Book cover of The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 1811-2011

Book description

Laying out Manhattan's street grid and providing a rationale for the growth of New York was the city's first great civic enterprise, not to mention a brazenly ambitious project and major milestone in the history of city planning. The grid created the physical conditions for business and society to flourish…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Greatest Grid as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Time and time again, I refer to this book because it is chock full of fascinating history about New York told in an unusual way.

Packed with beautifully reproduced photos on every page, it takes as its subject the seemingly dull characteristic of urban experience—the street grid—and fashions over 200 short succinct stories of people, politics, and real estate development. It’s a bravo book.

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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

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Book cover of Capital City: New York City and the Men Behind America's Rise to Economic Dominance, 1860-1900

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Old Man Country by Thomas R. Cole,

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Lane and the Inventor by Amy Q. Barker,

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Dive into this small-town, steamy romance between two opposites who find love…

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