Synopses & Reviews
View the
Table of Contents. Read the
Foreword.
"Walter Thabit has written a highly personal and compelling piece of retrospective analysis."Journal of the American Planning Association
"Thabit's writing is lucid and heartfelt."
Urban Studies
"An excellent source of data and intelligence on the formation of ghettos and the life and struggle within them."
ScienceandSociety
"How East New York Became a Ghetto describes the shift of East New York from a working-class immigrant neighborhood to a largely black and Puerto Rican one, and shows how a series of racially biased policies caused the deterioration of this once-flourishing area."
Arab-American Affairs"An interesting and worthwhile read, especially for its descriptions."Supplement
"Walter Thabit's book works as a slice of urban sociology, history, and political science. It should whet the appetites of students and scholars to inquire into the longue duree of the subject more extensively."
New York History
"The book powerfully coveys the forces behind the ghettoization of one urban community and illustrates the difficulties of community development."
Urban History Review.
"A comprehensive account of the decline of East New York in Brooklyn into a typical urban slum and of the efforts since the 1960s to redevelop the neighborhood. Anyone interested in urban social problems and improving the quality of life for urban poor should read this astounding analysis of urban decay and rebirth."
Multicultural Review
"Thabit does a Herculean task of documenting the various factors that led to the ghettoization of East New York."
Progressive Planning
View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.
"Thabit is in a unique position to document the destruction of the once working class Brooklyn neighborhood. . . Toward the book's conclusion, Thabit sounds a faint note of hope to the emerging community groups."
New York
"This thoughtful, important analysis is recommended for academics, professionals, and a concerned public library audience."
Library Journal
"Walter Thabit eloquently tells the story of East New York, a neighborhood in eastern Brooklyn, complementing his close observation of events in the neighborhood with astute analyses of the bearing of larger forces on this big city slum. Events in East New York reveal in microcosm the turbulent national forces that have determined the fate of inner city ghettos across the country over the past 40 years."
from the Foreword by Frances Fox Piven
"The grim descriptions of civil neglect, community disorganization and institutional racism make this a difficult read, particularly when one realizes that this is the story that can be told about thousands of other neighborhoods in scores of citiies by hundreds of people. Perhaps if more planners like Thabit had told their stories, we might not have found oruselves in this predicament."
ADPSR NYIn response to the riots of the mid-'60s, Walter Thabit was hired to work with the community of East New York to develop a plan for low- and moderate-income public housing. In the years that followed, he experienced first-hand the forces that had engineered East New York's dramatic decline and that continued to work against its successful revitalization. How East New York Became a Ghetto describes the shift of East New York from a working-class immigrant neighborhood to a largely black and Puerto Rican neighborhood and shows how the resulting racially biased policies caused the deterioration of this once flourishing area.
A clear-sighted, unflinching look at one ghetto community, How East New York Became a Ghetto provides insights and observations on the histories and fates of ghettos throughout the United States.
Review
“Walter Thabit eloquently tells the story of East New York, a neighborhood in eastern Brooklyn, complementing his close observation of events in the neighborhood with astute analyses of the bearing of larger forces on this big city slum. Events in East New York reveal in microcosm the turbulent national forces that have determined the fate of inner city ghettos across the country over the past 40 years.”
-from the Foreword by Frances Fox Piven,
Review
“Thabit emphasizes the central role of local institutions in contributing to urban disinvestment and decline.”
-Journal of Urban History,
Review
“Walter Thabit has written a highly personal and compelling piece of retrospective analysis.”
-Journal of the American Planning Association,
Review
“Thabits writing is lucid and heartfelt.”
-Urban Studies,
Review
“An excellent source of data and intelligence on the formation of ghettos and the life and struggle within them.”
-Science and Society,
Review
“Walter Thabit eloquently tells the story of East New York, a neighborhood in eastern Brooklyn, complementing his close observation of events in the neighborhood with astute analyses of the bearing of larger forces on this big city slum. Events in East New York reveal in microcosm the turbulent national forces that have determined the fate of inner city ghettos across the country over the past 40 years.”
“Thabit emphasizes the central role of local institutions in contributing to urban disinvestment and decline.”
“Walter Thabit has written a highly personal and compelling piece of retrospective analysis.”
“Thabit’s writing is lucid and heartfelt.”
“An excellent source of data and intelligence on the formation of ghettos and the life and struggle within them.”
Review
“Thabit’s writing is lucid and heartfelt.”
Review
“A rattlingly good read....[S]trongly recommend[ed]...in any teaching context where students of history are being asked to reflect philosophically upon the nature of their subject.”
-American Historical Review,
Review
“The Historians' Paradox can be read with profit by practitioners and graduate students because it is more insightful, better balanced, and more concise then most recent books on the nature of the historical enterprise.”
-The Journal of American History,
Review
“Hoffer expands the theory of history beyond its usual narrow confines. A readable and instructive book on a complex topic.”
-Choice,
Review
“[C]onsistently amusing and edifying throughout. [Hoffer] demonstrates an extraordinary mastery of a wide variety of materials. Hes a mature historian at peak form.”
-Peter Onuf,author of The Mind of Thomas Jefferson
Review
“Hoffer has a knack for using contemporary situations that will eventually be topics for historical writing.”
-Claire Potter,Wesleyan University
Synopsis
In response to the riots of the mid-‘60s, Walter Thabit was hired to work with the community of East New York to develop a plan for low- and moderate-income public housing. In the years that followed, he experienced first-hand the forces that had engineered East New Yorks dramatic decline and that continued to work against its successful revitalization.
How East New York Became a Ghetto describes the shift of East New York from a working-class immigrant neighborhood to a largely black and Puerto Rican neighborhood and shows how the resulting racially biased policies caused the deterioration of this once flourishing area.
A clear-sighted, unflinching look at one ghetto community, How East New York Became a Ghetto provides insights and observations on the histories and fates of ghettos throughout the United States.
Synopsis
View the Table of Contents .nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Read the Foreword . "An interesting and worthwhile read, especially for its descriptions."-Supplement "Walter Thabit's book works as a slice of urban sociology, history, and political science. It should whet the appetites of students and scholars to inquire into the longue duree of the subject more extensively."-New York History"A comprehensive account of the decline of East New York in Brooklyn into a typical urban slum and of the efforts since the 1960s to redevelop the neighborhood. Anyone interested in urban social problems and improving the quality of life for urban poor should read this astounding analysis of urban decay and rebirth."-Multicultural Review"Thabit does a Herculean task of documenting the various factors that led to the ghettoization of East New York."-Progressive Planning View the Table of Contents .nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Read the Introduction . "Thabit is in a unique position to document the destruction of the once working class Brooklyn neighborhood. . . Toward the book's conclusion, Thabit sounds a faint note of hope to the emerging community groups."- New York "This thoughtful, important analysis is recommended for academics, professionals, and a concerned public library audience."-Library Journal "Walter Thabit eloquently tells the story of East New York, a neighborhood in eastern Brooklyn, complementing his close observation of events in the neighborhood with astute analyses of the bearing of larger forces on this big city slum. Events in East New York reveal in microcosm the turbulent national forces that have determined the fate of inner city ghettos across the country over the past 40 years."-from the Foreword by Frances Fox PivenIn response to the riots of the mid-'60s, Walter Thabit was hired to work with the community of East New York to develop a plan for low- and moderate-income public housing. In the years that followed, he experienced first-hand the forces that had engineered East New York's dramatic decline and that continued to work against its successful revitalization. How East New York Became a Ghetto describes the shift of East New York from a working-class immigrant neighborhood to a largely black and Puerto Rican neighborhood and shows how the resulting racially biased policies caused the deterioration of this once flourishing area.A clear-sighted, unflinching look at one ghetto community, How East New York Became a Ghetto provides insights and observations on the histories and fates of ghettos throughout the United States.
Synopsis
How do we know what happened in the past? We cannot go back, and no amount of historical data can enable us to understand with absolute certainty what life was like “then.” It is easy to demolish the very idea of historical knowing, but it is impossible to demolish the importance of historical knowing. In an age of cable television pundits and anonymous bloggers dueling over history, the value of owning history increases at the same time as our confidence in history as a way of knowing crumbles. Historical knowledge thus presents a paradox — the more it is required, the less reliable it has become. To reconcile this paradox — that history is impossible but necessary — Peter Charles Hoffer proposes a practical, workable philosophy of history for our times, one that is robust and realistic, and that speaks to anyone who reads, writes and teaches history.
Covering a sweeping range of philosophies (from ancient history to game theory), methodological approaches to writing history, and the advantages and disadvantages of different strategies of argument, Hoffer constructs a philosophy of history that is reasonable, free of fallacy, and supported by appropriate evidence that is itself tenable.
About the Author
Peter Charles Hoffer is Distinguished Research Professor of History at the University of Georgia. He has authored and co-authored more than twenty books, including Past Imperfect: Facts, Fictions, and Fraud in American History from Bancroft and Parkman to Ambrose, Bellesiles, Ellis and Goodwin and The Supreme Court: An Essential History.