The historical atlas of New York City : a visual celebration of nearly 400 years of New York City's history / Eric Homberger ; Alice Hudson, cartographic consultant.

This atlas surveys the history of New York City in more than 50 double-page spreads combining a map with brief text, illustrations, and other graphics. Each spread focuses on a particular theme such as "Stuyvesant's City," "From Iron Age to Skyscraper," "Broadway," and "Latest Arrivals" (the new immigrants). Each of the seven chapters into which the atlas is divided covers a particular historical period and is introduced by a brief illustrated overview of the period. An illustrated chronology follows the atlas proper, providing a conspectus of the city's history. Other supplementary features at the back include a section of short biographies of more than 50 outstanding individuals associated with the city, a bibliography keyed to the chapters, and a page with two lists: "New York in American Literature" (a book list) and a selective listing of museums An informative and visually attractive introduction to the history of the city, this atlas is quite selective in its coverage and has limited reference value compared with more comprehensive guides to the city. A spot check of the index turns up no references to Mayor Jimmy Walker and no mention of the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the Museum of Modern Art, although they do appear on maps. Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle are mentioned on the "Our Team" pages, but not Joe DiMaggio. Among other famous New Yorkers that fail to appear in the index are Caruso, Toscanini, Joe Papp, and Woody Allen. James Baldwin is not on the literature book list, and some classic sources on the city are not cited in the bibliography, such as "The Columbia Historical Portrait of New York". Nonetheless, many fascinating aspects of the rich history of the city are explored in the atlas: its geology, Harlem, Central Park, the rise of the great department stores, the subway, and public housing, to mention a few Many public and academic libraries may prefer to add this title to their circulating collection rather than to the reference shelves. cBooklist