Mad Dogs

A history of gants from Elizabethan London to the present day

'Two men can keep a secret ...as long as one of them is dead.' Vincent 'Mad Dog' Coll wasn't originally from the Bronx but his mean temper and killer instinct made him the chief enforcer in the Schultz gang. At age 19, he killed an innocent bartender for not buying Schultz's beer, and it wasn't long before he started raiding places with his own gang, robbing Schultz's bootlegging empire. Getting too big for his boots, he shot a !ve-year-old kid by mistake in a bungled attempt to assassinate Shultz's main man in Harlem,Joey Rao. Everyone said it was the Mad Dog's last hit. On the night of February 8, 1932, a man with a Thompson sub-machine gun walked in and pumped him full of lead. He died in a pool of his own blood. This book traces the long violent history of gangs and their hitmen. We journey back in time through the dangerous streets of Elizabethan London ,into the American Wild West and the blood spattered alleyways of prohibition Chicago before heading out on the highway to hell with modern-day motorcyle gangs. Along the way, we encounter some of the most vicious men who ever lived. Contents History of gangs: Elizabethan underworld, Wild West, gangs of New York,; Victorian underworld of London UK gangland: Freddie Foreman, The Krays, Dave Courtney, The Yardies, Mad Frankie Fraser, Lenny McLean The Guvnor, Darby Sabini, William Billy Hill, Albert Dimes, George Cornell, Charlie Richardson, Jack The Hat McVitie US Mafia : Vincent Mad Dog Coll, Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, George Moran, Frank Costello, Vincent Gigante, John Gotti, Frank Locascio, Albert Anselmi, Carlo Gambino, Paul Castellano Motorcycle gangs: Hells Angels: racketeering, drugs and arms trafficking, extortion, murder and prostitution. Rival gangs: Bandidos, Outlaws, Pagans.Sonny Barger, the shooting of Gerry Tobin, Quebec Wars, Gimme Shelter. Also includes: Razor Gangs of Glasgow, Sicilian Ma!a, Jewish Ma!a, Russian Ma!a, Japanese Yakuza, Chinese Triads, Jamaican Yardies