''Dreamland'' is a 1999 novel by American author Kevin Baker, published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

Publishers. It centers on the colorful underworld of turn-of-the-century

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, with much of the action taking place at Dreamland amusement park in

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

. Many of the characters and events in Dreamland are based on real, historical accounts and people. For example; Kid Twist, Gyp the Blood,

General Tom Thumb Charles Sherwood Stratton (January 4, 1838 – July 15, 1883), better known by his stage name "General Tom Thumb", was an American with dwarfism who achieved great fame as a performer under circus pioneer P. T. Barnum. Childhood and early ...

, his wife

Lavinia Warren Mercy Lavinia Warren Stratton ( Bump; October 31, 1841 – November 25, 1919) was an American proportionate dwarf, who was a circus performer and the wife of Charles Sherwood Stratton, known as General Tom Thumb. She was known as a performer a ...

and

Timothy Sullivan Timothy Daniel Sullivan (July 23, 1862 – August 31, 1913) was a New York politician who controlled Manhattan's Bowery, Manhattan, Bowery and Lower East Side districts as a prominent leader within Tammany Hall. He was known euphemistically as " ...

are all central characters in the book, and a major story arc follows a popular criminal trial of the period. ''Dreamland'' is the first volume in publication order of Baker's City of Fire trilogy of historical novels on New York City, the others being ''Paradise Alley'' (2002) and ''Striver's Row'' (2006).

References

1999 American novels American historical novels Novels set in Brooklyn Novels set in New York City HarperCollins books Coney Island in fiction {{1990s-hist-novel-stub