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Rating: 
Summary: Unearthing a masterwork
Review: As a long-time student of and writer about old New York, this book held so many surprises for me that I felt like a college freshman again. For so many years I had read about the Native Americans who occupied this city, but the illustrations, maps and photos that accompany this complex narrative give it new, more vivid life for me. The experiences of the Dutch, African-Americans and British that followed are given a face, so to speak, by the detailed, but lively, narration. The graphics, especially of the extreme southern tip of Manhattan, are generous, clear, and highly educational for newcomers to and veterans of this history. (By the way, as a Brooklynite, I want to kiss the authors for covering all five boroughs, and not just focusing on Manhattan, as do most histories of NYC.) This is a book that can be enjoyed on so many levels. It is a great introduction to a relatively--and undeservedly--obscure subject.
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Summary: Old (Very Old) New York Unearthed For the Future
Review: Imaginative and graceful writing, based on a firm foundation of archaeological and historical evidence, make this book enormously appealing. Underlying the authors' speculations and conclusions is a vast amount of ecological and artifactual evidence, prehistoric and historic. Cantwell and Wall discuss the ways people have built their dwellings, made their livings, coped with adversity, celebrated successes, and performed various rituals in and around New York's changing ecological and social environment for the past 11,000 years. "Unearthing Gotham" is enhanced by a beautifully selected set of illustrations ranging from early stone points found in Staten Island through archaeological site maps, drawings of New Amsterdam from the 1620's, a lithograph view of Five Points around 1827 to the Van Cortlandt Mansion in the 1990's. In view of the recent Trade Center catastrophe, this book is particularly reassuring. Given the continuing efforts of preservationists, New York's long history in all its diversity will not only be preserved for the future, but that history will continue to be made. I strongly recommend "Unearthing Gotham" to anyone interested in archaeology, history, the long life of a great city, and New York itself.
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Summary: New York's underground history
Review: New York, like no other city in the world, is a city of spectacular heights and many books have been written about the buildings that rise to the skies. How many people, however, think about what lies beneath the vast weight of edifices and human life that exists above the ground? In this compelling and instructive book, Anne-Marie Cantwell and Diana diZerega Wall have a given us a lesson not only about the artifacts and remains that have lain dormant for centuries but also in the history that surrounds their burial and ultimate exposure. In a time-line fashion (11,000 years before present to today) the authors reconstruct a picture of what life might have been like during these times. Lest one think the unearthings are limited to Manhattan, they are not. All five boroughs are represented. There were moments during the reading of this book that I wanted the authors to spend more time recounting the actual excavations to which they refer, but in the end their historical perspective is the link that saves the day. Without it, their offerings would be no more than a field trip. My future trips around the city will be made with a new awareness as I ask myself, "I wonder what lies beneath....". It is a question we all can ask.
Rating:
Summary: A Marvelous Book
Review: This is the very best book one could have if he is interested in the early history of New York City and the area immediately surrounding it. The coverage of Native Americans is especially strong, fascinating from beginning to end. The authors know their subject thoroughly, write beautifully, and have given us an exciting, scholarly work that will be a classic for some time to come.
Rating:
Summary: A Marvelous Book
Review: This is the very best book one could have if he is interested in the early history of New York City and the area immediately surrounding it. The coverage of Native Americans is especially strong, fascinating from beginning to end. The authors know their subject thoroughly, write beautifully, and have given us an exciting, scholarly work that will be a classic for some time to come.
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