George Plimpton

Trapped in the Sierra Nevadas during the bitter winter of 1846, an untried shortcut became a death warrant for half of the Donner and Reed families as they became victims of madness, death and cannibalism.

Before there was Disneyland, there was Coney Island. By the turn of the century, this tiny piece of New York real estate was internationally famous. On summer Sundays, three great pleasure domes--Steeplechase, Luna Park and Dreamland--competed for the patronage of a half-million people. By day it was the world's most amazing amusement park, by night, an electric "Eden".