Motor City Mafia: A Century of Organized Crime in Detroit

by Scott M. Burnstein

Book Overview

Learn the story behind one of Detroit's most infamous mobs with rare photographs documenting their rise and fall.

Motor City Mafia: A Century of Organized Crime in Detroit chronicles the storied and hallowed gangland history of the notorious Detroit underworld. Scott M. Burnstein takes the reader inside the belly of the beast, tracking the bloodshed, exploits, and leadership of the southeast Michigan crime syndicate as never...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738540846
• ISBN13: 9780738540849
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (SC)
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.6" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

wonderful, i need more

this was an absolutely wonderful book. the pictures and information contained was great. so much has been written on the New York and Chicago mobs and so little on the pivotal and still to this day, very real power that is the Motor City Mafia. I thirst for more. I am ordering Mr. Burnstein's DVD on the Detroit Mob as well. Not to tell Scott Burnstein or Paul Kavieff, who have been the only 2 authors writing exclusively about the Detroit Mob, or for that matter anyone else out there what to do, but more is needed on this subject. Alot more. A full length book about the Detroit Mob from the early days of the 20th century, the Adamo, Giannola, Vitale, La Mare days through the reign of Joe Zerelli and the Tocco family, through the 50's, the 60's, the Hoffa story up to the present day. This story needs to be told in full in a full length book. I thirst for more on this subject. Perhaps Mr. Burnstein is interested in writing such an expose. If he or someone else is I'd love to hear about it. Anyone reading this can let me know. Otherwise, this is a great book and filled with great pics and info. I imagine the DVD will be great too. But i need more!!! If full length books have been written on the much inferior Denver and Atlanta mobs, and they have, then please give Detroit it's due. A full length book dedicated to Detroit is very overdue. Still this is a great start

Motor City Mafia

This book consisted of a lot of pictures. It was interesting to me because I have grown up in Detroit. It had very recent photos, including ones of the Summer 2006 wild goose chase in which a farm in Milford, Michigan was investigated in the search for Hoffa. It could have been a little more in depth, but I enjoyed the information none the less!

Excellent!

What John Binder did with the Chicago mob The Chicago Outfit, Scott Burnstein has done with this is an excellent pictorial history of the Detriot underworld. An must for anyone interested in Organized Crime.

Fascinating Detroit Mob History

This is a very vivid and fascinating history of the Detroit Mob from way back when through the recent years. This has been one of the strongest of the Cosa Nostra crime families and a full history is certainly valuable to the reader of organized crime books as well as (I suspect) the average Detroiter interested in his city's history. Pictures are worth thousands of words, as the old saying goes, and I really like these pictorial histories. But I'm admittedly somewhat biased, having written an Arcadia book a few years ago focusing on the history of the Chicago Mob.

Motor City Photo Fun

An interesting topic for Images of America but nonetheless a fun book. A few of the images have been used in previous titles but this collection of photos is far and away superior to anything previously released on Detroit. The high point of the book is definately the photo collection but the labeling of some of the figures contained within leaves something to be desired. An example of this occurs on page 17 where a photo consisting of a collection of Bommaritos identifies one man as Sammy Millman brother of Purple gang enforcer Harry Millman when the man is clearly Dominic Licavoli the youngest of the notorious Licavoli brothers. Not alot of historical information contained within but this is an image book not a biography. Overall a worthy addition to the crime collection and a first of its type to be sure.