The social life of New York at this period was invested with a peculiar charm. Wealth and refinement, money-making and good-breeding, were blended as never before. -from Chapter XLVI: The Final Struggle From the exuberance of post-Revolutionary Manhattan to the great debate over incorporating the independent municipality of Brooklyn into the City of New York, this final volume of an extraordinary three-volume history of New York remains an informative and entertaining resource today. Volume 3 relates tales of social elegance and bustling commerce, of the founding of Alexander Hamilton's newspaper and Broadway theaters, of grand civic projects of park creation and library building... of the modern foundations of one of the planet's most influential cities. Numerous captivating illustrations depict: . Fifth Avenue at Madison Square . bird's eye view looking south from General Grant's tomb . police parade . Cathedral of St. John the Divine . the Plaza Hotel and Metropolitan Club . bridge at Canal Street in 1800 . Washington Arch . and dozens more. Originally published from 1877 to 1881, this is a delight to browse-for history buffs and lovers of the grand metropolis alike. Also available from Cosimo Classics: Martha J. Lamb's Wall Street in History. American historian MARTHA J. LAMB (d. circa 1892) was a prolific author, publishing children's books, novels, short stories, and magazine articles, as well as serving as editor of the Magazine of American History. Active in charitable organizations, she founded Chicago's Home for Friendless and Half-Orphan Asylum, and was secretary of the city's first Sanitary Fair in 1863. MRS. BURTON HARRISON, née Constance Cary (1843-1920), was the wife of Burton Novell Harrison, personal secretary to Jefferson Davis. Recollections Grave and Gay (1911), her autobiography, relates her childhood in pre-Civil War Virginia and her experience as a young adult there during the war.