Reading Gotham: Mike Wallace and New York's Story

Mike Wallace is an American historian who studies New York City. He wrote Gotham with Edwin Burrows in 1998. The book tells the city’s story to 1898 and it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1999.

Wallace is a distinguished professor at John Jay College and at the CUNY Graduate Center. He started the Gotham Center for New York City History and he has worked with many students. Many readers enjoy its stories about immigrants, work, and city life. It is long and full of details. Students often read parts of it in class.