Showing posts with label gangster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gangster. Show all posts

Scarface Al and the Crime Crusaders: Chicago's Private War Against Capone Review

Scarface Al and the Crime Crusaders: Chicago's Private War Against Capone
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Scarface Al and the Crime Crusaders: Chicago's Private War Against Capone ReviewNo, it wasn't Eliot Ness and his "Untouchables" who brought down Al Capone. It was Internal Revenue agents led by Elmer Irey and Frank Wilson and aided and abbetted by the Chicago Crime Commission and its vigilante arm, the "Secret Six." Professor Hoffman presents us here with a well-documented, and highly readable account of the victory of Uncle Sam and Chicago over America's first major crime lord. Forget The Untouchables. This is the truth.Scarface Al and the Crime Crusaders: Chicago's Private War Against Capone Overview

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The Thompson Submachine Gun: From Prohibition Chicago to World War II (Weapon) Review

The Thompson Submachine Gun: From Prohibition Chicago to World War II (Weapon)
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The Thompson Submachine Gun: From Prohibition Chicago to World War II (Weapon) Review"Iconic" and Thompson are almost synonymous. Author martin Pegler was once the Senior Curator of Firearms at the Royal Armouries Museum and traces the history of the "Tommy" gun from its origins in 1919 up to 1945. Almost 1,400,000 were made and many combat veterans swear by them.
Designed for trench fighting, the Thompson packed a wallop. No one can argue the stopping power of a .45 caliber bullet. Hollywood movies and the gangsters of the 1930's certainly made it an easily recognized weapon, but the British orders for thousands of them in 1939 kept the factories alive and running. By the end of WW2, it saw service in every theater and was used by many nations.
The book has many very crisp, clear B&W photos of different versions of the Thompson. 2 color pages show a cut away and the key parts of the submachine gun. Five pages are devoted to showing gangsters or soldiers firing the weapon. The book is not overly technical, so you do not have to be a small arms expert. The author is fair in pointing out the pro's and con's of the Thompson; it was not a perfect weapon. It was very expensive to make, newer submachine guns were lighter and cheaper to manufacture.
I gave the book four stars because I thought too much emphasis was placed on the weapon in the gangster days. True, it was widely used by criminals, the IRA and others. But its real claim to fame was in the jungles of the Pacific and urban fighting in Europe. Perhaps a few thousand or so were used illegally vs. the hundreds of thousands that were used in combat where they proved to be rugged, reliable and quite deadly. Despite this one shortcoming, I think it is a very good book about the infamous Thompson.
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Chicago Assassin: The Life and Legend of Machine Gun" Jack McGurn and the Chicago Beer Wars of the Roaring Twenties" Review

Chicago Assassin: The Life and Legend of Machine Gun Jack McGurn and the Chicago Beer Wars of the Roaring Twenties
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Chicago Assassin: The Life and Legend of Machine Gun" Jack McGurn and the Chicago Beer Wars of the Roaring Twenties" ReviewVincenzo Gibaldi was born in Licata, Sicily to loving parents who wanted a better life for him, and brought him to the United States. However, after first his father and then his loving step-father were killed in gangland hits, something in Vincenzo snapped. Taking on his boxing name of Jack McGurn as his nom de guerre, he became an assassin par excellence, and rose to be one of Al Capone's lieutenants. However, after rising to dizzying heights of fame and wealth, Jack McGurn fell far and fell fast, until he too became just another victim of Chicago violence. This is the story of the brutal rise and brutal fall of one of America's top gunmen - "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn.
Overall, I did not know what to expect when I picked this book up. Having grown up in Chicago, I had heard about "Scarface" Al Capone, "Bugs" Moran, "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn, "Hymie" Weiss, and all of the other famous mobsters. But, I must say that this book surprised me with its excellence. The author does a great job of bringing that era to life, and really letting you get a good understanding of the people involved and what they did.
There's never a dull moment in this book, as the author eschewed the temptation to pad out the narrative, making a great medium-sized book into a tedious big book. Plus, I liked the many black-and-white pictures included, and the final chapter that answers the question, "Whatever became of...?" This is a great book on Jack McGurn, and Chicago in the Roaring Twenties. If you want to read the best book on this subject, then take it from this Chicagoan, and get Chicago Assassin by Richard J. Shmelter.Chicago Assassin: The Life and Legend of Machine Gun" Jack McGurn and the Chicago Beer Wars of the Roaring Twenties" Overview

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The Black Hand: Terror by Letter in Chicago Review

The Black Hand: Terror by Letter in Chicago
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The Black Hand: Terror by Letter in Chicago ReviewR M Lombardo, a sociologist, and political scientist at Loyola University Chicago also brings a 35 year career as a Chicago Police patrol officer and administrator of police and Sheriffs Departments to his meticulous translating the criminal world of the Mafia `Black Hand' and `Omertarism' of Chicago's Little Italy, circa 1920s. This historiography of the `Black Hand' squads includes an elucidating frame to the `legendary' reportage on the little known `White Hand' resistance among Italian Business and Community leaders in further amplifying the invulnerability of the Black Hand's chronic criminality. Lombardo additionally identifies a collection of small gangs of criminals and individual offenders, many of whom weren't Italian during the Black Hand's formative years. His remarkably constrained tracking and analysis is solidly pragmatic and insightful in validating his research and sociological perspectives. This is especially evident in the interpretation of the historical and legendary media and journalistic fantasies of `Black Hand' crimes and their enervating impact on social spontaneity and community accords. And not so ironically, these media accounts remain imbedded in current day portrayals and distortions. Much of this reportage still holds an integral élan to the archaic canon of scientific racism.
Lombardo's skill in recognizing the terror dynamics experienced by innocent Italian and Sicilian families in being either targeted or immobilized by a palpable fear of a "Black Hand" letter entering their lives parallels a ghetto survival mentality. Although wrapped in 21st century technology and weaponry, much of the psycho-sociological terror of fleshless bones exposed in the current Mexican drug cartel violence organically replicate the grip of `Black Hand' tactics and terror; media circumspection, self censoring, and silence. The ambushes, the kidnapping, the hired killers, the support of hidden influences were all mirrored in the Mafian system of Italy at the time. The 1909 assassination of the skilled New York Police Detective Joseph Petrosino in Sicily took the lid off the myth and the reality of the `Black Hand,' resulting in a huge reactive police interdiction and collateral stigmata of American Sicilians and urban Italian communities in major cities of the United States. Lombardo has provided a detailed case study of this entire incident and implications of `Black Hand' interdiction policies. Prof. JMaghan, Forum for Comparative Correction, Chester, CT
Of especial note is Lombardo's summary chapter, The Social Construction of Deviance. Here the reader is given a concise and fascinating umbrella of the factors feeding xenophobic and anti-immigrant crime portends and social positioning, including crime myths as modes of the "social reality" of crime. These myths provided `news' that was ripe for the distortion and innuendo by insatiable media mules. "There is even a report that the term Black Hand was entirely made up by a Chicago newspaper reporter in order to create an attention-grabbing story. Noteworthy, is the fact that `Black Hand' crime labeling began at the height of "yellow journalism" in the United States. Lombardo also traces the influence of these factors to other societal problems; rape, sex crimes, crimes of violence, and white slavery. And, most noteworthy was the retaliation by vigilante movements, mob violence, episodes of lynching and virulent outcry for immigration reform to impede foreign criminals from entering the United States. How contemporary can you get? Incongruously to this day, the murder of Detective Petrosino in March 1909 remains as a lodestone to the perennial Mafia and `Black Hand' intrigues and speculations. Prof. JMaghan, Forum for Comparative Coprrection
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Frank Nitti: The True Story of Chicago's Notorious Enforcer Review

Frank Nitti: The True Story of Chicago's Notorious Enforcer
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Frank Nitti: The True Story of Chicago's Notorious Enforcer ReviewI thouroughly enjoyed Ron Humble's book on Frank Nitti. The incredible detail of Nitti's grim circumstances in his youth and the insights the author provides of how his personality fit the needs of the mob and allowed him to rise to mythic status was fascinating. The depictions of Frank Nitti by Hollywood that Humble includes are further indications of how ruthless a person can become in the right circumstances while still retaining a human quality. I highly recommend the book.Frank Nitti: The True Story of Chicago's Notorious Enforcer Overview

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My Bloody Life: The Making of a Latin King (Illinois) Review

My Bloody Life: The Making of a Latin King (Illinois)
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My Bloody Life: The Making of a Latin King (Illinois) ReviewThis is the first book since fifth grade that has actually made me cry. In fifth grade, I cried because the fictional main character's pet goose died. I cried while reading "My Bloody Life" because "Reymundo Sanchez's" life was non-fiction and common in our nation's cities.
Sanchez's eyes opened up and he ended up leaving the Latin Kings (unlike "Slim" and others who were killed instead of being allowed to leave). He writes from the perspective of an older man who is able to look back on his life and truly reflect on what the event of his life signified. Thus he is able to reflect on his decisions, then explain his thought process at the time (eg. when the 35-year-old Maria takes 13-year-old Reymundo's virginity, he is able to say that he now realizes that what Maria did was horrible and probably ruined many future sexual experiences for him. But at that time, all he wanted was to have sex and "be a man.")
Sanchez is able to soberly reflect on his life. The result is a flowing, "matter-of-fact" prose as he describes his introduction to alcohol and marijuana (at the age of 12), his physically abusive parents, his multiple murders, his violence against others, his physical and sexual abuse of other women, his drug dealing and cocaine addiction. The rapidity with which Sanchez went from a nice kid with good grades to an amazingly violent, self-centered gang-banger is both shocking and sad.
This was a very powerful book set in a neighborhood not too far from my house. To know the daily goings on a few miles from my house, in the neighborhood my parents grew up in is very sad. The subject matter is violent, graphic and quite disturbing, but needs to be read. You probably won't have a good time reading this book, but you'll be doing yourself a favor if you do. Recommended.My Bloody Life: The Making of a Latin King (Illinois) Overview

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Family Affair: Greed, Treachery, and Betrayal in the Chicago Mafia Review

Family Affair: Greed, Treachery, and Betrayal in the Chicago Mafia
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Family Affair: Greed, Treachery, and Betrayal in the Chicago Mafia ReviewAfter the excellent job Scott Burnstein did with Motor City Mafia I knew this was going to be a winner. I was right! Scott did multiple interviews with agents to get the real deal on what was happening with the Family Secrets trial and other recent cases involving the Chicago Outfit. His narrative is a real easy read and he explained things well. As an attorney Scott covered all the bases with a fine tooth comb. For those who are interested, all the names and their stories are told here. "Joe Batters" Accardo, Joe Lombardo, Angelo LaPietra, Tony Spilotro, Nick and Frank Calabrese and more have their stories. But he doesn't just cover the bad guys, he also gives us a little info on the heroes, the FBI agents who develop cases so the criminals can be taken off the streets. So for those who are into what's been going on in the Outfit over the past 30 years, this book is for you.Family Affair: Greed, Treachery, and Betrayal in the Chicago Mafia Overview

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