Central Park, 1857-1995

Library Journal

Urban naturalist Kinkead's delightful essays on aspects of Central Park have appeared in The New Yorker and in two books, A Concrete Look at Nature (LJ 12/15/74) and Wildness Is All Around Us (LJ 7/78). Now he recounts the whole history of the Park: its design by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, its construction, the sports-oriented transformation by Robert Moses, the five decades of decline, and the remarkable restoration that began in 1979 and continues with the help of the heroic Central Park Conservancy. A sanctuary of trees, grass, flowers, and birds in the midst of a great city has turned out to be a superb use of public money. This upbeat book is appealing on many levels--as nature writing, as a successful preservation story, and as New York City history. Recommended for public libraries.-- Priscilla E. Pratt, M.L.S., East Setauket, N.Y.