Organized Crime in the United States, 1865-1941

Looking at the accounts of the time, historian Kristofer Allerfeldt provides a readable and informative analysis of how and why we arrived at our present understanding of organized crime in the Unites States. By going back to the original accounts of the events that inform our understanding of much of the subject, this work will question some of our most deeply held assumptions on crime and its role in US society. In a series of thematic sections it will examine how America alternately celebrated and condemned ambitious gangsters and blood-thirsty hoodlums as well as equally ambitious and corrupt law enforcers and politicians in this era of rapid change. It will look at why we remember such figures as Al Capone, but have largely forgotten his far more successful and innovative precursor, Mike MacDonald. It will question why history has condemned some public figures for connections with the mob, and yet eulogized others who seem only to have covered their far muddier tracks much better, or had the fortune to have commentators, then and now, prove they paid off the right people.

"Allerfeldt presents a revisionist history of organized crime in the US from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century.... includes some well-known characters (e.g., David Hennessy, Al Capone, J. Edgar Hoover), but lesser-known figures who played important roles in shaping perceptions are also featured...recommended "--Choice; "Through detailed research, Kristofer Allerfeldt's Organized Crime, 1865-1941 penetrates the myths surrounding organized crime by uncovering the true motivations of the actors involved in its most seminal events. As a result we get fascinating insights into the real story behind such matters as the murder in 1890 of David Hennessey, the New Orleans police chief, the real relationship between Al Capone and Chicago mayor Big Bill Thompson, and the successful prosecution of the KKK by Hiram Whitley, now, unfortunately, little known to history. This, however, only scratches the surface. Allerfeldt's work is as comprehensive as it is insightful, a worthy offering in the latest scholarship on this unique and all-too-American type of criminality."--Barry Latzer, Professor Emeritus, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY; "Kris Allerfeldt's new book brilliantly captures the corrupt, messy and duplicitous nature of both organized crime and demands to combat organized crime during the decades between the Civil War and the Second World War. The 'usual suspects', Al Capone, Arnold Rothstein and Lucky Luciano in Organized Crime, 1865-1941 only feature as passing players rather than founding fathers of fantastic criminal dynasties. The cast of characters in Allerfeldt's account consists of white supremacist terrorists, counterfeiters, smugglers, pimps as well as American-born gangsters, racketeers and kidnappers. Added to these were the self-serving hypocrites in government or respectable society that molded public opinion on the thing that became known as 'organized crime'. The evidence presented here tends to support Capone's 1931 assessment, 'Nobody's on the legit, you know that and so do they. Nobody's really-on the legit when it comes down to cases.'"--Michael Woodiwiss, author of Double Crossed: The Failure of Organized Crime Control.

Kristofer Allerfeldt is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter. He has published extensively on American history, with a special interest in the history of American crime and its interpretation. He lives in the United Kingdom.