City of Ambition: FDR, LaGuardia, and the Making of Modern New York

This exhaustive study looks at both the political and the personal partnership of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia during the 1930s and 1940s as each grappled with the enormous challenges of the Great Depression then U.S. entry into World War II. Williams's first book sheds new light on how LaGuardia, benefitting from New Deal largesse, funded infrastructure projects that reshaped New York into a "showcase for American democracy." In return, Roosevelt gained much-needed political support from LaGuardia for shaping new economic directions for the country. Such a story involving larger-than-life and well-loved figures should compel and engage the general reader. Alas, the workmanlike writing here, combined with mind-numbing statistical details, makes for a plodding read that is further complicated by an excessive focus on the many accomplishments of both figures, which detracts from the impact of their relationship on New York City.