The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York

Front Cover
Bodley Head, Jul 2, 2015 - Biography & Autobiography - 1312 pages

The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro is a riveting and timeless account of power, politics and the city of New York by âe~the greatest political biographer of our timesâe(tm) (Sunday Times) âe" chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 Best Non-Fiction Books of All Time and by the Modern Library as one of the 100 Greatest Books of the Twentieth Century. Now also a Sunday Times Bestseller.

The Power Broker tells the story of Robert Moses, the single most powerful man in New York for almost half a century and the greatest builder America (and probably the world) has ever known. Without ever once being elected to office, he created for himself a position of supreme and untouchable authority, allowing him to utterly reshape the city of New York, turning it into the city we know today, while at the same time blighting the lives of millions and remaining accountable to no one.

First published in 1974, this monumental classic is now widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest books of its kind.

Other editions - View all

About the author (2015)

Robert A. Caro has been described as âe~the greatest political biographer of our timesâe(tm) (Sunday Times) and âe~a world authority on the nature of power and how to use itâe(tm) (Guardian). Born and raised in New York City, he graduated from Princeton University, later became a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, and was an investigative reporter for Newsday for six years.

His first book, The Power Broker, won the Pulitzer Prize in biography and the Frances Parkman Prize of the Society of American Historians. His subsequent books comprise a multi-volume work, The Years of Lyndon Johnson, 'regarded by many as the greatest political biography of the modern era' (The Times). Over the course of four volumes, he has become one of the most lauded writers of his generation, winning three National Book Critics Circle Awards, the National Book Award and a further Pulitzer Prize. He is currently at work on the fifth and final volume.

In addition, Robert Caro has also been awarded virtually every other major literary honour, including the Gold Medal in Biography from the National Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Humanities Medal, awarded by President Barack Obama, the highest award in the humanities given in the United States. He lives in New York City with his wife, Ina, an historian and writer.