Overview

Full Product Details

9781538153567

Table of Contents

Reviews

From arson to homicide and from collections to narcotics trafficking, when it came time to outsource muscle in Los Angeles during the 1940s and 50s, the mafia and syndicate turned to the infamous Sica brothers for talent. As if a conduit or a rung in gangster vetting, sometimes these hardcase associates that strolled through their doors were made into the local mafia. And, as Scott Deitche's newest offering has so rightly illustrated, matters weren't all that different out in East Harlem a couple of decades later, when the East Coast mob began enlisting the Busch League brute of a batch of local upstarts steeped in the drug trade. Members of the press and law enforcement had a name for this emerging faction of violent knockaround guys feared throughout New York and New Jersey. They called them the new Purple Gang. And eventually these hungry thugs thickened the ranks of the Genovese, Lucchese, and Bonanno families. -- J. Michael Niotta Ph.D., early L.A. crime historian and author of Los Angeles Underworld

From arson to homicide and from collections to narcotics trafficking, when it came time to outsource muscle in Los Angeles during the 1940s and 50s, the mafia and syndicate turned to the infamous Sica brothers for talent. As if a conduit or a rung in gangster vetting, sometimes these hardcase associates that strolled through their doors were made into the local mafia. And, as Scott Deitche’s newest offering has so rightly illustrated, matters weren’t all that different out in East Harlem a couple of decades later, when the East Coast mob began enlisting the Busch League brute of a batch of local upstarts steeped in the drug trade. Members of the press and law enforcement had a name for this emerging faction of violent knockaround guys feared throughout New York and New Jersey. They called them the new Purple Gang. And eventually these hungry thugs thickened the ranks of the Genovese, Lucchese, and Bonanno families. -- J. Michael Niotta Ph.D., early L.A. crime historian and author of Los Angeles Underworld

Author Information

Scott M. Deitche is the author of 7 books on organized crime, including Cigar City Mafia: A Complete History of the Tampa Underworld and Garden State Gangland: The Rise of the Mob in New Jersey. He has written articles on organized crime for local and national magazines and newspapers. Scott has been featured on The Discovery Channel, The History Channel, American Heroes Channel, A&E, C-SPAN, Oxygen, as well as over 50 national and international news and radio shows. He is a member of The Mob Museum’s Advisory Council. Scott currently lives in St. Petersburg, Florida with his family.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available