From Samuel Tilden's fight against Tammany Hall to George Bush's references to Willie Horton, politicians have routinely exploited issues of crime to achieve success at the polls. Nowhere has this been more evident than in New York City in the 1930s.

Fighting Organized Crime brings to life the dramatic interplay between crime and politics in New York City during this period, and in the process provides the first major examination of how politicians manipulate the justice system for their own ends - all in all a colorful saga of major New York figures jockeying for headlines and political gain in their battles against notorious gangsters.