The Mayor: Joe Riley and the Rise of Charleston

by Brian Hicks

In his 40 years as Mayor of Charleston, Joe Riley has led the historic port city through its greatest period of growth, economic development and unity. His authorized biography, The Mayor: Joe Riley and the Rise of Charleston, is the inside story of his life and how he built—and forever transformed—one of the nation’s oldest cities.

Hardcover, History

Available here for for Amazon’s Kindle.

$29.95

In his 40 years as Mayor of Charleston, Joe Riley has led the historic port city through its greatest period of growth, economic development and unity. His authorized biography, The Mayor: Joe Riley and the Rise of Charleston, is the inside story of his life and how he built—and forever transformed—one of the nation’s oldest cities.

Winner of the 2016 Silver IPPY Award in Biography! 

About the Author

City of Ruin: Charleston at War 1860-1865

Brian Hicks is a metro columnist for The Post and Courier and the author or coauthor of seven previous books. His books, including Ghost Ship and When the Dancing Stopped, have been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, the Discovery Channel and National Geographic.

His Toward the Setting Sun: John Ross, the Cherokees and the Trail of Tears (Atlantic Monthly Press) tells the story of the Cherokees during Indian removal. Toward the Setting Sun and Raising the Hunley (coauthored with Schuyler Kropf) were featured selections of the Book-of-the-Month club, the History Book Club and the Military Book Club.

His City of Ruin recounts the history of Charleston during the Civil War, and his second book on the HunleySea of Darkness – was published in March 2015. He is considered a leading expert on the sub.

Hicks’ column appears three times weekly in The Post and Courier. His work has appeared in national magazines and newspapers for more than 25 years, and he has won more than two dozen awards for his reportage. In 1998, he was named South Carolina Journalist of the Year by the S.C. Press Association and in 2008, the Society of Professional Journalists named Hicks the best humor columnist in the Southeast.

A native of Cleveland, Tennessee, he lives in Charleston.