Cartoons by Thomas Nast played a key role in toppling the Tweed ring. Here are a few of my favorites.

 
Boss Tweed

$16.95
0-7867-1686-X

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Read an excerpt from Boss Tweed.

Read reviews and interviews on Boss Tweed.

 

Boss Tweed: The Rise and Fall of the Corrupt Pol Who Conceived the Soul of Modern New York


Tweed and friends still clinging to the rock of safety - the city treasury.

Few characters in American history are more iconic than Boss Tweed, and, as a biographer, it was a rare challenge trying to bring his career to life, a tale of his pride, fall, and redemption. During his reign, Tweed wielded enormous influence over New York politics and Federal elections, bribing the state legislature, fixing elections, skimming money from city contractors, and diverting public funds on a massive scale—before his disregard for the law led to his imprisonment. It is a fascinating story of a master manipulator who tried to make all New York the instrument of his ambitions, and succeeded—for a time.

Reviews of Boss Tweed

"Not only a compelling look at the colorful yet ruthless man who invented the big city political machine, it is also the gripping story of how dedicated newspapermen and zealous reformers brought down a notorious kingpin."
—Publishers Weekly

Review by Pete Hamill. New York Times Book Review, March 2005

Review by Kenneth T. Jackson The Washington Post Book World, March 2005.

Review by Michael Tomasky in The New York Review of Books, December  2005

Review by Eric Fettman. New York Post, April 17, 2005

Review by Peter Ekman, Harvard Political Review.  May  2007.

Review in “The Weekly Whig” Blog, August 2007.

A New York Times Notable Book for 2007.

 “Ackerman has fashioned a notable career chronicling with obvious relish the tarnished politics of the Gilded Age.”
—Boston Globe

“[An] excellent new biography of the Boss . . . superb on the creation of the Tweed system and its expansion from acceptable petty skimming to the glittering fellowship of the ring . . . told in a crisp, clear way.”
—Pete Hamill, New York Times Book Review

“Replete with rich biographical details and colorful anecdotes that bring the period to life . . . A pleasure to read.”
—Kenneth T. Jackson, Washington Post Book World

“Kenneth D. Ackerman’s superbly written biography of Boss Tweed is spellbinding . . . every bit as commanding as the man himself.”
—Ed Koch, former mayor of New York City