The Gangs of New York is a tour through a now unrecognisable city of abysmal poverty and habitual violence centred around the infamous slum of Five Points, with its rival Irish and American gangs. Cobbled from legend, memory, police records, the self-aggrandizements of aging crooks, popular journalism, and solid historical research, this is a powerful account of New York City's tumultuos past. Asbury presents the definitive work on this subject, an illumination of the gangs of old New York that ultimately gave rise to the modern Mafia and its depiction in cult films like The Godfather.
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"Asbury was a realist and mid-Western moralist whose book is, as Gopnik notes, 'a kind of surrealist collage of the city's secret history'" (Robert McCrum Observer 20021219)
"Like one of the thugs he writes about, he really is an "extraordinary virtuoso in the art of mayhem"" (Financial Times 20030124)
"Like one of the thugs he writes about, he really is an "extraordinary virtuoso in the art of mayhem"" (Financial Times 20030124)
Book Description
Asbury's violent, visceral novel was adapted by Martin Scorsese into the biggest film of 2002. Nominated for ten Oscars, winner of two BAFTAs and one Golden Globe, Gangs of New York had a hit cast: Leonardo Di Caprio, Cameron Diaz, Daniel Day Lewis and Liam Neeson.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book outlines in an ordered historical way, the history of gangs in New York. From the first settlers up until the early 20th century New York this book documents the sources of vice and violence that have plagued the city.
Written in a way that does not simply list facts, this book leads you through the extensive history of the city and its denizens. There are many people named along with their exploits, and the political chicanery that seemed to allow many of the gangs to persist.
This book was very hard to put down, once started !
I purchased this book in response to watching the film of the same name. This book clarifies many aspects of the film, and demonstrates many of the impossibilities that were built in to make a good film.
If you have watched the film, then you should certainly read this book !
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By R. Simpson
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Part of the appeal of The Gangs of New York is that journalist Herbert Asbury was writing in the late 1920s at a time when (as he saw it) the era of the gangsters was over. With hindsight the modern reader smirks at the thought of the great age of gangsterism that was just beginning, but the likes of Al Capone and the Warner Brothers anti-heroes were gangsters of a different cast from Asbury's protagonists. The Gangs of New York tells of huge neighbourhood armies which took to the field against each other (or the police or even the military) armed with staves and picks as often as firearms, bruisers rather than criminal masterminds. Though well organised, the book is inevitably disjointed, often turning the spotlight onto one gang for a page or two or simply focussing on one bloody struggle for leadership. However, the horrific tale of the Civil War Draft Riots is told very dramatically at decent length and the careers of some notable gangsters like Monk Eastman are well charted in some detail. The corruption of police and politicians is also a recurrent theme across the decades. In any case, Asbury's research is prodigious and his style racy and compelling, with more than a hint of admiration for some of his disreputable subjects. On the very last page of the last chapter, The Passing of the Gangster, Asbury recounts the killing of Little Augie in 1927 'while talking to his bodyguard Legs Diamond'. This reference to Diamond, and another to Owney Madden ('Owney the Killer') backing night-clubs in Harlem (the Cotton Club not named), moves the reader on to the new generation of gangsters.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By DOPPLEGANGER
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A most thorough resume of the diverse criminal activity of lower Manhattan from the early 1800's until circa 1920. The author paints a fascinating but shocking picture of the utter filth, hardship and depravity that was the daily life of those unfortunate enough to have no other option but to live in this area.
Mr Asbury introduces us to many gruesome villains and Gangs with names such as The Plug Uglies and Dead Rabbits and to a wide range of murderous and heinous activities. A very interesting book best read in conjunction with a detailed street map of The Five Points area.
My interest has been aroused by the contents of this book and I intend to read other related matter and next time in New York visit the area.
Mr Asbury introduces us to many gruesome villains and Gangs with names such as The Plug Uglies and Dead Rabbits and to a wide range of murderous and heinous activities. A very interesting book best read in conjunction with a detailed street map of The Five Points area.
My interest has been aroused by the contents of this book and I intend to read other related matter and next time in New York visit the area.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Gangs of New York is a frightening tale of brutality that is a stark parallel to our violent world today. What you'll read of is what came before the shocking world of the mafia (as depicted glamorously in The Godfather Trilogy). This is a seriously wonderful read; so incredulous that it must be part fiction- though I don't believe the publishers would put us under false pretenses. Violence is a common thing and it happens all around, but just imagine how there was no escape in the days where the police were not feared people and the law was mocked publically. Gangs of New York is truly fascinating stuff so get stuck in...
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
More of a historical account than a story, Herbert Asbury's Gangs of New York, written in 1928 is truly a classic of record and documentation. Peppered with original illustrations and describing eloquently, the criminal culture, the colourful characters, the depraved surroundings and desperation of a period in American history that is often overlooked.
From the mid 1800's until the 1890's New York was a tribal melting pot of poverty stricken immigrants from the poorest parts of Europe, the homeless descendants from the days of slavery and destitute natives of the region. The only source of revenue and stable social structure that existed was with the infamous gangs and the corrupt officials, where only the strong or shrewd survived in the appalling conditions. I can only thank Scorsesee for helping to bring this book to our attention and look forward to discovering how he has transformed this vast amount of research material into a major motion screenplay. A compelling read for those with a passion for New York or the historical subject matter
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you liked the Scorsese movie starring Di Caprio and Day Lewis and appreciate the uniqueness of New York, you will love this book
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Read this with a map of New York (19thC) in one hand as there are frequent references to streets, avenues and districts that will mean little to the non New Yorker. Otherwise a superb, if sometimes exaggerated, history of the violence and corruption that typified New York until much more recently than you might imagine. The death of thousands in the Draft Riots during the civil war seems to have been totally forgotten in America's story about itself.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Penny dreadful
I didn't like this book because, as it states in the introduction, it does not analyse or interpret but just chronicles the New York gangs during, mostly, the 19th century. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mac McAleer
4.0 out of 5 stars
Detailed history
A fascinating and intriguing history of the various gangs in New York over it's early history - and their internecine warfare! Read more
Published 19 months ago by Corptaxman
3.0 out of 5 stars
History lesson
It's a history book really and was written a long time ago too. A lot of work and research went into it and the author clearly knew every inch of the city like a native. Read more
Published on 28 Aug 2009 by Gargoyle
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great "informal" History of crime in New York
As the title of the book explains this volume written in the 1920s covers the various outlaws and villians of new york from pre-civil war years to what was then the close living... Read more
Published on 20 Sep 2007 by Justinian
3.0 out of 5 stars
Content good - Style bad.
The style of writing plays a key part on the understandment and enjoyment of this book. Written in the late 20's during prohibition when gangs and gangsters were still quite... Read more
Published on 23 Jun 2004 by "dsheardown2"
2.0 out of 5 stars
A tedious reading
It took me real commitment to read this book beyond the first few chapters. The descriptive account of the feats of various gangs and their leaders is repetitive in its sources -... Read more
Published on 29 Sep 2003 by "jeanfrancoisrit"
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