A book that takes an aggressive look at the scandals and corruption that dogged the mayoralty of New York City's Ed Koch during his three terms of office (1978-1989). Contrary to a lot of the nostalgia for Koch, the authors take the view that the administration was badly riddled with machine-politics corruption, and they make an interesting case that it was so, even though New York City did bounce back from its troubles of the mid-70s under Koch's tenure. Well worth a read. The only real problem is that the narrative has a tendency to jump seriously out of order in spots. ( )