Once Upon a Time in New York: Jimmy Walker, Franklin Roosevelt, and the Last Great Battle of the Jazz Age

by Herbert Mitgang

Book Overview

A flavorful account of New York City politics during the 1920s Jazz Age centering on the intersecting careers of the city's popular "Night Mayor," Jimmy Walker, and the state's patrician governor,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684855798
• ISBN13: 9780684855790
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 259 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

illuminating

This thin book is a quick, breezy read. It shines a spotlight on an interesting time in American life -- the tail end of the Roaring 20s and the onset of the Great Depression -- and the long-cherished "spoils" system of municipal government.Many larger-than-life characters are here: FDR, Jimmy Walker, Fiorello LaGuardia, Al Smith. Smith's metamorphosis from trail-blazing liberal to the anti-Roosevelt in four short years was particularly eye-opening for me. (In school, they only taught us about the "Happy Warrior"of 1928, conveniently foregoing the not-so-happy iteration of 1932 and beyond.) I was also struck by the enmity toward the pre-presidential FDR which was evident in many quarters.