The Brotherhoods: Inside the Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs [Paperback]

Arthur Veno (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 28, 2003

"If it's a good ride, there's nothing like it...you and the machine become one...It gets to the point on the edge of a hard ride where there is a balance between taking your machine further and a fear of dying. Managing that space is real freedom". Riding like there's no tomorrow on the open road, the wind in your face, handling a powerful and responsive machine - you can't get that sort of freedom in a car. Bikies consider themselves "the last free people in society", unconstrained by the regulations that rule ordinary citizens. And they guard their privacy jealously. Arthur Veno's account of bikie culture in Australia reveals the true picture of the brotherhoods. Drawing on in-depth interviews and personal stories, along with his own research, he explains the rules and rituals of becoming a club member, tells of landmark incidents in bikie folklore, profiles some famous biker identities and, in the final chapter, takes off with the Gypsy Jokers on their controversial New Year run in Western Australia.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An entertaining read." -- Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly

About the Author

Professor Arthur Veno was born in the US and has lived in Australia since 1974. Most recently director of Monash University's Centre for Police and Justice Studies, Veno has studied the clubs for seventeen years. But he's no ordinary academic - he attends club nights, field days and runs, and counts members of the Gypsy Jokers, Hell's Angels and Coffin Cheaters as his friends (they call him the Mad Professor). Veno now grows trees on his farm in rural Victoria, and is a consultant to various groups on human rights and criminal justice issues, as well - of course - as the bikie clubs.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Allen & Unwin (May 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1865086983
• ISBN-13: 978-1865086989
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,742,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An insight into Australian biker clubs, August 29, 2003

By 

Glenn Martin "Never Read a Book Just Once" (ACT Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Brotherhoods: Inside the Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs (Paperback)

Arthur Veno is actually American born and was even at the infamous Hells Angels Monterey incident in 1969 as a teenager. Now Arthur lives in Australia, which he has called home for almost 30 years, and his curiosity in what could be best described as "patch clubs" has almost been a life long interest.

The Brotherhoods is more about biker patch clubs in Australia, but a lot of the clubs he deals with have international standings. In his book Arthur talks a lot about the relationships between patch clubs and the police, and while not condoning what these clubs "can" do, he finds that most of the trouble we hear about is due to police heavy handedness. For the most part the patch clubs just want to get out and have fun, but when you start poking at a hornets nest (the clubs) with a stick (the police) there will always be trouble. He also talks about a lot of the terminology that the clubs use as well as typical processes you have to go through to become a member in these clubs which is highly interesting.

Strangely Arthur has never been an actual member of a biker club and he doesn't even particularly like bikes himself, yet he has major contacts within most of the major clubs in Australia including the Hells Angels and the Gypsy Jokers, commonly playing the role of mediator between the clubs and the police. A number of the stories that Arthur tells in his book may get him into hot water with some or all of the patch clubs he knows, and he acknowledges this while writing the book. In fact on numerous occasions in the past he has feared for his safety and life while being involved with the clubs, so his future may indeed become interesting after this book.

I did find his writing a little on the academic side and somewhat repetitive at times, which is why I awarded four stars instead of five, but he does have a PhD in social psychology and has spent most of his life in universities, so the writing style isn't surprising. If you are looking for a book which could be best called a study of patch clubs then you can't look past The Brotherhoods. If you are after a book full of raw and bloody accounts of biker lifestyle, then I would highly recommend "Hells Angel, The Life and Times of Sonny Barger" by one time Hells Angels president Sonny Barger. In fact, I highly recommend reading the two books one after another, just as I did.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honesty and Integrity its about time, July 19, 2003

By 

B. Dressel "Brian1120" (Minneapolis MN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Brotherhoods: Inside the Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs (Paperback)

This book is one of the finest examples I have ever seen about the world of the 1%ers. Written by Professor Author Veno an expert in Police and Justice Studies along with Human Rights and also a man thats spent years hanging out with club members and actually being friends with members of the Hells Angels, Gypsy Jokers. The Mad Professor as he became known draws on personal experiences of spending time with the men of the Outlaw Bike World. Professor Veno has seen firsthand the violent nature of the bike world but has also seen the violence of the police and the instigation they try to cause in the bike world. Constantly trying to demonize the clubs to bolster public support and to bolster their funds. The professor wrote this book to be an unbiased account and sociological study of the world the 1%ers live in on a daily basis. It truly is a wonderful book for showing what the 1%er world is and is not and what is actually just myth. It tackles the concept of a criminal organization and what really defines that phrase which is so constantly used by the police to describe the Outlaw Motorcycle World

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pretty darn good, July 3, 2007

By 

C. morris (JRZ!!!) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Brotherhoods: Inside the Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs (Paperback)

This book is one of the few that I have read that didn't have the sensationalistic jargon attached to it that so many other's of it's type often do. It was just a good, solid and informative read. Although I feel that the author defenitely has/had an agenda, it was, in my opinion still a well written tome. It was also refreshing to get the view from the other side. If you are interested in the outlaw motorcycle culture at all, I think it is a must read.