The Purple Gang: Organized Crime in Detroit 1910-1945 - Softcover

Kavieff, Paul R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 156980494X ISBN 13: 9781569804940

Publisher: Barricade Books, 2013

Synopsis

Now back in print, this is a story of one of America’s most powerful and infamous groups of thugs and mobsters.

The Prohibition Era allowed the sinister practices of the black market to gain a foothold in American commerce. When legal trade was no longer allowed to supply American consumers with alcohol, they turned to those who could supply the booty. And so in Detroit, a city perfectly positioned to receive contraband from neighboring Canada, a group of young men grew in power and profile to become one of the nation’s most notorious gangs of organized crime.

The Purple Gang, as they came to be called, quickly rose to power and wealth. Alcohol, gambling, drugs and extortion were only some of the methods they used to make quick money. Law enforcement was powerless against the fearless “Purples” whose strong-arm tactics and bribery stretched from the local to the federal level, rendering them truly untouchable. Among the legendary leaders of the gang were Abe Axler, the four Bernstein brothers, and the cruel and violent thug, Harry Millman. When the gang put a contract out on Millman’s life, they imported killers from Murder, Inc.

During the chaos of the Prohibition Era, these men rose to the highest ranks of organized crime and then shattered it all with bloodthirsty greediness and murderous betrayal.

About this title

About the Author:

Paul R. Kavieff is an engineer and historian who has devoted more than ten years to the research of crime in Detroit. He resides in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan.

From Library Journal:

The Purple Gang, a vicious group of mostly Jewish immigrants who prospered during Prohibition days in Detroit, was ruthless and untouchable for a number of years. They supplied liquor to blind pigs (establishments that sold liquor illegally), hijacked liquor shipments by land and water, watered down whiskey, and committed kidnappings, murder, and more. Toward the end of their reign, the colorful group self-destructed and started killing one another. Kavieff, an engineer at Wayne State University and a historian of organized crime, even supplies photographs of bullet-ridden bodies. But this book will be a disappointment to true-crime fans. It should have been a gripping tale of the rise and fall of organized crime in Detroit, but it lacks momentum. Each chapter starts out by recounting a gruesome crime but then meanders into related tales. Fortunately, Kavieff provides a detailed index and an extensive bibliography, which readers can use to keep the thugs straight. Recommended only as a reference/research tool for libraries with extensive organized-crime or Detroit-area history collections, though extensive typographical errors and a lack of editing should alert readers to be cautious. Karen Sandlin Silverman, Ctr. for Applied Research, Philadelphia
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Barricade Books
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 156980494X
• ISBN 13: 9781569804940
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 214