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A Brief History of Gangsters
The romanticised American gangster of the Prohibition era has proved an enduringly popular figure. Even today, names like Al Capone and Lucky Luciano still resonate. Robb explores the histories of key figures, from gangs in the Old West, through Prohibition and the Great Depression, to the likes of John Gotti and Frank Lucas in the 1970s and 1980s. He also looks at the gangster in popular culture, in hit TV series such as Boardwalk Empire. Although the focus is strongly on the archetypal American gangster, Robb also examines gangsters around the world, including the infamous Kray twins in London, French crime kingpin Jacques Mesrine, the Mafia Dons of Sicily, and the rise of notorious Serbian and Albanian gangs. Infamous Australian outlaw Ned Kelly makes an appearance, as does Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, while other sections provide details of the Chinese Triads and the Yakuza in Japan. Robb also explores the gangster in popular culture, especially in film and television. Recent hit TV series such as The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire and blockbuster movies like Public Enemies and Gangster Squad show that the gangster is here to stay.
- GenresNonfictionCrime
314 pages, Paperback
First published November 20, 2014
4 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Brian J. Robb
80 books23 followersBrian J. Robb is the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling biographer of Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp, and Brad Pitt. He has also written books on silent cinema, the films of Philip K. Dick, Wes Craven, and Laurel and Hardy, the Star Wars movies, Superheroes, Gangsters, and Walt Disney, as well as science fiction television series Doctor Who and Star Trek. His illustrated books include an Illustrated History of Steampunk and a guide to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth (Winner, Best Book, Tolkien Society Awards). He writes and edits the Chaplin: Film by Film centenary blog site and is co-editor of the Sci-Fi Bulletin website. He lives in Edinburgh.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 16, 2026
The term originated in an Ohio newspaper in 1896.
I didn’t quite understand the political gangsterism of Tammany Hall. He mentioned that they controlled votes by threats and stuff, and people voted multiple times in disguises, but I would have liked to know exactly how they ran politics as they did.
Prohibition led to the establishment of the first American nationwide crime syndicate and the rise of the gangster class.
WWII made allies of law enforcement and the Mob. Luciano was one of several gangsters who were recruited by Naval Intelligence to help mitigate waterfront sabotage on the East coast and thwart German spies.
The mafia had the code of silence, omerta.
At the time of Bonnie and Clyde, parking with the front of the car pointing towards the exit, enabling a quick getaway, became known as “gangster style” parking.
The organization known as the Mafia became popularly known in 1950–1 as a result of the Kefauver Commission, the special committee to investigate crime in interstate commerce.
Many Italian immigrants to America became embroiled in organized crime and rose to the top of gang rosters.
Indictments on tax evasion was the government’s favorite tool against gangsters.
I was shocked that JFK’s dad enlisted the help of the Mob in securing his presidency. His dad already had ties with the mob from bootlegging, and was determined to have one of his kids in the presidency. The mob funded his run and fixed votes to secure the win. They were even suspected in his assassination.
John and his brother Robert had an anti-crime Crusade and it wasn’t known whether it was because of their father‘s past or trying to make amends, but they went after the mafia.
Someone in the mob said that Kennedy would be hit. Someone else in the mob said they would set up some nut to take the fall for the job just like they do in Sicily. It could’ve been the mafia who was upset over their actions against them rogue CIA agents opposed to his foreign policies or anti-Castro Cubans mad at his failure to take Castro down. It was rumored that they all teamed up to take Kennedy down. A crime family had ties to Lee Harvey Oswald and he said himself he was acting as patsy. He was even killed by a mob-connected hitman the next day. Lyndon B. Johnson supposedly covered up the plot because it would destroy the public confidence in America if they knew that the government had colluded with mafia bosses over Cuba.
The mobster who had predicted the hit on JFK allegedly confessed to having organize the hit he had him killed. He was glad he did and was only sorry he couldn’t have done it himself. The informant information was confirmed in an FBI memo released in 2006.
Older mafiosi disproved of Lucky Luciano bringing on Frank Costello because he wasn’t from Sicily, calling him dirty Calabrian. The younger generation was keen to expand membership to take in Italians from other areas and even Jews. Luciano ignored the traditional ethnic divisions of the underworld and teamed up with other Italians, Jews, and Irish gangsters.
The American mafia was a distinct operation from the Sicilian original, developing its own traditions and divisions, especially as American-raised gangsters began to replace those who’d grown to adulthood in the old country. Every American city had its own mafia variants, but the two biggest were in New York and Chicago.
The idea of the capo, or boss, became popular at the turn of the century, (1900) with the first boss of the oldest of the Five Families of New York. With his creation of the Commission, the committee that controlled organized crime made up of representatives from each of the five families and other minor mob groups, Lucky Luciano became the first self-created genuine capo di tutti capi, boss of all bosses.
Each family had its own leadership and structure, Luciano’s creation of the Committee saw him become the first equal among equals. Others would follow him. Even though there was no overall “boss,” some were the most powerful among their peers during any given period.
His successor was Frank Costello, who learned from the mistakes of others and tried to keep a low profile. He dominated until his downfall and retirement. I did respect him a lot more than the other gangsters because he ran legitimate businesses and stayed away from drugs.
Several key Sicilian mafia figures in the mid 1920s flooded Italy because of Benito Mussolini, who was attempting to suppress the old style mafia in Italy as part of his rise to power.
The Honoured Society was a local Sicilian variation of the mob, also known as the Cosa Nostra. Gambino became a “made man” meaning honored member, of the Sicilian mafia after carrying out hits in his teens.
The Sicilian mafia code for arrogance was “taking up too much space and air.”
The slang mob phrase concrete overcoat was from Gambino encasing someone’s body in concrete.
Castellono refused to name his accomplices when he went to jail and it gave him the reputation of being a stand-up guy to his mafia associates.
Italy was the birthplace of the Mafia. The original Sicilian version bore little resemblance to the later organization that used the same name.
The word became attached to family or clan organizations in Sicily in the mid to late 1800s and grew to encompass secret initiation ceremonies, (possibly involving murder), a vow of loyalty, a code of honor among members, and a network of contacts for social and criminal ends. Each “family” (usually an extended family of related people, but not always) had a Don or head, who would direct family “business” and meet with other dons to plan group strategies.
The Mafia was a well-establish organization by the time Mussolini was in power in 1922, especially strong in Sicily, though there were regional variations under different variations across Italy. He wanted to assert his own power by wiping out all secret societies including the Mafia, which caused a flight of many young, and some older, mafiosi to the U.S.
During WWII the U.S. used the Mafia to prepare the way for the Allied invasion of Sicily.
It was funny that Scarface 1932, one of the movies modeled after Al Capone, supposedly had the writer visited by mobsters on behalf of Capone complaining that the main character resembled their boss. He explained that wasn’t the case and the mobsters asked him then why was it called Scarface? He said if they call the movie Scarface people will think it’s about Capone and come to see it. It’s part of the racket they call show business they were apparently satisfied and left him alone.
I thought this would be full of more general info with broad facts, not single out each gangster and give a run-down of their life. I wanted more broad info. It got tiring after a while just reading what began to feel like a constant list of who all killed who, he killed him, so someone killed him to get back at him, then someone killed him…it was a lot. It started to feel like a laundry list of who died. About pg. 170 I wanted to be done.
There was very brief general info shared and I ate it up, but it was over so quickly. I really didn’t like the chapter on gangsters from other countries. It was so hard getting through I kept having to take breaks and do something else.
It would go out of order chronologically, and kind of bounce around, going back and forth in time. I expected everything to go in exact order and when it didn’t, it threw me. I guess it had to be shared when it could based on the details, but it felt a little all over the place at times.
I also didn’t like the foreshadowing. A segment would mention in the beginning something like “He would go down in a spray of bullets.” And then you spent the whole paragraph knowing that he died and how. That kept happening and I don’t like to know how things end when they just start.
It realllyy bothered me how dates were written. Like 22 December 1933, instead of December 22, 1933. It drove me crazy! Ahhhhh! WHY?!?!
At least it ended on a more interesting note with gangster movies once we got past the mafia in other countries which I didn’t enjoy.
There was no conclusion or wrap-up at all. It just ended right with the chapter on films. It made it feel so incomplete and it desperately needed a summary or something to tie it all up.
I didn’t quite understand the political gangsterism of Tammany Hall. He mentioned that they controlled votes by threats and stuff, and people voted multiple times in disguises, but I would have liked to know exactly how they ran politics as they did.
Prohibition led to the establishment of the first American nationwide crime syndicate and the rise of the gangster class.
WWII made allies of law enforcement and the Mob. Luciano was one of several gangsters who were recruited by Naval Intelligence to help mitigate waterfront sabotage on the East coast and thwart German spies.
The mafia had the code of silence, omerta.
At the time of Bonnie and Clyde, parking with the front of the car pointing towards the exit, enabling a quick getaway, became known as “gangster style” parking.
The organization known as the Mafia became popularly known in 1950–1 as a result of the Kefauver Commission, the special committee to investigate crime in interstate commerce.
Many Italian immigrants to America became embroiled in organized crime and rose to the top of gang rosters.
Indictments on tax evasion was the government’s favorite tool against gangsters.
I was shocked that JFK’s dad enlisted the help of the Mob in securing his presidency. His dad already had ties with the mob from bootlegging, and was determined to have one of his kids in the presidency. The mob funded his run and fixed votes to secure the win. They were even suspected in his assassination.
John and his brother Robert had an anti-crime Crusade and it wasn’t known whether it was because of their father‘s past or trying to make amends, but they went after the mafia.
Someone in the mob said that Kennedy would be hit. Someone else in the mob said they would set up some nut to take the fall for the job just like they do in Sicily. It could’ve been the mafia who was upset over their actions against them rogue CIA agents opposed to his foreign policies or anti-Castro Cubans mad at his failure to take Castro down. It was rumored that they all teamed up to take Kennedy down. A crime family had ties to Lee Harvey Oswald and he said himself he was acting as patsy. He was even killed by a mob-connected hitman the next day. Lyndon B. Johnson supposedly covered up the plot because it would destroy the public confidence in America if they knew that the government had colluded with mafia bosses over Cuba.
The mobster who had predicted the hit on JFK allegedly confessed to having organize the hit he had him killed. He was glad he did and was only sorry he couldn’t have done it himself. The informant information was confirmed in an FBI memo released in 2006.
Older mafiosi disproved of Lucky Luciano bringing on Frank Costello because he wasn’t from Sicily, calling him dirty Calabrian. The younger generation was keen to expand membership to take in Italians from other areas and even Jews. Luciano ignored the traditional ethnic divisions of the underworld and teamed up with other Italians, Jews, and Irish gangsters.
The American mafia was a distinct operation from the Sicilian original, developing its own traditions and divisions, especially as American-raised gangsters began to replace those who’d grown to adulthood in the old country. Every American city had its own mafia variants, but the two biggest were in New York and Chicago.
The idea of the capo, or boss, became popular at the turn of the century, (1900) with the first boss of the oldest of the Five Families of New York. With his creation of the Commission, the committee that controlled organized crime made up of representatives from each of the five families and other minor mob groups, Lucky Luciano became the first self-created genuine capo di tutti capi, boss of all bosses.
Each family had its own leadership and structure, Luciano’s creation of the Committee saw him become the first equal among equals. Others would follow him. Even though there was no overall “boss,” some were the most powerful among their peers during any given period.
His successor was Frank Costello, who learned from the mistakes of others and tried to keep a low profile. He dominated until his downfall and retirement. I did respect him a lot more than the other gangsters because he ran legitimate businesses and stayed away from drugs.
Several key Sicilian mafia figures in the mid 1920s flooded Italy because of Benito Mussolini, who was attempting to suppress the old style mafia in Italy as part of his rise to power.
The Honoured Society was a local Sicilian variation of the mob, also known as the Cosa Nostra. Gambino became a “made man” meaning honored member, of the Sicilian mafia after carrying out hits in his teens.
The Sicilian mafia code for arrogance was “taking up too much space and air.”
The slang mob phrase concrete overcoat was from Gambino encasing someone’s body in concrete.
Castellono refused to name his accomplices when he went to jail and it gave him the reputation of being a stand-up guy to his mafia associates.
Italy was the birthplace of the Mafia. The original Sicilian version bore little resemblance to the later organization that used the same name.
The word became attached to family or clan organizations in Sicily in the mid to late 1800s and grew to encompass secret initiation ceremonies, (possibly involving murder), a vow of loyalty, a code of honor among members, and a network of contacts for social and criminal ends. Each “family” (usually an extended family of related people, but not always) had a Don or head, who would direct family “business” and meet with other dons to plan group strategies.
The Mafia was a well-establish organization by the time Mussolini was in power in 1922, especially strong in Sicily, though there were regional variations under different variations across Italy. He wanted to assert his own power by wiping out all secret societies including the Mafia, which caused a flight of many young, and some older, mafiosi to the U.S.
During WWII the U.S. used the Mafia to prepare the way for the Allied invasion of Sicily.
It was funny that Scarface 1932, one of the movies modeled after Al Capone, supposedly had the writer visited by mobsters on behalf of Capone complaining that the main character resembled their boss. He explained that wasn’t the case and the mobsters asked him then why was it called Scarface? He said if they call the movie Scarface people will think it’s about Capone and come to see it. It’s part of the racket they call show business they were apparently satisfied and left him alone.
I thought this would be full of more general info with broad facts, not single out each gangster and give a run-down of their life. I wanted more broad info. It got tiring after a while just reading what began to feel like a constant list of who all killed who, he killed him, so someone killed him to get back at him, then someone killed him…it was a lot. It started to feel like a laundry list of who died. About pg. 170 I wanted to be done.
There was very brief general info shared and I ate it up, but it was over so quickly. I really didn’t like the chapter on gangsters from other countries. It was so hard getting through I kept having to take breaks and do something else.
It would go out of order chronologically, and kind of bounce around, going back and forth in time. I expected everything to go in exact order and when it didn’t, it threw me. I guess it had to be shared when it could based on the details, but it felt a little all over the place at times.
I also didn’t like the foreshadowing. A segment would mention in the beginning something like “He would go down in a spray of bullets.” And then you spent the whole paragraph knowing that he died and how. That kept happening and I don’t like to know how things end when they just start.
It realllyy bothered me how dates were written. Like 22 December 1933, instead of December 22, 1933. It drove me crazy! Ahhhhh! WHY?!?!
At least it ended on a more interesting note with gangster movies once we got past the mafia in other countries which I didn’t enjoy.
There was no conclusion or wrap-up at all. It just ended right with the chapter on films. It made it feel so incomplete and it desperately needed a summary or something to tie it all up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 4, 2017
A bit dry and confusing due to chronology that skipped around and so many unfamiliar names. But the topic kept my attention. From the earliest days up to the 2000s, the history of gangsters unfolded
November 7, 2016
I was hoping for more. I bit dull, I liked reading about all the gangsters but it could have been so much better.
February 5, 2022
An excellent book that gives a good foundation of understanding on gangsters and their history.
December 15, 2022
Nice book that centralizes everything you ever wanted to know about gangsters, however, it feels like reading a wikipedia page, thus the rating.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews