CHARLES R. MORRIS has written a detailed account of the period that led up to the New York City 1975 fiscal crisis. The Cost of Good Intentions: New York City and The Liberal Experiment, is impressive as original research. It compiles in one place a wealth of material that otherwise would have been lost, and superbly lays out the specifics of New York City’s government during the Lindsay terms. His material on Beame’s term and Wagner’s last term are less complete, but still useful for other researchers trying to untangle the web of New York City’s “liberal experiment.”