An interesting book you should read: Leadership

A good read if you're interested in municipal government. That's not a joke, by the way.
A good read if you’re interested in municipal government. That’s not a joke, by the way.

Americans do this kind of book well, and “Leadership” by Rudy Giuliani is worth dipping into, especially as Dublin approaches it’s first ever directly elected Mayor. I listened to it on audiobook (I travel a lot with work) and it is an interesting overview as to how he ran the city, and then dealt with the Sept 11 crisis.

What works about the book is actually the parts that are not about 9/11, but how he dealt with the day to day problems of running the capital of the world, and there are interesting ideas that the future mayor of Dublin could look at. When he strays into international politics, on the other hand, his opinions jar, particularly his absolute support for Israel right or wrong. I’m pro-Israel myself, and even I found it hard to digest. His attitude actually mirrors the attitude of the hardline anti-Israeli lobby in Ireland: Like them, he doesn’t really give much of a damn about the other side.