Fiorello La Guardia was an ambitious man who wanted great success for himself—but he also wanted to advocate on behalf of the poor and forgotten. Through hard work and perseverance he managed to achieve both. This work examines the life of the man who not only became one of New York’s greatest and most renowned mayors, but who brought about some of the most important changes in the history of the city.

This thoroughly revised second edition of Fiorello La Guardia: Ethnicity, Reform, and Urban Development looks at the many events of the popular mayor’s life—his early beginnings as a politician, the events surrounding his life and city, his multiple terms as New York City’s Mayor, his personal and professional disappointments, and his ultimate place in history. It also examines the broader subject of cities during times of stress, the ability of mayors to enhance urban life, and the origins of federal aid to cities.



Connects the New York and urban story to that of the nation and to the subfields of Progressivism, the Depression, the New Deal, and World War II
Contains 16 new images—of La Guardia, his contemporaries, and city shots—spaced throughout the text
Offers a timeline of principal dates in La Guardia’s life keyed to significant events in the city’s, state’s, and nation’s history
Includes key terms and study questions for each chapter
Features a completely updated bibliographical essay

Comprehensive, yet highly accessible, Fiorello La Guardia: Ethnicity, Reform, and Urban Development, Second Edition makes ideal supplementary reading for survey courses in the history of New York or New York City as well as for general American History courses.