The Power Broker is an exhaustingive biography of Robert Moses, the "master builder" whose parks, bridges, and highways shaped modern New York. Moses was a visionary, a supremely effective public servant, and a man who Got It Done. He was also a self-centered arrogant strongman who became addicted to power for its own sake, ruthlessly punished anyone who questioned him, and led New York into an unsustainable automobile-centered future. (Moses was so averse to public transportation that he refused all transit lines and built low bridges over his parkways to prevent buses from ever using them.)
The book is renowned for its depiction of day-to-day politics performed by a virtuoso (the "best bill drafter in Albany") and for its savage portrait of a man who was still alive and kicking when it was published. It also offers insights into the challenges of urban planning and the real-world implications of policy decisions. The Power Broker appears on the Modern Library list of the 100 best non-fiction books of the 20th century.
Despite Caro's clearly critical tone, he gives Moses full credit for his vision and unparalleled accomplishments. For decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s, Moses got huge infrastructure projects built, most notably parks, highways, and bridges. He even created a new branch of quasi-government through his use of public authorities. His ultimate downfall came in an area where his talent for building conflicted with his talent for corruption: public housing, where the money comes from not building.
The Power Broker is an impressive work of history, but often a slog to read. It is 1200 pages long, which is daunting enough, but what I found tiring was a combination of Caro's dense prose style and his habit of repeating himself. A typical sentence has numerous dependent and independent clauses, sometimes with a parenthetical added for good measure. A typical section starts with a thematic summary and ends with a slightly reworded version of that summary. A typical chapter details several instances where Moses starts work on an unapproved underfunded project, rejects all attempts to modify his plans, overreacts to mild criticism, and takes retribution on the antagonists; only the names and dollar amounts change.
For quite a while, I have considered tackling Caro's multi-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson, which is even more acclaimed than The Power Broker. I'm not considering it anymore, unless I decide to enter politics.
The book is renowned for its depiction of day-to-day politics performed by a virtuoso (the "best bill drafter in Albany") and for its savage portrait of a man who was still alive and kicking when it was published. It also offers insights into the challenges of urban planning and the real-world implications of policy decisions. The Power Broker appears on the Modern Library list of the 100 best non-fiction books of the 20th century.
Despite Caro's clearly critical tone, he gives Moses full credit for his vision and unparalleled accomplishments. For decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s, Moses got huge infrastructure projects built, most notably parks, highways, and bridges. He even created a new branch of quasi-government through his use of public authorities. His ultimate downfall came in an area where his talent for building conflicted with his talent for corruption: public housing, where the money comes from not building.
The Power Broker is an impressive work of history, but often a slog to read. It is 1200 pages long, which is daunting enough, but what I found tiring was a combination of Caro's dense prose style and his habit of repeating himself. A typical sentence has numerous dependent and independent clauses, sometimes with a parenthetical added for good measure. A typical section starts with a thematic summary and ends with a slightly reworded version of that summary. A typical chapter details several instances where Moses starts work on an unapproved underfunded project, rejects all attempts to modify his plans, overreacts to mild criticism, and takes retribution on the antagonists; only the names and dollar amounts change.
For quite a while, I have considered tackling Caro's multi-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson, which is even more acclaimed than The Power Broker. I'm not considering it anymore, unless I decide to enter politics.
