City in the Sky: The Rise and Fall of the World Trade Center

Book Description

"A fascinating story . . . Those who delighted in Caro's Power Broker will relish City in the Sky." -Thomas Bender, The New York Times Book Review The World Trade Center was the biggest and brashest icon that New York has ever produced-a pair of magnificent giants that became intimately familiar around the globe. In this vivid, brilliantly researched narrative, New York Times reporters James Glanz and Eric Lipton re-create the life of the World Trade Center from its genesis in David Rockefeller's ambition to rebuild lower Manhattan to the spirited battles with local storeowners and powerful politicians who opposed it, to the bold structural engineering innovations that would later determine who lived and died in its collapse. And like David McCullough's The Great Bridge, City in the Sky is a riveting story of New York itself- of architectural daring, political maneuvering, human ambition and frailty, and a lost American icon.

Customer Reviews:

Satisfies a Lot Of Questions.......2007-02-01

I enjoyed this book, mostly because I had many, many questions about the politics and the economics of the WTC. If that's your purpose in picking this book, you'll do fine.

However, "The Rise and Fall" certainly implies a lot of coverage of the collapse of the towers. This, while covered, is not dealt with in as thorough a manner as in many other documentaries. So, as with many things, your pleasure with the book is a function of your expectations. I liked it a lot, but, from what other reviewers say below, I can understand why others feel much less enthusiastic.

Wait for the Paperback.......2005-02-10

"City in the Sky" is a well- researched, well -documented account of the site acquisition, construction, and eventual collapse of the New York World Trade Center. (There are other WTCs). It is immediately obvious that the authors have conducted extensive interviews and research. Full disclosure: This reviewer worked at the facility for 24 years for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Most of the anecdotes retold in CIS are just as I originally heard them years ago. (With some exceptions: On Austin Tobin's first trip on the newly acquired Hudson and Manhattan Railroad, the sleeping drunk supposedly woke up long enough to bid the Executive Director "good evening" before passing out again. Also, some of the PA titles are inaccurate, though not wrong. There was one obvious leg-pull about a "mailroom worker".) CIS in really 3 stories in one: The first is the strongest: That tale encompasses the struggle to condemn the surrounding real estate, overcome local opposition and secure Governmental cooperation for the project. Those who enjoyed such works as Robert Caro's "The Power Broker" will be in their element here. The second is concerned with the actual construction of the 2 towers and satellite buildings. The authors manage to include just enough technical details to tell the story without allowing this section of CIS to become too technical. The final part deals with that tragic day we now call 9/11. This reviewer does not wish to minimize that awful event but this tale has been told better, or as well, elsewhere. One assumes its' inclusion was virtually mandatory in a 400+ page work on the Trade Center but it emerges, perhaps strangely, as the weakest section of CIS. This reviewer hopes he was mistaken when he read that some of the victims who jumped to their deaths were in fact pushed by co-workers needing window space. A major difficulty with the text is that the authors appear too inclined to blame the Port Authority for inadequate fireproofing of the towers. This may-or may NOT! -be so but this serious charge is not substantiated here. Furthermore the PA executive most of the allegations are heaped upon has been dead for some 20 years and is hardly in a position to defend himself. CIS' strength is the relating of the struggles to build the Towers in the light of another era. Those were the days of Radio Row, a vastly different New York City, the maximum power of the Rockefeller Family and what those a bit older that this reviewer fondly remember as the "good old days" at Mother PONYA. CIS is entirely worthwhile but far from urgent reading. Amazoners may wish to wait for the more moderate prices of a paperback edition. That event would warrant a 4th star.

The best of the bunch.......2004-08-05

As a child, I watched the World Trade Center go up. As an adult, I had been through the Center thousands of times and ate many a lunch in the plaza between the two beautiful towers. Although I worked only three blocks north of the WTC, I was nowhere near them on 9/11, and thank God for that. I don't think I could have been able to bear witnessing their destruction.

To fill the void, I began reading everything about the World Trade Center that I could. Eric Darton's book, "Divided We Stand", published before 9/11, was okay but I found the second-person narration and its choppy presentation too distracting. Several other books were published after the devestation, but they all seemed like rush jobs trying to cash in on the disaster. However, "City in the Sky: The Rise and Fall of the World Trade Center" by James Glanz and Eric Lipton is by far the best of the bunch. Meticulously researched without being too scholarly, the authors present a biography of the center that was filled with controversy, behind-closed-doors intrigues, political wrestling and, ultimately, the construction and engineering marvels that allowed the towers to rise. The pacing is remarkably swift but nothing is glossed over. The final quarter of the book is about 9/11 and afterward. I began this section with dread and was tempted not to read it at all. Fortunately, Glanz and Lipton handled it with incredible sensitivity.

"City in the Sky", like the towers themselves, is a remarkable collaboration: the narrative is seamless--like Burrows and Wallace's "Gotham". And, ultimately, this book is a lively and poignant tribute to the World Trade Center they must have loved.

Rocco Dormarunno,
author of "The Five Points"

The saga of the WTC from its initial conception in 1939.......2004-05-22

It is all right here. From the germ of the idea at the 1939 New York World's Fair to the design and planning of a project unlike any other in the history of mankind to the cataclysmic events of September 11, 2001. New York Times reporters James Glanz and Eric Lipton have pieced together the complete history that needed to be told. "City In The Sky" is the remarkable story of how the World Trade Center came to be. It is a riveting tale from start to finish. Learn about those who first envisioned this project way back in the late 1940's and of the considerable role politics would play in this saga over the ensuing decades. You will be introduced to Lawrence A. Wien, owner of the Empire State Building, who fought this project tooth and nail. And you'll meet one Oscar Nadel, owner of a small appliance business that would be displaced by the World Trade Center. Put yourself in his shoes and in the shoes of hundreds of other small business people who were to be evicted in the wake of this massive project.
Glanz and Lipton also devote a considerable amount of time to the struggle between the City of New York and the New York and New Jersey Port Authority for control of this enormous project.
You will learn why the WTC was located where it was and
about all of the people who made this concept a reality from the visionary David Rockerfeller to the unconventional architect Minoru Yamasaki to powerful Port Authority chairman Austin Tobin. And of course, you will read once again of the tragic events of 9/11 and see how decisions made decades earlier may have helped decide who would live and who would die on that fateful day. Were corners cut during construction? Was the fireproofing used adequate? And were the consequences of an airliner crashing into the Twin Towers ever seriously considered? So many questions. This is an important book that helps you to unravel some of the complex issues here.
Recommended.

An excellent history of the WTC...........2004-05-11

This book is an excellent history of the World Trade Center towers, from their conception in the early 1960's to their eventual destruction on 9/11/2001. This book avoids many of the political biases generally associated with this subject, and instead simply tells the story. Surprsingly, the book is a quick read, much like a novel. Highly recommended!

City in the Sky; The Rise and Fall of the World Trade Center

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City in the Sky; The Rise and Fall of the World Trade Center
James and Lipton, Eric GLANZ
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MYVJEK

Weegee's People
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Weegee's People
Wegee
Manufacturer: Duell, Slaon and Pearce
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ASIN: B000JI4OGE

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Weegee's people
Weegee
Manufacturer: Duell, Sloan and Pearce
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Product Description

In the tradition of DORK and EIGHTBALL comes a hilarious new series from Ignatz award-winning cartoonist Scott Mills. You'll laugh your butt off at these stories! See why Mike Oeming said, "Scott Mills is a unique and driven artist. His works are purely original and speak from his soul."

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Laugh out loud.......2005-11-20

This is a very good read. It makes you laugh and in places it leaves you sorely distressed. Its worth the time it takes to read it!

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Scott Mills
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Interesting biography!.......2003-11-26

This is a great biography on the life of Ian Fleming. It is interesting, informative, and gives you the real story behind this intriguing person. I did a project using this book and it was very helpful, I found all the information to be factual and backed up with proof. It is an interesting book for anyone who wants to know more about the creator of James Bond, or just read a great biography.

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Book Description

The Riveting Account of the American Who Inspired Kipling's Classic Tale and the John Huston Movie

In the year 1838, a young adventurer, surrounded by his native troops and mounted on an elephant, raised the American flag on the summit of the Hindu Kush in the mountainous wilds of Afghanistan. He declared himself Prince of Ghor, Lord of the Hazarahs, spiritual and military heir to Alexander the Great.

The true story of Josiah Harlan, a Pennsylvania Quaker and the first American ever to enter Afghanistan, has never been told before, yet the life and writings of this extraordinary man echo down the centuries, as America finds itself embroiled once more in the land he first explored and described 180 years ago.

Soldier, spy, doctor, naturalist, traveler, and writer, Josiah Harlan wanted to be a king, with all the imperialist hubris of his times. In an extraordinary twenty-year journey around Central Asia, he was variously employed as surgeon to the Maharaja of Punjab, revolutionary agent for the exiled Afghan king, and then commander in chief of the Afghan armies. In 1838, he set off in the footsteps of Alexander the Great across the Hindu Kush and forged his own kingdom, only to be ejected from Afghanistan a few months later by the invading British.

Using a trove of newly discovered documents and Harlan's own unpublished journals, Ben Macintyre tells the astonishing true story of the man who would be the first and last American king.

Customer Reviews:

The Man Who Would Be King: The First American in Afghanistan.......2006-08-23

In Rudyard Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King, a young adventurer named Daniel Dravot penetrates feudal Afghanistan disguised as a cleric. In this nonfiction account with a similar title, MacIntyre, a columnist for The Times of London, tells the story of the real life adventurer who may have been Kipling's inspiration. He describes the life and adventures of Josiah Harlan (1799-1871), a young Quaker from Chester County, Pennsylvania, who set sail for China in 1822, telling his fiancée that they would marry when he returned. Upon reaching Calcutta, Harlan received a letter announcing that she was marrying another man. He resolved never to return home.

So began his adventures. After a failed stint in the Indian army--an action for which the Quakers excommunicated him--Harlan met Shujah al-Mulk (1792-1842), an Afghan king exiled to India in 1809 after just six years on the throne. Harlan offered a deal: he would raise an army, subdue Kabul, and restore the kingdom. In exchange, he would become vizier, the equivalent of prime minister. The deal struck, Harlan began recruiting native troops, using the U.S. flag as his own. In 1827, he and his army began their long march. But he soon had second thoughts about his army's loyalty. He picked a trusted team, paid severance to the others, and launched his Plan B: dressed as a dervish, he made his way to Kabul, arriving in 1828 just as an epidemic of cholera ravaged the city. Years passed and Harlan changed his allegiance to Shujah's rival, King Dost Muhammad Khan (1793-1863), to whom he became aide-de-camp. This Afghan king granted Harlan's wish for power. The itinerant Pennsylvania Quaker and stilted lover became prince of Ghor, today a province in central Afghanistan.

Harlan's story is riveting. MacIntyre describes his adventures, disillusionments, and eventual return to the United States as the only Afghan general to serve in the U.S. Civil War.

Harlan was not alone in his adventures. In the nineteenth century, a handful of men made dangerous journeys through Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Tibet. Not all survived. Author Peter Hopkirk has chronicled their stories.[1] But it is rare that so much new material surfaces in one book, and for this MacIntyre deserves special credit. After learning of this curious American from cursory references and footnotes in old travelogues gathering dust in the British Library, MacIntyre made it his mission to uncover the saga of this historical Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern. His quest took him to Punjab and Pennsylvania, Kabul and California. He scoured through the official records of the Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Lahore and poured over the intelligence archives of imperial India, whose agents were suspicious of Harlan's plots and schemes. Finally, in a Chester County museum, MacIntyre found a long-lost manuscript replete with love letters and sketches. Explanations of historical and cultural context weave together in his fluid prose. The result is impressive and well-worth reading.

Note

1. See for example, Great Game (London: Murray, 1990); On Secret Service East of Constantinople (London: Murray, 1994); Trespassers on the Roof of the World (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001)

Michael Rubin
Middle East Quarterly
Fall 2006

Marvelous Chronicle.......2006-04-22

A fascinating read in every respect. Macintyre is a fluid writer and the book is a real page turner. Apart from vivid details of the remarkable adventures of the first American in Afghanistan; the intrigues, machinations and sheer depravity of virtually all the players in the great game are in plain sight. The book also provides rare insights - via Josiah Harlan's prism - of British mendacity, misrule and astounding arrogance. Harlan's account of British shenanigans may have a tinge of exaggeration owing to his eventual deep hatred of the Empire and many of its emissaries but the substance of Harlan's writings can be corroborrated in other accounts such as the Great Hedge of India by Roy Moxham (another British author) and in more substantive form with relevant data in Angus Maddison's The World Economy. Macintyre deserves considerable praise for presenting the unvarnished truth, albeit through Harlan's pen, about the largely negative legacy of the British Empire. It is a shame that Harlan's story, despite this wonderful book, remains largely unknown both in the US and the East.

An American chapter in the Great Game.......2006-04-21

Most people who pick up this book will already have read some of the travelogues of the "mad dogs and Englishmen" who wandered through Central Asia in the 19th and early 20th century: Burnaby and Nazaroff's memoirs, as well as any of Peter Hopkirk's books on the era.

But here we have a real fish out of water story, and a fascinating one at that: an American Quaker leading, or joining, armies through Afghanistan and elsewhere in the name of, variously: the sitting ruler of Afghanistan, the deposed predecessor, his Sikh neighbor, the British Empire, and arguably himself as "Prince of Ghor."

The tale is fascinating because it's so poorly-known, despite the fact that Kipling's fiction, which I understand to be inspired by Harlan and other adventurers of the time, is so well-known.

Undoubtedly, Harlan's own financial misfortune and quiet death contributed to the obscurity of the narrative, but Macintyre does a great job of weaving the scraps together, and keeping the story's pace. An interesting read, and a bit of history which has earned its place in Central Asian lore.

Excellent and fascinating bit a history.......2006-02-25

Considering all that's happening in Afghanistan today, this is a timely and fascinating story of an American who travled there in the early 1800's. Fast paced book that's hard to put down and it gives a glimpse into early 1800's life in a country that most people still don't understand today.

Great read!.......2005-10-02

If you enjoy history, especially military history, then you will enjoy this book. Written in much the same style as Byron Falwell's "Armies of the Raj," this amazingly true yarn about a Quaker who becomes, if not a king, the Prince of Ghor will keep you wondering just what is going to happen next. I absolutely enjoyed the book. My only negative comment is that the later years of his life are glossed over rather quickly, but, that is understandable since the last years were no where near as exciting as the first 40. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys history or biographies. Enjoy.

The Man Who Would Be King: The First American in Afghanistan

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The Man Who Would Be King: The First American in Afghanistan
Ben MacIntyre
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OX9BY4

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The Man Who Would Be King: the First American in Afghanistan
Macintyre Ben
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
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ASIN: B000UF45EW

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This volume is a case study of education reform and innovation using technology that examines the issue from a wide variety of perspectives. It brings together the views and experiences of software designers, curriculum writers, teachers and students, researchers and administrators. Thus, it stands in contrast to other analyses of innovation that tend to look through the particular prisms of research, classroom practice, or software design.

The Geometric Supposer encourages a belief in a better tomorrow for schools. On its surface, the Geometric Supposer provides the means for radically altering the way in which geometry is taught and the quality of learning that can be achieved. At a deeper level, however, it suggests a powerful metaphor for improving education that can be played out in many different instructional contexts.

Best Little Stories from World War II
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A must for history lovers

Light Reading at Its Best

Good Stories + lots of them

A Few Gems...but Overall Disappointment

Best Little Stories from World War II
C. Brian Kelly
Manufacturer: Cumberland House Publishing
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Book Description

More than 150 true stories of triumphs and tragedies comprise C. Brian Kelly's "Best Little Stories from World War II." Serving as a window into the lives of those who experienced the war, Kelly's book recounts the reality of war to soldiers and sailors, heroes and villians, and leaders and ordinary people. These inspiring, poignant, ironic, and sometimes tragic stories make World War II come alive with the thoughts and feelings of those who were there.

Customer Reviews:

A must for history lovers.......2006-12-15

One of the fascinating things about war is the stories that come from it. Kelly has compiled over a hundred of these stories from World War II that would make any history buff proud. Books like this remind us that war is not only battles, generals and casualty rates. There is so much more beneath the surface. Wars are faught by people, by human beings, and when that many human beings share a common experience, there are certainly some good stories coming from it.

The short tales show us the war from the eyes of those who lived it. Some are comical, some are sad, some are better than others. If nothing else, this book portrayed the human side of the war, reminding me that even at our worst times we are not animals. For the history fan, I highly recommend it, but it would also be a good read for all the generations that never actually knew those of the Greatest Generation, the men and women who saved the world. These are their stories, and they make for great reading.

Light Reading at Its Best.......2002-10-28

This is a collection of 101 obscure stories (vignettes) from World War II, mostly anecdotal, human interest stories combed from a variety of sources. They cover the full gamut of the war -- all theaters, all mediums. One lesson to be drawn is that people will be people no matter what their circumstances. An easy, entertaining read. With each story standing alone, it's an excellent book for casual reading.

Good Stories + lots of them.......2002-02-21

This book was really fun to read -- the stories seem to flow pretty well one to another. They are arranged chronologically, and paint a vivid picture of the whole war for us who weren't there. Since each story has a different perspective and author, you get a well rounded taste of the heroes and horrors that came from the great clash of the 20th century. Best Little Stories of World War II is a wonderful choice for anyone interested in history or in WWII.

A Few Gems...but Overall Disappointment.......2000-05-26

"Best Little Stories From WWII" is somewhat of a misleading title. While the layout of the text is admirable...numerous short stories that can be read at leisure...the content of the majority of the stories is bland and unmoving. While a few of the stories are worthy of great praise, I found too many boring stories about the world's naval forces during the time period. After reading such great books from authors like Cornelius Ryan, Stephen Ambrose and Charles Marshall, I find that overall this book is missing much by comparison. The only reedeming quality this book has for me is that of a coffee table decoration.

Union of Crowns: The Forging of Europe's Most Independent State
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Crawford Little
Manufacturer: Neil Wilson Publishing
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Union of Crowns: The Forging of Europe's Most Independent State /
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Aminophosphinic and aminoposphonic acids, synthetic analogs to natural amino acids, have attained a position of prominence in research--particularly in research involving the modification of physiological processes in living organisms.

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Aminophosphonic and Aminophosphinic Acids: Chemistry and Biological Activity
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