“The ancient bones of Harlem are bared, and its old Dutch farmhouses are uncovered, and the forgotten cattle in the pastures shake away a long-settled dust. In this retrospection, something remarkable happens. Page after page of Gill’s book removes brick after brick of the hulking substance of Harlem, paring it back through the jazz and the riots and the poetry to its ancient hours, until a quiet nothingness is left, and the place at last makes sense.” — The New York Times

"An epic worthy of its fabled subject.”—Edward Kosner, The Wall Street Journal

"Comprehensive and compassionate—an essential text of American history and culture." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Kudos to Jonathan Gill for this savvy reconstruction of Harlem’s long, complicated, and often vexing history. A terrific read, with plenty of surprises along the way, it’s bound to become a classic or I’ll eat my hat.” —Edwin G. Burrows, Pulitzer Prize-winning co-author of Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898

“Authoritative and exhaustive, in addition to being well-written and perceptive … We are in Gill's debt for digging so deeply into Harlem's past, for describing it with no agenda beyond thoroughness and fairness, and for reminding us that there is so much in Harlem to honor and celebrate as well as to deplore and lament. It is one of the most significant neighborhoods in the country, and its contributions - in social leadership, in literature and the arts - have been huge and invaluable."—Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post

“An exquisitely detailed account of the 400-year history of Harlem. … Gill details major figures from George Washington and Alexander Hamilton to Langston Hughes, Marcus Garvey, and Malcolm X as well as the vibrancy of music, art, literature, religion, politics, and urban sensibility that has come to signify Harlem. Richly researched … a vibrant, well-paced, engaging history of an iconic neighborhood.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Jonathan Gill writes with a novelist’s bold feel for character, landscape and the struggle of powerful interests. He is the perhaps first historian to grasp the full significance of ‘uptown’ New York City, and shows how the pious, conservative and deeply rural Harlem resisted the corruption and conflicts of ‘downtown,’ and then was transformed by industry, the railroad, the subway and by successive waves of immigrants. Harlem was re-made by African-Americans in the twentieth century, who created a new culture within the swirling, complexity of New York City. Gill’s Harlem, told in vivid detail, began as a rural village and became the site of the greatest avant-garde in American culture.” —Eric Homberger, author of The Historical Atlas of New York City

"Jonathan Gill's history of Harlem is so briskly paced and invitingly written that readers may not even notice how deeply and impeccably researched it is."—John Matteson, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Eden’s Outcasts

“Jonathan Gill has given us the most appealing trip to Harlem since Duke Ellington told Billy Strayhorn to "take the a train." Gill's gallantly researched, lovingly detailed cakewalk through the history of one of the world's great neighborhoods brings all the streets, pols, gangsters, hoopsters and hipsters vividly to life.” —Nicholas Dawidoff

“Over the years there have been a number of books addressing the Harlem Renaissance. But very few examined the years before or after that remarkable phase. Jonathan Gill has made a decisive and successful step in that direction. ... An engrossing, well-written, and comprehensive look at this storied community. A must read.” —Herb Boyd, author of Baldwin's Harlem

“A strong primer on the neighborhood’s long, exquisite life.” — Dallas Morning News

Holland Times arts critic Gill (American History and Literature/Manhattan School of Music) charts the astonishing transformations, upheavals, revolutions and continual renaissances that have affected the uptown terrain and population for hundreds of years.

In 1609, Henry Hudson glimpsed the Manhattan shoreline and exchanged fire with the local Indians, thus commencing the cultural clashes that continue in the present. The author traces the story of the area from its geological history to the current times of Al Sharpton (who fares poorly here). In the early chapters, Gill summarizes the stories of the Algonquin people and the original Dutch settlers, who laid out their New Haarlem in the mid 17th century. Then the British decided they owned the island, took over and fecklessly renamed New Haarlem "Lancaster," a name that didn't last long. The author follows the colonial history, the significance of the region in the American Revolution (Washington won a key victory at Harlem Heights) and the transformations wrought by the New York and Harlem Railroad and commerce (and greed). As Gill notes, Harlem was for many decades a center of recreation for downtowners, featuring plentiful forests and beautiful geological formations. Soon, it was human entertainment—music, drama, dancing, art and the allures of alcohol and assorted illicit behaviors—that became the principal attraction. Mansions rose, and the wealthy partied hard. Then Harlem began to attract a wide assortment of minorities—Latinos, African-Americans, Jews from Eastern Europe, Italians. By the early 19th century, more and more blacks were calling Harlem home, and as the economy cracked, racial fireworks commenced, raged throughout the Civil War and far beyond. As Gill writes, however, the area has long been home to an amazing assortment of talented individuals—politicians (Marcus Garvey), athletes (Lew Alcindor), writers (Langston Hughes), musicians and performers (Paul Robeson), intellectuals (W.E.B. Du Bois) criminals (Casper Holstein).

Comprehensive and compassionate—an essential text of American history and culture.