Harlem

Walking through Harlem these days, it's difficult to conceive of this busy urban center as a tiny Dutch village where sheep grazed and pigs ran free. Jonathan Gill's 448-page history takes readers back to the early 17th century when Native Americans were first elbowed out (more accurately, ambushed out) by European settlers. Harlem tracks the enclave as it changes through wars, epidemics, transportation revolutions, and the infusion of New York City's ever-expanding immigrant population. Gill pays due attention to the neighborhood's major African American cultural contributions, placing them in historical context. Readable; revelatory.