Book Reviews and Notices : The Greater City: New York, 1898-1948. EDITED BY ALLEN NEVINS AND JOHN A. KROUT. (New York: Columbia University Press. 1948. Pp. vii, 260. $3.00.)
| Author | R.E. Hosack,John C. Bollens |
| Published date | 01 September 1949 |
| Date | 01 September 1949 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/106591294900200354 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
471
studies
as
Catton’s
War
Lords
of
Washington,
and
The
U.
S.
at
War
by
the
Bureau
of
the
Budget
strongly
suggest
that
policy-making
was
also
an
area
of
administration
marred
by
errors
of
analysis
and
judgment
and
deficiencies
in
planning.
Fortunately
the
authors’
assumption
of
the
primacy
of
administrative
methods
and
procedures
over
policy
does
not
effect
their
appraisal
of
wartime
production
controls.
To
some
extent,
the
book
is
a
study
in
administrative
pathology.
That
is,
it
indicates
the
points
where
the
machinery
of
production
controls
broke
down
and
analyzes
the
inadequacies
of
those
controls.
It
suggests
that
one
of
the
most
fruitful
areas
of
research
in
public
administration
is
the
study
of
the
factors
which
help
to
account
for
unsatisfactory
adminis-
tration.
While
the
study
will
be
of
interest
primarily
to
specialists,
the
authors
have
nevertheless
added
a
significant
volume
to
the
increasing
number
of
valuable
studies
of
wartime
administrative
experience.
Princeton
University.
MARVER
H.
BERNSTEIN.
The
Greater
City:
New
York,
1898-1948.
EDITED
BY
ALLEN
NEVINS
AND
JOHN
A.
KROUT.
(New
York:
Columbia
University
Press.
1948.
Pp.
vii,
260.
$3.00.)
This
volume,
commemorative
of
the
fiftieth
anniversary
of
the
con-
solidation
of
five
independent
cities
into
New
York
City,
is
composed
of
essays
by
five
contributors.
Grover
A.
Whalen,
chairman
of
the
Mayor’s
Committee
for
the
Commemoration
of
the
Golden
Anniversary
of
the
City
of
New
York,
asserts
in
the
preface
that
&dquo;In
this
chronicle,
with
all
its
human
drama,
can
be
found
the
success
of
the
City
of
New
York
in
achieving
a
more
democratic
government,
a
stronger
economy,
and
a
deeper
culture.&dquo;
In
the
initial
chapter,
Allen
Nevins
discusses
several
continuing
traditions
in
the
city’s
history:
(1)
the
mixture
of
national
stocks
and
the
cosmopolitanism
and
tolerance
emanating
from
it;
(2)
the
continuing
primacy
of
trade;
(3)
the
transmission
of
cultural
forces
between
the
United
States
and
Europe;
(4)
the
sustained
attention
given
to
gaiety;
and
(5)
the
leadership
in
fashion.
Significant
changes
which
have
occurred
since
1898
are
also
noted:
(1)
control
of
city
growth
through
a
plan,
in-
cluding
use,
height,
and
area
zoning;
(2)
the
creation
of
the
Port
of
New
York
Authority
in
1921
and
the
organization
of
the
Regional
Plan
Asso-
ciation
in
1929;
(3)
the
growth
of
agencies
for
the
expression
of
culture;
and
(4)
the
enormously
increased
public
and
private
attention
to
social
welfare
measures.
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