"He must have done something. They don't kill you for nothing." - Chicago Gangster Ted Newberry. Rubbed out January 7, 1933

Thursday, January 3, 2008

New Mafia Book

No dead guys in suits today. Seems like the whole “goodwill towards men” thing rolled over to the early days of January with the gangsters of yesteryear. I have consulted my magic 8 ball however and it assured me, after three “Try Agains”, that there will indeed be some dead guys coming for the weekend.

In the meantime since you came here’s a brand new book you might be interested in checking out.

The Mafia and the MachineThe Story of the Kansas City Mob Frank Hayde

The story of the American Mafia is not complete without a chapter on Kansas City. Even Hollywood gives a nod to the "City of Fountains," in films like The Godfather, Casino, and on HBO's "The Sopranos." Events unfolding in Kansas City have affected the fortunes of all the Mafia "families," shaping the entire underworld along the way. The history of La Cosa Nostra is a web of intrigue, with Kansas City right in the thick of it. In The Mafia and the Machine, author Frank Hayde chronicles the connection between organized crime and politics that originated with the alliance between political boss Tom Pendergast, and mob boss Johnny Lazia, the "Lucky Luciano" of Kansas City. The story continues up to the present time. Hayde ties in every major name in organized crime--Luciano, Bugsy, Lansky--and highlights the corrupt Kansas City police force.

As far as I know this is the first look at the KC underworld since Tom's Town (The above mentioned Tom Pendergast) was released in the late 1940's. So should be chock full of new info covering the past 60-years.

1 comment:

Monica C. Schreiber said...

This book is available for pre-order on Amazon.com. It should ship any day, as I understand. Go to the "books" section of Amazon and type in "Frank Hayde" and the book will come up.