Lansky

by Hank Messick

The Mob runs America and Lansky runs the Mob. The Syndicate controls businesses and crime from Los Angeles to New York -- and Meyer Lansky is its chairman. Lansky is the mystery man behind organized crime in America today.

Genres: Crime

Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Henry “Hank” Messick was born on August 8, 1922 in Happy Valley, NC, and died on November 6, 1999 in Cocoa, FL. He received a master's degree from the University of Iowa and taught journalism at Colorado A & M College, and then became a reporter for the weekly The Waynesville Mountaineer in North Carolina. Messick authored 19 books primarily about organized crime and law enforcement. His first book The Silent Syndicate was released in 1967. Messick’s investigative reporting incurred the wrath of powerful enemies, and he often was alternatively threatened and offered bribes to stop writing. In efforts to silence Messick he even was indicted on a phony charge and assaulted by a dirty cop. In later years the writer suffered from autoimmune disease Sjogren's syndrome, and after losing his sight to the illness dictated from memory his last book Razzle Dazzle which was released in 1995.

Reviews

[Da1tonthegreat · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a lot of biographies written about Jewish mobster Meyer Lansky, but only one has been cited by David Duke. The pop culture perception of organized crime in America is Italian. However, Messick argues, this is a convenient smokescreen for the men behind the curtain, like Lansky. In truth the mafia has never been the biggest nor the baddest gang in the underworld, despite their reputation. Not Cosa Nostra, but kosher noses. Meyer Lansky, a Jew, was the kingpin in his day.

This fast-paced biography lays out the life and crimes of the sinister, murderous man–an octopus at the center of a worldwide syndicate of crime. As one of the largest power brokers in the shadow economy, Lansky held tremendous sway. He was connected to such figures as Huey Long, Fulgencio Batista, and Richard Nixon. Though given the opportunity of utilizing Israel's Law of Return, he ultimately semi-retired to a different Jewish community: Palm Beach, Florida. The book's epilogue, which touches on his connections to Israel and of the Jewish mob's ties to international Zionism more generally, is likely what led them to label Hank Messick anti-Semitic.

[Laurence Weinstein · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not particularly well written, but does have a pretty thorough history of Lanksy and "co-workers." Plus we get name checksmon everyone from Bugsy and Luciano to Nucky Thompson and Waxey Gordon through to Batista and Castro.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

biography of mobster Meyer Lansky