Brooklyn, a magical name, both fantasy and enigma. Yet despite its reputation, Brooklyn consists of provincial, suburban neighborhoods, a small town. For over 300 years, Brooklyn suffered growing pains; but throughout, it offered hospitality, jobs, and recreation, as the photographs in this volume show. So millions crossed the East River and worked hard to build a city.

Brooklyn’s image grew and took hold: the sounds of the streets and factories, the heroism, the loyalty, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Brooklyn Dodgers. Historic Photos of Brooklyn shows how Brooklyn’s pride has traveled from decade to decade, and with this continuity, how Brooklyn has matured, building farmhouses, frame houses, skyscrapers, classrooms, brownstones, libraries, mom and pop stores, department stores, restaurants, theaters, ships, elevated trains, airplanes. Today’s residents carry on a tradition started centuries ago and highlighted in Historic Photos of Brooklyn.

About the Author:

John B. Manbeck, Brooklyn Borough Historian between 1993 and 2002, taught English and Journalism at Kingsborough Community College (CUNY) for 32 years. In 1997, he was appointed chairman of the Mayor's Department of Records, Research and Information Services Advisory Board, and in 2002 appointed to the New York State Local Historians Advisory Council. In addition to writing numerous books on Brooklyn subjects and the “Historically Speaking” column for the Brooklyn Eagle, he served as consultant for the PBS American Experience production “Coney Island”. His degrees are from Bucknell and New York universities.