Revolting New York: How 400 Years of Riot, Rebellion, Uprising, and Revolution Shaped a City

by Neil Smith (Editor)

Occupy Wall Street did not come from nowhere. It was part of a long history of riot, revolt, uprising, and sometimes even revolution that has shaped New York City. From the earliest European colonization to the present, New Yorkers have been revolting. Hard hitting, revealing, and insightful, Revolting New York tells the story of New York's evolution through revolution, a story of near-continuous popular (and sometimes not-so-popular) uprising.

Richly illustrated with more than ninety historical and contemporary images, historical maps, and maps drawn especially for the book, Revolting New York provides the first comprehensive account of the historical geography of revolt in New York, from the earliest uprisings of the Munsee against the Dutch occupation of Manhattan in the seventeenth century to the Black Lives Matter movement and the unrest of the Trump era. Through this rich narrative, editors Neil Smith and Don Mitchell reveal a continuous, if varied and punctuated, history of rebellion in New York that is as vital as the more standard histories of formal politics, planning, economic growth, and restructuring that largely define our consciousness of New York's story.

Contributors: Marnie Brady, Kathleen Dunn, Zultan Gluck, Rachel Goffe, Harmony Goldberg, Amanda Huron, Malav Kanuga, Esteban Kelly, Manissa McCleave Maharawal, Don Mitchell, Justin Sean Myers, Brendan P. O'Malley, Raymond Pettit, Miguelina Rodriguez, Jenjoy Roybal, McNair Scott, Erin Siodmak, Neil Smith, Peter Waldman, and Nicole Watson.

Genres: History, Politics

368 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2018

About the author

Several different Neils Smiths tend to collect here.

For the linguist, see Neilson Voyne Smith
For the author of Boo, and Bang Crunch, see Neil Smith

Reviews

[Niklas Pivic · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting and very in-depth book that's about revolting in New York; gotta love the title pun.

From lynchings to solving the public-transport problem (in the nineteenth century), this book delves into statistics, racism, individual stories, and more high-and-lows, which is quite the read for anybody who's into details on New York.

[A Reader's Heaven · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Occupy Wall Street did not come from nowhere. It was part of a long history of riot, revolt, uprising, and sometimes even revolution that has shaped New York City. From the earliest European colonization to the present, New Yorkers have been revolting. Hard hitting, revealing, and insightful, Revolting New York tells the story of New York’s evolution through revolution, a story of near-continuous popular (and sometimes not-so-popular) uprising.
Richly illustrated with more than ninety historical and contemporary images, historical maps, and maps drawn especially for the book, Revolting New York provides the first comprehensive account of the historical geography of revolt in New York, from the earliest uprisings of the Munsee against the Dutch occupation of Manhattan in the seventeenth century to the Black Lives Matter movement and the unrest of the Trump era. Through this rich narrative, editors Neil Smith and Don Mitchell reveal a continuous, if varied and punctuated, history of rebellion in New York that is as vital as the more standard histories of formal politics, planning, economic growth, and restructuring that largely define our consciousness of New York’s story.

In recent years, revolution in New York has been typified by the Occupy Wall Street movement. But the history of resistance in New York goes back much, much further than that...

Dating back to slave riots, this book covers a huge range of movements that have made an impact in the city: race riots, anti-war demonstrations, women's rights, civil rights, sit-ins and strikes on university campuses and workplaces - all the way to the financial and immigration protests we see today.

But this is more than just a chronicle of protests and unrest - it captures the social history of a city that spans 400 years. The contributing authors do a marvellous job bringing the reader into the city, examining the issues (and the history behind it) and manage to both analyse and criticise these movements, as necessary.

While a lot of these history books can ending up reading like a textbook, this one doesn't suffer from that at all. Quite possibly due to the different styles of writing and approaches to each event. Everything feels fresh as you read, and at no time did I feel bored with the narratives.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely. Without hesitation.


Paul
ARH

[Sam DiBella · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Like any city, New York overflows with alternate histories. After Occupy Wall Street and the flood of protests around the 2016 national election – including citywide marches for Black Lives Matter, the JFK Airport protests and the New School student occupation – New York’s motley history of riots is one well worth visiting. Revolting New York was first conceived by Neil Smith, a CUNY geography professor, and was completed by his students as a collection of essays after his death. At first glance, the book is a representative history of mass political violence in New York. As a project spearheaded by geographers, however, Revolting New York shows the physical and cultural effects that riots have had on the city’s landscape."

Full review on the LSE Review of Books

[Graeme · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wrote a full review for H-Net here:

https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf...

[Ruksana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book immediately appealed to me because I am interested in history and how uprising has shaped our realities today. This book goes through 400 years of New York City’s history to show how much it’s gone through to get to its current state.