Satan's Circus: Murder, Vice, Police Corruption, and New York's Trial of the Century [Paperback]

Mike Dash (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 26, 2008

They called it Satan’s Circus—a square mile of Midtown Manhattan where vice ruled, sin flourished, and depravity danced in every doorway. At the turn of the twentieth century, it was a place where everyone from the chorus girls to the beat cops was on the take and where bad boys became wicked men; a place where an upstanding young policeman such as Charley Becker could become the crookedest cop who ever stood behind a shield.

Murder was so common in the vice district that few people were surprised when the loudmouthed owner of a shabby casino was gunned down on the steps of its best hotel. But when, two weeks later, an ambitious district attorney charged Becker with ordering the murder, even the denizens of Satan’s Circus were surprised. The handsome lieutenant was a decorated hero, the renowned leader of New York’s vice-busting Special Squad. Was he a bad cop leading a double life, or a pawn felled by the sinister rogues who ran Manhattan’s underworld?

With appearances by the legendary and the notorious—including Big Tim Sullivan, the election-rigging vice lord of Tammany Hall; future president Theodore Roosevelt; beloved gangster Jack Zelig; and the newly famous author Stephen Crane—Satan’s Circus brings to life an almost-forgotten Gotham. Chronicling Charley Becker’s rise and fall, the book tells of the raucous, gaudy, and utterly corrupt city that made him, and recounts not one but two sensational murder trials that landed him in the electric chair.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The sole police officer to be executed in U.S. history, NYPD lieutenant Charles Becker died in the electric chair in 1915 for the murder of a lowlife gambler who pimped his own wife. Set apart from other, mostly Irish, New York policemen by his German ancestry and "markedly intelligent," Becker bribed his way in 1894 onto a force infected by Tammany Hall and worked undercover patrolling the crime-riddled midtown Manhattan district called Satan's Circus, the city's center of entertainment and vice. Acquitted in 1896 of charges of falsely arresting a woman for prostitution, a charge testified to by novelist Stephen Crane, Becker went on to commit graft, perjury and theft, but by 1911 he headed his own vice squad and by 1912 he had built up a vast extortion racket. Gambler Herman Rosenthal, one of Becker's victims, exposed him to the media and the DA, and when Rosenthal was shot to death, Becker became the notorious prime suspect although some doubted his guilt. Peopled by mobsters and crooked cops and politicians, and chronicling the early years of the NYPD as well as Becker's ruin and comeuppance, this engrossing, well-researched history by the author of Batavia's Graveyard immerses readers in the corrupt hurly-burly that was old New York. Map. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

In the New York City of 1912, the area called Satan's Circus was a slice of midtown Manhattan known for numerous saloons, dance halls, and vice. Into this toxic milieu stepped a young police officer, Charles Becker. Despite his inexperience, Becker stood out from the rank-and-file officers on the force. He was of German descent on an Irish-dominated force; he was tall, handsome, articulate, and intelligent. He seemed destined for larger things, and, indeed, he was. Becker quickly earned a reputation for extreme corruption and brutality. He was accused of orchestrating the murder of a local casino owner, and he was tried and executed for the crime. Becker's trial transfixed and divided the city, with many of Becker's sympathizers viewing him as a dupe of more powerful forces. In his chronicle of the crime, the trial, and the city, Dash paints an irresistible tableau that both fascinates and repels. This is a juicy but ultimately tragic tale that effectively captures a bygone era of a great city. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; Reprint edition (August 26, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400054729
• ISBN-13: 978-1400054725
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.9 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #312,320 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mike Dash, the author of Tulipomania, Batavia's Graveyard, Thug, Satan's Circus and now The First Family, was born, in 1963, just outside London, and educated at Gatow School, Berlin, Wells Cathedral School, Somerset, and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he read history and ran the Cambridge student magazine. From there he moved on to King's College, London, where in 1990 he completed an unusually obscure PhD thesis describing British submarine policy between the Crimean and the First World Wars.

Dash's first job, for which he was thoroughly unqualified, was compiling about a quarter of the entries for Harrap's Dictionary of Business and Finance (1988), a volume that he researched via clandestine meetings in a London Spud-U-Like with a college friend who had gone into banking. From there, he began a six-year career in journalism book-ended by stints as a gossip columnist for Fashion Weekly and a section editor at UK Press Gazette, the journalists' newspaper.

While still at UKPG, Dash took a phone call from John Brown, the maverick publisher of Viz, who asked him to suggest the names of some possible magazine publishers with an editorial background and some knowledge of the newstrade, Unsurprisingly nominating himself, Dash found himself hired to take over the eccentric portfolio of Viz Comic and Gardens Illustrated.

Dash's first book, The Limit (1995), was published by BBC Books and his second, Borderlands (1997) by Heinemann. He has since written five works of historical non fiction, all of them acclaimed for combining detailed original research with a compelling narrative style.

Having written his first three books while still with John Brown Publishing, Dash has been a full-time writer since 2001. He lives in London with his wife and daughter.

'History doesn't get much more readable.'
New York Daily News

'Dash writes with unabashedly cinematic flair, backed by meticulous research.'
New York Times

'Dash captures the reader with narrative based on dogged research, more richly evocative of character and place than any fiction, and so well written he is impossible to put down.'
The Australian

'An indefatigable researcher with a prodigious descriptive flair.'
Sunday Telegraph

'Dash writes the best kind of history: detailed, imaginative storytelling founded on vast knowledge.'
Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Gem on the Rosenthal Murder, August 21, 2007

By 

C. W. Emblom "Bill Emblom" (Ishpeming, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Satan's Circus: Murder, Vice, Police Corruption, and New York's Trial of the Century (Hardcover)

Author Mike Dash has provided us with a thorough description of the corruption and vice in New York City, specifically the Times Square area (Satan's Circus) at the turn of the 20th century. Lieutenant Charley Becker's effort to cover up his graft by eliminating gambler Herman Rosenthal, who planned on blowing the whistle on Becker's crookedness, is covered in great detail. The characters in this book are many with the personality of each given in great detail. Prosecutor Charles Whitman went all out to convict Becker while hoping to advance his own political career. His goal to achieve the presidency of the United States was not achieved, but he did become the two time governor of New York. Ironically he was the one who Becker had to appeal to for a pardon from the then governor Whitman. Judge John Goff, all full of himself and drunk with the power of his position, went out of his way to favor the prosecution in Becker's trial. Becker's case was appealed and he received a new trial, but was convicted once again mainly on the basis of a conference a witness heard at a Harlem Conference regarding the case. Four shady characters with nicknames such as Lefty Louie, Whitey, Dago Frank, and Gyp the Blood, were Rosenthal's actual assassins while others such as gamblers Bald Jack Rose and Jack Zelig made the necessary arrangements. This is a story of the murder of Herman Rosenthal, the corruption of the New York police department, and the trial that sent a police lieutenant and the four hired hands to the electric chair in Sing Sing prison. A definite plus of the book is the inclusion of maps of Manhattan in the front to show the location of key events in the story. I am rating this book five stars, but it does have one definite drawback. There are seven photos and one drawing at the front of the book of key players in the story. Photos of the actual murderers and other key individuals should have been included as well. Another book on this subject entitled "The Execution of Officer Becker" by Stanley Cohen included photos of the murderers, the Tombs jail in lower Manhattan, the Bridge of Sighs, and other photos showing New York City during this time period. Both of these books on this subject should find a permanent place in your library.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ACCOMPLISHED READING OF THE TRIAL OF THE CENTURY, September 27, 2007

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Satan's Circus: Murder, Vice, Police Corruption, and New York's Trial of the Century (Audio CD)

Pulpit pounders called the area Satan's circus, scandalized ladies saw it as a locale of depravity, and turn-of-the-century policemen saw this square mile of New York City as money in the bank. It was a place where vice, gambling, and prostitution flourished, where corruption held sway with everyone from the highest official to the lowliest street cop was on the take.

A good looking young German-American man, Charles Becker, who grew up with nothing went to New York City in 1890 to seek his fortune, and he found it. Unfortunately, it did not sustain him in his old age as of the many who have served as police officers in our country he is the only one to have been put to death for murder.

Charley, as he was called soon became a police officer and reached the rank of Lieutenant. He enjoyed a bit of celebrity and was known as a crime busting cop, in charge of the City's special squad which fought to eradicate vice. However, Charley quickly discovered the money that was to be made by selling protection.

Murder was not uncommon so it was not a great surprise when gambler Herman Rosenthal was gunned down. The shocker was that Charley was accused of the killing, brought to trial and found guilty. His was, indeed, the trial of the century.

A prodigious researcher British writer Mike Dash enriches his story with authenticity, telling details and larger than life personalities of that time. Narrator David Ackroyd has a well modulated voice and distinct enunciation, which is the perfect way to present this true story of the rise and death of Charley Becker.

- Gail Cooke

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on the Rosenthal case yet, August 16, 2007

By 

Rose Keefe "author" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Satan's Circus: Murder, Vice, Police Corruption, and New York's Trial of the Century (Hardcover)

The injustice that surrounded Lieutenant Charles Becker's fate remains as obvious today as it was in 1915, when he became the only police officer ever executed by the state of New York for murder. Although Becker was a corrupt policeman who used his position to fatten his bank account, all the signs point to the fact that he did not order the assassination of Herman Rosenthal. A politically ambitious District Attorney, Charles Whitman, gave the real killers the opportunity to save themselves by turning state's evidence. Any pangs of conscience that Whitman may have experienced were likely assuaged by his being elected Governor in the aftermath of Becker's conviction.

Mike Dash has produced a colorful yet sobering examination of the Becker-Rosenthal affair that surpasses anything that's been written about the case since Andy Logan released "Against the Evidence" back in the 1970s. In placing special emphasis on such primary resources as trial records, confidential detective reports, and personal interviews, Dash has done a brilliant investigative job that makes "Satan's Circus" an indispensible research tool for those who wish to study the case further.