Capital of the World: A Portrait of New York City in the Roaring Twenties - Hardcover

In the same absorbing style that characterized his bestseller Lost Hollywood, David Wallace presents a richly detailed, jazzy chronicle of the Prohibition-era personalities and events that made New York City the cultural and financial capital of the world. Sex, sin, song, work, sports, play—all these aspects of New York and more are told through a bountiful array of anecdotes and “inside” profiles of the individuals who personified them in a defining decade. From Mafia boss Lucky Luciano to “Gentleman Jim,” New York’s beloved but controversial mayor Jimmy Walker; from famous madam Polly Adler to comedienne Fanny Brice; from classical music stars Arturo Toscanini and Geraldine Farrar to members of The Round Table, including Alexander Woollcott and Dorothy Parker . . . Capital of the World brings to life the stars and giants of the Big Apple in the 1920s. The Roaring Twenties swept through other cities, too—including Paris, London, and Berlin. But New York City roared the loudest, and what happened there during that time of social, economic, and cultural prosperity forever altered the way people lived.
 
As no book has to date, Capital of the World brings alive this giant of a city in this dizzying age—a period that saw alcohol made illegal, the rise of the Mafia, the birth of radio and mass communication, and the beginnings of gossip as a business. This was also an era abuzz with the arts, film, fashion, jazz, and speakeasies. An era in which a burgeoning new media popularized baseball, boxing, and other sports as never before. This was when women achieved the right to vote and when the automobile revolutionized the lives of millions. And New York City was at the center of it all.

Through enthralling anecdotes, historical photos, and profiles of the city’s most influential people of the time—politicians, entertainers, artists, athletes, criminals, and more—a book that shows how
1920s New York City changed the way we live
INCLUDES:Sherman Billingsley’s Stork Club and Prohibition * Martha Graham and modern dance * Babe Ruth and sports * David Sarnoff and radio * Walter Winchell and the birth of gossip journalism * The Cotton Club and the Harlem Renaissance * Mayor Jimmy Walker and politics * And much more
PRAISE FOR DAVID WALLACE’S PREVIOUS WORK “Wallace’s concept is inspired.”
—New York Times Book Review on Lost Hollywood “Lost Hollywood allows us to see both the splendor and the squalor of old Hollywood, a world that makes the contemporary movie business seem like child’s play.”
—Los Angeles Times on Lost Hollywood “David Wallace . . . the maestro of entertainment history . . . has given the truly star-struck an indescribable gift. He has found Lost Hollywood.”
—Liz Smith, columnist “Wallace creates poignant portraits of lost worlds.”
—Premiere on Lost Hollywood “A whirlwind of storytelling.”—King Features on Hollywoodland “[A] vibrant, coffee-table book . . . [providing] an all-access tour of 25 fabulous homes, hotels, restaurants, and theaters from the 1920s to the 1940s.”
—Vanity Fair on Dream Palaces of Hollywood’s Golden Age