'Mehrotra has crafted a narrative that is fundamental to understanding the modern American state. By unearthing the intellectual, economic, political, and emotional spade work required to lay the groundwork for a major conceptual change in public policy, he shows how a highly decentralized, politicized, and indirect method of taxation was transformed into a centralized, neutrally administered, direct method of taxation with great potential to achieve redistributive ends.' Brian Balogh, University of Virginia