Supreme City

Manhattan was transformed by jazz, nightclubs, radio, skyscrapers, movies, and the ferocious energy of the 1920s. This illuminating cultural history brilliantly demonstrates how Manhattan became the capital of everything: the city where everyone wanted to be. In four words—the capital of everything—Duke Ellington captured Manhattan during one of the most exciting and celebrated eras in our history: the Jazz Age. Radio, tabloid newspapers, and movies with sound appeared. The silver screen took over Times Square as Broadway became America's movie mecca. Tremendous new skyscrapers were built in Midtown in one of the greatest building booms in history.