McDonald, Brian

New York. 1999. May 1999. Dutton. 1st Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket. 052594396x. 310 pages. hardcover. Jacket design by Mary E. O'Boyle. keywords: Autobiography New York Police NYPD America. FROM THE PUBLISHER - In this memoir about three generations of New York City policemen, Brian McDonald chronicles a hundred years of dedication and disillusion, heroism and tragedy behind the ‘blue wall of silence' that separates a cop from the rest of the world. His grandfather, Thomas Skelly, entered the department in 1893, when the NYPD was little more than a brutal gang of organized enforcers and the city was run by Tammany Hall, a corrupt political machine that could make or break an honest cop's career. His father Frank's career would span from World War II through the sixties, taking him from street cop to squad commander of the 41st Precinct. Better known as ‘Fort Apache,' it was a place from which few cops emerged whole. His brother, Frank McDonald, Jr., went on to become a decorated officer, waging an undercover war on drugs and crime that would ironically lead, in 1987, to the most agonizing choice a good cop can make. McDonald also talks about the women: the mothers, wives, and daughters who took extra jobs to help make ends meet - while waiting for the phone call that would tell them the worst. And he shares his own struggles with the personal demons that nearly destroyed him. inventory #26658 ISBN: 052594396x.