"…marches readers into New York's checkered and storied past." — New York Daily News

"Readers interested in state history, especially that of New York, will definitely enjoy this examination of the most influential incidents. Dearstyne succeeds in writing in a concise manner while always keeping readers engaged." — Library Journal

"Relying on a wide array of well-cited sources, Dearstyne also sheds new light on individuals' dramatic reform efforts in labor, child welfare, race relations, and environmental stewardship." — Hudson River Valley Review

"Bruce Dearstyne's beautifully written and thoroughly researched biography of New York opens new vistas for understanding the enormous impact the state has had on American history writ large. With attention to and sensitivity toward geographical, ethnic, economic, and ecological diversity, the book offers an important new explanation of why New York has been able to meet so many of its challenges with dynamism and creativity. It also shows how ego and self-interest have sometimes gotten in the way, balancing the determined problem solving that is often seen as a hallmark of the state with a true account of rises and falls, booms and busts, and vision and drift that are equally a part of its spirit." — Louise Mirrer, President and CEO, New-York Historical Society

"Bruce Dearstyne brings a fine narrative style and superb storytelling to The Spirit of New York. Readers will learn about New York politics, the state's role in racial conflict, recasting the role of women in New York, and far more. The book is about the people of New York responding individually and collectively to the opportunities, problems, and tragedies that have punctuated the history of the Empire State from its beginnings to the present." — Warren Roberts, author of A Place in History: Albany in the Age of Revolution, 1775–1825

"This book offers a fascinating odyssey through New York's past by using examples of its national leadership, ranging from the state's early women's rights movements to Jackie Robinson's historic integration of major league baseball, and from aviation pioneer Glenn Curtis to the construction of a landmark superhighway, the New York State Thruway. Dearstyne presents fresh insight into several salient events that made New York the Empire State. In doing so, he comes as close to a recent general history of the state as currently exists." — F. Daniel Larkin, State University of New York at Oneonta