Rural County, Urban Borough

Rural County, Urban Borough: A History of Queens is the first book to tell the story of Queens as integrated into the narrative of Greater New York.  Richly illustrated, the book covers the long and involved history of the borough which has a population today of approximately 2.5 million, arguably the most diverse place in the nation, if not the world. Queens developed from an agricultural hinterland to a borough of urban neighborhoods. How and why did Queens turn out the way it has? What factors fostered development and change at different historical moments? These are the questions running through this book. The story involves transportation and technological innovation, urban planning and architecture, immigration, race and ethnicity, private enterprise, public infrastructure, and of course, politics. The story of Queens, the largest of five boroughs in area, deserves to be better known, for it is more than an afterthought in the history of the city.