| Water for Gotham: A History Contributor(s): Koeppel, Gerard T. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0691089760 ISBN-13: 9780691089768 Publisher: Princeton University Press OUR PRICE: $39.90 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: August 2001 Annotation: "Koeppel's lively and absorbing account of supplying water to New York amounts to a history of life itself in the city during its first two centuries. Disease, social habits, business and industry--virtually all aspects of public and private life in the city--have at times been shaped by the simple and basic need for supplies of clean water. This is a scholarly study written to capture anyone's imagination."--Ethan Carr, author of "Wilderness by Design" "Engrossing and entertaining, "Water for Gotham" is a beautifully written romp through some juicy Big Apple history."--Alice Outwater, author of "Water: A Natural History" "Delightfully told and informative, Gerard Koeppel's "Water for Gotham: A History" is as fresh and sparkling as the waters of the Croton Aqueduct."--Tony Hiss, author of "The Experience of Place" "A meticulously researched and thoroughly documented history, Gerard Koeppel's "Water for Gotham" is also a well-paced story--or more precisely a collection of stories--about how 'Old New York' took its initial steps toward becoming the world's quintessential metropolis. This book will be valued--and enjoyed--not only by historians and urban planners, but also by anyone interested in the city's growth and development."--Thomas Mellins, coauthor of "New York 1880, New York 1930," and "New York 1960" ""Water for Gotham" delivers an important historical story about the little-noticed underpinnings of American city life, a tale rich with health and environmental issues that resonate to the present day. It also tellingly analyzes what passed for 'water policy' in old New York and water's centrality to everyday routines and in crises (fires, epidemics), while documentingthe miseries New Yorkers suffered due to long term failures of vision and finance."--Philip Scranton, Rutgers University, author of "Endless Novelty" |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Technology & Engineering | Environmental - Water Supply - History | United States - 19th Century |
| Dewey: 363.610 |
| LCCN: 99056626 |
| Physical Information: 0.78" H x 6.14" W x 9.21" (1.16 lbs) 376 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Mid-Atlantic - Geographic Orientation - New York - Locality - New York, N.Y. - Chronological Period - 19th Century - Cultural Region - Northeast U.S. - Demographic Orientation - Urban |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Water for Gotham tells the spirited story of New York's evolution as a great city by examining its struggle for that vital and basic element--clean water. Drawing on primary sources, personal narratives, and anecdotes, Gerard Koeppel demonstrates how quickly the shallow wells of Dutch New Amsterdam were overwhelmed, leaving the English and American city beleaguered by filth, epidemics, and fires. This situation changed only when an outside water source was finally secured in 1842--the Croton Aqueduct, a model for urban water supplies in the United States. As the fertile wilderness enjoyed by the first Europeans in Manhattan vanishes and the magnitude of New York's water problem grows, the reader is introduced to the plans of Christopher Colles, builder of the first American steam engine, and of Joseph Browne, the first to call for a mainland water source for this island-city. In this vividly written true-life fable of the Fools of Gotham, the chief obstacle to the aqueduct is the Manhattan Company. Masterminded by Aaron Burr, with the complicity of Alexander Hamilton and other leading New Yorkers, the company was a ruse, serving as the charter for a bank--today's Chase Manhattan. The cholera epidemic of 1832 and the great fire three years later were instrumental in forcing the city's leaders to finally unite and regain New York's water rights. Koeppel's account of the developments leading up to the Croton Aqueduct reveals it as a triumph not only of inspired technology but of political will. With over forty archival photographs and drawings, Water for Gotham demonstrates the deep interconnections between natural resource management, urban planning, and civic leadership. As New York today retakes its waterfront and boasts famous tap water, this book is a valuable reminder of how much vision and fortitude are required to make a great city function and thrive. |