In this fascinating book, a leading historian takes us on a different kind of journey up the Hudson. George J. Lankevich has chosen 64 postcards—most from the first half of the 20th century—to chronicle the changing landscape of the Hudson Valley. North from the gritty riverfront factories of Yonkers, past the towering bluffs of the Palisades, we travel upstream, stopping to sample the remarkable variety of the river’s changing course.

Here’s a rich portfolio of scenes that convey the extraordinary vitality of Hudson Valley history—from stately mansions at Hyde Park and Pocantico Hills to the small river ports that sent bricks and grain down to New York City. There’s West Point, strong on its stone embankment, and, nearby, relaxed scenes of vacationers taking a cruise on one of the historic day boats.

Lankevich’s concise, colorful narrative of the four-hundred-year legacy of Henry Hudson’s discovery flows as smoothly as these snapshot chronicles of a past that still resonates today. River of Dreams is an essential guide to the spirit of a great place—a must for visitors and locals alike.

Praise for George J. Lankevich

“Gives readers a walking tour of Manhattan, from Battery Park to the top of the island via a terrific set of vintage and contemporary postcards . . . the result is an unusual perspective on a much-vaunted metropolis.”—Publishers Weekly (on Postcards from Manhattan)

“Here, as in New York itself, may be found everything and everyone.”—The New York Times Book Review (on New York: A Short History)

“Lankevich has done the near-impossible and packed almost four centuries of New York City into one slim history . . . a deft survey.”—New York History (on New York: A Short History)

In this richly annotated anthology, the writings are grouped thematically into seven sections that cover politics, slavery, the union, democracy, liberty, the nation divided, and the American Dream.

The introductions are by well-known historians: Gabor Borritt, William E. Gienapp, Charles B. Strozier, Richard Nelson Current, James M. McPherson, Mark E. Neely, Jr., and Hans L. Trefousse. In addition, each section’s title page displays a photograph of Lincoln from the time period covered in that section, with a paragraph describing the source and the occasion for which the photograph was made.

In 1918, at the pinnacle of fame, Chapin’s world collapsed. Facing financial ruin, sunk in depression, he decided to kill himself and his beloved wife Nellie. On a quiet September morning, he took not his own life, but Nellie’s, shooting her as she slept. After his trial—and one hell of a story for the World’s competitors—he was sentenced to life in the infamous Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York.

In this story of an extraordinary life set in the most thrilling epoch of American journalism, James McGrath Morris tracks Chapin’s rise from legendary Chicago street reporter to celebrity powerbroker in media-mad New York. His was a human tragedy played out in the sensational stories of tabloids and broadsheets. But it’s also an epic of redemption: in prison, Chapin started a newspaper to fight for prisoner rights, wrote a best-selling autobiography, had two long-distance love affairs, and tapped his prodigious talents to transform barren prison plots into world-famous rose gardens before dying peacefully in his cell in 1930.

The first portrait of one of the founding figures of modern American journalism, and a vibrant chronicle of the cutthroat culture of scoops and scandals, The Rose Man of Sing Sing is also a hidden history of New York at its most colorful and passionate.

Three years later, Capt. Lawrence Cane went home from World War II. He'd landed at Utah Beach on D-Day, helped liberate France and Belgium, and survived the Battle of the Bulge. He won a Silver Star for bravery. And he still managed to write 300 letters home to Grace. This book is a different kind of war story--both an powerful chronicle of life in battle and a unique portrait of courage fueled by a life-long passion for political justice.

Cane's fight for freedom began well before D-Day. In 1937, joined the Abraham Lincoln Battalion and got wounded fighting for democracy in Spain. In 1942, at age 30, he enlisted in the new war against fascism, and as an officer with the 238th Combat Engineer Battalion, went ashore in Normandy to clear mines, destroy fortifications, and open roads from Normandy to the Siegfried Line. Of the 400 Spanish Civil War veterans in World War II, Cane was the only one to go ashore on D-Day.

After the war, Lawrence Cane fought for civil rights and peace until his death in 1976. Discovered in 1995 by Cane's son David, his letters are not only classic accounts of war and unforgettable expressions of love for family. They are the fiercely patriotic words of a left-wing, working-class New York Jew (and one-time Communist Party member) who knew exactly why we fought---to create a better world by destroying all forms of fascism, one battle at a time.

With a fascinating introduction by David Cane, detailed notes, and much additional material, these letters add a new dimension to the meaning of American patriotism and an invaluable chapter to the history of "the greatest generation."

For generations, the industry employed more New Yorkers than any other and was central to the city’s history, culture, and identity. Today, although no longer the big heart of industrial New York, the needle trades are still an important part of the city’s economy—especially for the new waves of immigrants who cut, sew, and assemble clothing in shops around the five boroughs.

In this valuable book, historians, sociologists, and economists explore the rise and fall of the garment industry and its impact on New York and its people, as part of a global process of economic change. Essays trace the rise of the industry, from the creation of a Manhattan garment district employing immigrants from nearby enements to the contemporary spread of Chinese-owned shops in cheaper neighborhoods. The tumultuous history of workers and their bosses is the focus of chapters on contractors and labor militants and on the experiences of Italian, Chinese, Jewish, Dominican, and other ethnic workers. The final chapter looks at air labor, social responsibility, and the political economy of the offshore garment industry.