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It was in a letter of 1897, about his cousin James Ross Clemens, that Mark Twain famously noted that "the report of my death was an exaggeration." He... Continue »
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1 Local Warehouse Crime- Mobs and Organized Crime

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Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld

by Herbert Asbury

ISBN13: 9781560252757
ISBN10: 1560252758
Condition: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Published to coincide with the release of Martin Scorsese?s film, Gangs of New York, starring Leonard DiCaprio, The Gangs of New York has long been hand-passed among its cult readership. It is a tour through a now unrecognizable city of abysmal poverty and habitual violence cobbled, as Luc Sante has written, "from legend, memory, police records, the self-aggrandizements of aging crooks, popular journalism, and solid historical research." Asbury presents the definitive work on this subject, an illumination of the gangs of old New York that ultimately gave rise to the modern Mafia and its depiction in films like The Godfather.

Book News Annotation:

A prolific journalist and editor, Asbury (1891-1963) has his account of the Big Apple underworld published by Knopf in 1927 or 1928. It was republished by Paragon House is 1990. The new issue is inspired by the appearance of a big-name motion picture based on it.
Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Review:

"Gangs is one of the essential works of the city...deserving of a permanent place on the shelf." Luc Sante, The New York Review

Review:

"Asbury comes off as positively multicultural when you compare him with his peers and immediate predecessors..." Judith Shulevitz, The New York Times Book Review

Review:

"The rhetoric of the times, slang, and colorful nicknames provide a poetic pleasure that helps offset the horrors..." Robert Flanagan, The Dispatch

Synopsis:

A prolific journalist and editor, Asbury (1891-1963) has his account of the Big Apple underworld published by Knopf in 1927 or 1928. It was republished by Paragon House in 1990. The new issue is inspired by the appearance of a big-name motion picture based on it.
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Table of Contents

Foreword xi
Introduction xiii
I The Cradle of the Gangs 1
II Early Gangs of the Bowery and Five Points 19
III Sin Along the Water Front 42
IV River Pirates 57
V The Killing of Bill the Butcher 79
VI The Police and Dead Rabbit Riots 92
VII The Draft Riots 108
VIII The Draft Riots (Continued) 135
IX When New York Was Really Wicked 158
X The King of the Bank Robbers 185
XI The Whyos and Their Times 206
XII Kingdoms of the Gangs 228
XIII The Prince of Gangsters 253
XIV The Wars of the Tongs 277
XV The Last of the Gang Wars 302
XVI The Passing of the Gangster 321
Slang of the Early Gangsters 349
Bibliography 355
Index 357
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781560252757
Subtitle:
An Informal History of the Underworld
Foreword:
Borges, Jorge Luis
Author:
Asbury, Herbert
Author:
Foreword by Jorge Borges
Author:
Borges, Jorge Luis
Publisher:
Basic Books
Location:
New York
Subject:
Criminals
Subject:
Criminology
Subject:
Sociology - Urban
Subject:
United States - State & Local
Subject:
Social history
Subject:
Social conditions
Subject:
Gangs
Subject:
New York
Subject:
United States - State & Local - General
Subject:
United States - State & Local - Middle Atlantic
Copyright:
1998
Edition Description:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Series Volume:
2136-2
Publication Date:
20011030
Binding:
TP
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Yes
Pages:
384
Dimensions:
8.27x5.52x1.13 in. 1.03 lbs.
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