Caro is a marvelous writer. Particularly when he is conveying outrage. And he'll take his time to let the reader feel his outrage. He does that in this Moses bio as well as his bios of LBJ.

He is also marvelous at questioning the conventional wisdom, seeing behind the headlines, exposing the real story rather than regurgitating the sterilized version.

And the subject of this bio is fascinating, Robert Moses, a man who for 40 years controlled the road and park building infrastructure in NY City and much of the state of New York. Caro details a driven man who when he tastes power, completely succumbs to it and then abuses that power mercilessly against all in his way. At times, I believe Caro is unfair, with confusing time lines to demonstrate how Moses was corrupted by the power he held. But that is a minor point.

This is a marvelous book. The subject is fascinating, the writing fresh, the research detailed. Highly recommended. ( )

This book is political, egotistical, historical, and just plain good reading. The story of one man who craved power and shaped a city according to his own plans. Moses took on the politicians, including goversors and presidents, and beat them until he was 'tricked.' I got this book when it first came out and I read it again every few years and never get tired of it. ( )

A big book, but very well written and worth the investment of your time.

Really opens your eyes to the real history of why NYC turned out the way it did (urban planning-wise) ( )

2017 The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, by Robert A. Caro (read 25 Aug 1986) (Pulitzer Biography prize for 1975) This is a tremendous book, though not unputdownable. To one who knows New York it would be absorbing, but to those who don't it is too long. (1246 pages including the notes!) Moses was an unbelievable person--he amassed tremendous power, despite an unbelievable arrogance. How I would hate to have had to have anything to do with him! Caro is very anti-Moses, and one could wish he had let the facts speak more, and not been so derogatory explicitly. He--Moses--was born Dec 18, 1888, and graduated from Yale in 1909. He could get things done, but often they were the wrong things. He said the greatest short story was one by Anatole France called "The Procurator of Judea." He ran for Governor of New York in 1934 on the Republican ticket. He died 29 July 1981, so was still living when this book was published. A fascinating book. ( )

I confess that, although I adore anything about NYC history, this book depressed me so much I couldn't finish it. ( )