Normally, I'm a big proponent of print books and magazines... but I have to say, I think this particular concept would have worked better as a video than a book. The CGI / image manipulation would look less awkward if the Native Americans and colonists were moving around or speaking, I think.

There is a lot of great info (although the old-timey font can be hard to read in places), and the old maps are fantastic. It's really just the CGI images of people on the land in Manhattan that are hard to rate highly because the size and perspective are off and there are no shadows. Kind of like a dropshipper's Amazon listing. But really, the author is far more adept at manipulating images than most people. so props for that.

As an educator, I think there is some value for emphasizing how people have come and gone on a certain plot of land. Maybe kids wouldn't be as picky with the images also.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

If you are a visual learner this is the perfect historical guide for you. The artwork and photographs in this book are phenomenal. The brief history and captions that accompany each picture are easy to follow and highly informative. This would be a wonderful addition to any history class, I know if my textbooks had looked this amazing I may have learned more. Sasha Vosk does an excellent job in showing New York as it was 400 years ago.

This is such a wonderful visual guide to The history of New York. The artwork and photos are stunning and really bring to life the history that they depict. This would make the perfect class room companion for any history class. I enjoyed the history and descriptions that accompanied each piece of artwork and found this an easy text to follow.

Review to come Feb 1st to blog/goodreads.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.


I just adore New York, would love to visit one day… though that probably won’t happen as I am very hesitant to ever travel to the US… for many reasons. So I am delighted with these books that allow me to travel to this place without all the fuss and stress. And this one especially seemed wonderful as it showcases 400 years of New York!

This book tells us about the history of New York/New Amsterdam. How it looked before everything was demolished and chopped away. Who lived there first. Plans for the land. Who got at certain places first. What important men did all sorts of things. Seeing the land transform from grass and nature to houses. And so much more. The book isn’t long but it is packed! It was so interesting to read. I have read quite a few books about New York/New Amsterdam in my time and while most do mention some history, it is never that much. Most of the books focus on New York of now. So I was very invested in reading about what was before.

While I know that the Dutch had a big hand in making New York/New Amsterdam, it did feel weird to see Dutch names in an English book. Haha. My head was so confused. 😛

There are plenty of photographs/illustrations/reconstructions. While a few were pretty nice… quite a few felt like a Photoshop gone wrong or where someone had a great background and randomly taped people and animals to it.. and I just couldn’t help but laugh. See below for 3 of my favourite of such moments.

The text however, wasn’t easy to read on my ARC version. It was blurry and the font was a bit odd, some letters had extra things on it making it even harder to read. I did manage to read it, but my eyes and head aren’t thanking me for that. Same goes for the text on the art, the font colour often just didn’t work. Maybe it works in physical, but it definitely didn’t work right for the ebook I got.

All in all, I had fun reading this. It was quite an interesting read. And while unintentional (I hope) the art made me laugh and that was just what I needed after a busy busy day.

Thank you for the ARC NetGalley. This book is a very short history of New York with various photos that are not actually from history. The content was interesting but the writing was difficult to read and the photos were fake looking so it was a turn off.

What you have here is a 'representative' book that uses CGI and green screen photos to give the reader an idea as to what the city looked at from its' beginnings as a forested island to the time of the transfer of sovereignty from the Dutch (in 1614) to the English in 1664.

The use of these illustrative pictures makes it easier to related to the narrative as you literally watch the city grow.