Budapest and New York: studies in metropolitan transformation: 1870-1930.

Budapest and New York: studies in metropolitan transformation: 1870-1930. New York New York, state, United StatesNew York,Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of : Russell Sage Russell Sage (4 August 1816 - 22 July 1906) was a financier and politician from New York.Sage was born at Verona in Oneida County, New York. He received a public school education and worked as a farm hand until he was 15, when he became an errand boy in a grocery conducted Foundation, 1994. Pp. xiv, 400. This collection of fourteen essays is an exercise in doublecomparison. It illustrates five themes in the histories of New York andBudapest: the relationships between politics, ethnicity, class, andculture; spatial organization; "the culture of politics and thepolitics of culture" (p. 6); metropolitanism, cosmopolitansim andnationalism; and modernism and traditionalism. It also juxtaposes themethodological and conceptual approaches of Hungarian and Americanhistorians. In the realm of municipal politics, New York is portrayed as havingproceeded on an energetic and independent path, while Budapest, incontrast, was dominated by that of the national government and nationalissues. In David Hammack's view, New York enjoyed the position ofbeing the largest marketplace in the U.S., rather than being a politicalcapital. Because "governments at all levels in the United States United States,officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. were weak," New York was able "to wield great influence overthe rest of the country." (p. 56) Zsuzsa L. Nagy's Budapesthistory is dominated by the changes brought about by World War I and heconsiders it an achievement of Budapest civic leaders to have maintaineda European level city "while the demands of the period becamesterner and harsher in every aspect of life in Budapest." (p. 51)The theme of public space is addressed by Elizabeth Blackmar and RoyRozenzweig's nuanced and careful analysis of the "developmentand transformation of New York's best known `public park' andthe shifting meaning of that seemingly simple phrase." (p. 109)Gabor Gyni's analysis of Budapest's public spaces offersinsights into the contested nature of public space, but is not aparallel analysis to the New York essay. Gyni makes passing referencesto Varosliget as "the only urban park of the city that can becompared to well-known urban gardens elsewhere," (p. 89) but mostof the discussion centres on the politics of control on city streets andpromenades. The model of parallel analysis in the first two sections of thebook is not evident in the discussion of class and ethnicity. DeborahDash Moore Deborah Dash Moore is the Director of the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies, and a Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor of History, both at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Early Life and EducationDeborah Dash Moore was born in New York City. examines New York city New York City:see New York, city. New York CityCity (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. neighborhoods using the tools ofethnicity and class and like others finds "on the streets ofManhattan the materials with which to build ...models of ethnicresidential patterns." (p. 139) While Moore relies on secondaryliterature, Istvan Teplan's post-modern analysis of the St. ImreGarden City is based on primary research. It argues that the best way touncover the "one-time spirit of a place" is to study thearchitectural objects left behind. (p 161) The final and longest two sections of the book focus on popular andhigh culture respectively. Robert Snyder's article suggests thatvaudeville vaudeville(vôd`vĭl), originally a light song, derived from the drinking and love songs formerly attributed to Olivier Basselin and called Vau, or Vaux, de Vire. served to foster "communication across lines ofethnicity, class, gender, and geography" (p. 185) Similarly, NeilHarris writes how New York newspapers "helped define theself-consciousness of New-Yorkers about their city, specifying a newmeaning for urbanity." (p. 248) As in many of the essays, the themethat emerges in the section on high culture portrays New York as placethat could inspire artists, whereas Budapest artists "wished toescape the urban milieu and ignore it as much as they could." (p.309) The essays on the literary arts in the final section struggle torestrict their focus to their respective cities. They find that theurban influences in the works of the authors they examine are not uniqueto New York or Budapest, but rather can be attributed to the times orurbanism in general. The collection of essays is unique primarily due to theintroductions and the afterword af��ter��word?n.See epilogue. written by its editors. Theirreflections on the differing historical approaches, the generationaldifferences between authors, and the relative progress made in wideninghistorical conversation bring clarity and coherence to the collection.The most serious omission is the absence of an analysis of the genderedqualities of the urban experience in the two cities. On the whole,however, this collection achieves what it sets out to do, while theeditors' task of situating the essays in a historical andconceptual context engages the reader creatively in exploring theshortcomings of comparative history. Hans P. Werner Department of History University of Manitoba LocationThe main Fort Garry campus is a complex on the Red River in south Winnipeg. It has an area of 2.74 square kilometres. More than 60 major buildings support the teaching and research programs of the university.