Product Review

For most people around the globe, The Bronx evokes an image of burned-out buildings, rubble-strewn empty lots and a feral people ready to pounce on the unwary visitor. Yet, a dispassionate investigation of the history of this northernmost borough of the thriving metropolis of New York City, and the only one attached to the mainland, reveals a much more positive dynamic image and a lasting legacy that contributed to the growth and development of the country at large. The complete story of The Bronx remains unknown largely because studies of the city of New York focus almost exclusively on the borough of Manhattan. Now, in this first single-volume account of the northern borough published for the general reader since 1912, The Bronx emerges as a vital part of the development of New York City and as the story of the United States in microcosm.