"Of universal application . . . this is an analysis of why the urban crisis has proved so intractable. . . . Nobody who reads this book will ever again be surprised by the gulf between promise and performance in a program to help revive or save or rebuild the country's cities."

New York Times

"There are innumerable ways to profit from this fully documented yet highly readable tale of earnest but relatively unsuccessful ways of spending the taxpayers' money."

National Review

"They make an unimpeachable case. for close attention to the modes of implementing policy, and . . . constitute the first solid survey of the administrative thickets through which future urban policies will have to make their way."

New Republic