Marc MappenProhibition Gangsters: The Rise and Fall of a Bad Generation

Interesting book. Well written

Marc Mappen's new book Prohibition Gangsters is called a collective biography, but it's more than that. Besides learning about Capone, Luciano, Schultz, etc. (there's a helpful guide to the cast of characters in the back), we learn what impact society had on them. And about what their lives must have been like - Mappen quotes Capone as saying, "It's a tough life to lead. You fear death every moment, and worse than death you fear the rats of the game, who run around and tell the police if you didn't constantly satisfy them with money and favors." I can see why Capone feared death, he and the other gangsters were constantly ordering hits on their competitors. Nobody knew who would be next. Or who would be the next boss. And, not surprisingly, practically nobody ever seems to have been charged with murder.Mappen covers all these gangsters' lives with an eye to finding the truth. As he did in two previous books, There's More to New Jersey Than the Sopranos  There's More to New Jersey than the Sopranos  and Murder and Spies, Lovers and Lies, he researches controversies, presents historical theories and facts, and then weighs the evidence, coming to the most logical conclusion. In each chapter he tackles topics favored by crime writers, like how large the Atlantic City Convention was in 1929, or whether Capone let himself be captured and sent to jail in Pennsylvania that same year. Mappen acts like a history detective and lets us see what probably happened in case after case.This is definitely an entertaining read about that violent period in our nation's history called Prohibition. There's More to New Jersey than the Sopranos

'Prohibition Gangsters' is the re-telling of the era that lasted from 1920 to 1933 when America was suppose to become bone dry and tamer but, instead, became wetter and wilder. The reader once again encounters Bugs Moran, Dion O'Banion, Legs Diamond, Big Bill Dwyer, Mad Dog Coll and Owen 'the killer' Madden. I would have liked to read more about the great rum runners and bootleggers outside of Chicago and New York City.

While the book was packed with good information and I learned a lot about the subject, I felt like I was jsut plowing through the book. Sometimes I felt like I was forcing myself to read it. i was almost relieved when I had finished the work.

Beautiful book.

I couldn't put this book down. Like so many "mobster era" enthusiasts I like a certain amount of details about how gangster really operated and what they were like in real/private life. This book gave details about personal lives and the impact these mobster had on our US history. Mr. Mappen has a knack of being able to keep his level of details at just the right level. I live in Las Vegas and have visited one of America's best museums (i.e. MOB Museum) and it verifies all the facts in the Prohibition Gangsters book. I hope Mappen decides to write a follow up about the mob in the 21st Century.Thanks for asking.PH Cote