vision. His idea that we can solve transportation problems by building more and more roads, bridges and infrastructure to accommodate commuters who live farther and farther from the places they work has carried the day, and those of us who live in medium-sized and big cities continue to suffer for it with every minute we lose in traffic. Tremendous book -- grand in its vision, grand in its documentation, grand in its achievement.
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Summary: A Man with a Dream can be dangerous
Review: I was first asked to read this for an ethics class in college. We were then supposed to write a paper on whether Robert Moses was ethical or not. I was a little upset about having to read a 1200 page book in 5 weeks, but I read it cover to cover. It was a good book, but I think that Caro was a bit too biased against Robert Moses. The book was very descriptive, but it tended to make Moses out to be the bad guy. Although Moses was unethical in the way he achieved his goals, he was responsible for creating the Parkway system on Long Island and he was responsible for creating the beaches of New York. This is the only book I can find on Robert Moses. I give this book 5 stars because it is very descriptive and shows you exactly what Robert Moses did. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in New York City History, anyone who is interested in New York Politics, or anyone who is interested in Urban Planning and Design.
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Summary: Is There Room for Another Robert Moses
Review: As an ex-New Yorker, I found myself as engrossed as I have been in a long-time on what, is admittedly, an arcane subject: building parks, bridges, and highways. I expected the hero/villain to be an engineer, not an Oxford scholar and Ph.D. Ironically, one of the reasons I left New York in 1991 was my inability to tolerate the traffic snarl associated with Mr. Moses' creations. However, to this day, I miss the views from the bridges to Long Island, the Westchester County parkways, and Lincoln Center (those things that Robert Moses created). By the end of the book, I was fascinated by the level of respect I had developed for Robert Moses. Yes, he was arrogant, myopic, and corrupted by power (reminds me of Rudy and Bill and Hillary). He dislocated hundreds of thousands to build his projects with no apparent regard to what or who he destroyed. He even sold his soul to Tammany Hall. But yet, he was responsible for building so much of what is New York today. I have to wonder if it takes a Robert Moses to create at the scale that he created? I can't believe that a Tammany Hall or other NYC politician could ever have accomplished a tenth of what he accomplished. I wonder if New York will ever have another such larger than life public figure, and whether New York could survive another Robert Moses? One of my favorite facts from this book is that of the role of the investigative journalists in "bringing down" Robert Moses. Try as they might for the last 11 years he was in power to bring him down, Robert Moses seemed to land on his feet, almost stronger than before. For all that they unearthed, New York's power elite still supported him against Lindsay. It finally seemed, as Mr. Caro said, it took Robert Moses to remove Robert Moses.
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Summary: One of the best biographies ever...
Review: I was supposed to read this book for a class I was taking during a sabbatical. The teacher realized we would be upset at the length of the book and assigned the book more as a "strongly suggested reading." I bought the book and couldn't imagine why a lengthy book about Robert Moses would be worth my time - so many books to read and so little time! I picked it up this summer and started reading...I found myself totally engrossed and mesmerized. I even started highlighting passages and talking about different aspects of the book to my family - whether they wanted to hear about it or not! If you are interested in New York City history, political power, and "how things work," this is a fascinating epic. Not only Robert Moses, but other political figures such as Alfred E. Smith, Jimmy Walker, and others come alive in this most excellent and worthwhile biographies. Don't miss it!
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Summary: Brilliant work
Review: This is the best book I have read in years. It is nothing less than an OUTSTANDING piece of scholarship. Caro has taken us through more than two generations of the history of the City and State of New York. The story of Robert Moses as told by Biographer Caro is in many ways the exploration of the growth of "modern" New York City. Moses made an impact on the City in a way that almost cannot be overestimated. It is impossible for me to conceive of what the City would have been like (bioth good and bad) without his influence. Unfortunately, like most persons of great power, he believed that his goals were sufficiently laudable to overcome his occasional deceit, strongarming, and other abuses. Don't let the daunting length and significant detail be off putting. It is worth the time, cost and effort. Robert Caro has a penchant for outstanding work, as evidenced more recently in the first two volumes of the history of L.B.J. This is certainly the equal.
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Summary: Simply the best
Review: This is quite simply the best book I have ever read. Moses is a towering subject, and Caro responds with a towering biography. The breadth of detail he brings to his subject is astonishing, while the narrative arc of Moses' rise and fall makes the book un-put-downable. Not a single word is wasted. There is much to learn here: the political landscape of New York over a large part of the last century is brought vividly to life; the role of behind-the-scenes patronage in shaping, literally, the city we see today is illuminated in absorbing detail; the extent to which democracy fails, completely, to provide accountability should and does shock. But beyond this, it is Moses himself who holds us in thrall. The confounding contradictions of the man---that he could achieve so much to such contemporary acclaim, yet do such profound damage to the city; that he could become, by dint of plain hard work, one of the most effective political agents the world has ever seen, yet wield this power to increasingly repellent ends---these are the questions on which Caro delicately balances his work. Balance he does, and it is a supreme achievement. I will never again cross the Tri-Borough Bridge without looking down to see Moses' secret lair. One cannot read "The Power Broker" and look at New York in the same way ever again.
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Summary: Essential Education in City Government
Review: I believe I learned as much about politics and city goverment from reading this book as I did in two years of graduate school studying urban planning and policy. It's one of those tomes that helps you better understand, although not always respect, the otherwise confounding actions of elected officials and those who influence them.
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Summary: A masterwork
Review: There is good reason this book has remained in print for 25 years and is as timely and fresh as the day it was first published. The Power Broker is so much more than an accomplished biography. It reaches into the soul of a man, a city, a nation, and a century. It is a masterwork.
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Summary: There and back again (but not on the Long Island Expressway)
Review: I first picked up The Power Broker when it was published 25 years ago. Since then I've re-read it three or four times over the years. It is a true monument to Caro that this book has remained in print in both hc and pb over these years. This massive work is at the same time a biography of Robert Moses and the metropolitan New York City area. Moses, originally a reformer and a true public servant, somehow became tainted by the power entrusted to him. It was his way or no way -- and once he became firmly entrenched there was no "no way." A typical Moses tactic: design a great public work (bridge, for example) and underestimate the budget. A bargain sure to be approved and funded by the politicians! Then run out of money halfway through construction. The rest of the money will surely be forthcoming because no politician wants to be associated with a half-finished and very visibile "failure" -- it's much better to take credit for an "against the odds" success. I grew up in NYC at the tail end of Moses' influence and I remember the 1964 Worlds Fair in NYC vividly, especially a "guidebook" that lionized Moses' construction prowess. In school, Moses' contribution was also taught (always positively) when we had units covering NYC history. If nothing else, Moses understood the power of good publicity, and used tactics later adopted by the current mayor (King Rudy) to control the press and public opinion. This book brings Moses back to human scale and deconstructs (no pun intended) his impact on the city. The book is long, detailed, and compelling. Great beach reading -- especially at Jones Beach! Now that it is celebrating its 25th anniversary, a new retrospective afterword from the author would be appreciated (perhaps a reprint of the article he wrote for the New Yorker a few years ago on how he wrote the book). An interesting counterpoint to this biography of Moses is The Great Bridge by David McCollough. This story of a great public works project is also a biography of the Roeblings, the family of engineers who designed and built it. They shared Moses' singlemindedness, but the methods and results had far less negative results.
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