The level of information in Platt’s narrative may be superficial, but the large trim size, cutaways of Ellis Island and other landmarks and intricate aerial views of Manhattan in this Through Time series entry capture a sense of the scale and bustling energy of “the city that never sleeps.” Cappon’s spread-spanning views open with a Lenape settlement, ca. 1600, close with a modern view looking south from Central Park and in between depict such watershed events as the British takeover (1664), a half-built Brooklyn Bridge (1882), the World’s Fair (1939) and 9/11. Easily digestible blocks of present-tense narration tucked into the corners supply a broadly brushed historical background, supplemented by pithy comments—a couple of them misleading: a reference to Brooklyn Bridge workers “crippled by a sickness called ‘decompression’” and a claim that the 1969 ticker-tape parade for the Apollo 11 astronauts extended into Queens (these will be corrected in the second printing)—attached to selected details. Not a guide that will be particularly useful to tourists but an adequate introduction for general interests. (Nonfiction. 9-11)
