Eric Jay Dolin
Reviews for Political Waters:
Selected as one of "The Best of the Best from the University Presses: Books You Should Know About," by the American Library Association (2005)
The Boston Harbor Project is a rare environmental success story that proves the power of a few committed, courageous individuals. Mr. DolinÂ’s work shows the political history of how our harbor went from beautiful to polluted and then back to the clean, sparkling, natural resource that is our childrenÂ’s legacy." Thomas M. Menino -- Mayor of Boston
"Most welcome history of the Boston Harbor Project . . . Provides a lasting contribution to the historical record." Michael Kenney -- The Boston Globe
"An extremely well researched and comprehensive overview of the cleanup of Boston Harbor. DolinÂ’s work will be of valuable assistance for researchers and numerous others for years to come." Michael R. Deland -- Former regional administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, New England Region
"A superior case study of policy implementation. It deserves wide readership among those interested in contemporary Massachusetts politics, and, specifically, the history of Boston Harbor." Sarah S. Elkind -- Technology and Culture
"Political Waters treats an important yet neglected subject. No other single volume covers this history so completely." Michael Rawson -- The New England Quarterly
"Eric Jay Dolin offers a lively accounting of one of the nation's largest, most expensive, technically complex, and politically controversial public works projects. . . . Dolin succeeds in giving the reader a sense of the big issues at hand. Equally important, he goes beyond personalities like federal judge David Mazzone to show long-standing institutional arrangements like federalism, the incentives that motivate political actors, and the impact of law on policymaking. The result is a good analysis of a complicated political controversy." Christoper J. Bosso -- Environmental History
"[former Governor, Michael] Dukakis should be pleased with Political Waters, in which Eric Jay Dolin tells the story of the harbor cleanup, tells why it has been a success, and explains that it is not yet done. . . . we have a lot to learn from the Boston Harbor cleanup, and Political Waters is worth reading on that count alone. That Dolin tells such a good story is a bonus" John C. Berg -- CommonWealth