"I decided to organize and edit a collection of original essays by New York City-based writers after leaving the City Hall beat in early 2002. America's Mayor: The Hidden History of Rudy Giuliani's New York, the title of my first edition, was published in 2005 amid speculation he'd run for president and as he amassed a lucrative portfolio of corporate clients and speaking gigs. This new edition, the second, has been renamed and revised with additional essays. Early public opinion polls show Giuliani running strongly in the Republican field of candidates. Yet most Americans still know relatively little about the former mayor of New York City, compared to say, John McCain or Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"The 9/11 halo has obscured many disturbing facts about Giuliani and his record. Put aside, for a moment, the grace under pressure he showed on September 11th. Though it might infuriate lionizers to hear it, his New York City administration was is many crucial ways unexceptional. True, there were successes in his eight years at City Hall. But as with many City Hall administrations that preceded Giuliani's, there was also patronage, cronyism, growth of spending beyond the rate of inflation, deep debt, concessions for favored unions and companies, scandals, false boasts, mismanagement, drift, waste, undue secrecy, avarice and pettiness."