The Purple Gang: Organized Crime in Detroit 1910-1945

Rating:
Summary: What a Mishigas!!
Review: Like most, if not all of the previous reviewers of this book I found it a great story of the Purples' but quite how it made the shelves with all those mistakes is beyond me! At times I found myself reading and then re-reading the same paragraphs just to make sure I understood what was going on.......shame on you Barricade Books of NY.

Rating:
Summary: the purple gang; organized crime in detroit 1910-1945
Review: Paul R. Kavieff has done an excellent job in vividly portraying the history of this vicious Prohibition era mob and its influence on the people and the politics of Detroit in the twenties and early thirties. Despite type errors and editing problems this is the first book ever that deals with the detroit underworld and the under side of Detroit history. The author writes with a flair for putting the reader at the scene of many high profile crimes for which the Purples are so well known. It is obvious that Mr. Kavieff has a great knowledge of the Purple Gang and the Detroit underworld. This is truely one of the best organized crime histories I have ever read! Some of the criticism of this book has been totally unfair! Crime historians and other critics who have read this book for grammatical errors rather than content are missing the whole point of the work. It is obvious that the author did a great deal of original research to put this book together and I salute him as a crime historian for his wonderful effort and ability to put together a organized crime history of this scope.

Rating:
Summary: Criminals, First and Last
Review: This book probably contains more information on the individuals comprising the organization commonly known as The Purple Gang than any other single source. In addition to being informative, it effectively de-mythologizes and de-romanticizes the characters involved, and reveals them for what they really were, vicious, violent, and evil men. The one downside in the book is that the prose leaves something to be desired, and I discovered a number of grammatical errors, which were somewhat disconcerting. But for that, I would have considered this a five, rather than a four-star book.

Rating:
Summary: Criminals, First and Last
Review: This book probably contains more information on the individuals comprising the organization commonly known as The Purple Gang than any other single source. In addition to being informative, it effectively de-mythologizes and de-romanticizes the characters involved, and reveals them for what they really were, vicious, violent, and evil men. The one downside in the book is that the prose leaves something to be desired, and I discovered a number of grammatical errors, which were somewhat disconcerting. But for that, I would have considered this a five, rather than a four-star book.