Reviews

Homberger's theme, the struggle of mid-19th-century reformers to awaken a sense of community in laissez-faire New York, unfolds in four absorbing but largely independent essays. He focuses on Steven Smith, whose probe of typhoid clusters in the slums led to the creation of the Sanitary Board in 1866; Madame Restell, the abortionist who rose from poverty to residence at a Fifth Avenue mansion before the persecutions of Anthony Comstock drove her to suicide; "Slippery Dick" Connolly, the only member of the Tweed Ring to escape with his fortune; and Frederick Law Olmsted, whose design of Central Park represented the era's great attempt to reconcile the city's warring social classes. Homberger (American literature, Univ. of East Anglia) has a keen sense of historical irony, a remarkable command of 19th-century memoirs and journals, and a rare talent for drawing vivid characters acting on complex motives. One wishes he had constructed a more coherent frame around his individual "scenes" or drawn more connections between them, but this book is highly recommended for any collection with an interest in urban and social history.-Gregory Gilmartin, New York City