Gotham Rising: New York in the 1930s

Often described as the greatest city in the world, New York is one of the iconic cities of the world. Yet much of its architecture and culture which so defines the city we know today only came into being in the 1930s, in what was perhaps the most significant decade in the city’s 400 year history. Jules Stewart shows how, after the roaring twenties, the catastrophic Wall Street Crash and ensuing Depression, New York rose from the ashes and underwent an architectural, economic, social and creative renaissance under the leadership of Mayor Fiorello La Guardia. After seizing power, he declared war on the mafia mobs running vast swathes of the city, attacked political corruption and kick-started the economy through a variety of construction and infrastructure projects. At the same time, a cultural revolution was underway as the jazz age and the Harlem Renaissance took hold. From the Empire State Building to the Pastrami Sandwich and the Cotton Club, Gotham Rising tells the story of when the city we know today came of age.

Jules Stewart is a journalist and author. He was born in New York and was a lecturer in Spanish language and literature before moving to Madrid, where he lived for twenty years. He now lives in London. His books include Madrid: The History; Albert: A Life; The Kaiser's Mission to Kabul; On Afghanistan's Plains: The Story of Britain's Afghan Wars; and Gotham Rising: New York in the 1930s (I.B.Tauris). In addition, he is the author of Crimson Snow: Britain's First Disaster in Afghanistan; The Savage Border: The Story of the North-West Frontier; Spying for the Raj: The Pundits and the Mapping of the Himalaya; and The Khyber Rifles: From the British Raj to Al Qaeda.