SKYSCRAPER ISLAND

Compressed into 92 pages is a vital introduction to the complex of transportation, the humanity and industry funnelled through New York City. A mighty midget, this little book provides a clear example of what a seaport is and how it functions. Neither an entertainment guide nor a tourist's manual, the author deals primarily with the ""wheels and keels"" in perpetual motion: his account of the tug boat strike which paralyzed the city for over a week in February, 1946, is powerfully done. With clarity and force he follows the city's growth from a fur trading post to its present place as Eastern gateway to America.