"New York's mayoralty election of 1933 marked a turning point in the history of American urban politics when official corruption exposed by the Seabury investigations very nearly undermined the ability of the nation's largest city to govern itself. In this account, Arthur Mann draws together all the significant elements of the La Guardia election and puts them into perspective: the alliance between La Guardia and the patrician Judge Seabury; the machinations of the Republicans and the reform groups, which considered every other possible candidate before turning to La Guardia; and, finally, the campaign itself and a closely reasoned analysis of the vote, with emphasis on the ethnic issues that were to a considerable degree decisive."--Publisher's description.