The Most Evil Mobsters in History

by Lauren Carter

This companion volume to 'The Most Evil books' series contains in-depth profiles of 15 infamous gangsters including Al Capone and John Gotti. The book provides insights into some of the most cold-blooded, murderous acts of all time, as well as providing a study of 'the Mob'.

Genres: History, True Crime, Nonfiction, Biography

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This read was overall decent for a light Mafia and organized crime enthusiast. While largely a good summary of many of the major players in an important stretch of history, the read is overall fairly pedestrian and full of older summaries and data.

This reads more like a rehash of other books. Kind of like the "cliff's notes" version of better books on the topics. Some data is based on other author's improbable opinions, while other pieces of data are out of date with modern discoveries and information.

Overall this book could be good for a term paper on a series of organized crime leaders through the years. As for provocative thought, new opinions, or deep facts and information, this is the wrong source.

Low 3 stars.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is divided into chapters, each about a mobster in alphabetical order. I do wish that it was more in chronological and geographical order, as this I feel would have more flow. Many of the men are intertwined in their lives and I did find it a bit difficult to read about someone, then to have them brought up again in later sections.
Otherwise, this is a short, yet detailed account of 15 monsters lives from the 20th century with photos also. An enjoyable read to get a glimpse into the lives of these men, and how many of their crimes are unsolved, and many more they were not charged for due to lack of evidence at the time and bribery of witnesses/ jureres/police/politicians etc.

[Katelin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got this book in a box of free books and I could use a break from reading fiction novels. I’ve just recently started reading true crime, usually about certain cases, this is my second book on the mafia, but this book sounds pretty interesting by giving in-depth profiles of criminals. So far in my experience reading books on true crime most don’t go very in-depth in providing a profile of the criminal nor of the victim, so I hope this is more informative then casual. First complaint I wish this had a better introduction, maybe a pre break down of each mafia family. secondly this should have been in some sort of chronological order. Thirdly after reading the first “profile” it’s clear that this book is not at all in depth and will just be scratching the surface of each man. Given that, the author writes in an easy to read manner. It’s very frustrating this is not in chronological order but alphabetical, you literally jump from 1970s to the 1890s, it’s very frustrating, because the “profiles” are all over the place but somehow all crossing each others paths, it’s hard to keep the big picture in view, so it feels very scattered. It also creates repetitive redundant moments in almost every profile. For these reasons I give it a one star because if it were wrote in a linear matter you would have gotten a much better and complete picture, also I didn’t find the profiles to be very in-depth.

[Mike U · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.4

[Austin Skousen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! It talks about 15 of the most ruthless and evil mobsters in the history of the mafia. The FBI always had a "Family Tree" on the big mob bosses. They included all who were suspected of being involved in that particular mob family. In the upper right hand corner of these charts, a key was included matching the numbers to the crimes:

1A Currently in Jail for Narcotics
1B Awaiting Trial for Narcotics
1C Previous Conviction for Narcotics
1D Suspected of Being Active in Narcotics.
2 Gambling
3 Shylocking
4 Labor Racketeering
5 Vending Machines and/or Juke Boxes
6 Extortion, Strong Arm, & Murder
7 Counterfeiting
8 Criminally Recieving
9 Alcohol Tax Violations

The mobsters include:

1. Joseph Bonanno (The Man of Honor)
2. Al Capone (Scarface)
3. Paul Castellano (The Pope of Todt Hill)
4. Frank Castello (The Prime Minister of the Underworld)
5. Carlo Gambino (The Dapper Don)
6. Vito Genovese (Don Vitone)
7. Sam 'Momo" Giancana (The Butcher of Chicago)
8. John Gotti (The Teflon Don)
9. Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano (The Underboss)
10. Meyer 'Little Man' Lansky (The Chairman of the Board)
11. 'Lucky' Luciano (The Father of Organized Crime)
12. George Moran (The Bug)
13. Dean O'Banion (Chicago's Arch Killer)
14. Dutch Shultz (The Flying Dutchman)
15. Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel (The King of Las Vegas)

Anyway, I think it's a great book.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read alot of books on murder. In this world it has become as easy as an email. I need to understand what makes a human life God gave us so wasteful in a persons eye. What I learned from this book is lack of love and desire for fame in wealth or by name... drives these men to killing! This is a four star for me because it showed me how lucky I am to have my faith, love and I don't depend on money.

[Dan Sherburne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book over the summer and I thought that it was a overall good book to read. I do not however think this is a type of book you would want to read if you had to write a report on one of the mobsters in particular. This is a great book to read if you want to read a book that supplies facts but does not overwhelm you with information.

[Jeff Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was full of interesting facts and stories. There were parts of it where you really learned the true stories. I really enjoyed how many mobsters were in the book and even some of them I hadn't heard about before. This was definitely a good book to read.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was simply written but it gives a good overview of some of the most famous mobsters

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each chapter of the book makes it so you want to know more about each individual.. Very good read.

[Pio · Rating 2 out of 5]

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