Playboy’s Illustrated History of Organized Crime by Richard Hammer w/ DustJacket

  • $10.00



RailroadTreasures offers the following item:
 
Playboy’s Illustrated History of Organized Crime by Richard Hammer w/ DustJacket
 
Playboys Illustrated History of Organized Crime by Richard Hammer
Hard Cover w/ dust jacket  (shows some wear)
377 pages
Copyright 1975
CONTENTS
1 THE AMERICAN DREAM 3
2 CHICAGO AND THE PROHIBITION YEARS 33
3 SLICING UP THE BIG APPLE 69
4 WAR IN THE UNDERWORLD 97
5 HAPPY DAYS AND HARD TIMES 121
6 THE HEAT'S ON 149
7 MURDER, INCORPORATED 177
8 V FOR VICTORY, VICE AND VEGAS 203
9 A LITTLE LIGHT ON THE SYNDICATE 229
10 PERILS OF POWER 261
11 ATTACK ON A HOODLUM EMPIRE 289
12 THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE 321
INDEX  359
DUST JACKET
Nearly 200 photographs. 16 color pages.
From its chaotic beginnings to its current status as our country's biggest business, this book presents a definitive, lavishly illustrated history of organized crime in America.
Richard Hammer, author of The Court Martial of Lieutenant Calley which was nominated for the National Book Award, starts his history with the 19th-Century immigrants, to whom the American dream often became a nightmare. They formed the first street gangs that terrorized the cities. The Chinese had their "tongs." Italian gangs specialized in the "black hand," an extortion technique. Irish gangs sold their muscle-to politicians. A Jewish tough named Monk Eastman advertised his gang's services: "Ear chawed off: $15; Leg or arm broke: $19; Shot in leg: $25; Stab: $25; Doing the big job: $100 and up."
As America became more sophisticated, so did the criminals. Arnold Rothstein, gambler and fixer extraordinaire, taught a new generation of criminalsincluding Frank Costello, Meyer Lansky and Lucky Lucianoto think in businesslike ways and to cultivate respectable images. And then Prohibition came along to provide an enormous source of profit to the underworld.
In Chicago, Al Capone became the king of the bootleggers. He carved a bloody path to the top of the heap with a flamboyant and brutal style. When he discovered three supposed allies were plotting against him, Capone invited them to a banquet, wined and dined them, and then had his aides tie them to their chairs so he could personally beat them to death with a baseball bat.
The underworld was getting too big, the profits enormous. It was inevitable that the leaders get together to divide the territories and the spoils. In 1927, the first national underworld organization was formedthe Seven Group which was a forerunner of the Syndicate. They called the first underworld convention in Atlantic City in 1929, to plan for the expected repeal of Prohibition; they also pressured Al Capone, whose violent tactics were drawing too much attention to the underworld, into taking a short vacation in jail.
The road to cooperation among criminals was a rough one, however. Lucky Lucicino assumed his leadership of organized crime only after finally eliminating the "Mustache Petes," the old-line Mafia leaders who didn't want to cooperate with non-Italian gangsters. Even after the Syndicate was well established, mobsters continued. -to meet violent ends: Dutch Schultz was shot in the men's room of a Newark bar for his maverick tendencies; Abe "Kid Twist" Reles revealed the existence of Murder, Incorporated, then took a mysterious flight out of a sixth-floor window while under police protection; Bugsy Siegel brought. Syndicate operations to Las Vegas, but skimmed so much money off the top that he wound up with a head full of bullets in a Beverly Hills mansion; Albert Anastasia was killed in a barber chair for being unwilling to accept Vito Genovese as head man; Crazy Joe Gallo, Anastasia's assassin, met his inevitable death after involving himself in one gang war too many.
Hammer does not ignore the crime fighters, who sometimes scored major victories against organized crime. U.S. Attorney Thomas Dewey convicted Lucky Luciano with a parade of well-coached and well-rewarded witnesses. Senator Estes Kefauver exposed shadowy figures of the underworld to a national television audience in the early Fifties. And Senator John McClellan probed the workings of organized crime in the late Fifties and early Sixties.
Still, as Richard Hammer reveals, organized crime continues to exert as shocking a degree of influence on American society as everfrom the corner candy store to Wall Street to the highest places in Washington. With dramatic photos and vivid writing, Playboy's Illustrated History of Organized Crime tells the full story.

All pictures are of the actual item.  There may be reflection from the lights in some photos.   We try to take photos of any damage.    If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad.  Please email with questions. Publishers of Train Shed Cyclopedias and Stephans Railroad Directories. Large inventory of railroad books and magazines. Thank you for buying from us.

Shipping charges
US Shipments:  When you add multiple items to your cart, the reduced shipping charges will automatically be calculated.   For direct postage rates to other countries, send me an email.   Shipping varies by weight.

Terms and conditions
All sales are final. Returns accepted if item is not as described.  Contact us before making a return.  No warranty is stated or implied. Please e-mail us with any questions before bidding or buying.   
Thanks for looking at our items.