For those times when exploring New York City block by block is challenging—because of bad weather, distance, or a global pandemic—here comes a book that allows you to explore the city decade by decade.

Author and longtime guide Robert Westfield takes you on a walking tour of the last 42 decades. See New York grow from Lenape habitation sites and a humble Dutch company outpost to one of the world’s most vibrant and diverse metropolises.

With a conversational style, photographs, and “cocktail napkin” illustrations, Westfield breaks the 420 years into manageable ten-year chunks. Absorb the general takeaway of each decade, with its defining events and critical turning points, and observe how daily life was disrupted and transformed, again and again, on this tour through time.