Albert Fried

Albert Fried recalls the rise and fail of an underworld culture that bred some of America's most infamous racketeers, bootleggers, gamblers, and professional killers, spawned by a culture of vice and criminality on New York's Lower East Side and similar environments in Chicago, Cleveland, Boston, Detroit, Newark, and Philadelphia. The author adds an important dimension to this story as he discusses the Italian gangs that teamed up with their Jewish counterparts to form multicultural syndicates. The careers of such high-profile figures as Meyer Lansky, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, and "Dutch" Schultz demonstrate how these gangsters passed from early manhood to old age, marketed illicit goods and services after the repeal of Prohibition, improved their system of mutual cooperation and self-governance, and grew to resemble modern business entrepreneurs. A new afterword brings to a close the careers of the Jewish gangsters and discusses how their image is addressed in selected books since the 1980s. Fried also examines the impact of films such as The Godfather series, Once Upon a Time in America, and Bugsy.… (plus d'informations)

Fried's account goes into enemies of FDR who were all over the political spectrum and all through his presidency. Though the author uses some purple prose at times and is disjointed at others in telling the story, he does bring to light some important struggles between FDR and those in his own party like leading Democrat Al Smith and those further to the left like United Mine Workers (UMW) head John L. Lewis. This is along with the usually suspects on the right like Charles Lindbergh and Father Coughlin. Fried defends FDR, perhaps a bit too much, in his using the power of his office to spy on, manipulate and stifle opposition. The book could have used a more critical approach but nonetheless it does bring some interesting relationships between FDR and lesser known individuals to light.… (plus d'informations)