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On June 25, 1945, 14,000 American servicemen and women sailed into New York aboard the British liner Queen Mary. The city that awaited these first returnees from the victory over Nazi Germany stood at a historical climax of power, confidence, hope, and prestige, and yet remained still curiously innocent.
In Manhattan '45, one of the greatest contemporary prose stylists leads us down the gangplank with the returning GIs, and allows us to discover for ourselves the island of Manhattan as it was forty-five years ago. Jan Morris takes us for a ride on the now vanished trollies, the El, and the Hudson River ferryboats, along the way introducing us to characters as disparate as Robert Moses, Sherman Billingsley of the Stork Club, Jackson Pollock, Mayor La Guardia, and Joe Gould, a Greenwich Village dweller who claimed to speak the language of seagulls. We also encounter Harlem and the Lower East Side; inspect the menu at the legendary Le Pavillon; board the Twentieth Century Limited on Track 34 in Grand Central Station; and swoon to Sinatra at the Paramount.
Capturing the tremendously diverse nature of the city, Morris tells us that she titled the book Manhattan '45 because it sounds "partly like a kind of gun, and partly like champagne." Her affectionate account vividly depicts the victorious, hopeful, confident, celebratory, and explosive Manhattan of four and a half decades ago.
In Manhattan '45, one of the greatest contemporary prose stylists leads us down the gangplank with the returning GIs, and allows us to discover for ourselves the island of Manhattan as it was forty-five years ago. Jan Morris takes us for a ride on the now vanished trollies, the El, and the Hudson River ferryboats, along the way introducing us to characters as disparate as Robert Moses, Sherman Billingsley of the Stork Club, Jackson Pollock, Mayor La Guardia, and Joe Gould, a Greenwich Village dweller who claimed to speak the language of seagulls. We also encounter Harlem and the Lower East Side; inspect the menu at the legendary Le Pavillon; board the Twentieth Century Limited on Track 34 in Grand Central Station; and swoon to Sinatra at the Paramount.
Capturing the tremendously diverse nature of the city, Morris tells us that she titled the book Manhattan '45 because it sounds "partly like a kind of gun, and partly like champagne." Her affectionate account vividly depicts the victorious, hopeful, confident, celebratory, and explosive Manhattan of four and a half decades ago.
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About the Author:
About the Author:
Jan Morris is the author of numerous books, including Last Letters from Hav, Spain, and Hong Kong.
Review:
About the Author:
Jan Morris is the author of numerous books, including Last Letters from Hav, Spain, and Hong Kong.
"A fine and fun bebop Baedeker through the Grandest of all Cities, New York, in its 1945 heyday..a valuable and thoroughly enjoyable journey."
(Gregg Ottinger American Studies International)"Morris's rendition of the city's 1945 moods conveys what it felt like to live in New York at that time... A book crammed with details that bring life again to a city that glows in one's memory."
(New York Times Book Review)"Vivid descriptions and diverting anecdotes of life make for a fascinating and enjoyable tour. Morris conveys the excitement of being in New York City as it awakens to a new age in a book that will absorb all lovers of Manhattan."
(Library Journal)"Accomplished with a surprising feeling of immediacy... Morris's unabashedly sentimental journey is narrated in a breezy, sometimes gushing style, yet maintains a high level of accuracy... There are intriguing bits of information and insight that spotlight aspects of the city we may have taken for granted... Manhattan '45... provides some food for thought, some fine writing, but mostly, just fun."
(Christian Science Monitor)"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherPenguin
- Publication date1989
- ISBN 10 0140114246
- ISBN 13 9780140114249
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages1
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Manhattan '45 This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 7719-9780140114249
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 6545-9780140114249
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