The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation: Street Politics and the Transformation of a New York City Gang Book

The Hudson by Carl Carmer was published in 1939. It was one of the earlier books in the Rivers of America series published by Farrar & Rinehart and edited by Constance Lindsay Skinner. The first of the series was published in 1937 and the last was not until the 1970s. Even though these books are quite dated now there is nothing else quite like them. The Hudson covers the history, geology and people of the Hudson River and it's valley. Before New York became a British colony the Dutch settled New York City, then called New Amsterdam, and Albany and much in between. The Dutch granted huge feudal land grants to a few wealthy families and the British continued to recognize these families rights to control land and collect rents and labor from the resident farmers. One reason the Hudson Valley farmers were so quick to join the American Revolution was that they hoped to secure their own farms from the feudal masters. This was not to happen and the history of the Hudson involved struggles for land rights for over 200 years. A bit out of date but still worthwhile to understand how part of our country developed.