The ambitiousness of this work is what I most noticed about Gotham. It covers the New York City area from pre-Colombian times to 1898, and those early years are fascinating. The author's prose isn't the best, but it's serviceable. What has stayed with me are the descriptions of Manhattan as a natural paradise, filled with bears, dolphins, whales, and countless other bounty that one doesn't normally associate with the Big Apple. It's a shame what civilization has done to this place. I haven't finished the book yet. Once I got into the Revolutionary Period, it seemed the story was sprawling beyond my interests, so I've set it down. But I will pick it up again.