"Model City Blues breaks new ground reassessing New Haven politically through the lens of ethnographic and historic research. Through an urban context, Jackson synthesizes the cultural and economic foundations of past and future social movements. This book is the most impressive culmination of the most significant social and political research on New Haven in at least a generation." Immanuel Ness, Brooklyn College, City University of New York "[Jackson's] case studies successfully emphasize the coalitions forged between residents and civil rights, anti-war, and union activists, among others, because the issues of affordable urban housing and accessible public spaces affected shared constituencies... Summing Up: Highly recommended."- April 2009 issue of Choice "While the book examines a specific time and place--New Haven in the 1960s--it is also a powerful synecdoche for the fate of urban social policy more broadly. Nevertheless, the real strength of this book derives from the case study method. It is among the most subtle historical treatments available of the struggle for local control over decisions that affect urban communities. By focusing on one city and eschewing the standard historical narrative of the "failure" of the War on Poverty, Jackson provides a superlative account of how social policy unfolds in and transforms actual places--offices, coffee shops, homes, parks, taverns, school auditoriums, and city streets." The Journal of American History, Sept 2009
