Good Old Coney Island Hardcover - 2000

From the jacket flap

Coney Island is more than a national institution: it was probably the most celebrated amusement resort in the world. This book, by a man whose family helped to build the Island's fantastic reputation, presents its lively and nostalgic history. Touched with sentiment, occasionally with acid, it is frank, outspoken, sometimes biting, but always imbued with humor.

After its original settlement, Coney Island passed through three well-defined periods that can best be described as notorious, elegant, and garish. The first was the time of Civil War deserters and bounty-jumpers, outlaws and prostitutes. Next, the 1880s were the time of elegance, of the finest hotels and restaurants, a time when the sporting world, the theatrical world, and the world of fashion made Coney Island a truly glittering watering place. The third period was that of the nickel empire when the subways reached the Island, the great hordes arrived, and Coney grew cheap and garish. In its fourth period, Coney Island became a beautiful seaside park.

This new edition of McCullough's book includes an introduction by Brian J. Cudahy, who has written extensively about New York's waterways and subways, and an epilogue by Michael P. Onorato, a retired history professor whose father managed Coney Island's famed Steeplechase Park from 1928 until its closing in 1964. Thus, McCullough's story, which ended in 1957, is brought up to date for a new generation of readers.