I had to read this and write an esay on this book for mu history 1302 class. At first, I found myself gettign depressed by the horrible consitions that the people in these dwelings endured. After continuing with the book,I began to find myself fascinated. It is like actually being in the time period that Riis speaks of. The book is very well written and breaks a lot of boundaries. I would highly recommend this book to anyone. It makes you very aware of the problems that were, and the problems that are.

Like books by Steinbeck, How the other half lives is a eye opening expose of life for the have-nots in the late 19th century. The progression through the different areas of NYC shows that there were a lot more poorer people in the city than I thought. Riis is thorough and pulls no punches in showing how the other half true lives.

I used this book along with another Riis book for a U.S. History project at school. Both this book and Low Life were an incredible help. The pictures are incredible. Riis was the first to show this side of life in NYC during the first part of the century. His books are by far the best pictoral records of the time. I highly recomend this book for anyone interested in the early part of the century or anyone who needs information for school projects.