The text of this Norton Critical Edition is based on the 1901
Scribner edition and includes all 47 of Riis s unforgettable
photographs, along with 2 maps. It is accompanied by Hasia Diner s
insightful introduction and detailed explanatory annotations.
An unusually rich Contexts section includes autobiographical
writings by Riis, observations of the other half by Riis
contemporaries, including William T. Elsing, Thomas Byrnes, William
Dean Howells, Lilliam W. Betts, John Spargo, and Lillian Wald, and
contemporary evaluations of Riis and his seminal book by, among
others, Warren P. Adams, Joseph B. Gilder, Margaret Burton, and
Theodore Roosevelt.
From the many hundreds of books and articles published on Riis
and How the Other Half Lives, Hasia Diner has selected nineteen
interpretations of the central aspects of author and work. Among
these are Jacob Prager on Riis as immigrant and crusader; Louise
Ware on Riis the police reporter, reformer, and useful citizen; Roy
Lubove on the Progressive Movement and tenement reform; Richard
Tuerk on Riis and the Jews; Maren Strange on American social
documentary photography; Katrina Irving on immigrant mothers; and
Timothy J. Gilfoyle on street culture and immigrant children.
A Chronology of Riis s life and work and a Selected Bibliography
are also included."