Eliot Spitzer built his reputation as Attorney General of New York by redefining the role and purpose of the public prosecutor. The cases he brought against the largest corporations on Wall Street and others - both criminal and civil - targeted pervasive misconduct and structural flaws in the economy that were metastasizing in the years leading up to 2008. The cases themselves and the remedies they produced were precedent setting.

Today, after the financial crisis has exposed the faults that were brewing and the ever-expanding gap between the 1% and the 99%, it is clear that Eliot Spitzer was prescient.

This is Eliot Spitzer’s first account of the high-profile cases he prosecuted, initially as an assistant district attorney and later as Attorney General. The book is organized by the lessons that can be learned from these cases. Well-written and argued in the first person, this is an account only Eliot Spitzer could write. The book describes the tension between capitalism, for which Eliot Spitzer is a staunch advocate, and the need for government to rein in excesses and protect those who cannot protect themselves.

This is a book for anyone interested in the positive force of government and the behaviors and economic roles of the largest American corporations. Its message is that we will always need a vigilant government presence, and that ultimately American capitalism will be better for it.