This is a fascinating study of one of the most important and tragic public health events of our generation. It traces the trajectory of the struggle over the definition of AIDS, the slow institutional response, and the dynamics of "blocked action" and finally "getting action" through the medium of action networks. It is a brilliant combination of detached observation and compassionate understanding - a must read for the activist insiders and a lesson for the rest of us watching a crisis unfold and wondering how to react.

- Wolf Heydebrand, New York University,

This is a meticulously written ethnography of the dynamics of the political economy of the New York AIDS organizational field from 1981 to 1999...Urban Action Networks is an important contribution to the study of nonprofits, organizational networks, and health policy. The book is a must read for those doing research on and teaching topics related to the role of nonprofit organizations, social networks and social movements in shaping health policy, research, and service provision in the United States.

- Nielan Barnes, Mobilization, April 2007