Motor City Mafia: A Century of Organized Crime in Detroit

Images of America: Michigan

by Scott M. Burnstein

Motor City Mafia: A Century of Organized Crime in Detroit chronicles the storied and hallowed gangland history of the notorious Detroit underworld. Scott M. Burnstein takes the reader inside the belly of the beast, tracking the bloodshed, exploits, and leadership of the southeast Michigan crime syndicate as never before seen in print. Through a stunning array of rare archival photographs and images, Motor City Mafia captures Detroit's most infamous past, from its inception in the early part of the 20th century, through the years when the iconic Purple Gang ruled the city's streets during Prohibition, through the 1930s and the formation of the local Italian mafia, and the Detroit crime family's glory days in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, all the way to the downfall of the area's mob reign in the 1980s and 1990s.

Genres: Crime, History, Nonfiction, True Crime, Research

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2006

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

From The Purple Gang to Anthony "Tony Jack" Giacalone to the modern day, great pictorial history that is more than just mugshots - several newspaper clipping and many FBI surveillance photos too. Very informative. The Jimmy Hoffa story is pieced together from who was where and who was missing, and I believe the author's best theory of the Hoffa disappearance is probably the best theory out there. For sports fans, there is a lot of sports bookmaking, legal and illegal, and involving Detroit Lions' Alex Karras, Detroit Pistons' Isaiah Thomas, and boxer Tommy "Hitman" Hearns. Important crime history, although I didn't know more than half of these characters. I suppose their relative anonymity might have been key to their success? Very illuminating for Michigan history buffs.

[Renee Silvan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fair, and I appreciated all the effort it took to cull together so many images of organized crime figures. But I found myself wishing there would be have been something more to pull together all these people. They were all related, over the decades of the story in Detroit. This was a crime "family," after all. Sons grew up and took over, nephews and cousins and whatever were involved. It was easy to lose sight of who was related to who. I would have liked some kind of family tree or chart that tied it together. Later in book, when I saw the last name Zerilli, for instance, I knew this guy had to be related to a Zerilli from an earlier chapter, but I couldn't find out how unless I went back through and re-read just about every caption. So yea, I guess I wanted to more clearly see relationships between these members of the operation.

[Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was interesting, not a lot of depth, but not surprising for a secret organization. My biggest gripe is that the book is exceptionally short, yet has so many typos and errors. It seems as if the book was never proofread. For a book that’s only 127 pages long, you’d think you could catch all the errors before printing.

[Frank Ray Washburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book dealing with different crime gangs in Detroit with ties to a prominent law firm today.

[Cara Misuraca · Rating 2 out of 5]

❤️

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great pictorial history.

[Madison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I read this. It was pre goodreads and a friend asked me about it but I'm not 100% sure the title

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primarily a picture book, this quick read gives an overview of organized crime in Detroit. Not much in the way of detail, but the pictures give a bit of insight into the times they're from. I didn't learn anything new about the Purple Gang, my primary interest, but someone new to the subject would get a good primer on the topic.

This would be great for people who only want or need the view from ten thousand feet.

[John Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series is a great way to get a quick sense of an aspect of history through photographs and limited text and captions. I was fortunate to hear Scott Burnstein speak about the history of the underworld in Detroit at my local library. He is very knowledgeable and passionate about this subject. This book combines the many black and white pictures with his knowledge to deliver an interesting overview.

[Walt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although largely a picture book, there is some analysis and discussion. It is very difficult to verify Burnstein's accuracy, especially when he refers to so many underworld characters.

[Maria · Rating 1 out of 5]

Would have been interesting if the author had better descriptions of the book's images. Needed more background and needed to be tied together.