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The Gangs of Chicago: An Informal History of the Chicago Underworld
by Herbert Asbury
ISBN: 1560254548
Book Description
Even among the Mob, the Westies were feared. Out of a partnership between
two sadistic thugs, James Coonan and Mickey Featherstone, the gang rose
out of the inferno of Hell's Kitchen, a decaying tenderloin slice of
New York City's West Side. They became the most notorious gang in the
history of organized crime, excelling in extortion, numbers running,
loansharking, and drug peddling. Upping the ante on depravity, their
specialty was execution by dismemberment. Though never numbering more
than a dozen members, their reign lasted for almost twenty years-until
their own violent natures got the best of them, precipitating a downfall
that would become as infamous as their notorious ascension into the
annals of crime.
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