Paradise Alley

A film treatment of this book would make a much better movie than Gangs of New York -- provided you had the right screenwriters, Director and cast.

Paradise Alley is set during the New York draft riots of July 1863. Well...sort of. As he did in the brilliant "Dreamland" Baker follows a host of fascinating characters telling their stories in full in the bargain. That means tracing characters back to what brought them to this moment in history whether it was the Irish potato famine, escaping North from slavery or joining the Union army.This is a long book because Baker... Read Full Review

This is a great story and is very well writtten. The gist of all the action is New York city during the days of the Civil War draft riots. However at the beginning of the book, the author frequently flashes back in time, and across the Atlantic to Ireland during the darkest days of the potato famine. It is in these chapters we learn about the early years of some of the characters who later found themselves together in New... Read Full Review

This is an excellent book, which not only covers a little-known facet of 19th century history but has definite literary credentials.In the summer of 1863, poor, mostly Irish, workers in New York resent the mounting Civil War casualties, and hate the recently instituted draft. When the government tries to impose the draft, riots erupt that affect the lives of a vivid cast of characters. Baker writes in a literary but not pretentious... Read Full Review

I am a native New Yorker. The 1863 Draft Riot was the worst event in the city's history before Sept. 11, 2001. Kevin Baker has written a riveting, painful piece of historic fiction that is well researched. For more about New York (then only Manhattan) slum life, read Jacob Riis How The Other Half Lives. Almost all of New York's inhabitants in 1863 lived between the Battery and about 14th Street. The city was crowded and sordid... Read Full Review