A review by hannahstohelit
The Incorruptibles: A True Story of Kingpins, Crime Busters, and the Birth of the American Underworld by Dan Slater

adventurous dark informative tense medium-paced

4.5

Overall a great book- I have some critiques on what Slater chose to and not to include/emphasize (would have appreciated a section with an overview early 1900s Jewish life on the LES and placing crime within that context over the somewhat inexplicable digressions on the origins of the ghetto and the history of the court Jew), but overall a really interesting and readable account of a particular era of the Jewish pre-organized and organized crime and the Kehillah's surprisingly successful efforts to bring it down during the reform movement. Abe Shoenfeld was clearly a fascinating guy and I don't blame Slater for wanting to write a book that focused on him. For the story of Charley Becker I preferred Mike Dash's book (Satan's Circus), which I think gave a better general overview of the situation including the involvement of Tammany, other NYC criminals, and police corruption- and overall I found the intended focus of this book somewhat confusing, except the threads that go through the Kehillah's efforts- but these are all nitpicks. Overall a really fun if sometimes sobering read, and made me try to imagine the life of my great-grandfather, who arrived on the Jewish LES around the time that this book's main events were set.
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