Local historian Harry Kyriakodis has a new book out about the river ward neighborhood of Northern Liberties. The author has what he believes to be the largest private collection of books about Philly (a couple thousand; we hope the person he lives with isn't into minimalism).
That collection has served him well in the writing of his 2011 book Philadelphia's Lost Waterfront and for this latest work, Northern Liberties: The Story of a Philadelphia River Ward—both excellent Hurricane Sandy picks. The new book chronicles the journey of the former Leni-Lenape territory including highlights like the 1844 Nativist Riots, annexation by the city in 1854, its industrial heyday demolitions in the 1960s to the riverside community it is now—"an eclectic and vibrant urban neighborhood."
· Northern Liberties: The Story of a Philadelphia River Ward (Brief History) [Amazon]