I was really looking forward to this book, because I am interested in history, crime, and organized crime. I hated this book. I absolutely hated it. The only reason that I have it two stars instead of one was because it did have some very interesting historical facts in it. It was tedious and really could have been about half the length. Last year, I was at the Alcatraz East crime museum and they had a display of the clothing worn by one of these gangs, as well as a copy of this book. Looking at that one set of clothes was more interesting that reading the entire book was. I cannot imagine living in the conditions with the struggles these people faced, but that didn't make the book any better.