This book is undoubtedly one of the most influential works ever in the field of social reform. Published in 1890, photographer Jacob Riis described in lurid detail how the poverty-stricken inhabitants of lower Manhattan barely survived in a society that had neglected them. In the years following the publication of "How the Other Half Lives", the city board of New York passed and enacted numerous reforms aimed towards reducing the horrific squalor of lower Manhattan.

Riiis's photographs are truly riveting and they effectively preserve the meaning of "survival" in New York in the 19th century.

The book is available online at:

http://www.cis.yale.edu/amstud/inforev/riis/title.html

You can view some of the photographs from the Riis collection at:

http://www.masters-of-photography.com/R/riis/riis.html