PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
An extraordinary book. In telling the story of how Roosevelt and La Guardia-men as fascinating as they were powerful-forged a mighty political collaboration, it brilliantly reinterprets the New Deal from the vantage point of the nation's greatest city. It also marks the remarkable debut of a gifted young historian. -- Sean Wilentz, author of The Rise of American Democracy This illuminating study offers a fresh vantage from which to comprehend key features of the New Deal and the history of New York. Moving between a vibrant portrayal of persons and incisive accounts of processes, City of Ambition is written with verve and imagination. -- Ira Katznelson, author of Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time An excellent account-well written and thoroughly researched-of how FDR and La Guardia, in an era of depression and war, channeled federal resources into crisis-ridden municipalities. Williams's recounting of their achievement is a salutary reminder of what was once possible, and could be again. -- Mike Wallace, coauthor of Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 Remarkable. . . . In an era when many voters feel that the federal government has no business spending money on cities . . . City of Ambition offers a useful and timely corrective. -- Washington Independent Review of Books Readable and well-researched history . . . tells [a] tale of governmental ambition admirably. -- Wall Street Journal
