Longtime New York City chronicler Strausbaugh (City of Sedition) has put together an ambitious book detailing life in the Big Apple during World War II. While focusing on the years 1939–45, the author dedicates plenty of space to the decades preceding and following the war. In doing so, he places both New York and World War II in context, culturally and politically. Highlighting both major and minor cultural and political events, the work's brief chapters offer anecdotes of New Yorkers. At times it's hard to see how some of the people featured fit into the larger narrative of wartime New York, especially when they're only mentioned once. But overall the book is readable and compelling and isn't bogged down by these divergent stories. VERDICT While academics might find the broad scope unsatisfying, this is nonetheless a captivating and well-researched New York history bound to please anyone interested in World War II, New York, as well as general popular history readers.—Timothy Berge, West Virginia Univ., Morgantown