In this first post-9/11 account of the career of the man who established himself as "America's Mayor" in the dark days after America was attacked, Fred Siegel shows how Rudy Giuliani's successes in New York — ­restoring law and order, cutting taxes and radically reducing the welfare rolls — ­demonstrated that Gotham was indeed "governable" (a matter of doubt until his election) and that our major cities might again become vibrant and dynamic places to live after thirty years of middle-class flight.

Someone who has worked with Giuliani as well as studied him, Siegel describes this colorful figure as an "immoderate centrist," who, like the city he came to embody, evokes contradictory emotions. For some, he was a ruthless autocrat during his years at city hall; for others, he was a heroic figure who took on the vested interests that had dragged the city down. Siegel regards Guiliani as a shrewd tactician and artist of the possible who could have stepped out of the pages of Machiavelli's The Prince. A self-promoting, self-absorbed man, the mayor made his own enormous ego serve the city's well-being. He promoted the virtues of duty and sacrifice, but was sometimes unable to honor these values in his personal life. He was suspicious of those outside his immediate circle, but he also placed this tribal ethos in the service of ideals that transcended New York's ethnic politics and business as usual.

The Prince of the City is at once a fascinating character study, a history of New York over the last forty years, and a classic inquiry into the issue of how cities thrive or die. Siegel's story culminates with a dramatic account of September 11, 2001, revealing how Giuliani's s eight years in office had prepared him and the city to rise to this tragic occasion. Siegel concludes with a look at how Guiliani's successor, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has handled his legacy and at what the future might hold for America's Mayor.

"Despite its title, this book is more a biography of late-20th-century New York than of former Mayor Giuliani. Siegel (The Future Once Happened Here), a well-known figure in New York civic discussions, deftly traces the city's post-War spiral into fiscal and social malaise. In an opening section titled 'New York Before Giuliani,' Siegel describes how New York 'turned the temporary emergency of the Great Depression into the permanent basis of its politics and government' by instituting decades of overly generous social programs, catering to special interest groups and amassing huge debts. Enter Giuliani. Siegel credits Guiliani with being a great synthesizer of new ideas about urban governance and policing, and he lauds the mayor's tough stance on crime and spending control. Though critics may claim that the city's turnaround in the '90s merely coincided with a nationwide economic upswing, Siegel touts the importance of the Giulini administration's economic, welfare-reform and crime-fighting policies. Siegel worked with Giuliani and is obviously a fan; indeed, his book seems geared toward polishing Giuliani's reputation for a possible presidential run. Fortunately for readers, though, he does not gloss over the former mayor's missteps. He describes Giuliani's divorce and how it became a messy public distraction, and he takes the ex-mayor to task for failing to institutionalize his fiscal reforms and for giving in, during his second term, to the temptation to buy votes with large public expenditures." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Siegel (history, The Cooper Union for Science and Art, and senior fellow, Progressive Policy Institute) sees Giuliani as an "immoderate centrist," who made his own enormous ego serve the well-being of New York City. After tracing the history of the city before and during Giuliani's tenure, Siegel concludes that Giuliani's success at restoring law and order, cutting taxes and reducing welfare rolls should be a model for all large cities. Siegel ends the volume with a consideration of Mayor Bloomberg's handling of the Giuliani legacy.
Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

"Despite its title, this book is more a biography of late-20th-century New York than of former Mayor Giuliani. Siegel (The Future Once Happened Here), a well-known figure in New York civic discussions, deftly traces the city's post-War spiral into fiscal and social malaise. In an opening section titled 'New York Before Giuliani,' Siegel describes how New York 'turned the temporary emergency of the Great Depression into the permanent basis of its politics and government' by instituting decades of overly generous social programs, catering to special interest groups and amassing huge debts. Enter Giuliani. Siegel credits Guiliani with being a great synthesizer of new ideas about urban governance and policing, and he lauds the mayor's tough stance on crime and spending control. Though critics may claim that the city's turnaround in the '90s merely coincided with a nationwide economic upswing, Siegel touts the importance of the Giulini administration's economic, welfare-reform and crime-fighting policies. Siegel worked with Giuliani and is obviously a fan; indeed, his book seems geared toward polishing Giuliani's reputation for a possible presidential run. Fortunately for readers, though, he does not gloss over the former mayor's missteps. He describes Giuliani's divorce and how it became a messy public distraction, and he takes the ex-mayor to task for failing to institutionalize his fiscal reforms and for giving in, during his second term, to the temptation to buy votes with large public expenditures." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Siegel writes the first comprehensive account of the successful, "America's Mayor," Rudi Giuliani: a colorful, contradictory, and immoderate centrist who prepared his city to come together after the tragedy of 9/11. Acting as a character study, a history of New York over the last forty years, and an insight into how cities function, Siegel's book was named by Peter Jennings as one of the 100 most important books about the United States in the 20th Century.