Lisa Keller's Book Wins Best Book Prize From Urban History Association

Lisa Keller received the Urban History Association's Best Book prize for 2009 at the recent American Historical Association convention in Boston.  The hardcover edition was published by Columbia University Press in 2008 and the paperback was published in 2010.

The book examines the creation of urban environments where residents work, live and prosper with minimal disruption in London and New York.  Drawing on rich archival sources that include the unpublished correspondence of government officials and ordinary citizens, Keller paints an inimate portrait of daily life in these two cities and the intricacies of their emerging bureaucracies. She finds that New york eventually settled on a policy or preempting disruption before itoccurred, while London chose a path of greater tolerance toward street activities.