Over the last five decades American cities have been transformed as profoundly and tumultuously as they were during the industrial revolution. In contrast to that earlier era, this contemporary transformation has been stimulated and guided by governmental intervention. John H. Mollenkopf analyzes the government programs and the supporting political "John Mollenkopf has written the most comprehensive book to date on the political analysis of contemporary American urbanization. . . . The result is a tightly presented, well-written text that conveys forcefully several key ideas on the evolution of cities and politics in the US. . . . Mollenkopf's work is an additional reason for considering this book a very important contribution to the field of urban politics."