From Chicago’s early experiments in building upward to New York’s race for the skyline and Dubai’s half-mile-high Burj Khalifa, the history of the skyscraper is a story of engineering, ambition, and wonder. Along the way, these extraordinary buildings changed not only how cities look, but how travelers experience them.

Tucked beside The Mark Hotel on New York’s Upper East Side, Assouline’s tiny bookstore offers a striking reminder that travel books can be more than sources of information. Beautifully made, highly visual, and definitely expensive, they can celebrate a place, spark curiosity, and become part of the way we remember—or imagine—the world.

New York is loved not because it is easy or peaceful, but because it makes life feel larger. Through its people, neighborhoods, streets, food, and constant creative energy, the city offers an experience that is exhausting, exhilarating, deeply human—and intensely alive.

New York City sparks the imagination long before a traveler arrives. Its neighborhoods, characters, and energy have inspired countless writers, and the right books can make any visit richer, more personal, and more memorable.