City of Eros: New York City, Prostitution, and the Commercialization of Sex, 1790-1920 [Paperback]

Winner of the Allan Nevins Prize of the Society of American Historians and the New York State Historical Association Manuscript Prize. Gilfoyle has tied together into one package the interrelationship between the role and status of women, American ideas about sex, the effects of urbanization and immigration, real estate speculation, vigilantism, and politics. . . . In short, he has effectively brought issues of sexuality into social history. . . . Deserving of the highest praise. Remarkable. . . . [A] clear and fascinating narrative . . . [that] opens up plenty of new lines of inquiry. . . . A major contribution to the history of gender, popular culture, and the life of New York City. A fascinating study. . . . Gilfoyle does not simply catalogue the omnipresence of the postitutes. He situates their trade in the economic life of the city. . . . A wonderful book. The research is overwhelming in breadth, precision, and imagination.