Unprecedented in its scope, Rainbow's End provides a bold new analysis of the emergence, growth, and decline of six classic Irish-American political machines in New York, Jersey City, Chicago, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Albany. Combining the approaches of political economy and historical sociology, Erie examines a wide range of issues, including the relationship between city and state politics, the manner in which machines shaped ethnic and working-class politics, and the reasons why centralized party organizations failed to emerge in Boston and Philadelphia despite their large Irish populations. The book ends with a thorough discussion of the significance of machine politics for today's urban minorities.

Steven P. Erie is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego.

"A major study of Irish-American political organizations. . . . [Rainbow's End] has broad implications for the racial tensions that now characterize every large city in America."—Thomas Byrne Edsall, Dissent

"This book offers an exciting and fresh examination of the Irish-American experience in urban politics. . . . [Steven Erie] has the historian's eye for the telling detail and the social scientist's capacity for the integrating concept. Rainbow's End is a model of first-rate urban political analysis. . . . This is a book not just for specialists in urban politics, but for general readers as well."—Clarence N. Stone, Perspective

"Theoretically, historically and comparatively Rainbow's End is a significant and provocative contribution. . . . . Future books will surely depend on it ."—Kenneth Finegold, American Journal of Sociology

"Provocative and illuminating . . . no serious student of the subject will ignore it."—Geoffrey Blodgett, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"[Erie's] admirably crafted, critical and sharply realistic study shows the true historic character of the Irish-American political achievement."—Dennis Clark, Irish Literary Supplement

Robert Park Award, American Sociological Association
Best Book in Urban Politics 1988, American Political Science Association