The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld (Paperback)

by Herbert Asbury (Author), Jorge Luis Borges (Foreword) "THE FIRST of the gangs which terrorized New York at frequent intervals for almost a century were spawned in the dismal tenements that squatted in..." (more)
Key Phrases: stuss game, gang chieftains, smaller gangs, New York, Five Points, Fourth Ward (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Journalist Asbury pulled this book together from several official sources, including police records as well as unofficial ones such as the rough memories of criminals. True to the title, the book is a history of crime both organized and not that permeated the dirty underbelly of New York City and its boroughs in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Some of these gangs were so vicious they would post signs warning police to stay out of their neighborhoods or else! The 1927 volume is the basis of Martin Scorsese's forthcoming film of the same name starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Titanic heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio, so make sure to have at least one copy on hand. This edition contains numerous illustrations and a foreword by Jorge Luis Borges.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"Asbury comes off as positively multicultural when you compare him with his peers and immediate predecessors . . ." -- Judith Shulevitz, The New York Times Book Review

"Bursts with exuberance for its criminal subject matter. A riproaring read ... Asbury's lurid prose gives [the book] mythic stature." -- Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, The Financial Times Limited, January 18, 2003

"Gangs is one of the essential works of the city, as deserving of a permanent place on the shelf . . ." -- Luc Sante, The New York Review

"The rhetoric of the times, slang and colorful nicknames provide a poetic pleasure that helps offset the horrors . . ." -- Robert Flanagan, The Dispatch

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 366 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (October 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560252758
• ISBN-13: 978-1560252757
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #325,740 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating anecdotal history (NOT movie novelization), January 30, 2003

By	Joel L. Gandelman (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Gangs of New York is a fascinating chunk of controversial history (some question its accuracy), an interesting period piece written nearly 90 years ago-- but fans of the highly-touted film should BEWARE if they're expecting for something closely related to the Martin Scorese flick.

Even so, no matter what anyone (including yours truly) says...and awful lot of people of all ages READ this book -- and love it. I was recently on a flight and sat next to a guy in his early 20s who sat there fascinated, reading it during the entire 3 hour flight.

Gangs of New York is NOT your typical book on which a movie is based. If it's bought by someone who loves the film somebody is going to be in for a monster surprise (or disappointment). Don't expect a plot, don't expect compelling writing, don't expect a large section on which the book is based and to easily find those sections. But do expect to be fascinated.

WHAT THIS IS: This is a book about: early brutal gang warfare, during a time in the 19th century where gangs literally swarmed all over New York City; blow-by-blow bloody battles and legendary gang fighters in a city virtually in the grip of gangs -- leading to the creation of the NY City Police department; and the politically dominating Tammany Hall machine's birth and growth in the 19th and 20th centuries, set within the context of a politically corrupt, violence-prone city.

Most interestingly, it's about a time in NYC's history that you seldom see portrayed in films or in books. I found the accounts of the 1863 Civil War draft riots absolutely gripping. But mostly it's about the gangs with names such as Dead Rabbits, Plug Uglies etc (the film used these names too). Many illustrations are old-style drawings rather than photos.

WHAT IT DOES: Gangs of New York gives you a good history seemingly based on interviews and mountains of old newspaper clippings, most of it in anecdotal versus dry statistical form.

WHAT IT IS NOT: It is not a book written in a modern prose style, but it isn't boring. It doesn't have a "plot" with a beginning, middle and end. No, it doesn't have a hero, or anyone resembling Leonardo, a love subplot, etc.

But if you're interested in the acclaimed movie's source material and learning about a fascinating and often forgotten period in NY City's municipal history you'll love it. Even though it was out of print for many years The Gangs of New York has been a legend itself for many years -- and it easy to see why.

56 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Bible of Gangland Americana, February 20, 2000

By	Stephen Norton (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld (Paperback)

For the American Gangster and for those interested in their colorful rise in the halls of American folklore, this book can be considered nothing less than a classic to be ranked with Moby Dick and Last of the Mohicans. The title is simple, yet apt, but the content hits the reader with the force of a lead pipe. From the teeming streets of the 19th Century Lower East Side to the ivory towers of Tammany Hall in the early 20th Century, the 'Gangs of New York' leads you on a walk through Hell filled with violence, despair and the reality of the early immigrants life in squalor, where the only way of life was the street.

This is an easy-to-read and thoroughly enjoyable history book written in the colorful, "oral" style of writing found with authors such as Harold Lamb. The characters are memorable, and their names will stay with you forever. Personalities such as Hell-cat Maggie, Baboon Connelly, Googy Corcoran, Paul Kelly, Monk Eastman, and Owney Madden fill the ranks of the legendary New York Gangs; The Dead Rabbits, The Plug Uglies, The Whyos, The Five-Points Gang, The Eastmans, and the Hells Kitchen Gophers. Witness their rise and fall, but watch out for flying bricks and bullets!

The story of the gangster would not be complete without the police, for the story of the early rise and fall of the gangster is closely intertwined with the growing pains of the modern New York Police Department. Asbury illustrates the police relationship with the gangster, and highlights the police "riots" during the merger of the Municipal and Metropolitan police departments. The history of the NYPD is filled with greed, corruption, and and other problems associated with a department ruled by the ward bosses and political powerhouses of Tammany Hall, but it is also one of uncommon valor. The events described in this book on the Civil War Draft Riots are "edge of your seat", and the battles fought by the outnumbered police vs the rioters are as vicious as those fought by the men wearing the blue and the grey.

This is a definite "Must-Read" for those interested in History AND Entertainment. Enjoy

89 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars History as dime novel, December 18, 2002

By	bensmomma "bensmomma" (Ann Arbor, Michigan) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Herbert Asbury's "Gangs of New York" was an expose first published in 1927. Its style shows its age: reading this book is like listening to an old 1920's newspaper reporter from the far end of the bar after he's had too many drinks: lots of exotic tall tales of life in the gritty city; countless names and places rise and disappear never to be heard again. The overall effect is entertaining but completely unbelievable, as though Paul Bunyon had moved to the Lower East Side of 19th-century Manhattan.

One illustration will suffice: the early gangster "Mighty Mose" is describe as 'at least 8 feet tall' wearing boots studded with inch-long spikes.On one occasion Asbury has Mose pulling an oak tree out of the ground by its roots to 'smite' some of a rival gang, the Dead Rabbits. On another the author claims Mose swam underwater from Manhattan to Staten Island without coming up for air. It comes off as the kind of book a boy would have hidden in a corncrib to read when it was first published in 1927: lowlife fun, but if you're looking for the real history, you will be disappointed.

You will be even FURTHER disappointed if you expect the book to resemble the new Scorcese movie in any manner. Although Scorcese borrows the names of characters from the book - Bill the Butcher, Jack Scirocco, Vallon, Everdeane - and sets the movie around the time of the 1863 Draft Riots, which really occured - in the book these characters are sometimes separated by 50 years and 100 pages. The character played by Leonardo diCaprio, Amsterdam Vallon, does not appear at all in the book.

I first read the book before the movie was filmed, because of my interest in New York history. It's entertaining although the writing style is pretty archaic. But if you came to this page looking for the 'true story' behind the movie, you won't find it here.