Since the 1700s, various ethnic and immigrant groups have  been shifting and negotiating their place in New York City. Hope Cooke  also struggled to find a "correlation of space" and "sense of  belonging" when she returned to the city after spending her adult life  living in a place in the Himalayas, the Queen of Sikkim (a tiny  kingdom near Nepal). Abroad for so long, she returned with an urgent  need to rediscover this city, to "find her way home."    It was not always a comfortable journey for Cooke: "On the days I felt  secure, Manhattan's maelstrom was pure energy. On shaky days, the  boundlessness made me yearn for limits, or, failing that, at least a  vantage point." The book that has emerged is an entertaining and  integrated account of New York City's social history, architecture,  physical space, and culture. Starting with the American Indian  settlements and the early days when the southern-most tip of Manhattan  held little more than a bleak outpost of Dutch fur traders, Cooke  tracks the economic development and journeys north, from the Village's  beginnings as a refuge from dreaded summer fevers to the present day  Dominican enclave of Washington Heights.    Written for armchair enthusiasts and walkabout adventurers, this book  travels fourteen of the city's distinct and significant  neighborhoods. Cooke's guide will make a historical sleuth out of  local residents and tourists alike. Her off-the-beaten-path insights  and witty observations help decode the urban landscape and reveal how  social changes have reworked the city's terrain. Enhancing the  narrative are 140 illustrations, including old engravings, maps, and  current photographs.

Seeing New York: History Walks for Armchair and Footloose Travelers PDF

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