Gangsterland - by David Pietrusza (Paperback)

About the Book

A site by site, crime by crime, outlaw by outlaw walking tour through the seedy underbelly of Roaring Twenties Manhattan where gamblers and gangsters, crooks and cops, showgirls and speakeasies ruled the day and, always, the night.

Book Synopsis

WELCOME TO JAZZ-AGE MANHATTAN'S KALEIDOSCOPIC UNDERWORLD.

A site by site, crime by crime, outlaw by outlaw walking
tour through the seedy underbelly of Roaring Twenties Manhattan-where gamblers
and gangsters, crooks and cops, showgirls and speakeasies ruled the day and,
always, the night.

In Gangsterland, historian David Pietrusza tours the Big
Apple's rotten core. The Roaring Twenties blaze and sparkle with Times Square's
bright lights and showgirls, but its dark shadows mask a web of notorious
gangsters ruling New York City. At the heart of this wickedness nests a "Prince
of Darkness," Arnold Rothstein, the kingpin most noted for fixing baseball's
infamous 1919 World Series, who also bankrolled high-stakes gambling dens,
speakeasies, trigger-happy bootleggers, and even a record setting Broadway
show.

Sharing center stage are con artists Nicky Arnstein and "Dapper
Don" Collins; crooked cop Lt. Charles Becker; politicians Mayor "Gentleman Jimmy"
Walker and "Big Tim" Sullivan; master drug smugglers George Uffner and Sidney Stajer;
murderous racketeers Lucky Luciano and Legs Diamon; show biz legends Flo
Ziegfeld, Fanny Brice, and Texas Guinan; and many more. As Pietrusza prowls
city boulevards and back alleys, exposing Tammany Hall, sports, Broadway, and
Wall Street, jewels are fenced, bullets fly, and unmarked bills buy bribes and silence.

Readers get up close and personal with this rogues' gallery
but better check their wallets before they leave.

Review Quotes

For Gangsterland

"Award-wining author David Pietrusza takes readers on a tour through the underbelly of New York City in the 1920s, where the notorious gangsters hung out, ruling much of the city. They're all here: Arnold Rothstein, the kingpin known for fixing the 1919 World Series, the murderous racketeers Lucky Luciano and Legs Diamond, along with the celebrities Flo Ziegfeld, Fanny Brice, and Many Gentleman Jimmy Walker. I felt like Pietrusza took me in a time machine and walked me through the heart of New York City and pointed out who lived there, who was murdered there, and what crime was planned in that building. I learned much, and I look forward to my next visit to the city to explore these locations. This is the perfect gift for that historian on your list."-Times Union

"An entertaining, sometimes grisly stroll through Gotham's bad old days."
--Kirkus Reviews

"If you're interested in the mobsters, grifters, showgirls, corrupt
cops, and crooked judges of New York in the 1920s (and it's hard not to
be), Gangsterland is for you. David Pietrusza's tour of the bars
and nightclubs, the floating crap games and bucket shops, the
whorehouses and the courtrooms, brings the era's underworld into vivid
light. You can tell that Pietrusza had a blast writing it!"

--Daniel Okrent, author of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition

"When David Pietrusza walks down the sidewalks of New York, he doesn't see modern skyscrapers and Starbucks coffee shops. Reading Gangsterland you will see what he sees: hideouts, speakeasies, murder sites, and theater stages where the mistresses of both mob bosses and the city's good-time mayor trod the boards. His book gives a literary tour of New York when the Twenties were roaring and reminds us that a single building can have many lives. Fascinating and fun!"

--Kathryn Smith, author of Baptists & Bootleggers: A Prohibition Expedition Through the South...with Cocktail Recipes

"David Pietrusza is a national treasure. Few historians can match his one-two punch of gorgeous prose and deep insight. This combo delivers the kind of haymaker that would have made Jack Dempsey proud. Gangsterland is a true crime heavyweight champ, filled with stories of New York's seedy past and must-reading for anyone interested in the murder and mayhem of the Roaring Twenties--and who isn't?"

―Bob Batchelor, cultural historian, author of The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition's Evil Genius

"David Pietrusza brings history alive like very few authors can. Weaving journalistic accounts together with meticulous research and lively prose, Pietrusza makes it feel as though you're on a tour right through the heart of Jazz Age Manhattan. I plan to take the book with me next time I'm in Midtown and follow in David's footsteps, reading each story as I go and imagining the scene from a century ago."

--Kevin Balfe, Founder of CrimeCon

"Historian Pietrusza (Roosevelt Sweeps Nation) tours 1920s New York City's tawdriest neighborhoods in this comprehensive survey of the stomping grounds of mobsters, bootleggers, and murderers-for-hire. At the center of the story is a gambler and mob kingpin Arnold Rothstein, best known for helping to fix Major League Baseball's 1919 World Series, who had a hand in a wide range of rackets throughout the city. Other characters include Tammany Hall operatives suc