American Gangsters, Then and Now PDF Download

Author: Nate Hendley
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781780348407
Category : Gangsters
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
A detailed compendium of American gangsters and gangs from the end of the Civil War to the present day.

Author: Nate Hendley
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313354529
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
A detailed compendium of American gangsters and gangs from the end of the Civil War to the present day. American Gangsters, Then and Now: An Encyclopedia ranges from Western outlaws revered as Robin Hoods to the Depression's flamboyant bootleggers and bank robbers to the late 20th century's drug kingpins and "Dapper Dons." It is the first comprehensive resource on the gangster's historical evolution and unshakable grip on the American imagination. American Gangsters, Then and Now tells the stories of a number of famous gangsters and gangs—Jesse James and Billy the Kid, the Black Hand, Al Capone, Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angels, the Mafia, Crips and Bloods, and more. Avoiding sensationalism, the straightforward entries include biographical portraits and historical background for each subject, as well as accounts of infamous robberies, killings, and other events, all well documented with both archival newspapers and extensive research into the files of the FBI. Readers will understand the families, the places, and the times that produced these monumental criminals, as well as the public mindset that often found them sympathetic and heroic.

Author:
Publisher: Forge Books
ISBN: 1429969512
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
The novelization of American Gangster, the major motion picture from Universal Pictures about Frank Lucas, drug czar of Harlem. The film stars Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, and is directed by Ridley Scott. For decades the Mafia controlled the flow of heroin onto the streets of Harlem. Frank Lucas changed all that. Born in rural North Carolina, he came to New York and rose to power under notorious mobster Bumpy Johnson. When Bumpy died, Frank moved to take over the drug business. Caught in a squeeze play between the Mafia and the street dealers, Frank got creative. Instead of being a tool of the mob, he went straight to the source—Cambodia—and set up his own unique distribution system. Using his brothers as his lieutenants and selling "quality" heroin in trademark blue plastic bags, Frank Lucas and his "Country Boys" became the kings of One Hundred Twenty-Fifth Street. Frank had it made. He was rich, successful, and untouchable. . . . . . . until Richie Roberts came along. Roberts, the Eliot Ness of drug enforcement, became a pariah among other detectives in the NYPD when he turned in the million dollars in cash he found in the trunk of a dealer's car. His personal life was a mess—his wife left him, and his son hardly knew him anymore—but on the job, Roberts was all business, and his business, heading up a Federal Narcotics Squad, was busting big-time dealers. His next target? Frank Lucas. This violent, action-filled chronicle of a uniquely American family is based on Ridley Scott's film, itself based on a New York magazine profile, "The Return of Superfly" by Mark Jacobson. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Author: Nate Hendley
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1610695860
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
This book examines a broad range of infamous scams, cons, swindles, and hoaxes throughout American history—and considers why human gullibility continues in an age of easy access to information. Covering American cons and hoaxes past and present, including the Great Moon Hoax of 1835, the controversy over "subliminal messaging" (do bands, filmmakers, and advertisers really put secret messages in their works?), the panic about "satanic" daycare operators in the 1980s, and recent Internet scams, this book provides a fascinating, fact-based look at infamous frauds across the centuries. Offering an engaging mix of history, sociology, and psychology, author Nate Hendley gives readers an appreciation of how prominent scams, cons, "confidence men," and hoaxes have impacted American society, past and present. Each entry details the scheme or hoax and the pertinent con artist/schemer involved, examining the sociological, cultural, political, and/or economic effect of the scams. Each topic is accompanied by a short bibliography of further reading selections. As the old saying goes, "There is a sucker born every minute"—and there has always been a keen-eyed swindler to take advantage of the situation. The Big Con: Great Hoaxes, Frauds, Grifts, and Swindles in American History explores this sordid underbelly of American civilization and invites readers to revel in the felonious experience.

Author: Charles River Editors
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781978287778
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 56

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*Includes pictures of Lucky and other important people in his life. *Explains Lucky's relationships with other notorious gangsters of his era, including Gambino, Genovese, and Bugsy Siegel. *Includes some of Lucky's most colorful quotes and newspaper articles reporting his most famous hits. *Explains the connection between Lucky Luciano and Mario Puzo's The Godfather. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. "He was born and died in Italy, yet the influence on America of a grubby street urchin named Salvatore Lucania ranged from the lights of Broadway to every level of law enforcement, from national politics to the world economy. First, he reinvented himself as Charles ("Lucky") Luciano. Then he reinvented the Mafia. His story was Horatio Alger with a gun, an ice pick and a dark vision of Big Business." - Edna Buchanan, Time Magazine The Mafia has long fascinated Americans, who have made celebrated pop culture fixtures out of men like Al Capone and turned movies and television series like The Godfather and The Sopranos into American institutions despite the violence associated with organized crime. Of all the notorious mobsters of the 20th century, the one most instrumental in putting the organization into organized crime and thus establishing the Mafia as it's recognized today was Lucky Luciano. The man who would become the Father of Organized Crime in the United States was born Salvatore Lucania in Sicily, but he would quickly make a name for himself after his family moved to New York City when he was still a child. By his teenage years, he was running the streets, organizing his own teenage gang, and moving in circles with the likes of Meyer Lansky, who would become key figures in Lucky's rise to power. Like so many young adults of his time, Lucky's participation in the criminal underworld began in earnest during Prohibition, and he was ambitious from the beginning. Lucky networked with other young mobsters, all of whom became known as the Young Turks, and when Lucky eliminated bosses Giuseppe Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano in 1931, he had reached the top of organized crime in New York. From the top, Luciano would implement the organizations and mob rackets that are so familiar to Americans today. In addition to having the New York scene divided into the Five Families, Luciano established The Commission to discuss and govern organized crime across the country, and dipped his toes into every conceivable racket, including gambling, bookmaking, loan-sharking, drug trafficking, unions, labor, construction and extortion. Eventually Lucky would run out of luck. After being arrested dozens of times over a 20 year period, Luciano was imprisoned in the mid-'30s, and a decade later he would be deported back to Italy. Nevertheless, Lucky continued to try to fight for control of organized crime in New York from his jail cell, Italy, and Cuba, staying in the game until the very end. American Gangsters: The Life and Legacy of Lucky Luciano looks at the life and crime of the mob boss, his influence on organized crime, and his legacy. Along with pictures of Luciano and important people, places, and events in his life, you will learn about the father of organized crime like you never have before, in no time at all.

Author: Herbert C. Covey
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313399301
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
This book provides a concise and engaging examination of the subculture of the Crips and Bloods—the notorious street gangs that started in Los Angeles, but have now spread throughout the United States. Despite the dangers and harsh realities intrinsic to street life and criminal activity, the no-holds-barred lifestyle of gangs continues to interest mainstream America. This provocative book provides an insider's look into the subculture of two of the most notorious street gangs—the Crips and the Bloods. Crips and Bloods: A Guide to an American Subculture traces the evolution of the two gangs, covering their origins in South Central Los Angeles to the organizations' current presence throughout the United States. The author analyzes the ways in which the gang subculture is created, promoted, and perpetuated; shows how the groups currently recruit their members; and explores the ways Crip and Blood culture has expanded beyond the gangs into the larger mainstream society.

Author: Mary Cross
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1610690869
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 665

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Book Description
To what extent does a person's own success result in social transformation? This book offers 100 answers, providing thought-provoking examples of how American culture was shaped within a crucial time period by individuals whose lives and ideas were major agents of change. 100 People Who Changed 20th-Century America provides a two-volume encyclopedia of the individuals whose contributions to society made the 20th century what it was. Comprising contributions from 20 academics and experts in their field, the thought-provoking essays examine the men and women who have shaped the modern American cultural experience—change agents who defined their time period as a result of their talent, imagination, and enterprise. Organized chronologically by the subjects' birthdates, the essays are written to be accessible to the general reader yet provide in-depth information for scholars, ensuring that the work will appeal to many audiences.

Author: T. J. English
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504051394
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 878

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Book Description
Enter a world where money, muscle, and murder reign with three true crime books from the New York Times–bestselling author and Edgar Award finalist. Whitey’s Payback: In this collection of sixteen stories culled from his journalism career, author T. J. English reveals the violent world of crime with in-depth pieces on everything from old-school mobsters to corrupt federal agents—including the most feared gangster in Boston history (and secret FBI informant), James “Whitey” Bulger, who vanished for sixteen years before finally being brought to justice. “Hard-hitting reporting.” —Anthony Bruno, author of The Iceman The Westies: They were the gang even the Mafia thought twice about fighting—a gang of young, wild Irishmen led by cold-blooded Jimmy Coonan and his loyal gunman Mickey Featherstone who ruled Hell’s Kitchen with a bloody fist. Their savagery gave them power, but their quick rise would eventually lead to betrayal and their ultimate downfall in this tale of vengeance, ambition, and the last of the Irish Mob in New York. “A harrowing account of big city crime.” —Library Journal Born to Kill: This Edgar Award finalist chronicles the rise and fall of the infamous Born to Kill gang, a group of young Vietnamese men raised in the wasteland left by American bombs and napalm who came to New York’s Chinatown to make a new life, but instead brought death in their wake. Told from the perspective of one gang member who wanted more than a life of bloodshed and testified against his brethren, Born to Kill is a shocking account of the American Dream gone nightmarishly wrong. “Hard-hitting . . .torrid and fascinating.” —The Austin Chronicle

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Gangsters
Languages : en
Pages : 24

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Author: Roger Harrington
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN: 9781982956776
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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AMERICAN GANGSTER: John Dillinger and Al Capone - 2 Books in 1 Featuring... *John Dillinger*Al Capone 2 Great Books in 1! John Dillinger During the great depression, banks were closing with great speed and taking customers' money with them. Nearly half of America's banks were forced to close during the crisis. Many citizens were without jobs or steady incomes. It was one of the worst economic climates in American history. The us/them mentality was stronger than ever as common people turned against the remaining banks, considering them to be heartless institutions that stole money from loyal customers while the American people suffered en masse. Outlaws like Bonnie and Clyde, and "Pretty Boy" Floyd became heroes in the eyes of the American people. These people rolled up to banks and demanded money; a feat that many destitute Americans dreamed they could do. The robbers were considered Robin Hood type characters; giving the evil, rich banks what they deserved after treating their customers so poorly. However, these thieves weren't stealing from the rich to give to the poor, as Robin Hood did; they were stealing from the rich to line their own pockets. Nevertheless, as newspapers continued to report on the exploits of the outlaws they became celebrities in their own right; as recognizable and idolized as any movie star. It was the perfect environment for the handsome, charming, and cunning John Dillinger to round up a gang of robbers and take the American banks by storm. Al Capone Although he ultimately became notorious as a crime boss engaged in bootlegging, gambling and various other illegal activities and was named by the Chicago Crime Commission as 'Public Enemy Number 1', Al Capone's beginnings were decidedly humble. Alphonse Gabriel Capone was born on 17th January 1899 in Brooklyn, New York City. Although many people turn to crime to escape their poor background, this wasn't really the case with Al Capone. His parents were respectable people who emigrated from Italy to Austria-Hungary (now Croatia) in 1893 and then by ship to the U.S. Father Gabriele was employed as a barber while mother Teresa worked for some time as a seamstress. When they arrived in America, they already had two sons and Teresa was pregnant with a third child. They lived initially in a squalid tenement building near the Navy Yard, a generally rough and noisy area although the family managed to remain normal and law-abiding. Al Capone was born the fourth of nine children, one of whom died at the age of one. This was the beginnings of America's most prolific gangster.