Conquering Gotham: Building Penn Station and Its Tunnels

ISBN: 0143113240

Author: Jonnes, Jill

Condition: New

Superb. [A] first-rate narrative (The Wall Street Journal) about the controversial construction of New Yorks beloved original Penn Station and its tunnels, from the author of Eiffel's Tower and Urban ForestsAs bestselling books like Ron Chernow's Titan and David McCullough's The Great Bridge affirm, readers are fascinated with the grand personalities and schemes that populated New York at the close of the nineteenth century. Conquering Gotham re- creates the riveting struggle waged by the great Pennsylvania Railroad to build Penn Station and the monumental system of tunnels that would connect water-bound Manhattan to the rest of the continent by rail. Historian Jill Jonnes tells a ravishing tale of snarling plutocrats, engineering feats, and backroom politicking packed with the most colorful figures of Gilded Age New York.Conquering Gotham will be featured in an upcoming episdoe of PBS's American Experience.