The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld [Paperback]

Herbert Asbury (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 9, 2002

The history of the Barbary Coast properly begins with the gold rush to California in 1849. If the precious yellow metal hadn't been discovered ... the development of San Francisco's underworld in all likelihood would have been indistinguishable from that of any other large American city. Instead, owing almost entirely to the influx of gold-seekers and the horde of gamblers, thieves, harlots, politicians, and other felonious parasites who battened upon them, there arose a unique criminal district that for almost seventy years was the scene of more viciousness and depravity, but which at the same time possessed more glamour, than any other area of vice and iniquity on the American continent. The Barbary Coast is Herbert Asbury's classic chronicle of the birth of San Francisco—a violent explosion from which the infant city emerged full-grown and raging wild. From all over the world practitioners of every vice stampeded for the blood and money of the gold fields. Gambling dens ran all day including Sundays. From noon to noon houses of prostitution offered girls of every age and race. (In the 1850s, San Francisco was home to only one woman for every thirty men. It was not until 1910 that the sexes achieved anything close to parity in their populations.) This is the story of the banditry, opium bouts, tong wars, and corruption, from the eureka at Sutter's Mill until the last bagnio closed its doors seventy years later.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A classic chronicle . . . a violent exposition from which the infant city emerged full-grown and raging wild." -- Police & Security News, December 2002

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (October 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560254084
• ISBN-13: 978-1560254089
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #351,929 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The wickedest city on the continent, March 21, 2003

By 

Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld (Paperback)

"And Hell, yawning to receive the putrid mass, is there also".

Such is the description of San Francisco's Barbary Coast cited from another publication by author Herbert Asbury.

THE BARBARY COAST, first published in 1933, is a history of that vicious and squalid section in the heart of the City by the Bay devoted to all forms of crime, vice, lewd conduct and wickedness for the period 1849 to 1917. Asbury's fascinating narrative includes the dance halls, music saloons, dives, brothels, and gambling dens that infested the area, as well as the criminal gangs, hoodlums and cutthroats that preyed on the men lured there. The book's scope also encompasses the rising population of Chinese residents that coalesced into Chinatown, as well as the yellow slavery, tong wars and virulent anti-Chinese sentiments that evolved concurrently. And, since San Francisco is one of the world's greatest natural ports, the author describes the perils to both arriving and departing sailors, who were drawn to the Barbary Coast as insects to Venus Flytraps.

The twin pillars of the Barbary Coast were robbery and prostitution. Despite the early successes of vigilantism in ridding the burgeoning metropolis of undesirables, the fact that both thrived for so long can be attributed to the toleration and blatant corruption of the city's law enforcement officials and governing politicos. Of the two, prostitution was the foundation of the area's iniquity since, as the author is careful to point out, the Barbary Coast didn't finally die until the California Legislature passed the Red-light Abatement Act of 1914. Therefore, it's no surprise that much of the volume is dedicated to the Oldest Profession: the cribs, cow-yards, parlor houses, pimps, madames, and debasing working conditions.

THE BARBARY COAST comes near to being a book in the "couldn't put down" category. However, it sorely lacks the illustrations and period photographs that enhanced the Asbury's "prequel" volume, THE GANGS OF NEW YORK. Nevertheless, once read, you'll not see the modern streets of San Francisco in the same way again.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing History of SF, February 14, 2003

By 

Scott Wejmar (Turlock, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld (Paperback)

San Francisco is an amazing city. Each time I visit I discover something new along its narrow alleys, panoramic vistas and historical landmarks. North Beach has always been my favorite SF neighborhood. It is amazing to me that such wickedness prevailed on these streets in the not so distant past. When I picked up the Barbary Coast, I was surprised that it was an older novel (first published in the 1930's). Don't let that persuade you from reading it. Asbury's frank and colorful descriptions of the old Barbary Coast will capture your imagination from the first page. Starting with the gold rush, Asbury describes the incredible influx of people onto the peninsula within a few short years and the lawlessness that followed. The stories of the prostitutes, gamblers, thieves, gangs, saloon keepers, brawlers, and corrupt politicians are all richly told in Asbury's colorful language that keeps the reader's attention all the way through. This book is a must for anyone interested in the history of the gold rush and San Francisco's past.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow., December 28, 2002

By 

Darren Mckeeman "The eagle may soar, but a we... (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld (Paperback)

I'd seen this book on the shelves at the library, but I had always passed over it because it was too non-linear for my research. Boy, was that a mistake. This is THE best book about San Francisco's Barbary Coast in existance. It came to my attention again because of 'Gangs of New York', and I went ahead and bought it this time. Read this book and find out how tame everyone from San Francisco is these days in comparison.