For the first time ever, author Ron Chepesiuk chronicles the little known history of organized crime in Harlem. African American organized crime has had as significant an impact on its constituent community as Italian, Jewish, and Irish organized crime has had on theirs. Gangsters are every bit as colorful, intriguing, and powerful as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, and have a fascinating history in gambling, prostitution, and drug dealing. In this riveting, vivid documentation, Chepesiuk tells the little-known story of organized crime in Harlem through in-depth profiles of the major gangs and motley gangsters whose exploits have made them legends....

This book chronicles gang and gangster history using profiles to tell the rise of the gangster and history of crime in Miami. Known as the Magic City, the book traces gangsters that include the notorious smugglers of the Prohibition era, famous mobsters like Al Capone and Myer Lansky, the Cuban Mafia, the Colombian cartel, the Russian mafia, and the current street gangs that have come to plague Miami after the advent of crack cocaine....