Vampires, Dragons, and Egyptian Kings : Youth Gangs in Postwar New York

Rating:
Summary: No singing and dancing
Review: Gang life of the 40's and 50's is so often portrayed in popular culture (West Side Story, Capeman, The Wanderers etc) that it's almost a shock to read about the reality of the phenomena. "Vampires, Dragon's etc" convincingly traces the history of the gang in postwar New York (although there have been gangs in New York since pre-revolutionary days) attributing their modern evolution to a mixture of factors including the influence of the institutions of the Second World War, and ethnic conflicts cause by migration and immigration to the New York area. Fascinating too, is the minutiae of gang life from fashion notes (the alpine hat was favored gang headware for a time) to gang philosophy.

Rating:
Summary: No singing and dancing
Review: Gang life of the 40's and 50's is so often portrayed in popular culture (West Side Story, Capeman, The Wanderers etc) that it's almost a shock to read about the reality of the phenomena. "Vampires, Dragon's etc" convincingly traces the history of the gang in postwar New York (although there have been gangs in New York since pre-revolutionary days) attributing their modern evolution to a mixture of factors including the influence of the institutions of the Second World War, and ethnic conflicts cause by migration and immigration to the New York area. Fascinating too, is the minutiae of gang life from fashion notes (the alpine hat was favored gang headware for a time) to gang philosophy.

Rating:
Summary: This is real
Review: My grandparents emigrated from Italy
to East Harlem, a neighborhood described in the book.
I grew up on East 112st during 50's and 60's.
Not too many books have truely taken me back
as this one has.
I see Mr Schneider's work as highly accurate
written to keep the reader's interest.
An absolute must for anyone that has grown up
in the inner city during that era.