For decades, history has considered Tammany Hall, New York's famous political machine, shorthand for the worst of urban politics: graft, crime, and patronage personified by notoriously corrupt characters. Infamous crooks like William "Boss" Tweed dominate traditional histories of Tammany, distorting our understanding of a critical chapter of American political history. In Machine Made, historian and New York City journalist Terry Golway convincingly dismantles these stereotypes; Tammany's corruption was real, but so was its heretofore forgotten role in protecting marginalized and maligned immigrants in desperate need of a political voice.

Irish immigrants arriving in New York during the nineteenth century faced an unrelenting onslaught of hyperbolic, nativist propaganda. They were voiceless in a city that proved, time and again, that real power remained in the hands of the mercantile elite, not with a crush of ragged newcomers flooding its streets. Haunted by fresh memories of the horrific Irish potato famine in the old country, Irish immigrants had already learned an indelible lesson about the dire consequences of political helplessness. Tammany Hall emerged as a distinct force to support the city's Catholic newcomers, courting their votes while acting as a powerful intermediary between them and the Anglo-Saxon Protestant ruling class. In a city that had yet to develop the social services we now expect, Tammany often functioned as a rudimentary public welfare system and a champion of crucial social reforms benefiting its constituency, including workers' compensation, prohibitions against child labor, and public pensions for widows with children. Tammany figures also fought against attempts to limit immigration and to strip the poor of the only power they had the vote.

While rescuing Tammany from its maligned legacy, Golway hardly ignores Tammany's ugly underbelly, from its constituents' participation in the bloody Draft Riots of 1863 to its rampant cronyism. However, even under occasionally notorious leadership, Tammany played a profound and long-ignored role in laying the groundwork for social reform, and nurtured the careers of two of New York's greatest political figures, Al Smith and Robert Wagner. Despite devastating electoral defeats and countless scandals, Tammany nonetheless created a formidable political coalition, one that eventually made its way into the echelons of FDR s Democratic Party and progressive New Deal agenda.

Tracing the events of a tumultuous century, Golway shows how mainstream American government began to embrace both Tammany s constituents and its ideals. Machine Made is a revelatory work of revisionist history, and a rich, multifaceted portrait of roiling New York City politics in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries."

The story of John Devoy's 1876 Catalpa rescue is a tale of heroism, creativity, and the triumph of independent spirit in pursuit of freedom. The daily log on board the whaling ship Catalpa begins with the typical recount of a crew intact and a spirit unfettered, but such quiet words deceive the truth of the audacious enterprise that came to be known as one of the most important rescues in Irish American history. John Devoy's men aided in the break-in and subsequent rescue of Irish political prisoners from the Australian coast, allowing millions of fellow Irishmen and American-Feninans, many of whom secretly financed the dangerous plot, to draw courage from the newly exiled prisoners. Philip Fennell and Marie King, both descendants of pardoned Fenian prisoner, tell the story from the John Devoy's own records and from the ship's logbooks. John Devoy's Catalpa Expedition includes an introduction by Terry Golway and the personal diaries, letters, and reports from John Devoy and his men.

The story of John Devoy's 1876 "Catalpa" rescue is a tale of heroism, creativity, and the triumph of independent spirit in pursuit of freedom. The daily log on board the whaling ship "Catalpa" begins with the typical recount of a crew intact and a spirit unfettered, but such quiet words deceive the truth of the audacious enterprise that came to be known as one of the most important rescues in Irish American history. John Devoy's men rescued six Irish political prisoners from the Australian coast, allowing millions of fellow Irishmen and American-Fenians, many of whom secretly financed the dangerous plot, to draw courage from the newly exiled prisoners.

Philip Fennell and Marie King tell the story from John Devoy's own records and the ship's logbooks. John Devoy's "Catalpa" Expedition includes an introduction by Terry Golway and the personal diaries, letters, and reports from John Devoy and his men.

This lavishly illustrated book chronicles the history, growth, and extraordinary legacy of New York's largest Christian denomination. Co-published with the Museum of the City of New York as a companion to its exhibition on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the Archdiocese of New York, this book brings together rare images and original essays to explore the key dimensions of the Catholic experience in New York. Here is a fascinating pictorial record of Catholic struggles and triumphs, and thirteen insightful essays that trace the story of Catholic New York-from people, parishes, and traditions to the schools, hospitals, and other institutions that helped shape the metropolis. The struggles of generations of immigrants and their descendents against prejudice bear fruit in the remarkable ascendance of Catholics in the city's politics. From the emblematic account of one Manhattan parish's life across generations of neighborhood change to fresh perspectives on the extraordinary impact of Catholic institutional life on the making of the city, the essays range widely. There's a personal refl ection by Pete Hamill on growing up Catholic as well as revealing explorations of the Catholic presence in all corners of New York's social, political, cultural, and educational worlds. Catholic leaders such as Dorothy Day, Al Smith, and Mother Cabrini come to life in other essays. An afterword offers a look at Catholic New York facing new realities of race, ethnic change, and suburbanization after World War II. Blending memorable images with insightful commentary, Catholics in New York tells not just the story of the city's largest community of faith, but offers a new telling of what is for everyone a classic New York story.

A selection of speeches by the most inspiring and persuasive orators in American history
Penguin presents a series of six portable, accessible, and--above all--essential reads from American political history, selected by leading scholars. Series editor Richard Beeman, author of "The Penguin Guide to the U.S. Constitution," draws together the great texts of American civic life to create a timely and informative mini-library of perennially vital issues. Whether readers are encountering these classic writings for the first time, or brushing up in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, these slim volumes will serve as a powerful and illuminating resource for scholars, students, and civic-minded citizens.
"American Political Speeches" includes the best American rhetoric from inside and outside the White House. Some of the greatest words spoken in American history have come from men and women who lacked the biggest bully pulpit in the country, but who nevertheless were able to move the nation with words. Frederick Douglass explained the irony of Independence Day from the perspective of a slave. Martin Luther King, Jr. described his dream of an interracial America. William Jennings Bryan gave voice to social discontent with a single phrase, "a cross of gold." Barbara Jordan summoned the nation"s outrage during the impeachment hearings against Richard Nixon. And the best presidents, not by coincidence, have tended to be those with an appreciation for the use of language: Lincoln explaining a new birth of freedom at Gettysburg; John Kennedy voicing moral outrage at the Berlin Wall; Franklin D. Roosevelt chatting to a nation gathered in front of radios; Ronald Reagan addressing Congress freshly healed from an assassination attempt.

The death in May 2000 of John Cardinal O'Connor, archbishop of New York, was a vital loss to countless millions. A shining, openhearted crusader for traditional values in an increasingly bewildering culture, O'Connor was a pioneer for the new face of Catholicism, mapping out an unequivocal political and ethical code that stood for unconditional charity, civil liberties, and social justice. His widespread influence and spiritual presence are still felt strongly today. Now, for the first time, one of last century's most inspiring voices for humanity, conscience, and compassion is celebrated and remembered through the words of those who knew him best. Renowned author and journalist Terry Golway shares a diverse collection of intimate stories and accounts: from former New York Mayor Ed Koch, one of the archbishop's closest friends, to fellow clerics he inspired, to all manner of laypersons around the country whose lives were touched and changed by this vital pillar of the Roman Catholic Church. With never-before-seen photographs throughout, along with fascinating, previously unpublished correspondence to and from O'Connor, Full of Grace is a gorgeous tribute and an unprecedented remembrance, affording full access to the vast heart of the extraordinary man who once famously understated, "I hope that in each place I've gone, I saved some souls."

In the first history of the New York Fire Department- FDNY- in over sixty years, journalist Terry Golway weaves together stories of heroic firefighters and extraordinary fires to create a moving and original account of New York as seen through the eyes and actions of the city's firefighters. From the eighteenth century's most ambitious public-works project- the building of aqueducts from upstate to help control fires- to firefighter-turned-politician Boss Tweed's backroom politics, fire and firefighters have played an integral part in the life of New York. So Others Might Live also offers a new view of the building of modern urban America and the social turbulence of New York from the 1700s to the present day.

A reconstruction of one thousand years of Irish nationalism, covering each benchmark in Ireland's political evolution and presenting a tale of both the famous and the unsung patriots who changed the course of Ireland's history. Patriots who include Wolfe Tone, a leader of the 1798 rebellion who cut his own throat rather than submit to the hangman; and Kevin Barry, who was executed at 18 years old on the eve of independence, for not turning informer. This chronicle tells the stories of men and women, Catholics and Protestants, who enabled the Irish to be free from the yoke of colonial oppression.