New York City

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Click on Essential Reading for the featured set of New York City books and a map. We offer free shipping on anything else you order with the travel books package.

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Eyewitness Guide New York City

Eyewitness Guide New York City

by Eleanor Berman

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 488 PAGES

There are hundreds of guides, of course, but we like this one the best -- and we see more visitors in our neighborhood carrying it around. (NYC02, $25.00)

Here is New York

Here is New York

by E.B. White

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1999
  • HARD COVER
  • 56 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Written in a hotel room over two hot days in the summer of 1948, White's timeless love letter (it's easily read in an hour) captures the spirit of New York. It's a swift, lyrical portrait of the city that moves from Broadway to Central Park and the Hudson River to favorite haunts on 3rd Avenue. (NYC28, $16.95)

Gotham, A History of New York up to 1898

Gotham, A History of New York up to 1898

by Mike Wallace | Edwin G. Burrows

  • HISTORY
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 1350 PAGES

This 1998 Pulitzer Prize winner for history is a vast volume that traces the Dutch colonization to 1898. Jam-packed with tales of crime, violence, corruption, riots and ethnic struggles, it is anything but dull. Highly recommended. (NYC11, $34.95)

Up in the Old Hotel and Other Stories

Up in the Old Hotel and Other Stories

by Joseph Mitchell

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 1993
  • PAPER
  • 716 PAGES

Mitchell's collection of loving, extraordinarily vivid, short pieces, depicting New York in the 40's and 50's. He was a master at painting character, and place, in swift strokes. (NYC61, $18.00)

New York City Map

New York City Map

by Popout Maps

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • MAP

This convenient map of New York has a clever "origami" fold to prevent fussing with unwieldy re-folding. (NYC26, $6.95)

 

New York City Map


by Borch Maps

  • 2011
  • MAP

Take a map! With index, subway map and details, all in color and laminated. (NYC207, $8.95)

AIA Guide to New York City

AIA Guide to New York City


by Noval White | Elliot Willensky

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 1024 PAGES

A quirky, digressive guide to the architecture of New York City, organized by neighborhood and bloated to 1,000 pages in this edition, last revised in 1987. (NYC03, $39.95)

Blue Guide New York

Blue Guide New York


by Carol Von Pressentin Wright

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 400 PAGES

An excellent, comprehensive guide to New York sights, including walking tours and a focus on art and architecture. (NYC29, $24.95)

Chronicles of Old New York, Exploring Manhattan's Landmark Neighborhoods


by

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 208 PAGES

This selective guide features walking tours of each historic neighborhood, illustrated with color photographs and period maps. (NYC223, $17.95)

Fodor's New York City

Fodor's New York City


by Paul Eisenberg

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 552 PAGES

A practical, frequently revised guide in the popular series. (NYC188, $19.99)

Fodor's New York City's 25 Best

Fodor's New York City's 25 Best


by Fodor's

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 128 PAGES

A shirt-pocket guide to New York City, featuring a detailed, fold-out map centered on Midtown. With suggested itineraries, walks and top 25 sights. (USE36, $11.99)

Hedonist's Guide to New York

Hedonist's Guide to New York


by Urbandaddy | Andrew Stone

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 240 PAGES

A guide to the vibrant city, with comprehensive listings of accommodations, restaurants and bars. (NYC181, $18.95)

Knopf Mapguide New York


by Knopf Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • PAPER

A handy set of full color, ingeniously folded maps, each indicating favorite sites, shops, restaurants and attractions. (NYC171, $10.95)

Markets of New York City

Markets of New York City


by Karen E. Seiger

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 264 PAGES

Green, flea and many more markets are featured in this compact, beautifully illustrated guide. (NYC224, $16.95)

New York City, A Cultural and Literary Companion

New York City, A Cultural and Literary Companion


by Eric Homberger

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 258 PAGES

An illuminating guide to the city, its history and geography, as the inspiration for writers, artists, musicians and intellectuals. With chapters on Broadway, Greenwich Village, parks, Harlem, Brooklyn, immigration and Manahattan. (NYC82, $15.00)

The Encyclopedia of New York City

The Encyclopedia of New York City


by Kenneth T. Jackson | New York Historical Society

  • REFERENCE
  • 2010
  • HARD COVER
  • 1600 PAGES

The more than 5,000 alphabetical entries and 700 illustrations of the second edition of this fantastic reference has everything you've ever wanted to know about New York City. (NYC12, $65.00)

Zagat Survey New York City Restaurants


by Zagat Survey

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

The slim annual guide to New York City's restaurants that launched the Zagat empire. (NYC96, $15.95)

Central Park, An American Masterpiece


by Sara Cedar Miller

  • HISTORY
  • 2003
  • HARD COVER
  • 240 PAGES

Written and photographed by Central Park's official historian, this visual history of New York's crown jewel pairs modern color images with drawings, plans and quotes by park designers. (NYC94, $50.00)

Coming to America

Coming to America


by Roger Daniels

  • HISTORY
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 576 PAGES

Daniels adeptly explores the complex motives and experience of immigrants in the U.S. since 1550. (USE420, $18.99)

Downtown, My Manhattan

Downtown, My Manhattan


by Pete Hamill

  • HISTORY
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

Native son Pete Hamill's tribute, history and memoir of New York, mostly below 42nd Street. (NYC148, $14.99)

Great Fortune, The Epic of Rockefeller Center


by Daniel Okrent

  • HISTORY
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 544 PAGES

In this grand social history Okrent illuminates the remarkable cast of characters, the ambitions, and mind-bending complexity in creating the beloved New York City landmark. (NYC100, $18.00)

Low Life, Lures and Snares of Old New York


by Luc Sante

  • HISTORY
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 414 PAGES

A very engaging history of 19th-century New York's underbelly, the Lower East Side. It's a picture not only of particular neighborhoods, but of the life that was led within them: street culture, the saloons, the cops, the prostitutes, the money men, the poor. (NYC34, $18.00)

Manhattan '45


by Jan Morris

  • HISTORY
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 273 PAGES

A portrait of the era when New York City was at its apogee, blending history, memoir and meditation. (NYC51, $23.00)

New York Exposed, Photographs from the Daily News


by Sean O'Sullivan | Pete Hamill

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2004
  • HARD COVER
  • 320 PAGES

Tales of the city through the lens of Daily News photographers, 1919-2000. (NYC60, $19.98)

New York, The Story of a Great City

New York, The Story of a Great City


by Sara Henry

  • HISTORY
  • 2011
  • HARD COVER
  • 124 PAGES

Created in collaboration with the Museum of the City of New York, this hands-on history concisely and entertainingly traces the city's evolution from wilderness to great metropolis. (NYC242, $39.95)

The Great Bridge, The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge


by David McCullough

  • HISTORY
  • 1983
  • PAPER
  • 562 PAGES

McCullough's classic history set the gold standard for accounts of the Brooklyn Bridge, and makes walking across the old behemoth all the more enriching. (NYC30, $20.00)

The Harlem Renaissance, Hub of African American Culture 1920-1930


by Stephen Watson

  • HISTORY
  • 1996
  • PAPER

This book succinctly describes and illustrates the place, the people and the influence of the Harlem Renaissance through the writing and music of Jean Toomer, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston and others. (NYC57, $22.00)

The Island at the Center of the World

The Island at the Center of the World


by Russell Shorto

  • HISTORY
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 416 PAGES

Shorto's popular history of New Amsterdam tells in colorful detail how the short-lived Dutch colony established principles of tolerance, multiculturalism and modern capitalism in New York City and colonial America. (NYC153, $16.00)

Waterfront, A Journey Around Manhattan

Waterfront, A Journey Around Manhattan


by Philip Lopate

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 421 PAGES

Essayist and consummate New Yorker, Philip Lopate pulls in history, ecology, archaeology, literature and urban planning in this delightful, discursive account of his rambles along the water's edge of Manhattan. (NYC113, $15.95)

Broadway Theatres, History and Architecture

Broadway Theatres, History and Architecture


by William Morrison

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 176 PAGES

Morrison's history of 74 of Manhattan's great theatrical houses includes historical facts, archival photographs, architecture and profiles of key players and impresarios. (NYC195, $17.95)

Changing New York


by Berenice Abbott

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 1997
  • HARD COVER
  • 400 PAGES

A phenomenal body of work by Abbott, the great 20th-century photographer of New York. (NYC50, $60.00)

Guide to New York City Landmarks

Guide to New York City Landmarks


by Andrew Dolkart | New York City Landmarks Preservatio

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 296 PAGES

An indispensable guide to landmarks and historic districts in all five boroughs with 75 local maps. (NYC10, $32.95)

High Line, The Inside Story of New York City's Park in the Sky

High Line, The Inside Story of New York City's Park in the Sky


by Robert Hammond | Joshua David

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

The creators of the High Line tell the story of the transformation of a grandly decaying ruin into the phenomenally popular a half-mile expanse of plants, paths, staircases and framed vistas through the revitalized far west side. (NYC241, $29.95)

Lost New York

Lost New York


by Nathan Silver

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 274 PAGES

This classic, published in 1967, was the urban preservationists' bible. It's a magnificent survey of the history and architectural development of the city, including many of the great buildings lost to the wrecking ball. (NYC13, $25.00)

New New York, Architecture of a City


by Ian Luna

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

This beautifully illustrated survey of New York buildings and interiors, featuring 400 color photographs, includes 50 recent projects by architects including Rem Koolhaas, Gwathmey Siegel, Richard Rogers, Norman Foster, Frank Gehry and Philippe Starck. (NYC196, $45.00)

New York, A Historical Atlas of Architecture

New York, A Historical Atlas of Architecture


by Alejandro Bahamon

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 140 PAGES

Three hundred and fify years of New York City architecture history unfold (quite literally) in words and vivid images in this innovative book. Set in a useful timeline format, each entry includes a photograph and description, plus dates, architects, and other relevant data. Ten foldouts delve deeper into the history of some significant structures, and feature blueprints, interiors, and large color images. (NYC194, $17.95)

Unearthing Gotham, The Archaeology of New York City


by Diana Dizerega Wall | Anne-Marie E. Cantwell

  • ARCHAEOLOGY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 448 PAGES

An illustrated survey and analysis of archaeological discoveries in the five boroughs. (NYC95, $20.00)

Gone to New York, Adventures in the City

Gone to New York, Adventures in the City


by Ian Frazier | Jamaica Kincaid

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES

Frazier writes with humor and warmth about his New York City in this collection of essays originally published in periodicals like The New Yorker and The Atlantic. (NYC156, $15.00)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn


by Betty Smith | Annie Dillard

  • LITERATURE
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 490 PAGES

The much-beloved story of a girl in Brooklyn, who, like the Ailanthus, surmounts harrowing obstacles in order to thrive. Enormously descriptive of the Brooklyn of its time (the 1940s). (NYC56, $16.99)

Frank O'Hara, Selected Poems


by Mark Ford | Frank O'Hara

  • LITERATURE
  • 2008
  • HARD COVER
  • 258 PAGES

This astute compilation of uproarious, mocking poems, recalling the glamor of 1950s New York, includes The Day Lady Died, A Party Full of Friends and Having a Coke with You. (NYC190, $30.00)

Let the Great World Spin

Let the Great World Spin


by Colum McCann

  • LITERATURE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 368 PAGES

Dublin-born New Yorker Colum McCann took home the 2011 International Impac Dublin literary award for his stunningly realized portrait of New York City. Set in 1974, he traces the interlocking lives of diverse characters as as Philippe Petit tightrope walks between the newly built Twin Towers. Let the Great World Spin won the National Book Award in 2009. (NYC214, $15.00)

Lush Life

Lush Life


by Richard Price

  • LITERATURE
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 455 PAGES

With an ear for dialogue and feel for the nuances of class and race. Richard Price brilliantly explores the reverberations of the murder of a hipster on the Lower East Side. (NYC203, $15.00)

Portable Dorothy Parker

Portable Dorothy Parker


by Dorothy Parker

  • LITERATURE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 626 PAGES

An illustrated collection of the poems, stories, reviews, and articles of Dorothy Parker, one of New York City's most sharp-tongued writers. (NYC07, $20.00)

Time and Again

Time and Again


by Jack Finney

  • LITERATURE
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

In this altogether wonderful novel, Simon Morley -- an illustrator and secret government operative, native to 1970 New York -- is transported back in time to the Manhattan of the 1880s. (NYC45, $15.99)

Writing New York, A Literary Anthology

Writing New York, A Literary Anthology


by Philip Lopate

  • LITERATURE
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 1150 PAGES

A massive, satisfying collection of good writing about New York over the centuries. Represented are Whitman, Edith Wharton, Henry Miller and many more. (NYC59, $24.95)

Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City

Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City


by Leslie Day

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 384 PAGES

A lovely handbook to the birds, mammals, insects, plants, fungi and geological features found in the parks and upon the pavement of the five boroughs. With over 200 detailed paintings, photographs and maps. (NYC185, $25.95)

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