The power broker

Robert Moses and the fall of New York

by

1280 pages

English language

Published 1974 by Knopf.

ISBN:
978-0-394-48076-3
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OCLC Number:
834874

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5 stars (1 review)

This is first and foremost a brilliant multidimensional portrait of a man-an extraordinary man who, denied power within the normal framework of the democratic process, stepped outside that framework to grasp power sufficient to shape a great city and hold sway over the very texture of millions of lives.

6 editions

reviewed The power broker by Robert A. Caro

Review of "The Power Broker"

5 stars

One of the best books I've ever read, and probably my biggest reading achievement.

I loved the way it was written. It filled in a lot of gaps about (US) urban planning/politics that I think were important. It's definitely a sobering look at how things "get done"... and if I read it at a different time I think it would have been too frustrating to finish.

Chapters 39 and 40 are I think the most impactful for me. The fact that they all knew none of this was working and still kept at expanding highways just really shows how nothing has changed and that this whole "traffic planning" is a farce and had no basis in reality to begin with. Maybe the externalities/costs are too abstract, idk anymore.

Thanks for nothin, Moses.

Subjects

  • Moses, Robert.