Vincent J. Cannato. The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and His Struggle to Save New York.(Book Review)

New York: Basic Books, 2001. Pp. 720. Cloth, $35.00; ISBN: 0-465-00843-7.

Despite its unchallenged position as America's preeminent city, the scholarly literature devoted to New York City's history is relatively sparse. The one book that prominently stands out with general readers and historians is Robert Caro's biography of Robert Moses, The Power Broker. Vincent Cannato's recently published The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and His Struggle to Save New York deserves to be placed alongside The Power Broker as one of the few great books written about New York City. It is also a work that provides brilliant insight into American society during the 1960s. In this …