View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.
2005 Author of the Year Award—Working Harbor Committee of New York and New Jersey
2006 AAUP Book, Jacket, and Journal Show in the category of Trade Illustrated Book Design
Anyone who doubts the beauty or role of the lowly tugboat will be pleasantly surprised by this handsome new book...Drawing on a range of historical sources, the author argues convincingly that the towing industry played a crucial role in building New York s commercial stature.
—Armchair Sailor
Few books can be all things to all people, but this one is an exception. Much more than just a narrow history aimed at tugboat buffs, it has something for everyone. George Matteson, a veteran towboater, has tackled the history of working vessels and has produced a work that is not only poetic and technical, nostalgic and clearheaded, but perceptive of the human and economic dimensions of working on the water. Since towboating in New York reflects the overall course of American industrial, economic, and maritime history, it is a venture into maritime history itself.
—Steamboat Bill: Journal of the Steamship Society of America
"The seductive promise of the fog-drenched images on the dust jacket of Tugboats of New York is more than fulfilled in the comprehensive contents."
—Sea History
Tugboats of New York is one of those rare constructions where everything works just about perfectly."
—Marine News
"Matteson, who has worked on tugs for 20 years, defines the blue-collar boats' place in the history of America's industrial development and provides anecdotes about life in the harbor."
—Associated Press
"Matteson knows the lore in depth, telling us how tugs work and how crucially they've served the great port."
—San Diego Tribune
"A magnificent book reflecting first-rate scholarship, writing, design, and production."
—Woodenboat
"This gem of a book about 'the workhorses of the greatest harbor in the world' was written by someone who himself has operated tugboats since 1979. . . . The book might even be the inspiration for a future tugboat captain.
—Kivekdale Press
"One of those rare constructions where everything works just about perfectly. The text is insightfully, appreciatively, and masterfully written. The illustrations are informative, handsome, and sometimes—deliberately, one gathers, given some of the credits—quite beautifully artistic."
—Marine Link
"The informative text and copious illustrations- maps, drawings and photographs- make this book a 'must-have' gift for all the New York nautical devotees....Whether weekend sailor or confirmed landlubber, readers of Tugboats of New York will re-discover the lroe of these iconic craft."
—Riverdale Press
"Breathtaking photographs. . . . Matteson's fascinating account of the evolutionary era begins with the geographical formation of New York Harbor, but quickly moves to the era of the vessels themselves. . . . Anyone fond of books about the way things work will enjoy Matteson's detailed explanations; others will relish his metaphors."
—New York Times Book Review
"A handsome account of these durable, powerful, romantic little fellows."
—New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice
"This sturdy, if little lauded, workhorse of the city s waterways has found a champion in George Matteson, himself a veteran tug operator. His marvelous, handsomely designed Tugboats of New York is both an evocative photo album of tugs at work and a detailed essay on nearly two hundred years of tugboat history.
—BookForum
"The story of the development of the tugboat industry in one of the busiest seaports in the world is a remarkable one, and Matteson delivers it in rich and lively detail. . . . The photographs alone, with extensive captioning, make this book worth buying. These photos are gems."
—WorkBoat
His book guides you effortlessly into the world of tugboating, showing you the rope(pun intended) with the ease of a master. You can t help but respect him for both his undoubtedly hard-won insider s view of a gritty profession and his spare, pointed, informative prose.
—The Waserwoman s Genes
"A brave and jaunty disquisition, copiously illustrated, on the history of tugboats in the port of New York—written with boundless enthusiasm and affection for its subject, and with more than a little longing for the days when ships of all kinds dominated the rhythm of life in and around the city's endless waterways."
—Ric Burns
"Matteson narrates two hundred years of city history from the decks of its tugboats."
—The New Yorker
"Not only does George Matteson possess the been-there, done-that experience of actually operating tugboats in New York Harbor, he also has a gift for evocative language. Matteson's tale is literally a page-turner. The book's photographs of tugs, their crews and their machinery, drawn from many sources, are first rate, with many rising to the level of fine art. Matteson's book is a treasure."
—Richard Stepler, South Street Seaport Museum
Anyone who doubts the beauty or role of the lowly tugboat will be pleasantly surprised by this handsome new book, which charts the development of the waterfront workhorse in New York City...The illustrations, text and personal anecdotes combine to create an engagingly textured work. Matteson s book would make a welcome winter addition to any maritime library— whether owned by a New York City devotee, a photography fan or a tug enthusiast.
Mystic Seaport Members Magazine
"Do you like tugboats? Yes, we knew it. Hardworking and cute, what's not to like? Tugboats of New York provides in one elegant volume the whole story for those ready to go beyond a passing crush and learn something about the worker bees of the working harbor which is the reason the city is here to begin with."
—Crawford Doyle Booksellers
Fascinating History —NY Daily News
Tugboats are the workhorses of the greatest harbor in the world, easing massive ocean liners and garbage scows alike cleanly into their berths. Tugboats of New York captures the history and lore of these iconic craft, from their precursors in the early 1800s to their heyday in the 1950s, when more than 700 small but potent boats dotted the harbor. They are the most versatile of vessels, not only guiding large oceangoing ships safely into harbor, but also conducting rescue operations and navigating vast quantities of oil, cement, and scrap iron through traffic-clogged waters.
A twenty-year veteran of New York tugboats, George Matteson knows the tides and currents of New York from the Bronx to the Verrazano Narrows. His history of tugboating shows how this inherently risky business pits men and their boats against weather, water, and the scarcely measurable physics of ships and barges of far greater dimension.
The story of New York's tugs parallels the broader history of New York's industrial development, from the rise of railroads to the decline of the port in the wake of labor disputes and large container ships. It is also a story of remarkable seamen who pass their craft from pilot to apprentice over generations, along with the lore of great waterways that remain unchanged despite the lengthening shadows of skyscrapers and commerce.
Rich with first-person anecdotes of life on the New York waterways and one hundred and fifty black-and-white illustrations, including rare and sumptuous photographs from the likes of Gordon Parks and Todd Webb, Tugboats of New York will fascinate readers interested in New York history, boating, and maritime history.
