text: This is an enlightening, meticulous story of William "Boss" Tweed and, as past of the context, his three key cronies in the ring: Peter Sweeny, Richard Connolly and Oakley Hall. It is a story about how the New York Times elevated itself by getting the goods on corruption and bravely exposing it on the front page. Oh how the mighty have fallen!
  
  The time of power (terror?) for Tweed's edition of Tammany Hall was relatively short, but Tammany Hall power lingered well after Tweed's demise, another eithy-five years. The critical moment to the story is when Tweed engineers the proverbial license to steal by devising a new charter for New York City, putting the power in the hands of his incredibly greedy ring of thieves. The four took this opportunity to carve out a fortune for themselves, primarily by paying millions of dollars for a courthouse that should have cost a few hundred thousand to build. A disgruntled 'whistleblower' (the term had no meaning back then) copied over the records in enough detail to demonstrate the bold theft and fraud. There are several versions of how the blockbuster story of the padded expenses and outright theft came into the Times' hands, but the remarkable part of the story is just how brazen the "Ring" could be, how convinced they were of their own invincibility or ability to bribe, cheat and steal their way out of any legal investigation or hearings. People who today believe we live in an era of unbridled corporate greed and ethical lapses need to read this book to better understand how much the supposed watchdog and people's friend -- the government -- can be part of the problem and a barrier to the solution.
  
  The cast of characters, sinners, (few) saints, and masses of immigrants makes following the flow of the book sometimes a challenging task. Thomas Nast, a pivotal character if not the hero of the book, provides some vivid, visual signposts. Nast not only draws a compelling picture for often illiterate 'readers', he was one of the first to put a face on public figures who heretofore had not been subjected to portraits or paparazzi as are today's politicians. Nast's giving Tweed a face may have been one of the breakthrough aspects of this story. It certainly helped catch Tweed when he jumped bail. A few maps, perhaps some old drawings, and even a list of key characters could have perhaps clarified some of the story or reduced my thumbing back to previous pages or checking the index for the entry and bio of important members of the cast. There are some historic New York Times front page stories that help create atmosphere and context.
  
  Any reasonably educated American should have learned at least the sketchy details of Tweed's nefarious deeds and Nast's colorful cartoons. Ackerman does an excellent job of documenting and detailing, filling in the gaps, and bringing now faded, black-and-white characters back to life
  