True Stories of Gangsters

Usborne True Stories

by Henry Brook

Collects eleven stories of gangsters, with ten set in America in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, and one of Australian Ned Kelley of the late 1800s.

144 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 2004

Reviews

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked that each chapter was its own story, so I didn't have to retain all information from previous chapters to understand what was happening in the current chapter. Plenty of the stories made me want to look up more information on various people (Blanche Barrow, "Baby Face" Nelson) to find out what became of them. More pictures would've also helped, since sometimes the sketches at the beginnings of chapters didn't do the people justice. Bonnie and Clyde actually look old, even though they were both in their early twenties.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book shows how astonishing and surprising the lives of powerful gangsters can be even though they were vile humans. This book is worth a reading!

[Pru · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who doesn't love Gangsters!? A brief telling of some famous Gangsters including Al Capone, Bonnie & Clyde, and Ned Kelly. This book is fascinating and intriguing not drawn out and dry like a textbook. Also didn't discuss the violence which was nice. My 12 year old nephew has now taken it from me and would be perfect for the pre-teen audience interested in history.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for Middle or High school students who have an interest in the big names in Mafia or Organized Crime. Gives details but not too gory.

[Finola Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about different Gangsters and there biographies. It's name is Gangsters, by Henry Brook. The genre of the book is non fiction. He must've done a lot of research to write this book, as it seems fairly accurate and written in an educational manner. I read this book because I like books about crime, lawyers, and mysteries.
This book includes short biographies a chapter long of a lot of different gangsters. I learned that Gangsters come from all different backgrounds, they sometimes start from absolutely nothing, and ways that they earned lots of money. This book can be used to find out how to stop gangsters who are slowing rising to the top.
I liked how the biographies were short, but had a lot of information. My favorite biography was probably the one about Al Capone because it had a lot of action and details in it. I don't really have a least favorite part, it was all really good. I would recommend it a person who likes books about crime. My recommended reading age is 13+ because it did have a lot of violent material.

[Karissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short essays on famous criminals.

This was a bit of a mixed bag - many interesting details, but lacking in depth.

Reading time around ninety minutes.

[Slow Man · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a first attempt to explore famous gangster stories.

[Owen Eli]

Very interesting