Tough Jews

Tough Jews

Summary

Once upon a time, back in the 20s and 30s, in Brooklyn, there lived a breed of men who exist now only in legend and in the memories of a few old men. Their names were Louis Lepke, Abe Reles, Bugsy Segel, Dutch Shultz, Meyer Lansky, and they were Jewish gangsters: Jews with Guns; tough, fearles Jews who roamed the streets in a time when a Jewish boy could fashion a future that was murderous and daring and wide open. Rich Cohen's father grew up in that world; his family owned the diner where the gangsters known as Murder Incorporated hung out. In TOUGH JEWS he tells their stories and brilliantly evokes their world - a world of street corners and bars and nightclubs; a world where murder was better than cowerdice; where killings were planned and executed with precision and finesse; a world of feuds, wars, schemes, where living into middle age was akind of victory; a world in which for a brief moment, Jews were among the most important criminals in America.

Reviews

  • A terrific storyteller, drawing you right into the tenements where young thugs were recruited, the shooting wars and the perceived betrayals, the labour rackets and all-night card games...Few of the tough Jews Cohen writes about lived to see the inside of a recruitment community. They died young and they died out. But this is a dazzling tribute to their courage and to their cool.
    Penny Perrick, The Times

About the author

Rich Cohen

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