Os Maiores Gangsters Da História

by Lauren Carter

Durante os anos 20 e 30 do século XX, cidades como Nova Iorque e Chicago encontravam-se à mercê de Gangsters - criminosos violentos ligados a organizações criminosas que faziam fortuna com o jogo, a prostituição, assassinatos, aborto, subornos, ameaças, corrupção e, durante a Lei Seca, com a venda de álcool. Embora a Máfia italiana possuísse mais membros e detivesse o maior poder, outros grupos étnicos formavam organizações semelhantes, nomeadamente os Judeus e os Irlandeses.
Os Gangsters pertenciam a uma estrutura hierárquica organizada à semelhança de uma corporação, daí a organização ser também denominada "sindicato". O "Sindicato de Chicago" era a organização criminosa mais poderosa e importante do país, apesar de nenhuma cidade ser governada apenas por um grupo, o que dava origem a encontros sangrentos entre os diferentes grupos em luta pela posse de determinados territórios.
Embora muitos interesses e tácticas tivessem mudado ao longo dos anos, muitas das organizações que se estabeleceram na época áurea anterior à Segunda Guerra Mundial existem ainda sob nomes diferentes.

Os Maiores Gangsters Da História apresenta uma visão arrepiante de alguns dos actos criminosos mais cruéis de todos os tempos e dos homens que os cometeram.

Genres: History, True Crime, Nonfiction, Biography

255 pages, Paperback

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 Some data is based on other author's improbable opinions, while other pieces of data are out of date with modern discoveries and information.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.

[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]

Bài nào cũng từa tựa nhau, đọc mệt bà cố @@