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The Mob and the City

The Hidden History of How the Mafia Captured New York

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The Mob and the City

By: C. Alexander Hortis
Narrated by: LJ Ganser
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About this listen

Forget what you think you know about the Mafia. After listening to this book, even life-long mob aficionados will have a new perspective on organized crime.

Informative, authoritative, and eye-opening, this is the first full-length book devoted exclusively to uncovering the hidden history of how the Mafia came to dominate organized crime in New York City during the 1930s through 1950s. Based on exhaustive research of archives and secret files obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, author and attorney C. Alexander Hortis draws on the deepest collection of primary sources, many newly discovered, of any history of the modern mob.

Shattering myths, Hortis reveals how Cosa Nostra actually obtained power at the inception. The author goes beyond conventional who-shot-who mob stories, providing answers to fresh questions such as:

  • Why did the Sicilian gangs come out on top of the criminal underworld?
  • Can economics explain how the Mafia families operated?
  • What was the Mafia's real role in the drug trade?
  • Why was Cosa Nostra involved in gay bars in New York since the 1930s?

Drawing on an unprecedented array of primary sources, The Mob and the City is the most thorough and authentic history of the Mafia's rise to power in the early-to-mid 20th century.

©2014 C. Alexander Hortis (P)2014 Audible Inc.
Organized Crime State & Local United States Mafia New York Thought-Provoking
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What listeners say about The Mob and the City

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting listen with fitting Narrator

The only thing that put me off, was how segmented the entire thing is. Nearly every 5 minutes or so, there is a new headline, leading into new info.
After a short while, it didn't matter and the book was still good.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

informative

much better than I expected.
potted histories are often lightweight, but this was pretty engaging.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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They captured New York City by becoming part of it

Although parts of this book read like a film script, this is, as the author states, a meticulously researched authentic history. Hortis has drawn on primary sources including memoires, court records and internal papers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine.who shot who, and how and why the Cosa Nostra emerged and flourished in Gotham. And all conversations quoted are real.
Narration by I.J.Gunser is well performed, very much in the style of a newsreel commentary which seemed to fit well with the subject matter.

It is a fascinating history of the growing infiltration of the Italian mobsters in the first half of the twentieth century and continues by refuting certain myths about the mafia, such as a traditional ban on drug dealings and that to become a made man, first the hopeful candidate had to kill someone.The
narrative continues until the mob's 'terrible year' of 1957. It is all very interesting but could have been better structured to make it more reader friendly, plus the large numbers of names involved makes it difficult to easily absorb. There is, fortunately, a downloadable PDF which accompanied the audio.

A fascinating sociological peek into the growth of a crime domination, worth reading for an overview.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Enjoyable

the book has lots of detail, it is very well researched. an enjoyable listen.

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very informative and narrated well.

As stated above, this book is very very informative and due to being narrated in a good manour is a very easy listen indeed.
It is not a story nor is it blood and guts. It is so much more than that as from what I have been able to research it's pretty much the true and honest history of the La Cosa Nostra.

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Interesting listen.

Fascinating stuff. How interesting. How gangsters ruled the roost, and maybe still do. Thought provoking.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A fantastic

Very informative, listened all the way through. Great research. Voice is good and the story is good. I'm sad it finished! Wish there is a new book talking about the modern mafia!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A really good listen

I enjoyed the story it was well told and well worth a listen…a good insight to the age of the mob 👍

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A well narrated view on the American Mafia

I have read many books on this subject and although not too much new content I thought the book was both interesting and well narrated. If you are new to this subject I would recommend it and even if you have an insight please try it, you will not be disappointed.

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Of Course An American Would Be The Narrator!!

I would say I enjoyed this audiobook.I found out lovely little details that I haven't found anywhere else and the attention to detail about the wiseguys life in New York was amazing.
I have noticed that most narrators doing audiobooks are American,I prefer British narrators, but for this audiobook the narrator was excellent.
You want to find out stuff about the Mob that you never knew before THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU.

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1 person found this helpful