Gotham’s War within a War

“[Brooks] convincingly argues that although promoted as a means of ending police corruption and racial discrimination, the policy’s guiding strategy—upholding public order by suppressing moral evils such as gambling, prostitution, juvenile delinquency, and disorderly entertainment—effectively criminalized certain identities . . . . the parallels to more recent and widespread examples of aggressive, racialized policing are clear.”—CHOICE

“A deeply researched narrative, Gotham’s War within a War tells the less familiar history of mid-twentieth- century New York City politics and policing. Emily M. Brooks offers fresh perspectives on urban governance, resistance against surveillance and criminalization, and the origins of liberal law-and-order policing. Brilliantly bridging several major academic fields, this book is a must read that will leave readers with new ways of understanding urban politics, carcerality, and New York City history.”—LaShawn D. Harris, author of Sex Workers, Psychics, and Numbers Runners: Black Women in New York City’s Underground Economy

“An extremely smart and necessary contribution to the burgeoning field of carceral studies. Examining the understudied period of Mayor La Guardia’s New York Police Department, Brooks offers a remarkably teachable and well-argued book on the origins of racialized and militarized law enforcement.”—Jennifer Fronc, author of New York Undercover: Private Surveillance in the Progressive Era