In his new book, the last in a monumental trilogy, Pulitzer–winning historian Mike Wallace offers an unforgettable portrait of New York during the World War II era. Gotham at War presents a city wresting with itself long before the Allies confronted the Axis, homegrown fascists battling with antifascists in New York as the US moved from isolationism to all-out war from 1933 to 1945. New York became the powerhouse of the Allied war effort, and then emerged from the conflict as the world's unofficial capital. In his characteristically kaleidoscopic work, Wallace details this transformation with an immersive, panoramic view of the characters and power struggles involved — taking readers from garment work sweatshops into skyscraper boardrooms, detailing the struggle in magazines and movies, shuls and cathedrals, among gangsters and idealists, pols and reformers, Nazi spies and FBI gumshoes, in every neighborhood and every industry.

Mike Wallace, distinguished professor emeritus of history at John Jay College and founder of the Gotham Center for New York City History, is no longer able to speak. To discuss this final Gotham volume, and pay tribute to his extraordinary career, Peter-Christian Aigner, Director of the Gotham Center, will moderates a discussion with Vicky de Grazia, professor emerita of history at Columbia University and Kim Phillips-Fein, the Robert Gardiner-Kenneth T. Jackson Professor of History at Columbia University.

This event will be LIVESTREAMED BUT IN-PERSON, presented with the Office of Public Programs at The Graduate Center’s Elebash Recital Hall. Register here.