Book Information

Book ID Asin: b07dfnhgc1
Book Title: Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City
Book Author: Michelle Nevius,James Nevius,Chris Andrew Ciulla,Tantor Audio
Book Format and Price:
Book Format Name: Kindle
Book Format Price: $14.99
Book Format Name: Audiobook
Book Format Price: $0.00
Book Format Name: Paperback
Book Format Price: $11.23
Book Format Name: AudioCD
Book Format Price: $28.99
Book Price: unknown
Book Category: Books, History, Americas and United States
Book Rating: 145 ratings

Book Product Detail

unknown unknown

Book Review

Name: WhoAmI?
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: I love my hometown
Date: Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2013
Review: I was born and raised in NY and I love it so much. There's so much history everywhere. I can walk down a street in some parts and just "see" how it was to walk down that same street 100 years ago.

I first got the kindle version, but did not find it to be very useful. You need to flip back and forth sometimes in the book because there are maps and such. So I got the paperback and I love it. Very informative book on NYC history and the famous people who helped built this city.

Update: After reading some of the reviews it seems some tourists have bought this book as a means to sightseeing. If you plan on doing that I would highly recommend you get another book specifically for that purpose. This book is not a travel guide, but more of a history book and the maps and such are only there to supplement the telling of the history of this great city. However this can make a great supplement to a travel guide if you are a tourist. I am a NY native, but I learned a lot from this book. For example, I learned that the reason "Wall Street" is named such is because back in the late 1600's there was a literally a big wall there! Built to protect New Yorkers from British colonists and it was built by a collaboration of NY volunteers, residents and black african slaves. Perhaps this rare culture of black slaves working side by side with free men was the reason why in the 1700's "The New York Manumission Society" was founded... which was a group of white males who thought slavery was ungodly and wrong and they fought to abolish it. This society also founded a school specifically meant to educate the children of black slaves so that they could grow up to compete in the market place as free adults. All this and more happened right here in NY! I walked these streets for years not understanding their meaning and now I do.

Name: Joel Graber
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Breezy History of the Magic Island
Date: Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2011
Review: Breezy pop history of Manhattan by reference to notable people and places, which seems appealing, judging by prior reviews, to out-of-towners, although it doesn't purport to be anything other than a selective historical guide. But how many New Yorkers have been to the Statute of Liberty or the Empire State Building, much less, for example, Governor's Island, or know their history? For New Yorkers it's good to be reminded of the likes of Peter Stuyvesant; and there's interesting history in this book regarding places denizens of the Magic Island have never much thought about. The read is effortless, informative and enjoyable. The author-couple is free of cant or ideology. Just the facts, Ma'am. There are many deeper accounts/guides re NYC specializing in architecture, Tammany politics, the subways, the Brooklyn Bridge, the WTC, and even natural history and geology. This is Manhattan 101 and works on that level. Guides such as Lonely Planet, which no Manhattanite would ever think of perusing, are probably more satisfying overall. The text is mapped into 14 walking tours, which, predictably, exemplify the guide's limited breadth, as the walker passes all kinds of interesting sites that are not treated in the main narrative. There can never be too many useful and informative books about NYC, for reasons these authors readily and continually explain.

Name: T. Anderson
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Not a good guidebook
Date: Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2011
Review: I took this to NYC with me to read on the plane and get some history of NY and also for the walking tours. The book is divided up by time periods, from before the Europeons to present day. It's an interesting fast paced history focusing on the places and institutions of NYC and the people associated with them. Lots of interesting trivia. On the down side, it's a relatively large book, 364 pages and standard size. Not easy to carry around. But what really put me off this book were the walking tours. I bought the book basically to take these tours and really understand the history behind what I was seeing. We were going to the Statue of Liberty so we decided to do Tour 2, Wall Street and Beyond. Forget it. The "map" was sketchy with lots of streets not named. The directions for walking did not correspond to the streets on the map. The sites we were supposed to look for were named in the text but on the map they were numbers and to figure out what site the numbers corresponded to you have to go to the front of the book where they are listed in numerical order. Sound confusing? Try doing it with a husband and nine year old waiting on marching orders and hundreds of thousands of people milling around. After flipping back and forth furiously for an hour I just gave up and used my no frills guide book. I really like the idea of this book but it needs work to make it more user friendly.

Name: DreamerKW
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Unique and Informative Book -- A Very Enjoyable Read!
Date: Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2020
Review: LOVE this book! I gave it as a gift to my son and his fiance who recently moved to New York City. It presents historical tidbits on all of the iconic areas and buildings, and it also manages to portray the personality of the city, from the time of it's founding until modern times. It can be simply read as enjoyment or used as a travel reference guide for those living in, or visiting, the city. I highly recommend it.

Name: Mikey With a Y
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Awesome history and a great guide to walking the city
Date: Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2014
Review: As a New Yorker, I have always been interested in the history of the city, but knew very little. This book opened me up to so much history. I have read some parts over and over.

You can read the book 2 ways. You can either go on a self-guided walking tour with 1 of the many tours provided in the back of the book, and then when you get to a location, you can stop and read its 1-3 page history. Or you can read the book in chronological order and then take a tour, using the book for reference.

I took so many friends on the Greenwich Village tour that I feel like I'm a subject expert now. If you want to tour the city on your own, buy this book! If you are interested in the history of NY, buy this book!

It's something I will always go back to and reference when I hear something about NYC history.

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