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

by Paul R. Kavieff

Book Overview

The Purple Gang - Detroit's ruling organised crime syndicate - became one of the most notorious gangs during the Prohibition Era. The gang was comprised mostly of the offspring of recent immigrants - Eastern European Jews who were hardworking and honest. This vicious gang quickly rose to power by engaging in extortion, gambling and the illicit trade of drugs and alcohol. The book if graphically illustrated with 32 pages of photographs depicting the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1569802815
• ISBN13: 9781569802816
• Release Date: March 2005
• Publisher: Barricade Books
• Length: 214 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Purple Gang

No surprizes in this used book - got just what I expected. Great condition. Book itself was a compelling read. I would recommend it to any adult.

The Purple Gang of Detroit

As another reviewer pointed out, this is an important book because it is the only book on the Purple Gang. How this gang has escaped serious study is beyond me. Growing up in the Detroit area their name has popped up over the years many many times, as some oldtimer recollects or a house that once was a Purple Gang hideout is bulldozed, stuff like that. One time in the Detroit Public Library I went into the history room and they asked for my ID and I jokingly said, "what do you think I am in the Purple Gang or something?" The guy who asked laughed and said "funny you should say that. A writer has been trying to research the Purple Gang, and is having a hell of a time. It seems like most of the police files on them have somehow disappeared". I cannot vouch for that info, but I suppose that it was the author of this book that was doing the research and maybe that explains why there is so little info available. For that reason alone, despite the grammatical errors that others found annoying, I give it 5 stars. I found it a fascinating read.

a bit of Detroit History never told before.

Great read, a time in Detroit's history that was all but forgotten, writen like you were there. Clears up all the "false Purple Gang Stories". Highly Recommended.

the purple gang; organized crime in detroit 1910-1945

Paul R. Kavieff has done an excellent job in vividly portraying the history of this vicious Prohibition era mob and its influence on the people and the politics of Detroit in the twenties and early thirties. Despite type errors and editing problems this is the first book ever that deals with the detroit underworld and the under side of Detroit history. The author writes with a flair for putting the reader at the scene of many high profile crimes for which the Purples are so well known. It is obvious that Mr. Kavieff has a great knowledge of the Purple Gang and the Detroit underworld. This is truely one of the best organized crime histories I have ever read! Some of the criticism of this book has been totally unfair! Crime historians and other critics who have read this book for grammatical errors rather than content are missing the whole point of the work. It is obvious that the author did a great deal of original research to put this book together and I salute him as a crime historian for his wonderful effort and ability to put together a organized crime history of this scope.

Criminals, First and Last

This book probably contains more information on the individuals comprising the organization commonly known as The Purple Gang than any other single source. In addition to being informative, it effectively de-mythologizes and de-romanticizes the characters involved, and reveals them for what they really were, vicious, violent, and evil men. The one downside in the book is that the prose leaves something to be desired, and I discovered a number of grammatical errors, which were somewhat disconcerting. But for that, I would have considered this a five, rather than a four-star book.