Plunkitt of Tammany Hall:
A Series of Very Plain Talks on Very Practical Politics

Introduction written by Peter Quinn for the Signet Classics 100th Anniversary Edition.

Publisher: Signet Classics
ISBN-10: 0451526201
ISBN-13: 978-0451526205
First publication date: November 1, 1995
Cover: Paperback
Purchase Online: Amazon.com

One of the very few commentaries from a Tammany Hall insider, George Washington Plunkitt's insights, observations and rants offer a rare glimpse into the workings of one of the most successful and long-running urban political machines in American history.

A passage from the introduction:

"Plunkitt's collection of short disquisitions or lectures or rambling observations--
in truth, a mixture of all three-- is a unique document. Aside from a few newspaper interviews and the official transcripts of numerous investigatory bodies, it is our only written record of the thoughts, musings, and philosophy of the men who operated the most successful and long-running urban political machine in American history... There is no question that as well as being a unique American political document, Plunkitt's book is also among the most lively. This is a text free of convoluted theorizing, or impenetrable statistical analyses, or the mind-numbing language of the social sciences. It is politically incorrect in every sense..."