# The Power Broker by Robert Caro

7 Hacker News commenters recommended The Power Broker by Robert Caro and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as a classic, famous non-fiction book about Robert Moses, and a long-time Hacker News favorite. No recurring criticism appears in the quotes.

## Why people recommend it

- Classic, famous book about Robert Moses (3 comments): "a classic about Robert Moses who basically built half of New York" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47072696)) "I recommend the books of Robert Caro about Robert Moses." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47958430)) "The Power Broker is of course Caro's most famous book" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50233544))
- Long-time favorite non-fiction series (2 comments): "Caro's The Power Broker has been a HN favorite ever since Aaron Swartz recommended it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46179798)) "It's the best non-fiction series I've ever read and I almost exclusively read NF." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49916053))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cuckoo-s-egg.md): 40 recommend
- [Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amusing-ourselves-to-death.md): 36 recommend
- [The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/anxious-generation.md): 24 recommend
- [Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bullshit-jobs.md): 20 recommend
- [Enshittification by Cory Doctorow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/enshittification.md): 19 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1847923658?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781847923653) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Power Broker by Robert Caro", https://hackerapproved.com/p/power-broker/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).