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Gangsters of Harlem
- The Gritty Underworld of New York City's Most Famous Neighborhood
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, True Crime
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
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One of the most feared Chicago mobsters, Sam Giancana, clawed his way to the top of the Mafia hierarchy by starting as a hit man for Al Capone. He was known as one of the best vehicle escape artists, a tenacious business man, and a ruthless killer. He partied with major stars such as Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe and did business with agents ranging from the CIA to the Vatican to the shah of Iran. When politician Joe Kennedy gave Giancana the chance to use mob muscle to get his son John elected, Giancana jumped at the task.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 29
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 24
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 675
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 601
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 600
Genovese, Gambino, Bonnano, Colombo, and Lucchese. For decades these Five Families ruled New York and built the American Mafia (or Cosa Nostra) into an underworld empire. Today, the Mafia is an endangered species, battered and beleaguered by aggressive investigators, incompetent leadership, betrayals, and generational changes that produced violent, unreliable leaders and recruits.
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4 out of 5 stars
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- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 27
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 23
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Boston Mob
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 9
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 9
The New England Mafia was a hugely powerful organization that survived by using violence to ruthlessly crush anyone that threatened it, or its lucrative gambling, loansharking, bootlegging, and other enterprises. From information based on newly declassified documents and the use of underworld sources, Boston Mob spans the gutters and alleyways of East Boston, Providence, and Charlestown to the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C., and Boston's Beacon Hill. Its players include governors and mayors, and the Mafia Commission of New York City.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Very Good
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Summary
Author Ron Chepesiuk chronicles the little known history of organized crime in Harlem.
African American organized crime has had as significant an impact on its constituent community as Italian, Jewish, and Irish organized crime has had on theirs. Gangsters are every bit as colorful, intriguing, and powerful as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, and have a fascinating history in gambling, prostitution, and drug dealing. In the late 1800s, Harlem became a highly fashionable neighborhood.
More from the same
What listeners say about Gangsters of Harlem
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Meyer Rosenbloom
- 18-10-13
weak --reader is terrible!
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
total waste of time and credit
What was most disappointing about Ron Chepesiuk’s story?
the writing was mediocre at best but the narration was really poor -- the reader couldnt pronounce some of the most basic historical crime names
was embarrassing to hear -- The narration clearly wasn't edited
How did the narrator detract from the book?
big time
Could you see Gangsters of Harlem being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?
no
Any additional comments?
many better options
4 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Jeff
- 04-03-13
don't bother
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
Dullsville. Very abreviate stories and no real conection to the characters is formed. The narrator mispronounces words. No sense of neigborhood culture emerges.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 25-02-19
great book loved all the great information
i loved it learned alot about African american gangsters i didn't know about. Only complaint is the reader couldn't pronounce the mobsters last names right
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Cynthia Tate
- 14-09-18
Good book
I never realized how many gangsters were in harlem. Great book to read abo it the underworld
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 08-08-18
Great untold history
in addition to telling some fascinating stories about Harlem gangsters the book also shares a lot of interesting and fascinating history of Harlem as well over the various decades this book is a must-read
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- foster madonna
- 02-02-17
Excellent Book
I grew up in Harlem in the early 60's and have had a lot of contact with most of the characters via family members associated with them and seeing them on the streets.
It truly is sad what men like these men have done to the community they lived in, it is even worse what life choices the left for there children.
Many innocent people died due to their greed they never deserved any breaks.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 22-10-16
excellent
a must read for any historian, screen writer, actor, playwright, especially New Yorker who grew up fdom 70's to the 90's.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Susie
- 28-11-12
True Crime Fans Will Eat This Up
I fell in love with the mobsters in Gangsters of Harlem just as many people have with the characters in The Wire or The Sopranos.
Despite their shady business, it was easy—disturbingly so—to become invested in these mobsters. One detail that's going to stick with me for a long time is Chepesiuk's description of the "Murder Stables," owned by Ignazio Lupo of the Morello Gang, where hundreds of his rivals were tortured and murdered in the early 1900s.
In a Wire-esque finale, Chepesiuk looks at the involvement of the NYPD with organized crime. If your cup of tea includes a dash of lethal bathtub gin, this is your hot toddy.
1 person found this helpful