Rascal King: The Life and Times of James Michael Curley, 1874-1958

I loved this book, I was seven years old when Curley died and remember the news coverage of his death and being confused by his portrayal as a great man and a criminal. (I lived in Cambridge at the time) The background of the book is wonderful, it paints a very realistic picture of what it was like to grow up as an irish catholic in Boston, poor housing, TB and other diseases that ran rampant at the time with a very high infant mortality rate. I agree with others who noted that the author injects too much of his opinion in the book but it was an easy read and provided valuable insight into the irish-catholic life experience during that time in history.

Having been only two years old at Curley's death in 1858, Jack Beatty's book got me up to speed in a hurry. It details not only his life story, but of all of the maneuvering going on behind the scenes" - shrewd is not the half of it. It mentions some principled stands that Curley took, offset by some rapacious greed. And, Beatty suggests that Curley invented modern-day "race-baiting" long ahead of the George Wallaces and Al Sharptons of this world. For all of its detail, the book is lacking a conclusionary chapter at the end. Jack Beatty has given us all of the pieces (in, once again, comprehensive detail) but doesn't sum them up. For all of his strengths, did James Curley set back the cause of Irish-American politics? For all of his faults, was the average citizen of Boston better off with him (a la George Bailey)? We may need another source for this - for now, Jack Beatty has given us the building blocks.

The Rascal King was a great book about the politics played throughout the country. It is an excellent look at Old Boy's Clubs and it depicts early immigrant life in Boston. My family was involved with politics at the same time, and knew Curley. This is why I read the book. It is great if you have time to sit down and read it.

As a student of Tammany Hall politics in NYC, Beatty's book fascinates me as a wonderful look at the ethnic politics that spurred Boston Irishers to political action. To those interested in machine politics in general, I also recommend Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, a firsthand account of life in NY's Tammany machine, the same one which inspired Curley.

Well, I was prompted to read The Rascal King when I was informed that the Mighty Mighty Bosstones has written a song about Curley (also called The Rascal King) the subject matter of the song had always intrigued me! And wow! I was right! Z I loved it! It was fascinating and really made you think about the old time political bosses. Particularly the theme of Curley's life left an impression!