Conquering Gotham

<b>Superb. [A] first-rate narrative (<i>The Wall Street Journal</i>) about the controversial construction of New York's beloved original Penn Station and its tunnels from the author of <i>Eiffel's Tower</i> and <i>Urban Forests</i></b> <p/> As bestselling books like Ron Chernow's <i>Titan</i> and David McCullough's <i>The Great Bridge</i> affirm readers are fascinated with the grand personalities and schemes that populated New York at the close of the nineteenth century. <i>Conquering Gotham</i> re- creates the riveting struggle waged by the great Pennsylvania Railroad to build Penn Station and the monumental system of tunnels that would connect water-bound Manhattan to the rest of the continent by rail. Historian Jill Jonnes tells a ravishing tale of snarling plutocrats engineering feats and backroom politicking packed with the most colorful figures of Gilded Age New York. <p/> <i>Conquering Gotham</i> will be featured in an upcoming episdoe of PBS's American Experience.