New York: An Illustrated History (Revised and Expanded)

Twenty-two years after the original New York: An Illustrated History – first published in 1999 as a companion volume to the acclaimed 17 ½-hour PBS series New York: A Documentary Film, directed by Ric Burns and co-written with James Sanders – the dynamic duo is back. James Sanders will describe the project to revise and update their compendium of the city’s expansion from its colonial beginnings in 1624 up to the current moment.

The new 2021 edition of New York: An Illustrated History, written by Burns and Sanders, moves on from the aftermath of 9/11 to the financial crisis of 2008, the devastation of Superstorm Sandy, the continual struggle with racial injustice, and the still unfolding cataclysm of the COVID-19 pandemic. It presents a lively portrait of the city’s vibrant street life and culture: the physical transformation of the city’s streets, skyline, and waterfront, the birth of hip-hop in the South Bronx, Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Gates in Central Park, the musicals of Broadway, the explosion in location filmmaking in every borough, the pivotal rise of the tech industry, in an epic story of urban rebirth and growth.