Dylan Struzan’s brilliant account of the rise of Organized Crime in America, based on 50 hours of interviews with Vincent “Jimmy Blue Eyes” Alo, reveals how Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Dutch Schultz, Bugsy Siegal, Al Capone, Nucky Johnson, and other gangsters built their criminal empires. In 1919, the National Prohibition Act passed making it illegal to produce, distribute, or sell alcohol products. That opened the gates for gangsters to supply liquor that Americans craved. It also generated millions of dollars of profit for those gangsters involved in Black Market liquor, speakeasies, and gin mills. Of course, turf fights raged as gangsters fought to expand their territories.
Dylan Struzan’s graphic accounts of Vincent Alo’s exploits in the underworld ruled by Lansky and Luciano–bootlegging, violence, and murders–shows the dynamics of these criminal enterprises. I found a A Bloody Business credible and fascinating guide to the mobsters’s methods and techniques. The timing of this book could not have been better: 2019 is the Hundredth Anniversary of Prohibition. And now we have a scintillating history of the consequences of the ill-fated Eighteenth Amendment. Highly recommended! GRADE: A
Any mention of Bootlegger Joe Kennedy?
Bob, all the major figures in Prohibition show up in these pages.
I’ve never understood the ideas behind that prohibition – read many stories where it played a big role.
Did the people who forced it on the USA ever realize what damage they had done?
Wolf, like many well-intentioned movements, the Unseen Consequences weren’t considered. The forces that pushed for Prohibition thought that if you took alcohol away, everything would be better. Instead, we got Organized Crime!
Alcohol caused plenty of problems, but prohibition didn’t stop them. Quite the opposite.
Rick, exactly! Prohibition created a Black Market for alcohol products that the gangsters made millions supplying.
A bit OT:
I know that the limit for buying alcohol is generally 21 years but I was really surprised when we were on our way from NYC via the Finger Lakes to Niagara Falls and did some shopping on the way, don’t remember where it was. I put a sixpack in our shopping basket and the cashier asked me for ID!
I was lucky that she accepted my German driver’s licence !
People in the line behind us were grinning – I was already over 60 years old, but it’s the law she said and put in my number and birthday.
I think it’s almost easier to buy a gun than a beer …
Wolf, alcohol is even more restricted in Canada where you have to buy it in Government operated liquor stores.
We had state package stores here until a few years ago, or more! Most of the independents went bust and the supermarkets took over the business! Theft is a major problem with them, and I can’t help but think neener, neener; their greed has a backlash!
Since I rarely drink the whole liquor biz is alien to me!
Bob, in New York State, you can buy beer at any grocery or convenience store. If you want wine and hard liquor, you need to go to an actual liquor store. I just drink one glass of red wine per day…doctor’s orders. It’s supposed to be good for my heart.
It’s interesting to see the different ways of handling this around the world …
In Germany e g you can have a beer when you’re 16 years old – it’s often called “liquid bread” 🙂
For spirits you have to be 18.
And in Hungary a few Sundays ago I was driving through a village at 8 o’clock in the morning when I saw a few guys standing outside a bar with beer bottles and cigarettes in their hands …
Hicks!
Wolf, sadly alcohol is readily available to drinkers of all ages. If you have the money, someone will sell it to you. Same with drugs. That’s why the U.S. life expectancy has fallen three years.