The Power Broker

Robert Moses and the Fall of New York

By: Robert A. Caro

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Length: 66 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • A modern American classic, this huge and galvanizing biography of Robert Moses reveals not only the saga of one man’s incredible accumulation of power but the story of his shaping (and mis-shaping of twentieth-century New York. One of the Modern Library’s hundred greatest books of the twentieth century.

Robert Caro's monumental book makes public what few outsiders knew: that Robert Moses was the single most powerful man of his time in the City and in the State of New York. And in telling the Moses story, Caro both opens up to an unprecedented degree the way in which politics really happens—the way things really get done in America's City Halls and Statehouses—and brings to light a bonanza of vital information about such national figures as Alfred E. Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt (and the genesis of their blood feud), about Fiorello La Guardia, John V. Lindsay and Nelson Rockefeller.

But The Power Broker is first and foremost a brilliant multidimensional portrait of a man—an extraordinary man who, denied power within the normal framework of the democratic process, stepped outside that framework to grasp power sufficient to shape a great city and to hold sway over the very texture of millions of lives. We see how Moses began: the handsome, intellectual young heir to the world of Our Crowd, an idealist. How, rebuffed by the entrenched political establishment, he fought for the power to accomplish his ideals. How he first created a miraculous flowering of parks and parkways, playlands and beaches—and then ultimately brought down on the city the smog-choked aridity of our urban landscape, the endless miles of (never sufficient) highway, the hopeless sprawl of Long Island, the massive failures of public housing, and countless other barriers to humane living. How, inevitably, the accumulation of power became an end in itself.

Moses built an empire and lived like an emperor. He was held in fear—his dossiers could disgorge the dark secret of anyone who opposed him. He was, he claimed, above politics, above deals; and through decade after decade, the newspapers and the public believed. Meanwhile, he was developing his public authorities into a fourth branch of government known as "Triborough"—a government whose records were closed to the public, whose policies and plans were decided not by voters or elected officials but solely by Moses—an immense economic force directing pressure on labor unions, on banks, on all the city's political and economic institutions, and on the press, and on the Church. He doled out millions of dollars' worth of legal fees, insurance commissions, lucrative contracts on the basis of who could best pay him back in the only coin he coveted: power. He dominated the politics and politicians of his time—without ever having been elected to any office. He was, in essence, above our democratic system.

Robert Moses held power in the state for 44 years, through the governorships of Smith, Roosevelt, Lehman, Dewey, Harriman and Rockefeller, and in the city for 34 years, through the mayoralties of La Guardia, O'Dwyer, Impellitteri, Wagner and Lindsay, He personally conceived and carried through public works costing 27 billion dollars—he was undoubtedly America's greatest builder.

This is how he built and dominated New York—before, finally, he was stripped of his reputation (by the press) and his power (by Nelson Rockefeller). But his work, and his will, had been done.

©1975 Robert A. Caro (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

1975, Francis Parkman Prize, Winner

1975, Pulitzer Prize — Biography, Winner

"Caro has written one of the finest, best-researched and most analytically informative descriptions of our political and governmental processes to appear in a generation." (Nicholas Von Hoffman, The Washington Post)

"This is irresistibly readable, an outright masterpiece and unparalleled insight into how power works and perhaps the greatest portrait ever of a world city." (David Sexton, The Evening Standard)

A spectacular history of New York City

Robert Moses is a classic example of the enigmatic political giant. Simultaneously, a genius and heartless dictator, it is difficult for me to make up my mind about his true value. The book is spectacular in portraying both his unbelievable accomplishments and the heartless manner in which he achieved them. Although he did build many public works, it appears that these parkways, expressways and bridges, although visually monumental, were ultimately damaging to the healthy growth of New York City. It’s clear that he built all of these structures for the facilitation of the automobile. His total dedication to the automobile, his genius and his stubbornness are aptly portrayed in one small vignette: When he designed and constructed all of the Parkways in New York, he made all of the bridges that crossed them, less than eleven feet of clearance. He acknowledged that this would prevent the passage of any busses. This has prevented the use of these Parkways for public transportation and would have helped reduced traffic congestion. It’s clear that he wanted visible monuments to himself because he refused to have any tunnels constructed. His solution to traffic congestion caused by his bridges was to build more bridges even though the evidence was that bridges were the cause of the problem not the solution. Had he spent one tenth the money and effort on public transportation, the horrible traffic congestion and urban sprawl that resulted would have been eliminated. As a study in the attainment in power, this book is superb and is easily on the same level with Machiavelli’s, “The Prince”. Although Moses achieved so much, it is hard to like a man who was so arrogant and condescending to everyone. He was the living example of how absolute power corrupts absolutely. One strange omission was the sage of the Brooklyn Dodgers. As a Brooklyn Dodger fan, I was disappointed that Caro didn’t point out that Moses singlehandedly forced the Dodgers to move to California. This is a great book and one that is both educational and exciting.

A masterpiece

In the Jewish religion on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement,there is a reckoning. All of your good deeds are written down and the all of the bad deeds. they are placed on a scale and you are so judged. This book is Robert Moses' day or reckoning. All of the good deeds and bad deeds are recorded over more than 66 hours of audio and judged by Robert Caro, master biographer. In the process we learn as much about Robert Caro and his values as Robert Moses. Mr. Caro is able to make the most mundane traffic planning commitee meetings into Shakesperian drama and power struggles. And there are a lifetime of planning and building documented here. In fact, we learn very little of Robert Moses personal life, aside from the fact he was mean to his older brother Paul and cheated him out of his birthright.
On the other hand we learn about all of the power struggles and maneuvering that went into the planning and building of Jones Beach and the development of Long Island. We learn of Moses ability to drive a stake and take possession of homes, lands and other people's ideas to achieve his goal of parks and public works. How he would sell his soul to the devil for power. How he utilized public resources and facilites fro his own devices.And how he knowingly displaced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, unnecessarily for his title one projects and super highways and bridges.
Along the waty we learn everything there is to know about New York politics and power struggles, inclusive of the years 1920 to 1970. Including, Alfred Smith, Franklin Roosevelt, Herman Lehman, Fiorello Laguardia, Nelson Rockefeller, Robert Wagner and John Lindsay.
Mr .Caro has invested 10 years of his life into investigating and interviewing every one involved with at least 82 years of Mr. Moses 91 year life. Even after listening to the entire book it is difficult to know how to judge Mr. Moses. Almost no one else in the History of the world had such single mindedness and drive to acquire power through bulilding parks, bridges and roads, rather than by obtaining high offices or fighting wars. As Mr. Caro points out there is no comparable person in recorded history.
This is by far the most edifying book I have ever read, and I would say the best book I have listened to or read. I guess I will have to listen to the Lyndon Johnson series to fill the void in my life.

A must-know for New Yorkers

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If you grew up in the New York area, as I did, whether you've even heard of him or not, Robert Moses had a dramatic impact on your life. Virtually every highway in NY and Long Island is where it is because Moses said it should be and most parks are either there because of Moses or look that way they do because of him.

Moses was a controversial figure, to be sure, and Caro pulls no punches in criticizing him thoroughly and harshly in many cases (a Moses sympathizer might argue that the entire book is one long hit piece). But the book also brilliantly chronicles the story of one of the great bureaucrats in the world history; a man who simply know how to get things done and get them done his way, come Hell or high water. Elliot Spitzer once said that if a Moses biography would be written today, it would be entitled

What did you like best about this story?

The way Caro traces the development of Moses' personality from young good government idealist to power-obsessed king of his own feifdom.

Which scene was your favorite?

The confrontation with Wagner on inauguration day over the appointment to the city planning board summed up Moses in a single incident.You could hate the man and have more power than the man, but you still couldn't resist doing what he ordered you to do.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This is not really a funny or sad book, though some of the anecdotes are pretty funny.

Excellent

I've been absent from my book club for a few weeks now. I'm not really sure what other people in our group is reading or what is popular this summer. For the past few weeks, I've been submerge into Robert Moses life, triumphs and failures at building the global capital of the world, New York and it's surrounding areas.

I have one word for "The Power Broker", that it is excellent. Robert A. Caro is an amazing historian. He wrote Moses' biography not so much as a time capsule, but more like a 10 season documentary. The multi volumes of this book is a challenge to read at first, but once you start on the first minute, 66 hours is not draining at all.

At one point in the audiobook, I needed to go to the store and get some weekend chores done. Usually, I take a break in between and go out, but this time, I couldn't stop listening about the parks and the hardship of New Yorkers. While being asked if I wanted a bag for the items that I was buying, I saw my reflection and forgot that I left the house with my headphones on my ears. I was so in tuned of this book that I forgot what I was there to purchase.

I've visited New York many times and was picturing when I was reading, but the book doesn't do justice because I wasn't raised over there. The next time I'm in New York, the book will be in my subconsciousness and I can't wait to observe nuances of the infrastructures, parks, housing throughout the city.

I've read my fair share of books throughout the years, but "The Power Broker" will always stay with me because once again, it is excellent.

Simply Outstanding - Long, But Worth Every Minute

This audiobook is one of the best ever. The narrator was simply wonderful. I listened at 1.5x playback speed, which for me was perfect.

There is simply nothing better than a great narrator reading a wonderful book to you!

Robert Caro is a master author.

This book should be required reading in college political science classes as a classic study of political power. Moses' life spanned decades during critical development of NYC. Moses was good and bad.

If you are a New Yorker or visit New York City often, this book is a must. And, if you just like a damn good story, this is it.

Downloaded in 10 parts, inconvenient to manage in library

The audio book downloaded in 10 parts, all labelled inconsistently, difficult to determine which order to play them in, inconvenient and annoying. The audio book should be one file. Other lengthy audio books are a single, manageable file. Why not this one?

The best biography I have ever heard.

What made the experience of listening to The Power Broker the most enjoyable?

I cannot believe that a story of this magnitude and importance has never gained prominence on a popular level.

What did you like best about this story?

What I loved about this story is the fact that it is about how one man, an (unelected) public official, changed the face of New York politics and civil engineering, and in the course of this pursuit, changed the face of how America's roads are conceived and built. So much of how we live is dependent on the roads that surround us, and, on Long Island especially, Robert Moses is the single unifying figure in the formation of our modern highway system.

Have you listened to any of Robertson Dean’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have never listened to the man before, but his narration was efficient and excellent.

If you could give The Power Broker a new subtitle, what would it be?

The most important story that no one ever talks about.

Any additional comments?

Jesus Christ this book is good. At certain points you can feel yourself slipping into disbelief, but Caro backs all of his assertions up with cold hard facts. Granted, I haven't done the independent research, but I have to assume that a book as heavily annotated as this is as accurate as it can possibly be. This should be required reading for students in any number of disciplines from political science to history to engineering. A truly ground-shattering work of genius.

One of the very best biographies

On the whole, as for the amount of information contained in this biography it truly does merit a high rating. The author was quite fastidious is gathering and gleaning all that is included in the work. I was somewhat inundated with all the data presented. I know to many Robert Moses will still be held in high regard, his name still appears apparently on many landmarks that he built in his long association with the city and state of New York. What I look for mainly in a biography is one that tells about the person, unbiased and factual, this is such a book. It matters little whether I do or do not hold them in high regard, and that is the way I tend to view the book, information on people or subject that influenced or made a mark on society in some way. It is a rather lengthy book but I do recommend it to anyone who enjoys biographies as it is one of the best I have read to date.

endless masterpiece

this is the best researched and assembled writing on a specific topic I've ever encountered in my life. it's breathtaking in the level of detail and analysis

This was an amazing listen (Audiobook)

I have the full book sitting on my shelf, but I also have the audiobook and I’ve listened to it fully. With an audiobook, it is somewhat difficult to follow the intricacies of the construction plans, maps, paper trails and power trails that are described in full detail, but in the print version, you are provided with maps and illustrations. I plan to make time and read the print copy and immerse myself more fully. I was stunned by the end of this book at the oddity that is Robert Moses.