Booksontape.com : The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York * Available on Tape.

By Robert A. Caro (© 1974)
Read by Jonathan Reese (Amer.)
1991 Books on Tape, Inc.
Unabridged
Biography > Biography & Autobiography

The story of Robert Moses and the New York he controlled. Pulitzer Prize-winning story of power in America's imperial city.

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Unabridged Editions:	Format:	Ships Within:	Price:	Ordering Options:
Purchase (Collector's) Part A	15 Tapes	2-3 days	~~$120.00~~ $60.00
Purchase (Collector's) Part B	15 Tapes	2-3 days	~~$66.00~~ $33.00
Purchase (Collector's) Part C	13 Tapes	2-3 days	~~$57.00~~ $28.50

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Title Description
One of the most acclaimed books of our time, winner of both the Pulitzer and the Francis Parkman prizes, The Power Broker tells the hidden story behind the shaping (and mis-shaping) of twentieth-century New York (city and state) and makes public what few have known: that Robert Moses was, for almost half a century, the single most powerful man of our time in New York, the shaper not only of the city's politics but of its physical structure and the problems of urban decline that plague us today.

In revealing how Moses did it--how he developed his public authorities into a political machine that was virtually a fourth branch of government, one that could bring to their knees Governors and Mayors (from La Guardia to Lindsay) by mobilizing banks, contractors, labor unions, insurance firms, even the press and the Church, into an irresistible economic force--Robert Caro reveals how power works in all the cities of the United States. Moses built an empire and lived like an emperor. He personally conceived and completed public works costing 27 billion dollars--the greatest builder America (and probably the world) has ever known. Without ever having been elected to office, he dominated the men who were--even his most bitter enemy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, could not control him--until he finally encountered, in Nelson Rockefeller, the only man whose power (and ruthlessness in wielding it) equalled his own.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

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Customer Reviews
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Book rating: Reader rating: Reviewer: Tom Anderson	June 2, 2004
What a remarkable story of political power this book is. Caro tells us a chilling tale of how one man can defeat democracy in America and impose his will to the detriment of a great city. Caro has a genius for making this political story a great drama that was hard to put down. Reese is an excellent reader.

Book rating: Reader rating: Reviewer: Leonard P. Karabell (see other books I've reviewed)	November 3, 2003
I see why this book won the Pulitzer - it's amazingly detailed, yet also explores the feelings and emotions behind the facts of the amazing life of Robert Moses. Caro probably pounds out too many examples to support his points -- a few hundred less pages would have been nice. But this is a MUST read for anyone interested in municipal or state governments and their inner workings.

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Reviewer: Alex Bain (see other books I've reviewed)

June 7, 2002

"The Power Broker" is THE book about the development of NYC in the 20th century. Jonathan Reese does a wonderful job of conveying the epic quality of the story and its central figure; he is particularly good at capturing the amazed and sometimes enraged tones in which those around Moses spoke to Caro of Moses and what he did. The full subtitle of the book is "Robert Moses and the Fall of New York"; Caro's history of the negative long-term effects of Moses's great works projects, as well as their beneficial effects offers patient listeners a subtle and gripping social history. This is a really long book, and the 3rd set of tapes contains some stretches that are not nearly as interesting as the majority of the book's chapters. That said, it's a shame that this recording has omitted Caro's Afterword, in which he speaks of the difficult process of writing the book and gaining access to Moses. But anyone who has ever been interested in how NYC became what it is, for better and worse in all kinds of non-cliched ways, will benefit immensely from digging into this one!