Gangsters

From Al Capone to Lucky Luciano, from the Kray Twins to Frankie Fraser - gangsters throughout the world.

---

From the sobering days of Prohibition and the Great Depression of 1929 to the mean streets of Philadelphia circa 2009, gangsters have ruled some neighbourhoods for as long as anyone can remember. Gang bosses are invariably intelligent, manipulative and shrewd individuals who exploit our innate need to belong, in a world where many people, particularly young men, are becoming increasingly disenfranchised from society, the number of gang members is also climbing and the problem has spread from urban America to South Africa, Australia, Europe and the UK. GANGSTERS is a book about individuals who have found themselves involved in gang warfare, be it Mafia, Triad, the LA Crips, Bloods or Surenos. It tells the fascinating life stories of criminals such as Al Capone, Lucky Luciano and Philip and Vincent Mangano; investigates bizarre and often horrific initiation ceremonies involving rape, murder and ritual humiliation and looks at the line where legal upstanding members of society meet underground drug lords, as well as the main instances where that line has become seriously blurred.