The New Yorkers: 31 Remarkable People, 400 Years, and the Untold Biography of the World's Greatest City

From the New York Times reporter whose beat has been Urban Affairs, the story of the world's most exceptional city, told through 31 little-known yet pivotal inhabitants-just in time for the city's 400th birthday.

With its vast, pulsating history, some of the most vital contributions to the lifeblood of New York won't be found in boldface names-and in The New Yorkers, you'll meet the city anew through 31 key New Yorkers you've never heard of.

The New Yorkers introduces us to the first woman to appear nude in a motion picture, becoming the face of Civic Fame as Miss Manhattan; the couple whose soir嶪 ended the Gilded Age with an embarrassing bang; the husband and wife who invented the modern celebrity talk show. You'll discover the victim of the city's first recorded murder in the 17th century and the high school dropout who slashed crime rates in the 20th. The notorious mobster who was remarkably banished from the city and the woman who successfully sued a bus company for racial discrimination a century before Rosa Parks.

There are some whose forgotten grandeur deserved monuments, others whose discreet sway shepherded the city through its perpetual transmutation-yet all have vanished into the void of uncombed history. The New Yorkers is a living biography of the world's most extraordinary city. No one knows New York better than Sam Roberts-and no one is better at bringing its history to life.