Download or read book The Elusive Purple Gang written by Gregory A. Fournier and published by Wheatmark, Inc.. This book was released on 2019-11-29 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Elusive Purple Gang: Detroit's Kosher Nostra is a concise history of one of America's most notorious Prohibition gangs. The Burnstein brothers and their associates were the only Jewish gang in the United States to dominate the rackets of a major American city. From their meteoric rise to the top of Detroit's underworld to their ultimate demise, this is an episodic account of the Purple Gang's corrosive pursuit of power and wealth and their inevitable plunge towards self-destruction.
Download or read book The Purple Gang written by Paul R. Kavieff and published by Barricade Books. This book was released on 2013-06-16 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Purple Gang - Detroit's ruling organised crime syndicate - became one of the most notorious gangs during the Prohibition Era. The gang was comprised mostly of the offspring of recent immigrants - Eastern European Jews who were hardworking and honest. This vicious gang quickly rose to power by engaging in extortion, gambling and the illicit trade of drugs and alcohol. The book if graphically illustrated with 32 pages of photographs depicting the gangsters, from their lives on the street to their bloody demise.
Download or read book Detroit s Infamous Purple Gang written by Paul R. Kavieff and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2008 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Detroit's Infamous Purple Gang is a photographic history of one of the most notorious organized crime groups of the 20th century. The photographs chronologically follow the evolution of the Purples from their days as a juvenile street gang through their rise to power and eventual self-destruction. Using rare police department mug shots and group photographs, the book transports readers through the dark side of Prohibition-era Detroit history. Detroit had a gold rush atmosphere and a thriving black market during the 1920s that attracted gangsters and unsavory characters from all over the country.
Download or read book Hitmen written by Scott M. Deitche and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2022-06-15 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of the star reviewed Garden State Gangland comes an in-depth exposé on East Harlem's notorious Purple Gang whose murderous exploits became a media obsession and Mafia lynchpin. In the late 1970s, a string of seemingly unconnected murders had Harlem police and federal authorities at their wits’ end until they realized several commonalities. The victims were all either Mafia members or potential witnesses of Mafia activity and they’d all been shot from .22 pistols traced back to a single private sale in Florida. From these details, the FBI and police were able to build a profile of a rogue sect of Mafia hitmen known as the East Harlem Purple Gang. Starting on the fringes of Mafia families, the Purple Gang members became indispensable and installed members in the highest ranks of the Genovese, Bonanno, and Lucchese families. Often serving as freelance hitmen, kidnappers, and drug traffickers, the Purple Gang’s exploits quickly crossed into mythology as media outlets scrambled to keep up with new murders and the law’s crusade to bring the gang members to justice. Sifting through the mystery and mythos, author Scott M. Deitche brings readers into Harlem’s gritty streets to experience the Purple Gang’s reign of terror, the investigators who tried to bring them down, and the gang members who either suffered violent ends or are still at large today.
Download or read book Off Color written by Daniel Waugh and published by In-Depth Editions, LLC. This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Those boys are tainted, off-color!" This lament from an early 20th century Detroit pushcart merchant was said to have given the Purple Gang their nickname. Off Color is the complete story of how a group of juvenile delinquents became one of the most notorious bootlegging mobs in history. Due to Detroits close proximity to Canada, the Purple Gang was in a prime position to strike it rich in the illegal alcohol trade. Not limiting themselves to the booze business, the Purples were violent jacks-of-all crimes. Members of the gang were suspected of participating in both the St. Valentines Day Massacre and the Lindbergh kidnapping. While the Purple Gang eventually dissolved under a storm of prison terms and violent infighting, they endure in American history as a colorfully named group of hoodlums who rose to prominence in the wild era when booze was illegal, men wore spats, women were flappers, and gangsters like the Purples enforced their will with the business end of a machine gun.
Download or read book The Mammoth Book of Gangs written by James Morton and published by C & R Crime. This book was released on 2012-04-19 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fresh, new look at gangs in every part of the world which deliberately avoids the stories that have been done to death - about Capone, Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde - and focuses on less well-known gangs such as 'Ma' Barker's Boys; the Smaldones of Denver; Scotland Yard's 1960s' Flying Squad, the so-called Firm within a Firm; Dr Death, the Melbourne drug dealer and Andre Stander, the former South African police officer who led a gang of bank robbers before being shot dead in Fort Lauderdale having fled a 17-year sentence.
Download or read book Gangsters Up North written by Robert Knapp and published by . This book was released on 2020-03-15 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Purples written by W. K. Berger and published by W. K. Berger. This book was released on 2010-05-06 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *AMAZON BREAKTHROUGH NOVEL SEMIFINALIST* Shunned by his community... locked up for trying to help an innocent girl... ambushed by rivals and left for dead in the Detroit River: Joe Bernstein has a few scores to settle, and a bold plan to seize control of the Motor City in its booming 1920s heyday. With his faithful "agent" Abie, his brilliant but fragile brother Max, and an out-of-control enforcer named Grabowski (not to mention a couple of carnivorous creatures known as "the babies"), Bernstein gives rise to the infamous Purple Gang-so named by local merchants because the gang's members were said to be "tainted, like spoiled meat." Bernstein's boys set their sights on taking over the Detroit River, the pipeline connecting dry America to wet Canada. But Joe also must contend with having "a sweetheart in the nut house" and rising tensions within his gang. Worst of all, the D.A.'s office has brought in an amputee war hero named Riley--who seems to be one step ahead of Joe's big plans. A fast-paced thriller that builds to the climactic Collingwood Massacre (a seminal event that changed Detroit forever), THE PURPLES blends richly-detailed historical fiction with nonstop action, all narrated in the wry voice of the smart, self-deluding, and unforgettable Joe Bernstein. "Corruption in 1920s Detroit is brought to life in vivid detail in this accomplished book." -Publishers Weekly
Download or read book Motor City Mafia written by Scott M. Burnstein and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2006-10-16 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learn the story behind one of Detroit's most infamous mobs with rare photographs documenting their rise and fall. Motor City Mafia: A Century of Organized Crime in Detroit chronicles the storied and hallowed gangland history of the notorious Detroit underworld. Scott M. Burnstein takes the reader inside the belly of the beast, tracking the bloodshed, exploits, and leadership of the southeast Michigan crime syndicate as never before seen in print. Through a stunning array of rare archival photographs and images, Motor City Mafia captures Detroit's most infamous past, from its inception in the early part of the 20th century, through the years when the iconic Purple Gang ruled the city's streets during Prohibition, through the 1930s and the formation of the local Italian mafia, and the Detroit crime family's glory days in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, all the way to the downfall of the area's mob reign in the 1980s and 1990s.
Download or read book Horrid Henry s Purple Hand Gang Joke Book written by Francesca Simon and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2011-02-15 with total page 101 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Laugh your head off with Horrid Henry, Rude Ralph and the rest of the Purple Hand Gang as they present a selection of the best, most hilarious, ridiculously ribtickling jokes sent in by Horrid Henry fans everywhere.
Download or read book Prohibition Gangsters written by Marc Mappen and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2013-06-06 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Master story teller Marc Mappen applies a generational perspective to the gangsters of the Prohibition era—men born in the quarter century span from 1880 to 1905—who came to power with the Eighteenth Amendment. On January 16, 1920, the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution went into effect in the United States, “outlawing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors.” A group of young criminals from immigrant backgrounds in cities around the nation stepped forward to disobey the law of the land in order to provide alcohol to thirsty Americans. Today the names of these young men—Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Dutch Schultz, Legs Diamond, Nucky Johnson—are more familiar than ever, thanks in part to such cable programs as Boardwalk Empire. Here, Mappen strips way the many myths and legends from television and movies to describe the lives these gangsters lived and the battles they fought. Placing their criminal activities within the context of the issues facing the nation, from the Great Depression, government crackdowns, and politics to sexual morality, immigration, and ethnicity, he also recounts what befell this villainous group as the decades unwound. Making use of FBI and other government files, trial transcripts, and the latest scholarship, the book provides a lively narrative of shootouts, car chases, courtroom clashes, wire tapping, and rub-outs in the roaring 1920s, the Depression of the 1930s, and beyond. Mappen asserts that Prohibition changed organized crime in America. Although their activities were mercenary and violent, and they often sought to kill one another, the Prohibition generation built partnerships, assigned territories, and negotiated treaties, however short lived. They were able to transform the loosely associated gangs of the pre-Prohibition era into sophisticated, complex syndicates. In doing so, they inspired an enduring icon—the gangster—in American popular culture and demonstrated the nation’s ideals of innovation and initiative. View a three minute video of Marc Mappen speaking about Prohibition Gangsters.
Download or read book The Violent Years written by Paul R. Kavieff and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ABE: black hardbound 8vo. dustwrapper in protective plastic cover fine cond. nice clean copy. binding square & tight. covers clean. edges clean. contents free of all markings. dustwrapper fine cond. , not worn or torn or price clipped. first edition so stated . first printing (nap). endpaper maps. xi+227p +acknowledgments. glossy b&w photo. illustrations. biblio. index. american history. conspiracy theory. history of detroit. politics. organized crime. mafia. purple gang. secret societies. true crime. police corruption. political corruption. bootlegging. history of canada. sam orlando. joe moceri. leo moceri. sam stemlo. chas delberto . rocco. frank di mercuro. chas postestio. max stern. pete licavoli. giannola~vitali gang war. black hand. joseph zerilli. black bill tocco. frankie cammarata. scarface bommarito. abe bernstein. killer burke. legs laman. russian shorty kozak. mayor richard reading. eddie sarkesian. isadore bernstein. jaworski gang. reubin cohen. irving feldman. lou jacobs. red o'riordan. buffalo harry rosenberg. ferguson grand jury. " ~prohibition era Detroit was a place of tremendous wealth and brutal violence. The boom years that this country witnessed after World War I brought great wealth to many For those with newfound prosperity, it became a status symbol to invite their personal bootlegger to their parties and to hobknob with known gangsters. The life of the gangsters was a glamorous one. Not only did they supply the booze, they carried with them an aura of excitement and danger. The Violent Years, a companion volume to Kavieff's best~selling book The Purple Gang, tells the story of these wild times. The Purple Gang, briefly covered here, was a predominantly Jewish group of thugs. Though the Purples were the dominant organized crime force in Detroit, there were numerous others, representing many European ethnic groups. All scrambled to grab a piece of the profit to be made selling illegal liquor. It is these secondary groups that are the grist for this book. In these pages you will read about the gruesome gang warfare that went on between two Italian mobs, the Giannola and Vitale gangs. Kavieff describes in detail the brutal kidnappings that were the specialty of the Irish "Legs" Laman Gang. Then there were the bold daylight holdups executed by the Polish Jaworski gang as well as many other unbelievable acts of crime and violence ~The Violent Years shows how the Italian mafia families consolidated their power and cornered the market on such rackets as narcotics and numbers running, thus paving the way for Detroit's modern mafia family.". Bookseller Inventory # 8211207.
Download or read book The Cool and the Crazy written by Peter Stanfield and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2015-04-08 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explosive! Amazing! Terrifying! You won’t believe your eyes! Such movie taglines were common in the 1950s, as Hollywood churned out a variety of low-budget pictures that were sold on the basis of their sensational content and topicality. While a few of these movies have since become canonized by film fans and critics, a number of the era’s biggest fads have now faded into obscurity. The Cool and the Crazy examines seven of these film cycles, including short-lived trends like boxing movies, war pictures, and social problem films detailing the sordid and violent life of teenagers, as well as uniquely 1950s takes on established genres like the gangster picture. Peter Stanfield reveals how Hollywood sought to capitalize upon current events, moral panics, and popular fads, making movies that were “ripped from the headlines” on everything from the Korean War to rock and roll. As he offers careful readings of several key films, he also considers the broader historical and commercial contexts in which these films were produced, marketed, and exhibited. In the process, Stanfield uncovers surprising synergies between Hollywood and other arenas of popular culture, like the ways that the fashion trend for blue jeans influenced the 1950s Western. Delivering sharp critical insights in jazzy, accessible prose, The Cool and the Crazy offers an appreciation of cinema as a “pop” medium, unabashedly derivative, faddish, and ephemeral. By studying these long-burst bubbles of 1950s “pop,” Stanfield reveals something new about what films do and the pleasures they provide.
Download or read book Terror in the City of Champions written by Tom Stanton and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2016-06-01 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Bestseller Detroit, mid-1930s: In a city abuzz over its unrivaled sports success, gun-loving baseball fan Dayton Dean became ensnared in the nefarious and deadly Black Legion. The secretive, Klan-like group was executing a wicked plan of terror, murdering enemies, flogging associates, and contemplating armed rebellion. The Legion boasted tens of thousands of members across the Midwest, among them politicians and prominent citizens—even, possibly, a beloved athlete. Terror in the City of Champions opens with the arrival of Mickey Cochrane, a fiery baseball star who roused the Great Depression’s hardest-hit city by leading the Tigers to the 1934 pennant. A year later he guided the team to its first championship. Within seven months the Lions and Red Wings follow in football and hockey—all while Joe Louis chased boxing’s heavyweight crown. Amidst such glory, the Legion’s dreadful toll grew unchecked: staged “suicides,” bodies dumped along roadsides, high-profile assassination plots. Talkative Dayton Dean’s involvement would deepen as heroic Mickey’s Cochrane’s reputation would rise. But the ballplayer had his own demons, including a close friendship with Harry Bennett, Henry Ford’s brutal union buster. Award-winning author Tom Stanton weaves a stunning tale of history, crime, and sports. Richly portraying 1930s America, Terror in the City of Champions features a pageant of colorful figures: iconic athletes, sanctimonious criminals, scheming industrial titans, a bigoted radio priest, a love-smitten celebrity couple, J. Edgar Hoover, and two future presidents, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. It is a rollicking true story set at the confluence of hard luck, hope, victory, and violence. .
Download or read book Garden State Gangland written by Scott M. Deitche and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2017-12-08 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Mafia in the United States might be a shadow of its former self, but in the New York/New Jersey metro area, there are still wiseguys and wannabes working scams, extorting businesses, running gambling, selling drugs, and branching out into white collar crimes. And they are continuing a tradition that’s over 100 years old. Some of the most powerful mobsters on a national level were from New Jersey, and they spread their tentacles down to Florida, across the Atlantic, and out to California. And many of the stories have never been told. Deitche weaves his narrative through significant, as well as some lesser-known, mob figures who were vital components in the underworld machine. New Jersey’s organized crime history has been one of the most colorful in the country, serving as the home of some of the most powerful, as well as below-the-radar, mobsters in the Country. And though overshadowed by the emphasis on New York City, the mob and New Jersey have, over the years, become synonymous, in both pop culture and in law enforcement. But for all the press that has been dedicated to the mob and New Jersey, for all the law enforcement activity against the mob, and for all the pop culture references, there has never truly been an examination of the rise of the mob in New Jersey from a historical perspective. Until now. In Garden State Gangland, Scott M. Deitche sets the historical record straight by providing the first overall history of the mob in New Jersey, from the early turn of the century Black Hand gangs to the present, and looks at how influential they were was, not only to goings-on the Garden State but across the New York metro region and the country as a whole.
Download or read book Secret Societies in Detroit written by Bill Loomis and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2021-01-25 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Secret societies have operated in Detroit for most of the city's history. Many started for fun and companionship. Others had more serious ends in mind. The African American Mysteries: The Order of the Men of Oppression helped enslaved people escape the South for freedom in Canada. During the Civil War, so-called black lantern societies like the Knights of the Golden Circle and the Union League waged a covert war in Detroit and across the northern Midwest. In the last century, it wasn't uncommon for a sober suburbanite to catch the train to Detroit and don yellow silk pantaloons, a purple fez and embroidered vest to drink "Tarantula juice." Join Bill Loomis in this fascinating look into the secret world of these groups.
Download or read book Gang Leader for a Day written by Sudhir Venkatesh and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2008-01-10 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Bestseller "A rich portrait of the urban poor, drawn not from statistics but from vivid tales of their lives and his, and how they intertwined." —The Economist "A sensitive, sympathetic, unpatronizing portrayal of lives that are ususally ignored or lumped into ill-defined stereotype." —Finanical Times Foreword by Stephen J. Dubner, coauthor of Freakonomics When first-year graduate student Sudhir Venkatesh walked into an abandoned building in one of Chicago’s most notorious housing projects, he hoped to find a few people willing to take a multiple-choice survey on urban poverty--and impress his professors with his boldness. He never imagined that as a result of this assignment he would befriend a gang leader named JT and spend the better part of a decade embedded inside the projects under JT’s protection. From a privileged position of unprecedented access, Venkatesh observed JT and the rest of his gang as they operated their crack-selling business, made peace with their neighbors, evaded the law, and rose up or fell within the ranks of the gang’s complex hierarchical structure. Examining the morally ambiguous, highly intricate, and often corrupt struggle to survive in an urban war zone, Gang Leader for a Day also tells the story of the complicated friendship that develops between Venkatesh and JT--two young and ambitious men a universe apart. Sudhir Venkatesh’s latest book Floating City: A Rogue Sociologist Lost and Found in New York’s Underground Economy—a memoir of sociological investigation revealing the true face of America’s most diverse city—is also published by Penguin Press.
