I received a free Kindle copy of Greater Gotham: A History of New York City from 1898-1919 by Mike Wallace courtesy of Net Galley and Oxford University Press, the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would post a review to Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google Plus pages.

I requested this book as I am a native New Yorker (upstate) and have read snippets about the history of New York City through other books that have touched on the subject (fiction and nonfiction). This is the first book by Mike Wallace that I have read.

This is a well written, well researched and exhaustive history of New York City covering the time period 1898 to 1919. Early on in the book the author details how the five boroughs combined to form the City. He also spends a great deal of time on lists of people, places and exact locations. I found myself skimming over these for the meatier parts of the book.

While I found the book to be very enjoyable, the sheer size of it may prove daunting to others, although it makes a very good reference book for the time period covered.

THis book was just as fascinating as the first book "Gotham". Huge, entertaining, and factual.

Book wouldn't download - bad format - couldn't read it.