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The Black Hand: The Epic War Between a Brilliant Detective and the Deadliest Secret Society in American History
The gripping true story of the origins of the mafia in America—and the brilliant Italian-born detective who gave his life to stop it
*Soon to be a major motion picture starring Leonardo DiCaprio*
Beginning in the summer of 1903, an insidious crime wave filled New York City, and then the entire country, with fear. The children of Italian immigrants were kidnapped, and dozens of innocent victims were gunned down. Bombs tore apart tenement buildings. Judges, senators, Rockefellers, and society matrons were threatened with gruesome deaths. The perpetrators seemed both omnipresent and invisible. Their only calling card: the symbol of a black hand. The crimes whipped up the slavering tabloid press and heated ethnic tensions to the boiling point. Standing between the American public and the Black Hand’s lawlessness was Joseph Petrosino. Dubbed the “Italian Sherlock Holmes,” he was a famously dogged and ingenious detective, and a master of disguise. As the crimes grew ever more bizarre and the Black Hand’s activities spread far beyond New York’s borders, Petrosino and the all-Italian police squad he assembled raced to capture members of the secret criminal society before the country’s anti-immigrant tremors exploded into catastrophe. Petrosino’s quest to root out the source of the Black Hand’s power would take him all the way to Sicily—but at a terrible cost.
Unfolding a story rich with resonance in our own era, The Black Hand is fast-paced narrative history at its very best.
*Soon to be a major motion picture starring Leonardo DiCaprio*
Beginning in the summer of 1903, an insidious crime wave filled New York City, and then the entire country, with fear. The children of Italian immigrants were kidnapped, and dozens of innocent victims were gunned down. Bombs tore apart tenement buildings. Judges, senators, Rockefellers, and society matrons were threatened with gruesome deaths. The perpetrators seemed both omnipresent and invisible. Their only calling card: the symbol of a black hand. The crimes whipped up the slavering tabloid press and heated ethnic tensions to the boiling point. Standing between the American public and the Black Hand’s lawlessness was Joseph Petrosino. Dubbed the “Italian Sherlock Holmes,” he was a famously dogged and ingenious detective, and a master of disguise. As the crimes grew ever more bizarre and the Black Hand’s activities spread far beyond New York’s borders, Petrosino and the all-Italian police squad he assembled raced to capture members of the secret criminal society before the country’s anti-immigrant tremors exploded into catastrophe. Petrosino’s quest to root out the source of the Black Hand’s power would take him all the way to Sicily—but at a terrible cost.
Unfolding a story rich with resonance in our own era, The Black Hand is fast-paced narrative history at its very best.
298 pages, Hardcover
First published April 25, 2017
710 people are currently reading
4991 people want to read
About the author
Stephan Talty
35 books293 followersStephan Talty is the New York Times bestselling author of six acclaimed books of narrative nonfiction, as well as the Abbie Kearney crime novels. Originally from Buffalo, he now lives outside New York City.
Talty began as a widely-published journalist who has contributed to the New York Times Magazine, GQ, Men’s Journal, Time Out New York, Details, and many other publications. He is the author of the forthcoming thriller Hangman (the sequel to Black Irish), as well as Agent Garbo: The Brilliant, Eccentric Double Agent who Tricked Hitler and Saved D-Day (2012) and Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe that Ended the Outlaws Bloody Reign (2008).
His short e-book, The Secret Agent: In Search of America's Greatest World War II Spy was the best-selling Amazon Single of 2013.
Talty began as a widely-published journalist who has contributed to the New York Times Magazine, GQ, Men’s Journal, Time Out New York, Details, and many other publications. He is the author of the forthcoming thriller Hangman (the sequel to Black Irish), as well as Agent Garbo: The Brilliant, Eccentric Double Agent who Tricked Hitler and Saved D-Day (2012) and Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe that Ended the Outlaws Bloody Reign (2008).
His short e-book, The Secret Agent: In Search of America's Greatest World War II Spy was the best-selling Amazon Single of 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 274 reviews
October 29, 2018
A non-fiction read about an extraordinary man who became the first Italian-American detective in the New York Police Department and his battle against The Black Hand.
Petrosino was "the greatest Italian detective in the world," declared the New York Times, the "Italian Sherlock Holmes," according to popular legend back in the old country. introduction, xiv.
Joseph Petrosino was a scrappy boy who grew into a determined man. He dropped out of school after sixth grade and began to work as a shoe shiner on the streets. Then he worked his way up to street cleaner, where he was noticed by a member of the NYPD and recruited to be a member of the police.
He was an excellent recruit, being one of only a handful who could speak multiple dialects of Italian. This was particularly useful in the heavily Irish police force. Petrosino also had a photographic memory and he would arrest suspects off the streets based on a remembered mug shot.
It's telling that the most famous Italian American in the country in the late 1800s was the one deputized by the powerful to track down and imprison his fellow countrymen. ... It was Petrosino, the "hunter of men," who fascinated the old American stock of Knickerbockers and WASPs, and they embraced him like no other Italian American of his time. pg 19
There was an influx of Italian immigrants into the United States in the late 1800s and they were treated poorly. As a result, they didn't trust American authorities and didn't report crimes being committed against them. The Black Hand, a group of unorganized criminals, extorted unknown numbers of Italian immigrants through threats of violence, kidnapping and bombings. That was where Petrosino came into the picture.
He was determined to stop them. Petrosino obtained permission to create the Italian Squad, a special task force designed to stop the Black Hand.
"When murder and blackmail are in the air," declared the Times, "and the menfolk are white-faced and the womenfolk are saying litanies to the Blessed Mother... all Little Italy looks to the Italian detective to protect it and guard it." pgs 40-41
I read The Black Hand to discuss with my book club and found it gripping. I was enthralled by Petrosino and the dangers he faced. However, other members of the club thought the book became repetitive. "Another bombing?" one of them said. It was as if they were inured to the horrors of the situation because so many bad things were happening again and again. I thought that just added to the tension of the narrative.
A few years ago, we read Stephan Talty's Agent Garbo: The Brilliant, Eccentric Secret Agent Who Tricked Hitler and Saved D-Day for book club and I found it equally brilliant. But, again, others found it slow and bogged down with too many details. I guess it just depends on what sort of non-fiction you enjoy.
Highly recommended for non-fiction readers or anybody interested in New York City or U.S. history.
Petrosino was "the greatest Italian detective in the world," declared the New York Times, the "Italian Sherlock Holmes," according to popular legend back in the old country. introduction, xiv.
Joseph Petrosino was a scrappy boy who grew into a determined man. He dropped out of school after sixth grade and began to work as a shoe shiner on the streets. Then he worked his way up to street cleaner, where he was noticed by a member of the NYPD and recruited to be a member of the police.
He was an excellent recruit, being one of only a handful who could speak multiple dialects of Italian. This was particularly useful in the heavily Irish police force. Petrosino also had a photographic memory and he would arrest suspects off the streets based on a remembered mug shot.
It's telling that the most famous Italian American in the country in the late 1800s was the one deputized by the powerful to track down and imprison his fellow countrymen. ... It was Petrosino, the "hunter of men," who fascinated the old American stock of Knickerbockers and WASPs, and they embraced him like no other Italian American of his time. pg 19
There was an influx of Italian immigrants into the United States in the late 1800s and they were treated poorly. As a result, they didn't trust American authorities and didn't report crimes being committed against them. The Black Hand, a group of unorganized criminals, extorted unknown numbers of Italian immigrants through threats of violence, kidnapping and bombings. That was where Petrosino came into the picture.
He was determined to stop them. Petrosino obtained permission to create the Italian Squad, a special task force designed to stop the Black Hand.
"When murder and blackmail are in the air," declared the Times, "and the menfolk are white-faced and the womenfolk are saying litanies to the Blessed Mother... all Little Italy looks to the Italian detective to protect it and guard it." pgs 40-41
I read The Black Hand to discuss with my book club and found it gripping. I was enthralled by Petrosino and the dangers he faced. However, other members of the club thought the book became repetitive. "Another bombing?" one of them said. It was as if they were inured to the horrors of the situation because so many bad things were happening again and again. I thought that just added to the tension of the narrative.
A few years ago, we read Stephan Talty's Agent Garbo: The Brilliant, Eccentric Secret Agent Who Tricked Hitler and Saved D-Day for book club and I found it equally brilliant. But, again, others found it slow and bogged down with too many details. I guess it just depends on what sort of non-fiction you enjoy.
Highly recommended for non-fiction readers or anybody interested in New York City or U.S. history.
September 28, 2017
Detective Petrosino’s fight against criminal enterprise in New York
At the beginning of the 20th century, Italian immigrants were arriving in large numbers to New York City dreaming big in the new world, but faced hostility from other citizens like German and Irish immigrants. They were also terrorized, extorted, and murdered by a criminal organization known as the “Black Hand”, which was eventually traced to mafia gang operating from Sicily. Their main target were the Italian community in NY that later spread to other major cities. Joseph Petrosino was one of the very few law enforcement officials who possessed the courage to confront this criminal enterprise. This is the true story of one man's determination against all odds in a city that treated Italian immigrants as second class citizens, and the crime perpetrated on them were ignored by the law-enforcement.
This book chronicles in detail of Petrosino’s crime fighting methods and his work with President Teddy Roosevelt. In fact Roosevelt first hired him in 1897 as the first Italian detective sergeant in New York. Roosevelt at that time was the head of the New York Board of Police Commissioners, and he was deeply saddened by the level poverty south of the 14th street where most immigrants were living. The elites of New York never stepped below 14th Street, and Roosevelt after reading in newspapers about the crime made major changes in the operation of NYPD. The department was suffering from serious corruption and attended to the interests of the wealthy residents. But the Sicilian Mafia using the name Black Hand was organizing and operating faster than NYPD. Killings, abductions, and violence left the entire Italian population in New York under constant fear. But Petrosino was a strong willed and hard-nosed detective who collided with gangsters head-on. Years later President Roosevelt said of Petrosino that “He didn’t know the name of fear.” Petrosino was killed by the gang members in 1908 during his visit to Sicily, but he certainly left a lasting impression and he changed the way Italians were seen in America.
The story is currently owned by the Paramount Studios to film the life and work of Joseph Petrosino with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the American history, the raise of mafia in New York and Italian American history.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Italian immigrants were arriving in large numbers to New York City dreaming big in the new world, but faced hostility from other citizens like German and Irish immigrants. They were also terrorized, extorted, and murdered by a criminal organization known as the “Black Hand”, which was eventually traced to mafia gang operating from Sicily. Their main target were the Italian community in NY that later spread to other major cities. Joseph Petrosino was one of the very few law enforcement officials who possessed the courage to confront this criminal enterprise. This is the true story of one man's determination against all odds in a city that treated Italian immigrants as second class citizens, and the crime perpetrated on them were ignored by the law-enforcement.
This book chronicles in detail of Petrosino’s crime fighting methods and his work with President Teddy Roosevelt. In fact Roosevelt first hired him in 1897 as the first Italian detective sergeant in New York. Roosevelt at that time was the head of the New York Board of Police Commissioners, and he was deeply saddened by the level poverty south of the 14th street where most immigrants were living. The elites of New York never stepped below 14th Street, and Roosevelt after reading in newspapers about the crime made major changes in the operation of NYPD. The department was suffering from serious corruption and attended to the interests of the wealthy residents. But the Sicilian Mafia using the name Black Hand was organizing and operating faster than NYPD. Killings, abductions, and violence left the entire Italian population in New York under constant fear. But Petrosino was a strong willed and hard-nosed detective who collided with gangsters head-on. Years later President Roosevelt said of Petrosino that “He didn’t know the name of fear.” Petrosino was killed by the gang members in 1908 during his visit to Sicily, but he certainly left a lasting impression and he changed the way Italians were seen in America.
The story is currently owned by the Paramount Studios to film the life and work of Joseph Petrosino with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the American history, the raise of mafia in New York and Italian American history.
gave-up-on-it
December 11, 2018I dnf this book. It really was not a poorly written book but for some reason it just did not hold my interest. With so many books on my tbr shelf, I decided to put it aside and move on.
June 19, 2025
Belgesel tadında bir kitaptı. Kurgu beklerken gerçeklerle karşılaşmak aslında beni biraz yordu. Araştırma metni niyetinde Kara El çetesi ve Petrosino'nun olaylarını ele alıyor. Aslında ünlü İtalyan mafyasının Amerika'daki başlangıc ve gelişim sürecini ilmek ilmek anlatan bir metindi. Petrosino'nun İtalyan göçmen olarak hayatının nasıl değiştiğini ve elinden geldiğince çetelere korkulu rüya saldığını görmek okuma şevkimi arttırdı. Bir anda bitip benimsenecek bir kitap değildi ama zamana yayarak okumak ve referansları incelemek olayı anlamamı ve kavramamı sağladı.
June 10, 2023
Good book, well written and researched.
August 14, 2017
First, let me say that this is a history book as well as a book about one man’s fight against “The Black Hand”. Over the years reading about the history of the Mafia I knew that when it first arrived in the U.S. it was called the Black Hand. I had also read just small little references about Joseph Petrosino who was a detective in the N.Y. Police. He was the first Italian at a time when the police and fire were owned by the Irish. This was a time when the migration from southern Italy and Sicily were at a peak. Poverty levels in those two areas were great and many Italians were looking for a new start. Also looking for a new start were criminals leaving both of those regions, and Joseph Petrosino knew this. He was a beat cop working the Italian neighborhood. He could speak the language and the peddlers and people got to know him. Going to his superiors and explaining his concerns fell on deaf ears until bombings started to take place. This is when they made him a detective and after some kidnappings, he was given some men who were now called the Italian squad. Of course, most New Yorkers were not concerned with a few Italians being a bomb or their children being kidnapped for most wanted them to go back to Italy. This all changed though when The Black Hand moved to a richer side of Manhattan. Now people wanted action and expected it right away. They looked to Petrosino. His ways would not work today but for back then they were perfect. He also had to get people to believe that they were going to be safe in order to testify against anyone he brought to trial. In one year he had 17 murder convictions which were huge in early 1900’s. He would tell the N.Y.PD and the federal government that if they did not work together and start to arrest and deport these criminals, the Black Hand will only get stronger. They did they became the Mafia. This same meeting with the secret service he told them of a plot to kill President William McKinley, in Buffalo. Even after Roosevelt who was Vice President vouched for his abilities this was ignored. He was later assassinated in Buffalo. By 1909 Petrosino was married and had a little girl. He traveled to Sicily to go over records and compile evidence to deport anyone arrested who was a criminal in Italy. The problem was Police Commissioner Bingham gave an interview to a newspaper while he was abroad. Now knowing that he was in their homeland and on the lookout once spotted he was assassinated in the street of Palermo. This became headlines in New York. The funeral was huge over 200,000 people and the city declared the day a holiday. His widow died in 1957. He is created with starting the first bomb squad, and a lot of his crime fighting techniques are still used today. The author does a good job in showing you the plight of the immigrant Italians of this time and their struggles, whether it’s about the 11 lynched in New Orleans in 1891, or how a mine explosion in 1910 16 miners was killed 9 Italian, and by 1910 one in five that came to the U.S. were either killed or maimed while on the job, and then had to deal with their own doing this to them. If the government would have followed through with the detective's plans about deportation they could have stopped or deterred the Mafia. His ideas were not used until after 9/11 and of course, he gets no credit. There is so much to this book besides a criminal aspect. I focused on the other history part being Italian and my great grand came over around that time. For me, this was a very good book and worth the read. I gave this book 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com
September 5, 2023
Amerika'ya göçen İtalyanları, ne onlar gibi göçmen olan İrlandalılar ne de Amerikan halkı istiyordu. Onlar 2. sınıf bile değildi. Devlet memurluğu gibi saygın işlerde çalışamazlar, başlarına bir şey geldiğinde polise gitseler ilgilenilmez, kendi güvenliklerini sağlamak için silah bulundurma hakları yoktu. Bu açığı bilenler, göçmen İtalyan'ların çocuklarını kaçırarak veya ölümle tehdit ederek fidye koparmaya başladı. Kendilerine "Kara El " çetesi diyorlardı.
New York Polis departmanı ise Amerikan vatandaşı olanların başlarına bir şey gelmedikçe ilgilenmiyordu. Zaten kendi içlerinde yozlaştıkları için İtalyan'lar da onlara güvenmiyordu. Sadece güçlü ve zenginler korunuyordu. Tehditler arttıkça iflaslar ve tekrar İtalya'a dönüşler oluyordu ama yılda 250000 den fazla İtalyan göçü alan NYPD ne kadar büyük bir belanın büyüdüğünden habersizdi.
Joseph Petrosino Amerika'da doğmuş İtalyan fakir bir ailenin çocuğu idi. İrlandalı göçmenlerden dolayı okulu yarım bıraktı ve boyacılığa başladı. Güzel bir yerde bu işini yapmak için bile yine birilerine rüşvet veriyordu. Daha sonradan çöpçü ve NYPD kabul edilen ilk İtalyan polis oldu. Kendi halkı tarafından dışlandı ama onun tek amacı İtalyanların haklarına sahip olmasını sağlamak, Amerikan halkının gözündeki imajı düzeltmekti. Hatta ünlü korku yazarı H.P. Lovecraft bile bir mektubunda " insan denemeyecek yaratıklar" olarak bahsediyordu.
Kara El çetesinin faaliyetleri artıkça Joseph Petrosino davalar ile ilgilenmeye başlar. Amerikan halkı İtalyanlardan daha çok nefret etmeye başlar. Buna rağmen NYPD'ın gerekli desteği alamaz. Onun hem NYPD ve politikacılar hem de Kara El ile zorlu mücadelesi başlamıştı.
Kitapta süreci büyük ihtimalle 1900 - 1930 yıllarında geçtiği için kaynak yetersizliğinden Joseph Petrosino üzerinden ağırlık anlatılmış. Kara El'in faaliyetleri iç organizasyonu hakkında çok net bilgiler olmadığı için yansıtılamamış. Ağırlıklı olarak Joseph'in polis departmanındaki kaynak istemesi ve İtalyan halkının gördüğü zulmü okuyoruz.
New York Polis departmanı ise Amerikan vatandaşı olanların başlarına bir şey gelmedikçe ilgilenmiyordu. Zaten kendi içlerinde yozlaştıkları için İtalyan'lar da onlara güvenmiyordu. Sadece güçlü ve zenginler korunuyordu. Tehditler arttıkça iflaslar ve tekrar İtalya'a dönüşler oluyordu ama yılda 250000 den fazla İtalyan göçü alan NYPD ne kadar büyük bir belanın büyüdüğünden habersizdi.
Joseph Petrosino Amerika'da doğmuş İtalyan fakir bir ailenin çocuğu idi. İrlandalı göçmenlerden dolayı okulu yarım bıraktı ve boyacılığa başladı. Güzel bir yerde bu işini yapmak için bile yine birilerine rüşvet veriyordu. Daha sonradan çöpçü ve NYPD kabul edilen ilk İtalyan polis oldu. Kendi halkı tarafından dışlandı ama onun tek amacı İtalyanların haklarına sahip olmasını sağlamak, Amerikan halkının gözündeki imajı düzeltmekti. Hatta ünlü korku yazarı H.P. Lovecraft bile bir mektubunda " insan denemeyecek yaratıklar" olarak bahsediyordu.
Kara El çetesinin faaliyetleri artıkça Joseph Petrosino davalar ile ilgilenmeye başlar. Amerikan halkı İtalyanlardan daha çok nefret etmeye başlar. Buna rağmen NYPD'ın gerekli desteği alamaz. Onun hem NYPD ve politikacılar hem de Kara El ile zorlu mücadelesi başlamıştı.
Kitapta süreci büyük ihtimalle 1900 - 1930 yıllarında geçtiği için kaynak yetersizliğinden Joseph Petrosino üzerinden ağırlık anlatılmış. Kara El'in faaliyetleri iç organizasyonu hakkında çok net bilgiler olmadığı için yansıtılamamış. Ağırlıklı olarak Joseph'in polis departmanındaki kaynak istemesi ve İtalyan halkının gördüğü zulmü okuyoruz.
August 10, 2017
Only read half of this book. Kept thinking it was going to get better and more compelling but it never did. Too bad because I liked the premise and wanted to learn more about Petrosino, but it was just too dull.
May 23, 2018
It’s probably not fair of me to review this because I didn’t finish it. I got about half way. I wanted to love it because its about such an interesting time in history, but I’m a character person and this was written like facts, not a story.
This is blasphemous... but I think the movie will be better 🙈
This is blasphemous... but I think the movie will be better 🙈
November 6, 2017
The premise sounded interesting, but I just could not get into this book. It was not very well written and for a non-fiction book gave way too much credence to what might have happened or what the main character might have felt. If I wanted that, I'd read a novel.
March 13, 2024
2.5
W sumie to przeczytałam ją dlatego, że leżała na mojej półce już z 5 lat. Po prostu niesamowicie nudna.
W sumie to przeczytałam ją dlatego, że leżała na mojej półce już z 5 lat. Po prostu niesamowicie nudna.
October 16, 2020
This is about a secret Italian group of extortioners (and kidnappers and murderers) who came to the US in the late 19th century and the fight against them. Much of hit centres on the Italian-American detective Joseph Petrosino who started with the NYPD in the sanitation department (that's right, clearing the streets of garbage, horse manure, dead horses, etc) and worked his way up. He was promoted to Detective by future president Theodore Roosevelt who was heading a campaign to fix the NYPD and make it become a more effective police force. I was not surprised to learn that this book has been made into a movie when I did an internet search on the Black Hand. Petrosino was brilliant at going undercover--he could literally become the person he was pretending to be, but even after he was known, he still was able to to excellent work. He also kept trying to get more and more people into the fight against this group since they would change tactics and methods as he caught on to theirs.
The writing is strong for the most part. I have read some of the reviews (Most are good, some are not) and some complain that he focuses too much on Petrosino, but the subtitle says it all--this is the epic war between the two in that the detective was an extremely important person on the side of the law. The writing isn't perfect, but this book is not as dry or as boring as one might expect for a book full of facts and anecdotes used to illustrate what went on.
The writing is strong for the most part. I have read some of the reviews (Most are good, some are not) and some complain that he focuses too much on Petrosino, but the subtitle says it all--this is the epic war between the two in that the detective was an extremely important person on the side of the law. The writing isn't perfect, but this book is not as dry or as boring as one might expect for a book full of facts and anecdotes used to illustrate what went on.
March 21, 2017
The Black Hand
The Epic War between a Brilliant Detective and the Deadliest Secret Society in American History
by Stephen Talty
The Black Hand is the symbol of fear which spread across New York and Pennsylvania at the turn of the century. One single Italian, Joseph Petrosino, doggedly pursued the order of secret criminal society. They originally terrorized their own: other Italians. Eventually they became so powerful that they were feared across the country. Petrosino became famous for tracking them down. He also was the first Italian to break into the tightly bound Irish Police force. He was given his own Italian force.
Petrosino played the violin, was extremely strong, would devise careful disguises and slowly become a part of laborer group, reporting back to the police until the members he was targeting were brought to justice.
This true crime story is exhilarating. It pits one man against a whole group. When Petrosino died the entire country mourned.
If you like true crime stories, you will love this.
The Epic War between a Brilliant Detective and the Deadliest Secret Society in American History
by Stephen Talty
The Black Hand is the symbol of fear which spread across New York and Pennsylvania at the turn of the century. One single Italian, Joseph Petrosino, doggedly pursued the order of secret criminal society. They originally terrorized their own: other Italians. Eventually they became so powerful that they were feared across the country. Petrosino became famous for tracking them down. He also was the first Italian to break into the tightly bound Irish Police force. He was given his own Italian force.
Petrosino played the violin, was extremely strong, would devise careful disguises and slowly become a part of laborer group, reporting back to the police until the members he was targeting were brought to justice.
This true crime story is exhilarating. It pits one man against a whole group. When Petrosino died the entire country mourned.
If you like true crime stories, you will love this.
April 3, 2023
We are a few years after the release of the book and the announced film installment with Leo DiCaprio is nowhere near. I think it’s time for a reread. Lieutenant Petrosino is a character I will never forget.
April 27, 2017
Would recommend reading over the Audiobook.
February 14, 2020
Pre nego što sam počeo da čitam ovu knjigu imao sam drugačija očekivanja od nje. Iako u naslovu stoji Crna ruka, činjenica je da se autor više bavi inspektorom Petrosinom nego samim udruženjem Crna ruka. Dakle, više ćete saznati kroz kakve muke i nepravde je prolazio jedan italijanski policajac u SAD krajem XIX i početkom XX veka, i njegov način borbe protiv Crne ruke, nego što ćete saznati detalje o ovom tajnom udruženju. Naravno, ništa to ne umanjuje Petrosinov doprinos borbi protiv italijanske mafije u SAD. Takođe, svojim ponašanjem uspeo je donekle da promeni sliku koju su stanovnici SAD imali o doseljenicima iz Italije a njegove metode su kasnije poslužile da policija odnese pobedu nad Crnom rukom. Ali ako očekujete da ćete u knjizi zaviriti detaljno u unutrašnjost organizacije ovog tajnog udruženja koje je sejalo strah po američkim gradovima početkom XX veka (posebno u Njujorku), ostaćete u velikoj meri uskraćeni.
Dakle, nije loše ali mogle je i mnogo bolje.
Dakle, nije loše ali mogle je i mnogo bolje.
July 27, 2018
Good book - it does not glorify or romanticize this lowest element of Italian culture - the Mafia, Black Hand - or whatever you wish to call it. Both my parents were first generation Italian Americans, my Mom from upstate NY and my Dad from WA State. Both had very different experiences concerning the subject of this book but my Dad's family changed the spelling for their last name to distance themselves from the discrimination (which always confused me because my paternal Grandfather would blow his "cover" whenever he started talking with his heavy accent) and my maternal Grandfather stood firm against any attempt by members of the criminal elements to do his family harm. We were raised not to watch or listen to anything that showed these forces in good light. When city officials (in a Southern CA city where my parents retired) ordered a local deli (that we had visited many times) to take down an outdoor banner honoring John Gotti when he died, we cheered the city and went to the deli to inform them that we would never return even though they made great food. The war against these "families" is ongoing in the hearts of all good Italians - both here and in Italy.
Read the book - the good Italian immigrants suffered discrimination not unlike what we see today's immigrants going through - our officials lumping the present day good people with the bad that also come over. I remember as a child one parent of a friend saying I couldn't really be Italian because I wasn't dark enough. My Mom ensured I did not go to their home again.
God bless Joseph Petrosino and his family - both his descendants and his ancestors. And thank you Stephan Talty for writing this book.
Read the book - the good Italian immigrants suffered discrimination not unlike what we see today's immigrants going through - our officials lumping the present day good people with the bad that also come over. I remember as a child one parent of a friend saying I couldn't really be Italian because I wasn't dark enough. My Mom ensured I did not go to their home again.
God bless Joseph Petrosino and his family - both his descendants and his ancestors. And thank you Stephan Talty for writing this book.
August 25, 2017
Stephan Talty's "The Black Hand" is the story of the Italian Mafia and the Italian detective who gave his life to try and stop it.
Known as "the Italian Sherlock Holmes", Joseph Petrosino was an Italian immigrant who grew up in America in a time when Italians were looked down on. "The Black Hand" is the story of the Italian struggle in early America, the rise of "The Black Hand" and the heroic man that was so loyal to America and his fellow Italians, that he would stop at nothing to see the Mafia defeated, even at the risk of his own life.
Definitely, one of Stephan Talty's best books. I had the chance to buy it at a Barnes and Nobles, but decided I would read my library copy first and see how I liked it. Now I wish I had just bought it. A great, exciting read.
Talty makes history come alive; the way he tells it is more like a fast-paced novel that will keep you on your toes until the very end and wanting more. The awesome thing is, this book is non-fiction.
For those that say history is dry and boring, you obviously have not read a Stephan Talty book!
Known as "the Italian Sherlock Holmes", Joseph Petrosino was an Italian immigrant who grew up in America in a time when Italians were looked down on. "The Black Hand" is the story of the Italian struggle in early America, the rise of "The Black Hand" and the heroic man that was so loyal to America and his fellow Italians, that he would stop at nothing to see the Mafia defeated, even at the risk of his own life.
Definitely, one of Stephan Talty's best books. I had the chance to buy it at a Barnes and Nobles, but decided I would read my library copy first and see how I liked it. Now I wish I had just bought it. A great, exciting read.
Talty makes history come alive; the way he tells it is more like a fast-paced novel that will keep you on your toes until the very end and wanting more. The awesome thing is, this book is non-fiction.
For those that say history is dry and boring, you obviously have not read a Stephan Talty book!
June 26, 2017
Hollywood has spent nearly a century glorifying Organized Crime, specifically the Mafia. While I won't lie and say that I am not a fan of those films and TV programs (I am), I think it's criminal that more stories like those of Giuseppe Petrosino are not told with regularity. As opposed to the glorified Godfathers, the Black Hand was an utterly evil scourge preying on the poor, isolated Italians who had recently immigrated to New York in the early 20th Century. I was also amazed at how institutional racism against Italians was not only so prevalent, but so pivotal in the prevention of so many of these dreadful crimes. Petrosino should be lionized and I think that eventually, with the publication of this book and the soon to be made film adaptation, he may very well get the publicity he so rightly deserved. Talty does a great job reporting Petrosino's career from his joining the NYPD through his assassination and it's aftermath. Good true crime book.
March 26, 2018
I am not a fan of all non-fiction,but this was a good one.It was not dry at all.I read what I can abt Italian immigrants to NYC in early 1900's since my ancestors came over at that time.I have read abt Petrosino before and he is quite a hero to the Italians and Sicilians of that time. He was the first ever Italian Police Officer. He was proud and determined and could not be "had". He worked his way up from a laborer cleaning streets to Det. in NYC Police Dept. In the end,the Black Hand did have him killed off,but he died a hero and fighting for the safety and American dream that the immigrants came here for.
April 5, 2019
Meh. It was ok. It would have been a lot better as a straight history of the mafia rather than focusing on one Italian American detective. There was too much detail about this one detective's life - like the author felt compelled to include all his research into the final book. I didn't need to read an entire chapter about his funeral. Yawn. Two or three paragraphs would have been plenty. I would not recommend this book to anyone. The only positive thing I got from reading this book was a desire to read Mario Puzo's The Godfather.
May 24, 2017
Had high hopes for this one. It's billed as a "epic" but an epic it is not. Talty does a solid job of researching an interesting chapter in the annals of early organized crime, as well as the darker history of immigration in the early 1900s. The story, however, lack drive, and ultimately is dominated more by the exploits of the horrific criminal organization than the accomplishments of the Joseph Petrosino, the brilliant detective of the title.
January 2, 2022
An interesting piece of micro-history on the infamous Italian crime organization at the turn of the century. The story centers on the Italian born policeman who tries to take the organization down.
3.5 stars. A little closer to four stars than three stars. Glad I read it.
3.5 stars. A little closer to four stars than three stars. Glad I read it.
February 1, 2023
Overall, an excellent expedition into a little-remembered past. La Mano Nera was the genesis of the American mafia, and in this account there are no "white hands" as in Mario Puzo's reconstructions. A terrorist organization whose only goal was profit and power, it preyed on vulnerable Italian immigrants in "colonies" across the US at a time when immigrants were de facto segregated in a strange land.
Joseph Petrosino was one of the "good" ones who refused to bow to terrorism or stereotypes. Author Stephen Talty rebuilds his life and career as a no-nonsense counter-terrorism agent. His greatest asset was his Italian Squad's embedded position in New York's Little Italy. Yet with limited resources, granted only for publicity reasons by superiors, he was dabbling the surf with a spoon. By exploiting his success to track down Black Hand to its source, he was set up for murder in Sicily.
Petrosino's legacy survived in Little Italy, with long out-of-print biographies in his wake and a "correct" film portrayal by Ernest Borgnine that, for all its shortcomings, was based on the historic record and gave a feel for the time and place. The Black Hand is largely forgotten, yet at the time had been transformed into the era's major anti-terrorist crusade, with all Italians guilty by default as would be all Muslims a century later. The public backlash led Italian communities to draw a veil over a past that did them no credit, even going so far as to deny the organization ever existed, even when victimized by it. This spirit of denial persists today - especially from those with a vested interested in doing so.
A worthwhile light shone into a dark alley of New York life, like peeking into a preserved period house and finding the past is not as it is remembered; but is indeed another country, strange yet strangely familiar.
Joseph Petrosino was one of the "good" ones who refused to bow to terrorism or stereotypes. Author Stephen Talty rebuilds his life and career as a no-nonsense counter-terrorism agent. His greatest asset was his Italian Squad's embedded position in New York's Little Italy. Yet with limited resources, granted only for publicity reasons by superiors, he was dabbling the surf with a spoon. By exploiting his success to track down Black Hand to its source, he was set up for murder in Sicily.
Petrosino's legacy survived in Little Italy, with long out-of-print biographies in his wake and a "correct" film portrayal by Ernest Borgnine that, for all its shortcomings, was based on the historic record and gave a feel for the time and place. The Black Hand is largely forgotten, yet at the time had been transformed into the era's major anti-terrorist crusade, with all Italians guilty by default as would be all Muslims a century later. The public backlash led Italian communities to draw a veil over a past that did them no credit, even going so far as to deny the organization ever existed, even when victimized by it. This spirit of denial persists today - especially from those with a vested interested in doing so.
A worthwhile light shone into a dark alley of New York life, like peeking into a preserved period house and finding the past is not as it is remembered; but is indeed another country, strange yet strangely familiar.
September 25, 2017
There was a time when Joseph Petrosino was the most famous lawman in the United States.
There was a good reason for that. In the early years of the 20th Century The Black Hand - a loosely organized group of some of the most vicious gangs in the country - was committing horrific crimes on an epic scale. Petrosino was among the very few police officers willing to stand against them and he put literally hundreds of Black Hand members in jail.
His exploits against these criminals - who murdered men, women, and children with equal ferocity - filled newspaper columns for years and he was frequently interviewed on the dangers of this rapidly growing threat to the peace and security of everyday Americans.
Petrosino was an immigrant and before he became a world-famous detective - dubbed by some newsmen as "The Italian Sherlock Holmes" - he had a long hill to climb. Mirroring the kind of racial and ethnic rhetoric that has become a staple of American life in the 21st Century, politicians and police officials blamed Italian immigrants for every heinous crime on the books. Some - not all - newspapers joined in these attacks as well. The result: There were very few Italian-American cops. Petrosino fought off the prejudice and not only joined the New York City police department, he rose to become its most famous detective.
Author Stephen Talty has carefully chronicled Petrosino's fight against The Black Hand. Drawing on historical accounts from newspapers, magazines, and the records of the police department as well as Petrosino's own writing, Talty has written a compelling narrative about the detective, his life and times. It is a fascinating account of bravery, the steadfast courage of one man who was willing to stand against a rising tide of criminal violence on an unprecedented scale. Fighting the prejudice of his own department, the fear of victims and potential victims, and gangsters who were willing to kill and maim anyone who stood in their way, Petrosino waged an unrelenting war against The Black Hand.
And he won some significant battles; breaking apart some of the most vicious gangs, putting some of its leaders in jail and getting others deported.
He made more than his share of enemies in this fight and, eventually, they would catch up to him.
This is a fascinating look at a nearly forgotten era in American law enforcement history and well worth the time it takes to read.
There was a good reason for that. In the early years of the 20th Century The Black Hand - a loosely organized group of some of the most vicious gangs in the country - was committing horrific crimes on an epic scale. Petrosino was among the very few police officers willing to stand against them and he put literally hundreds of Black Hand members in jail.
His exploits against these criminals - who murdered men, women, and children with equal ferocity - filled newspaper columns for years and he was frequently interviewed on the dangers of this rapidly growing threat to the peace and security of everyday Americans.
Petrosino was an immigrant and before he became a world-famous detective - dubbed by some newsmen as "The Italian Sherlock Holmes" - he had a long hill to climb. Mirroring the kind of racial and ethnic rhetoric that has become a staple of American life in the 21st Century, politicians and police officials blamed Italian immigrants for every heinous crime on the books. Some - not all - newspapers joined in these attacks as well. The result: There were very few Italian-American cops. Petrosino fought off the prejudice and not only joined the New York City police department, he rose to become its most famous detective.
Author Stephen Talty has carefully chronicled Petrosino's fight against The Black Hand. Drawing on historical accounts from newspapers, magazines, and the records of the police department as well as Petrosino's own writing, Talty has written a compelling narrative about the detective, his life and times. It is a fascinating account of bravery, the steadfast courage of one man who was willing to stand against a rising tide of criminal violence on an unprecedented scale. Fighting the prejudice of his own department, the fear of victims and potential victims, and gangsters who were willing to kill and maim anyone who stood in their way, Petrosino waged an unrelenting war against The Black Hand.
And he won some significant battles; breaking apart some of the most vicious gangs, putting some of its leaders in jail and getting others deported.
He made more than his share of enemies in this fight and, eventually, they would catch up to him.
This is a fascinating look at a nearly forgotten era in American law enforcement history and well worth the time it takes to read.
December 16, 2019
In turn-of-the-century New York City, bursting at the seams with immigrants and industry, a sinister evil began preying on the new arrivals the city's high and mighty shunned and ignored. Murders, bombings, and horrific kidnappings began in the tenements of terrified Italian immigrants and spread their grip across the entire country – the work of a formless, decentralized criminal network that called itself the Black Hand. As innocent people suffered and the city government largely yawned, one extraordinary man stepped forward to fight this menace – a shy, unassuming, opera-loving master of disguise with a photographic memory and incorruptible courage. The story of Joseph Petrosino, "The Italian Sherlock Holmes," and his war with the Black Hand reads like a pulse-pounding thriller, but author Stephan Talty has drawn his true tale extensively from newspaper accounts and Petrosino family mementoes. Though Talty's prose gets a touch breathless at times, this book remains as fun and gripping as a saga of murder, mayhem, and tragedy can get -- an excellent choice for crime and history buffs.
December 12, 2018
The Black Hand is a classic, against-all-odds story with a narrative drive as relentless as its central character, New York detective Joseph Petrosino. Talty’s vivid storytelling and deep research recreate a forgotten crime wave and bring to life a rule-breaking, hero-cop on a mission to protect his Italian countrymen.
August 1, 2018
An interesting book about a little known detective who with his grit, tenacity and innovation helped end the plague on immigrants by a vicious criminal/anarchist organization. This book should be read by every law enforcement person on how to defeat such organizations.
June 1, 2019
The Black Hand is the true story of Joseph Petrosino, one of New York City greatest detective, and is war on the criminal society Black Hand. A very engrossing and captivating narrative in every page.
August 3, 2025
A well researched story about an often forgotten part of history. I thought the narrative was cohesive and entertaining. As a descendent of Italian immigrants, I wonder how my family fared in this time period.
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