The New World: Gotham ’45
Manhattan ’45 is a history filled with love and nostalgia. Written in 1987 by Jan Morris, the book is an impressionistic look at New York City and the island just as World War II ended. Morris begins with the arrival of the SS Queen Mary in June of 1945, carrying nearly 15,000 servicemen and women. Morris ends with a backwards summary, stressing a deep and long-lasting affection for Gotham.
For those of us enamored of New York City, how can we not be attracted to this kind of history?
The end of the war brought tremendous optimism to the world and New York City. The horrors of WWII were ending and not yet fully processed, and to a certain degree a new age of internationalism was still a few years away. Morris paints the city in transition, shaking off an earlier mindset and beginning to think about embracing modernity – whatever that might mean. The chapters are structural, not chronological. On Style looks at manner, moralities, sights and sounds. On System describes government, leadership, the powerful and the structures of order. On Race takes in the key ethnic groups of the city: Blacks, Italians, Chinese and Jews. Celebrities, the wealthy and the less fortunate are recounted in On Class. On Movement describes the subways, busses, ferries and roads, and On Pleasure is about eating, dancing, music and performance. Last is On Purpose, which looks at business and economics.
Morris does outstanding work setting a mood through observation, anecdote and fact. Things that one might find in a history book are complemented with non-academic adjectives and tone. From trivia to important matters, the book is like a Circle Line tour of the island. Morris – whose history is worthy of a biography – wrote travel books as well as history. In Manhattan ’45 the reader is something akin to a time traveler, making sense of the center of the world at moment filled with romance and optimism.
Impressionistic and stylish, Manhattan ’45 intrigued me and made me want to wear a hat, dance at a nightclub, and enjoy the city. Thank you, Jan Morris, for a most unusual work.
David Potash
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