The Prince of the City: Giuliani, New York, and the Genius of American Life

Siegel succeeds brilliantly in painting a vivid portrait of the political history of New York City during the second half of the 20th century. I especially enjoyed the early chapters of this book and Siegel's description of the 1970's and 1980's during the Lindsay/Koch/Dinkins years. In his narrative of the ungovernable 1980's Siegel captures the fear and the pessimism and the prevailing sense of decline that permeated the city during those years and his words will ring true to anyone who lived in or near New York City during that time.However, his portrayal of Giuliani himself is far too flattering and is as much a pro-Giuliani propaganda piece as it is a history of his 8 years in office. I agree with the author that overall Giuliani was a successful mayor and left the city in much better shape than he found it. New York had deteriorated into a crime ridden shell of its former glory was in danger of turning into a larger version of Detroit. However, Siegel gives Giuliani credit for too many successes that were conceived of and implemented by others (the policing methods Giuliani takes credit for were first implemented by Ray Kelly prior to Giuliani becoming mayor).This is a great book and an enjoyable read and I highly recommend it, but just keep in mind that the author has a very strong and obvious pro-Giuliani bias.

Too much unimportant detail. Not enough about Giuliani's personal life and not enough about 9-11-01.Interesting and one wonder's how he got anything done with the mani baricades set up by the Teachers Unions, the Firemen's Unions, the Policemen Unions, the Governor of the State of New York, the State Legislature and the New York City Council.It is amazing he could get anything done with the corrupt and inefficient New York School System.He was a tough, very intelligent man and probably should be elected President of the United States when Bush goes.John R. Bloomer Sr., 4902 Longview Drive - Godfrey, Il 62035-1643Age 79 -- WWII Combat Veteran of the United States Navy and very proud of it.================================================================

As other reviewers have pointed out, this is as much the story of New York City since the 1960s as it is of Rudy Giuliani. I ordered it to read more about the mayor since he has become a serious candidate for president. The story of the city and its problems was almost more engaging. The left liberal political culture had run the city into the ground. CUNY, the "poor man's Harvard" had collapsed into a city-wide babysitting service. Teachers who had graduated from CUNY were illiterate and were training an illiterate generation of high school "graduates." The author points out how Giuliani became aware of the magnitude of the problem when protest signs held by teachers were filled with misspellings. I also learned a lot about Al Sharpton I wish I didn't know. The fact that Giuliani was able to master this collection of anarchists and hustlers and hacks, and get things done, is a great testimonial to his talents. The errors he made are also on full display so this is not a partisan hagiography. The mayor is there, warts and all. An excellent biography of Giuliani and of the city, itself.

The content of this book was very informative. It brought up points that, at the time, I hadn't even noticed. However, it appears that the editor was sleeping on the job. The simple activity of reading this book was difficult due to the horrible misspellings and blaring errors in grammar. I cannot believe that the publisher allowed this book to hit the market in its current state. However, if you can manage to overlook the numerous errors (oftentimes there is at least one on every page), then this book is very informative and enjoyable.

This is a by-the-numbers puff piece. The author hammers on certain points repeatedly (Reagan was great for poor blacks, gets 'proven' three times in the first half of the book alone). Reader is assumed not to know much history (we're reminded a couple of times about when World War II was). Piece as a whole is unclever, though it gets fun in places. It seems clear the author is connected to the DLC, and therefore has an interest in throwing the Liberalism of the 60s and 70s under the bus. While that is a valid topic for a book, it is important to note that this is not an attempt at academic history. It is an attempt to glorify some and blame others, by telling a story a certain way.With that said, this book is better than nothing; you will learn some key names, places, events, and so on.

Being a lifelong New Yorker, I know first hand of what this book speaks. It is well written and distills, in a refreshingly politically incorrect way, the issues underlying 70 or so years of mayoral politics in the city. The author is not afraid to call it as he sees it.What the book does superbly is to clarify some of the more essential issues with the advantage of historical hindsight while comparing the events as they happened then with media obfuscation at the time.It would have been useful if the author had focused on some of the more senselessly paranoid behavior of Giuliani and his associates but this is a minor criticism. I recommend this book wholeheartedly to students of New York City politics.

She likes this book. Then again give her any book dealing with government history, she will read it. Giuliani is a figure and she wanted to know a little more than average. She says is a good book and suggested 4 Stars.

Fantastic biography about one of the most influential mayors of all time. Really got into detail about the struggles and creative solutions of governing New York in the late nineties and the effects of 9/11.