P.S. Robert Caro's Power Broker Notes

"...Don’t mention the first wife, / Stay away from family questions"

I write you from a cafe on the Upper West Side, just behind the New York Historical Society—home to Robert Caro’s papers and a special exhibit honoring The Power Broker’s 50th anniversary.

The Power Broker has been a smashing success for many reasons. Among them are Caro’s deep commitment to research, the craft of writing, and civic responsibility. The Power Broker is more than a biography of Robert Moses—it is a history of New York City and its inhabitants—particularly those caught in the crosshairs of power.

As I toured the New York Historical Society’s exhibit, I overheard at least four conversations that sounded something like this:

Have you read The Power Broker?

No, but now I want to.

Even if you haven’t read The Power Broker, there’s still so much to learn from Caro’s notes. Here are images I took of the exhibit and some more information I learned about The Power Broker from the New York Historical Society.

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Researching Moses

At first, Robert Caro set out to document the man, Robert Moses.