Supermob: How Sidney Korshak and His Criminal Associates Became America's Hidden Power Brokers - Softcover

Russo, Gus

3.95

165 ratings by Goodreads

9781596912113: Supermob: How Sidney Korshak and His Criminal Associates Became America's Hidden Power Brokers

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1596912111 ISBN 13: 9781596912113

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA, 2007

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The widely praised and meticulously researched book that reveals the story of how, for fifty years, superlawyer Sidney Korshak and the nefarious Chicago Outfit pulled the strings of American business, politics, and society.

Investigative reporter Gus Russo returns with his most explosive book yet, the remarkable story of the "Supermob"―a cadre of men who, over the course of decades, secretly influenced nearly every aspect of American society. Presenting startling, never-before-seen revelations about such famous members as Jules Stein, Joe Glaser, Ronald Reagan, Lew Wasserman, and John Jacob Factor―as well as infamous, low-profile members―Russo pulls the lid off of a half-century of criminal infiltration into American business, politics, and society. At the heart of it all is Sidney "The Fixer" Korshak, who from the 1940s until his death in the 1990s was not only the most powerful lawyer in the world, according to the FBI, but the enigmatic player behind countless twentieth century power mergers, political deals, and organized crime chicaneries.

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About the Author:

Gus Russo is the author of The Outfit: The Role of Chicago's Underworld in the Shaping of Modern America and Live by the Sword: The Secret War Against Castro and the Death of JFK. He is an investigative reporter who has worked for various major television networks, including PBS, where he was a lead reporter for the award-winning Frontline series.

From Publishers Weekly:

Veteran investigative author and organized crime expert Russo's magnum opus is a compelling look at one of the last century's major power players: Sidney Korshak, a "sphinxlike operator" who, despite pulling the strings of politics and industry, remained invisible to the general public. With great detail (some of it extraneous), Russo traces the amazing course of Korshak's life—from his childhood on Chicago's Jewish West Side to his role as a mouthpiece for the Windy City's Mafia leaders and, eventually, as a major league fixer who brokered labor truces and other deals for politicians and Hollywood moguls (Korshak died, aged 87, in 1996). The list of his clients and associates reads like a who's who of the last 50 years, including Ronald Reagan, MCA president Lew Wasserman, hotelier Conrad Hilton and cosmetics king Max Factor. Russo's extensive research is amply evident, and he has made use of recently disclosed records to paint a fuller picture than predecessors such as Seymout Hersh and Brian Ross were able to. His conclusions about Reagan—such as that he sold out the actor's union—in particular are likely to create controversy, although similar ones were drawn in Dan Moldea's Dark Victory 20 years ago. This worthy addition to the genre is marred only by some sensational claims concerning Reagan that lack adequate documentation. B&w photos. (Sept.)
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