Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for Island of Vice by Richard Zacks - Available

Island of Vice

Theodore Roosevelt's Doomed Quest to Clean up Sin-Loving New York

by Richard Zacks
Joe Ochman
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
A ROLLICKING NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT'S EMBATTLED TENURE AS POLICE COMMISSIONER OF CORRUPT, PLEASURE-LOVING NEW YORK CITY IN THE 1880s, AND HIS DOOMED MISSION TO WIPE OUT VICE
In the 1890s, New York City was America’s financial, manufacturing, and entertainment capital, and also its preferred destination for sin, teeming with 40,000 prostitutes, glittering casinos, and all-night dives packed onto the island’s two dozen square miles. Police captains took hefty bribes to see nothing while reformers writhed in frustration.
     In Island of Vice, bestselling author Richard Zacks paints a vivid picture of the lewd underbelly of 1890s New York, and of Theodore Roosevelt, the cocksure crusading police commissioner who resolved to clean up the bustling metropolis, where the silk top hats of Wall Street bobbed past teenage prostitutes trawling Broadway.
     Writing with great wit and zest, Zacks explores how Roosevelt went head-to-head with corrupt Tammany Hall, took midnight rambles with muckraker Jacob Riis, banned barroom drinking on Sundays, and tried to convince 2 million New Yorkers to enjoy wholesome family fun. In doing so, Teddy made a ruthless enemy of police captain “Big Bill” Devery, who grew up in the Irish slums and never tired of fighting “tin soldier” reformers. Roosevelt saw his mission as a battle of good versus evil; Devery saw prudery standing in the way of fun and profit.
     When righteous Roosevelt’s vice crackdown started to succeed all too well, many of his own supporters began to turn on him. Cynical newspapermen mocked his quixotic quest, his own political party abandoned him, and Roosevelt discovered that New York loves its sin more than its salvation.
     Zacks’s meticulous research and wonderful sense of narrative verve bring this disparate cast of both pious and bawdy New Yorkers to life. With cameos by Stephen Crane, J. P. Morgan, and Joseph Pulitzer, plus a horde of very angry cops, Island of Vice is an unforgettable portrait of turn-of-the-century New York in all its seedy glory, and a brilliant portrayal of the energetic, confident, and zealous Roosevelt, one of America’s most colorful public figures.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 13, 2012

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780307876898
      • File size: 443609 KB
      • Duration: 15:24:11

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Before he was president, Theodore Roosevelt was a New York City police commissioner, bound and determined to lead the reform movement and put the brakes on sin. Joe Ochman's no-nonsense yet expressive narration complements Zacks's well-researched examination of Roosevelt's tenure with the city's finest in the late 1800s. Using appropriate accents and characterizations to enhance the story, Ochman takes listeners deep into the seedy side of Manhattan as Roosevelt makes midnight raids on brothels, metes out discipline to cops on the take, and checks up on taverns trying to beat the excise law. Ochman's nuanced tones help listeners distinguish between narrative passages and firsthand quotations. Despite sting operations and courtroom drama, Roosevelt's moral mission was undermined by bribery, a muckraking press, and fun-loving New Yorkers. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      December 5, 2011
      Zacks (The Pirate Hunter) looks back to the 1890s, when two million New Yorkers faced crime in the concrete canyons. In addition to the Rev. Charles Parkhurst, who declared “a holy war on vice,” the cast includes such notables as Tammany police captain “Big Bill” Devery, crime reporter Jacob Riis, cartoonist Walt McDougall, Mayor William Strong, journalist Lincoln Steffens, and the city itself. As Zacks writes: “New York was a thousand cities masquerading as one. Its noise, vitality, desperation, opulence, hunger, all struck visitors.” With bars, casinos, and 30,000 prostitutes, New York was the country’s vice capital, and police corruption was rampant. Enter crusading and nattily attired police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt, who admitted he “knew nothing of police management.” An uncompromising reformer, Roosevelt tackled the Tammany Hall political machine, though he confronted resistance in his efforts to close the brothels, gambling joints, and after-hours saloons. Zacks probes this period of Roosevelt’s life with exhaustive details, drama, and intrigue. The 40 pages of bibliographic notes indicate the five years of research that went into this remarkable re-creation of fin-de-siècle New York. Writing with a prismatic, poetic slant, Zacks unveils a colorful portrait of a volcanic Roosevelt towering over the soul of the city. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading