Overview

Full Product Details

9781616205768

Table of Contents

Reviews

Stacy Horn's history of Blackwell's Island is a shocking tale, and an invaluable account that will reward anyone with an interest in the history of New York. --Simon Baatz, New York Times bestselling author of For the Thrill of It and The Girl on the Velvet Swing Through a wealth of harrowing anecdotes and fascinating case-studies, Damnation Island tells the real story of how America has treated its poor, its tired, and its huddled masses: with petty cruelty, often in the name of Christian charity. A gripping and compelling read. --Mikita Brottman, author of The Maximum Security Book Club Riveting. Horn brings alive this forgotten history, and her extraordinary book has far-reaching significance not only for the past but for the future. --Jan Jarboe Russell, best-selling author of The Train to Crystal City At Blackwell's, the inmates really were running the asylum. An important piece of history in public medicine, Damnation Island weaves a compelling narrative with threads of thorough research and realism. --Julie Holland, M.D., author of Weekends at Bellevue A riveting, character-driven dive into 19th-century New York and the extraordinary history of Blackwell's Island. Stacy Horn has an uncanny knack for making history come alive. --Laurie Gwen Shapiro, author of The Stowaway: A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica Blackwell's Island's descent into darkness is chronicled with clarity and conscience by master-story-teller Stacy Horn. No one who has taken that journey with her will return the same. --Teresa Carpenter, Pulitzer Prize-winner and editor of New York Diaries: 1609 to 2009 New York's Victorian-era reformers had an idea: to isolate the city's indigent, diseased, mentally ill, and delinquent on an island in the East River, where they could be cared for with competence and compassion. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way. Stacy Horn is the perfect Virgil for this chilling, vivid, and enthralling journey through the Inferno that was 19th-century Blackwell's Island. --Gary Krist, author of Empire of Sin Revelatory. What occurred during the 19th and early 20th centuries in the prisons, hospitals, and insane asylum on the New York City spit of land that is now home to the fashionable Roosevelt Island constitutes the stuff of nightmares. --Steve Weinberg, author of Taking on the Trust: The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller More than a diligent expose, Damnation Island presents a cautionary tale for what could happen even now, informing and educating in a way that urges us toward humbling self-reflection. --Katherine Ramsland, author of Confession of a Serial Killer Blackwell's Island and its troubled history haunt New York City. Who better to delve into its many-layered secrets than one of America's foremost storytellers, Stacy Horn. --Philip Dray, author ofAt the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America Riveting. Horn brings alive this forgotten history, and her extraordinary book has far-reaching significance not only for the past but for the future. --Jan Jarboe Russell, best-selling author of The Train to Crystal City At Blackwell's, the inmates really were running the asylum. An important piece of history in public medicine, Damnation Island weaves a compelling narrative with threads of thorough research and realism. --Julie Holland, M.D., author of Weekends at Bellevue A riveting, character-driven dive into 19th-century New York and the extraordinary history of Blackwell's Island. Stacy Horn has an uncanny knack for making history come alive. --Laurie Gwen Shapiro, author of The Stowaway: A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica Blackwell's Island's descent into darkness is chronicled with clarity and conscience by master-story-teller Stacy Horn. No one who has taken that journey with her will return the same. --Teresa Carpenter, Pulitzer Prize-winner and editor of New York Diaries: 1609 to 2009 New York's Victorian-era reformers had an idea: to isolate the city's indigent, diseased, mentally ill, and delinquent on an island in the East River, where they could be cared for with competence and compassion. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way. Stacy Horn is the perfect Virgil for this chilling, vivid, and enthralling journey through the Inferno that was 19th-century Blackwell's Island. --Gary Krist, author of Empire of Sin Revelatory. What occurred during the 19th and early 20th centuries in the prisons, hospitals, and insane asylum on the New York City spit of land that is now home to the fashionable Roosevelt Island constitutes the stuff of nightmares. --Steve Weinberg, author of Taking on the Trust: The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller More than a diligent expose, Damnation Island presents a cautionary tale for what could happen even now, informing and educating in a way that urges us toward humbling self-reflection. --Katherine Ramsland, author of Confession of a Serial Killer Blackwell's Island and its troubled history haunt New York City. Who better to delve into its many-layered secrets than one of America's foremost storytellers, Stacy Horn. --Philip Dray, author ofAt the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America At Blackwell's, the inmates really were running the asylum. An important piece of history in public medicine, Damnation Island weaves a compelling narrative with threads of thorough research and realism. --Julie Holland, M.D., author of Weekends at Bellevue A riveting, character-driven dive into 19th-century New York and the extraordinary history of Blackwell's Island. Stacy Horn has an uncanny knack for making history come alive. --Laurie Gwen Shapiro, author of The Stowaway: A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica Blackwell's Island's descent into darkness is chronicled with clarity and conscience by master-story-teller Stacy Horn. No one who has taken that journey with her will return the same. --Teresa Carpenter, Pulitzer Prize-winner and editor of New York Diaries: 1609 to 2009 New York's Victorian-era reformers had an idea: to isolate the city's indigent, diseased, mentally ill, and delinquent on an island in the East River, where they could be cared for with competence and compassion. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way. Stacy Horn is the perfect Virgil for this chilling, vivid, and enthralling journey through the Inferno that was 19th-century Blackwell's Island. --Gary Krist, author of Empire of Sin Revelatory. What occurred during the 19th and early 20th centuries in the prisons, hospitals, and insane asylum on the New York City spit of land that is now home to the fashionable Roosevelt Island constitutes the stuff of nightmares. --Steve Weinberg, author of Taking on the Trust: The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller More than a diligent expose, Damnation Island presents a cautionary tale for what could happen even now, informing and educating in a way that urges us toward humbling self-reflection. --Katherine Ramsland, author of Confession of a Serial Killer Blackwell's Island and its troubled history haunt New York City. Who better to delve into its many-layered secrets than one of America's foremost storytellers, Stacy Horn. --Philip Dray, author ofAt the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America A riveting, character-driven dive into 19th-century New York and the extraordinary history of Blackwell's Island. Stacy Horn has an uncanny knack for making history come alive. --Laurie Gwen Shapiro, author of The Stowaway: A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica Blackwell's Island's descent into darkness is chronicled with clarity and conscience by master-story-teller Stacy Horn. No one who has taken that journey with her will return the same. --Teresa Carpenter, Pulitzer Prize-winner and editor of New York Diaries: 1609 to 2009 New York's Victorian-era reformers had an idea: to isolate the city's indigent, diseased, mentally ill, and delinquent on an island in the East River, where they could be cared for with competence and compassion. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way. Stacy Horn is the perfect Virgil for this chilling, vivid, and enthralling journey through the Inferno that was 19th-century Blackwell's Island. --Gary Krist, author of Empire of Sin Revelatory. What occurred during the 19th and early 20th centuries in the prisons, hospitals, and insane asylum on the New York City spit of land that is now home to the fashionable Roosevelt Island constitutes the stuff of nightmares. --Steve Weinberg, author of Taking on the Trust: The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller More than a diligent expose, Damnation Island presents a cautionary tale for what could happen even now, informing and educating in a way that urges us toward humbling self-reflection. --Katherine Ramsland, author of Confession of a Serial Killer Blackwell's Island and its troubled history haunt New York City. Who better to delve into its many-layered secrets than one of America's foremost storytellers, Stacy Horn. --Philip Dray, author ofAt the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America A riveting character-driven dive into 19th-century New York and the extraordinary history of Blackwell's Island. Stacy Horn has an uncanny knack for making history come alive. --Laurie Gwen Shapiro, author of The Stowaway: A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica Blackwell's Island and its troubled history haunt New York City. Who better to delve into Damnation Island's many-layered secrets than one of America's foremost storytellers, Stacy Horn. --Philip Dray, author ofAt the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America

A riveting, character-driven dive into 19th-century New York and the extraordinary history of Blackwell's Island. Stacy Horn has an uncanny knack for making history come alive. --Laurie Gwen Shapiro, author of The Stowaway: A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica Revelatory. What occurred during the 19th and early 20th centuries in the prisons, hospitals, and insane asylum on the New York City spit of land that is now home to the fashionable Roosevelt Island constitutes the stuff of nightmares. --Steve Weinberg, author of Taking on the Trust: The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller More than a diligent expose, Damnation Island presents a cautionary tale for what could happen even now, informing and educating in a way that urges us toward humbling self-reflection. --Katherine Ramsland, author of Confession of a Serial Killer Blackwell's Island and its troubled history haunt New York City. Who better to delve into its many-layered secrets than one of America's foremost storytellers, Stacy Horn. --Philip Dray, author ofAt the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America A riveting character-driven dive into 19th-century New York and the extraordinary history of Blackwell's Island. Stacy Horn has an uncanny knack for making history come alive. --Laurie Gwen Shapiro, author of The Stowaway: A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica Blackwell's Island and its troubled history haunt New York City. Who better to delve into Damnation Island's many-layered secrets than one of America's foremost storytellers, Stacy Horn. --Philip Dray, author ofAt the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America

Author Information

Stacy Horn is the author of five nonfiction books, including Imperfect Harmony. Mary Roach has hailed her for combining awe-fueled curiosity with topflight reporting skills, while others have described her work as immaculately researched and several notched above the typical reporter's insights. Horn's commentaries have been heard on NPR's All Things Considered, and she is the founder of the social network Echo. She lives in New York City, and when she's not researching and writing, she's singing soprano 2 (the best part) with the Choral Society of Grace Church or helping care for animals at the ASPCA Animal Hospital, where she is frequently forced to chant quietly to herself, No, Stacy, you may not take that puppy (or kitten) home.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available