Grand Illusion

September 4, 2006
The terrorist attacks of 9/11 provided Rudy Giuliani with a Churchillian political opportunity: while Bush was whisked away by the Secret Service, Giuliani seized the moment, striding stalwartly along ruined streets, an image which may well propel him to the White House. Barrett and Collins' investigation proves an illuminating counterpoint to Giuliani's unofficial christening as "America's Mayor," highlighting the critical errors Guiliani made before, during and after the attack. According to the authors, that memorable image-Rudy among the ruins-hides a multitude of sins: in the event of a terrorist attack, Giuliani should have been directing police, fire and emergency services from the city's high-tech underground emergency management center; unfortunately, Giuliani had insisted that that secure center be located at the World Trade Center. Political infighting between police and fire departments went unchecked, preventing coordination between first responders, and Giuliani's rush to return New York to business as usual (fearing that Wall Street might relocate) may have seriously impaired the health of returning workers and residents. The Giuliani who emerges from these pages-shrewd, calculating, indomitable-remains an impressive figure, but one that will give voters pause. Barrett and Collins provide a critique of one of the lions of 9/11, proving that serious investigation and old-fashioned muckraking are still powerful and necessary weapons.

August 15, 2006
Barrett (senior editor, "Village Voice"; "Rudy!: An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani") and Collins (senior producer, CBS News) teamed up to write this highly critical but rational and documented study of Giuliani's mayoralty of New York City in relation to 9/11. While many books have tackled Giuliani, this one deals with -the alternate version of 9/11, - focusing primarily on safety preparations (or the lack thereof) up to and on 9/11. Arguing that Mayor Giuliani and his department heads, especially those in the FDNY and NYPD, missed the mark in solving problems that could have helped save lives on that day, the authors primarily use publicly available documents to make their points. At times overloading the text with details, Barrett and Collins portray Giuliani as a crony-hiring leader more interested in reducing crime than terrorism. Faulty old fire department radios and -turf wars - between the fire and police departments are examples of what Giuliani is here accused of failing to fix. These issues have been discussed before, e.g., in Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn's "102 Minutes". Other circumstances mentioned are the fights over where to locate Giuliani's emergency command center ( -bunker -) and the clients taken on by Giuliani Partners, the management consulting firm he formed after leaving office in January 2002. Suitable for public and academic libraries." -Leigh Mihlrad, Albert Einstein Coll. of Medicine of Yeshiva Univ., Bronx, NY"

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