New York Almanack

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It’s a Helluva Town: Roberta Brandes Gratz Virtual Author Talk

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Its a Helluva TownBook purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State. 

Roberta Brandes Gratz’s book It’s a Helluva Town: Joan K. Davidson, the J.M. Kaplan Fund, and the Fight for a Better New York (Bold Type Books, 2020) looks back at key moments in New York City’s development, starting with the history of the J.M. Kaplan Fund and its role in shaping the city from the Second World War to the present. [Read more…] about It’s a Helluva Town: Roberta Brandes Gratz Virtual Author Talk

Long Crisis: New York City’s Path to Neoliberalism

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The Long CrisisBook purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

Newspaper headlines beginning in the mid-1960s blared that New York City, known as the greatest city in the world, was in trouble. They depicted a metropolis overcome by poverty and crime, substandard schools, unmanageable bureaucracy, ballooning budget deficits, deserting businesses, and a vanishing middle class. By the mid-1970s, New York faced a situation perhaps graver than the urban crisis: the city could no longer pay its bills and was tumbling toward bankruptcy. [Read more…] about Long Crisis: New York City’s Path to Neoliberalism

‘Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game’ Virtual Discussion

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Billy Phelan’s Greatest GameBook purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

Stanford University’s Another Look Book Club is set to host a virtual discussion of William Kennedy’s Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist’s 1978 novel about a pool hustler and poker player during the 1930s, on Friday, February 26th. [Read more…] about ‘Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game’ Virtual Discussion

A New Book on the Civil Rights Movement

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The 20th Century Civil Rights MovementBook purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State. 

The new book 20th Century Civil Rights Movement: An Africana Studies Perspective (Kendall Hunt Publishing, 2021) by Dr. Mark Christian looks at the major aspects of the 20th Century Civil Rights Movement, featuring sources directly associated with those whom led and marched on the campaigns. [Read more…] about A New Book on the Civil Rights Movement

Lincoln Scholar Offers New Revelations About Mary Todd Lincoln

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An American MarriageBook purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

The new book Lincoln scholar Michael Burlingame An American Marriage: The Untold Story of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd (Pegasus Books, 2021) explores an often overlooked aspect of the sixteenth president’s life, the tragic story of Abraham Lincoln’s marriage to Mary Todd. [Read more…] about Lincoln Scholar Offers New Revelations About Mary Todd Lincoln

Author to Discuss New Amsterdam, NY, Centered Memoir

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too long agoBook purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

David Pietrusza, author of the new memoir, Too Long Ago: A Childhood Memoir. A Vanished World (2020), is set to discuss the book with Bob Cudmore, host of the The Historians Podcast on Tuesday, February 9th in a live Zoom event. [Read more…] about Author to Discuss New Amsterdam, NY, Centered Memoir

1774: The Long Year of Revolution

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the long year of the revolutionBook purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

The new book 1774: The Long Year of Revolution (Knopf, 2020) by Mary Beth Norton keenly focuses on the sixteen months during which the traditional loyalists to King George III began their discordant “discussions” that led to their acceptance of the inevitability of war against the British Empire and to the clashes at Lexington and Concord in mid-April 1775. [Read more…] about 1774: The Long Year of Revolution

First Time Local History Authors: A Virtual Presentation

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adirondack booksThe Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group has announced a webinar with Jim Mackin and Matthew Spady, who will discuss their new books on local history and compare notes about what it’s like to research and write a book for the first time.

Mackin and Spady will describe what first- time authorship is like, about their shared interest in local history, how they conceptualized their books and how they found a publisher. They’ll share their research methods, their writing regimen, the how-tos of fact-checking, editing and finally, promoting their books. [Read more…] about First Time Local History Authors: A Virtual Presentation

Constable’s ‘White Horse’ Subject of Latest Frick Book

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Frick Diptych seriesThe Frick Collection has continued it’s Diptych series with Constable’s White Horse (Giles, 2020) by William Kentridge.

Since 2018, five titles have been published as part of the Diptych series, each illuminating a single work with an in-depth essay by a curator paired with a contribution from a contemporary cultural figure. [Read more…] about Constable’s ‘White Horse’ Subject of Latest Frick Book

A New Book Considers Why Nobody Hitchhikes Anymore

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nobody hitchhikes anymoreBook purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

In the summer of 1978, Ed Griffin-Nolan and a friend took to the road, hitchhiking from New York to California, on to New Orleans and back home to New York.  As 2018 approached, the itch to hitch returned — but most people seemed to believe that this was now impossible. Griffin-Nolan decided to find out why nobody hitchhiked anymore. [Read more…] about A New Book Considers Why Nobody Hitchhikes Anymore