City Of Dreams: The 400-Year Epic History of Immigrant New York

By Tyler Anbinder

By an acclaimed historian, a sweeping history of the peoples who have come to New York for four centuries: a defining American story of millions of immigrants, hundreds of languages, and one great city.

New York has been America’s city of immigrants for nearly four centuries. Growing from Peter Minuit’s tiny settlement of 1626 to a clamorous metropolis with more than three million immigrants today, the city has always been a magnet for transplants from all over the globe.

City of Dreams is the long-overdue, inspiring, and defining account of New York’s immigrants, both famous and forgotten: the young man from the Caribbean who relocated to New York and became a founding father; Russian-born Emma Goldman, who condoned the murder of American industrialists as a means of aiding downtrodden workers; Dominican immigrant Oscar de la Renta, who dressed first ladies from Jackie Kennedy to Michelle Obama.

Over ten years in the making, Tyler Anbinder’s story is one of innovators and artists, revolutionaries and rioters, staggering deprivation and soaring triumphs. In so many ways, today’s immigrants are just like those who came to America in centuries past—and their stories have never before been told with such breadth of scope, lavish research, and resounding spirit.

"Told brilliantly, even unforgettably...An American story, one that belongs to all of us."—Boston Globe

“A richly textured guide to the history of our immigrant nation’s pinnacle immigrant city has managed to enter the stage during an election season that has resurrected this historically fraught topic in all its fierceness.”—New York Times Book Review

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 18, 2016
• ISBN: 9780544103856

Tyler Anbinder

Tyler Anbinder is a professor of history at George Washington University. His first book, Nativism and Slavery, was also a New York Times Notable Book and the winner of the Avery Craven Prize of the Organization of American Historians. He lives in Arlington, VA.

Reviews for City Of Dreams

[yukon92 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very detailed and informative history of immigration in New York.

[annbury_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book tells the story of how immigration has shaped, and is still shaping, New York City. On the one hand, it provides a highly detailed analysis of immigration over the past two centuries -- who came, where they came from, and how they lived. On the other, it provides an enlightening new view of the history of New York. It's also, with immigration as much of an issue as it is now, an important reminder that immigration has been an issue for centuries, and that the nativist response rises and then retreats, as one immigrant group after another becomes "native". The book is engagingly written, and avoids getting drowned in the mass of numbers on which it is based. It is also meticulously researched, but is not at all laborious to read. Indeed, "City of Dreams" is an engrossing story, and an enjoyable read.

[lauriebrown54 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

History professor Anbinder, himself a native of New York, traces the waves of immigrants that have built NYC into the behemoth it is today. From Peter Minuit and his deal with the Native Americans to today, the author follows wave after wave of immigrants and how they shaped the city. From the Puritans and fur traders to huge waves of German and Irish immigrants to the Italians, eastern Europeans, Asians, former slaves, South and Central American, and West Indies, all the big movements of people are here. It’s a fascinating read; every wave of people came over hoping for more opportunity and a new life. Nearly all faced prejudice of the already ensconced people, horrible living conditions, and endless hard work. They bore this steadfastly, all in the hope that their children would have better lives than they had. This is not your boring history book. Anbinder frequently uses personal accounts to bring vivid life to the past. While this is a massive book- nearly 600 pages with another 100 of end notes, bibliography, appendices, and index- it was as gripping as a well-written novel. Here’s the Irish fleeing the famine, arriving as stick figures. Here are the people trying to take advantage of new immigrants. There were some parts that were less interesting to me- the section on the Civil War, for instance, because I never find war interesting- even those I read every word of. That is a first for me; I tend to skip the bits about fighting. Every wave of immigrants seemed to follow the same routine: take the first jobs they could get, always the things natives (and previous immigrants) had risen above. They work 7 days a week (except for the Jews, who mostly didn’t work on the Sabbath). They live in cramped quarters. As soon as they can save the money, they start a business of their own. They also send amazing amounts of money back to their home countries, whether it be to support parents or to bring over other family members. They become citizens as fast as possible most of the time, unless they are hoping to make enough money to have a business in their home country. They almost always dislike the next wave of immigrants, feeling that next wave has a criminal element to it. Humans have remained the same for the 400 year span of NYC; they are filled with prejudice. Excellent book; should be required reading. It’ll enlighten a lot of folks who want to build a wall.