There is a fascinating history of rats in New York City provided in the book, Rats: Observations on the History & Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitant

There is a fascinating history of rats in New York City provided in the book, Rats: Observations on the History & Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants. The author, Robert Sullivan, delivers the influence of rats and ratting on the American Revolution. It goes so far as to draw a connection between rats and the Boston Massacre, IIRC. It made me look at rats in a new way, I highly recommend this book.