An absolute stunning masterpiece.

This is a must-read for anyone who has any interest in politics and power, for anyone who thinks they know how political machines operate and how power is utilized. This is an impossibly dense, detailed, encyclopaedic compendium of how one idealistic civil servant can leverage his unique genius to create for himself a seat of power that for 40 years could not be taken away by Mayors, Governors, or even Presidents. How a vision for providing recreation to the residents of one of the world’s densest cities led to a man building endless roadways for the sake of building them, even when it proves nearly ruinous for the city. How hubristic self-assurance blinds the powerful to their own ideals, and how the pursuit of power can be never-ending, at least until you take one step too far and lose it all. This is nearly 1,300 pages of spellbinding, intricate storytelling focused on the most fascinating subject of which you’ve never heard. You won’t be able to put it down, so but a copy — or else you’ll end up like me and It will take you a year to read the library’s. Either way, you will be grateful you did. This might be the most impressive book I’ve ever read.

What can I say about this book that has not been said by many other people? This is one of the best biographies I have ever read, a biography of a man and a city. What one man did to shape the lives of the millions of people who have lived in the New York City area, one man whose name relatively few people would be familiar with, is simply mind-boggling. I sometimes listened to this book while walking around this great city I call home, and was stunned by how much of what I saw around me was shaped by Robert Moses. If you have any interest in New York City, government, city planning, or what people will do to achieve and keep power, I highly recommend this book.

At no point in the 1000+ pages did I find myself thinking "hmm, that was a useless paragraph."

this is why my commute sucked.

Fiorello La Guardia loved glass bricks. Robert Caro is a national treasure.

A monster of a book. I didn't know who Robert Moses was before I read this book. Now I want to run the NY marathon again so I can pay better attention to the bridges and connecting streets that Moses was responsible for. Caro likes to explore how power corrupts. I yelled out loud at some of the ridiculous things Moses does just because he could.

I stopped reading this, didn't complete it. It's very long. It's interesting. Robert Moses is an interesting case study on someone who can do a lot. A lot of good, a lot of bad, a lot of both. He did a lot for his own satisfaction and power and when left uncontrolled this would manifest in a combination of good and bad contributions to society. The book, as I read it, is a cautionary tale of a man knowing how to game a system with all sorts of complicated incentives which, when exploited, can result in unparalleled power. Which is what Bob Moses did. I don't know what I'm missing, but after tens of hours on this book I plan to sit back and relax. It was entertaining, but not intriguing enough to go on for another 20+ hours.

An important and vital biography and political history of public works in the U.S.A.'s largest city. Every public servant, every designer, and everyone committed to democracy should read this book.