On May 18, 1605, George Waymouth, captain of the English ship Archangel, anchored in the lee of Monhegan Island, finding shelter from a three-day storm. Putting ashore, the crew found fresh water to drink, wood to burn, and lobsters aplenty in the shoreline rocks. Today, lobstering and lobstermen are American icons of rugged individualism, and their way of life has enlivened and colored the countless bays and coves of New England. The Lobstering Life puts readers in the boats, on the docks, in the bars, and in the lives of the men and women who pull "bugs" from the sea to sustain a cussedly independent, much admired way of life. Not since Peter Matthiessen's bestselling Men's Lives has this trade been so vibrantly brought to life.

View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.

Winner, The New York Public Library, Best of Reference Award, 2002

"Here is a fascinating chronological history of New York City from 1524-2001, looking at the people, building, instiutions, political events, music and businesses that helped shape the city."
--"Booklist"

"The entries are well written and cover a broad range of topics, including political, social, and cultural, and the reader often cannot help but utter, 'I didn't know that.'"
--"ARBA online"

"[Kroessler] does a fine job of chronicling the city's past, incorporating both little-known, flash-in-the-pan nuggest as well as far-reaching, recurring themes."
--"Queens Chronicle"

If any city deserves a complete chronology, it is surely New York. New York, Year by Year is a cornucopia of the familiar and the forgotten, the historic and the ephemeral, the heroic and the banal. In this handy reference work, Jeffrey A. Kroessler takes us from Verrazano's arrival in 1524 into the new millennium, highlighting the strikes and strikeouts, tunnels and towers, personalities and parades which not only made history in New York, but also proved to be defining moments for the nation.

New York, Year by Year features events such as Mark Twain's first lecture at Cooper Union, and the letter he later wrote when the Brooklyn Public Library tried to restrict access to "Huckleberry Finn," In contrast, we are reminded of the publication in the 1950s of "Eloise, A Book for Precocious Grown-Ups," Kay Thompson's fanciful tale of a little girl's adventures in the Plaza Hotel, the appearance of the Beat Generation, and the flight (literally) of the Dodgers and Giants toCalifornia. New York, Year by Year chronicles the opening of Shea Stadium in April 1964 and the performance by the Beatles there that August. The Sixties also saw the opening of "The Fantastiks," which is still running on Sullivan Street, and the closing of Steeplechase, the last of the great amusement parks at Coney Island. And this chronology makes sure we don't forget when Kitty Genovese was murdered in Kew Gardens and her cries for help were left unanswered because her neighbors "didn't want to get involved." Kroessler leads us on a tour of the city from its first settlers until the November 2001 election of a new mayor for the new millennium.

From the colonial era and the Revolution through the Gilded Age and the Roaring Twenties, Kroessler has compiled a record of cultural, economic, political, and social events. Some are of transient importance, others of lasting significance, but all illuminate the city's fascinating history.

When you think of Paris do you picture the Eiffel Tower? The medieval city of Notre Dame? The elegant boulevards of Baron Haussmann? The Montmartre of Toulouse- Lautrec? The grandeur of the Louvre? The Art Nouveau of the Paris Metro? The Grand Projets of Francois Mitterrand? Or...? Yes, there is just so much beauty to Paris. In 150 striking images, Paris celebrates the French capital, from its world-famous landmarks to evocative alleyways and corners that might surprise you. You may have heard, for instance, about the Paris catacombs and sewers that you can visit, but did you know about La Petite Ceinture, a disused 19th century railway line that circumnavigates the inner city? From the medieval marvels of Sainte-Chapelle to the 1970s Pompidou Centre to the latest pop-up beaches beside the Seine, the book explores a great many sides to the city. In collecting these images of the city today, we come to understand something of its history - from the executions that took place at the Place de la Concorde during the Revolution to the Arc de Triomphe honouring those who served in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars to the skyscrapers of La Defense. Presented in a landscape format and with captions explaining the story behind each entry, Paris is a stunning collection of images celebrating the world's most romantic city.

Visit the blog for the book at www.brooklynbyname.com

View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.

"Fascinating morsels of Brooklyn history. . . . An entertaining, breezy compilation for the NYU Press, perfect for reading down at Coney, up on tar beach, or out on your shady front stoop this summer. . . . So if you wanna know how Dead Horse Bay, Sheepshead Bay, Floyd Bennett Field, Smith St. Carroll Gardens, Junior's Restaurant, Green-Wood Cemetery, Gilmore Court or the Riegelmann Boardwalk got their names, grab a copy of Brooklyn by Name."
--"New York Daily News"

"Information is well presented and well illustrated--both factors making this guide easy on the eye. Hardly a location is left unexplored in this fascinating, indispensable guide to a borough undeservedly in Manhattan's shadow."
--"Booklist"

"Witty, occasionally irreverent and always engaging, Brooklyn by Name takes readers from the six independent towns that once comprised Breuckelen to the modern metropolis. Weiss and Benardo have uncovered surprising data and have woven a compulsively readable narrative. Pick it up, rifle through, and find out about--or be reminded of--the underpinnings of our boroughas heritage."
--"The Brooklyn Rail"

"This book is an essential companion for anyone teaching about Brooklyn, for anyone writing about the borough, and for tour guide people. Benardo and Weiss have to be pleased with their product, and clearly should be congratulated."
--"Brooklyn Daily Eagle"

"Brooklyn streets, parks and sites are dripping with history, and husband-and-wife team Leonard Benardo and Jennifer Weiss have hung them all out to dry in their dictionary of street smarts, Brooklyn ByName."
--"Brooklyn Papers"

"A well-researched and concise compilation of the historical derivation of the place names in Brooklyn, an engaging stroll through the cityas largest borough and its history. . . . The book is easy to pick up, and with its wide-ranging, often quirky fragments of Brooklyn history, hard to put down."
--"Courier-Life Publications"

aAn excellent guide to Brooklyn. Explaining Brooklynas often mystifyingA names (like Force Tube Avenue and Dead Horse Bay) allows the streets to speak their stories. Walkers in the borough should not leave home without it.a
--Mike Wallace, co-author of "Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898"

aAn engaging stroll through the cityas largest borough and its historya
--Bay News

"Uncovering the remarkable stories behind the landmarks, Brooklyn by name takes readers on a stroll through streets and places of this thriving metropolis to reveal the borough's textured past. --NYU Today

"From Albemarle Road to Zion Triangle, the history of Brooklyn place names revealed in Brooklyn By Name is as fascinating as life in the County of Kings itself. By putting faces to the names of our streets, parks, and neighborhoods, Benardo and Weiss bring to vibrant life hundreds of places where Brooklynites live, work, and play every day. Whether weare called Breukelen, Brookland, or Brooklyn, thereas no place like it in the world!"
--Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Borough President

"This beautifully researched, lucidly written and compulsively readable book will have readers bouncing from entry to entry. By focusing on the derivation of Brooklyn's place-names, the authors have subtly traced the borough's rich history of politics, power, greed and idealism."
--Phillip Lopate, author of "Waterfront: A Journey Around Manhattan"

aTaking off from neighborhood names, this page-turner of a book tells of the successive waves of settlers and immigrant arrivals who have given Brooklyn its distinctive flavor. Here are the men and women whose fantasies, foibles, and otherwise-fleeting fame find permanency in the pavements, parks and place-names of the borough that almost wasn't part of New York. Nicely illustrated with an exceptional folio of new photos and unusual old illustrations, and peppered with vivid stories and obscure facts, this book will fascinate even the most provincial of non-Brooklynites. You don't have to live there to love this book.a
--Andrew Alpern, co-author of "New Yorkas Architectural Holdouts"

"Jump into your walking shoes, bring along this marvelous book, and get ready to explore Brooklyn's streets!"
--Judith Stonehill, coauthor of "Brooklyn: A Journey Through the City of Dreams"

From Bedford-Stuyvesant to Williamsburg, Brooklyn's historic names are emblems of American culture and history. Uncovering the remarkable stories behind the landmarks, Brooklyn By Name takes readers on a stroll through the streets and places of this thriving metropolis to reveal the borough's textured past.

Listing more than 500 of Brooklyn's most prominent place names, organized alphabetically by region, and richly illustrated with photographs and current maps the book captures the diverse threads of American history. We learn about the Canarsie Indians, the region's first settlers, whose language survives in daily traffic reports about the Gowanus Expressway. The arrival of the Dutch West India Companyin 1620 brought the first wave of European names, from Boswijck ("town in the woods," later Bushwick) to Bedford-Stuyvesant, after the controversial administrator of the Dutch colony, to numerous places named after prominent Dutch families like the Bergens.

The English takeover of the area in 1664 led to the Anglicization of Dutch names, (vlackebos, meaning "wooded plain," became Flatbush) and the introduction of distinctively English names (Kensington, Brighton Beach). A century later the American Revolution swept away most Tory monikers, replacing them with signers of the Declaration of Independence and international figures who supported the revolution such as Lafayette (France), De Kalb (Germany), and Kosciuszko (Poland). We learn too of the dark corners of Brooklyn's past, encountering over 70 streets named for prominent slaveholders like Lefferts and Lott but none for its most famous abolitionist, Walt Whitman.

From the earliest settlements to recent commemorations such as Malcolm X Boulevard, Brooklyn By Name tells the tales of the poets, philosophers, baseball heroes, diplomats, warriors, and saints who have left their imprint on this polyethnic borough that was once almost disastrously renamed "New York East."

Ideal for all Brooklynites, newcomers, and visitors, this book includes:

*Over 500 entries explaining the colorful history of Brooklyn's most prominent place names

*Over 100 vivid photographs of Brooklyn past and present

*9 easy to follow and up-to-date maps of the neighborhoods

*Informative sidebars covering topics like Ebbets Field, Lindsay Triangle, and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

*Covers all neighborhoods, easily find the street you're on