But He Was Good to His Mother : The Lives and Crimes of Jewish Gangsters

Book Description

Now in its 7th printing - inludes more gangsters!
Newly footnoted and expanded bibliography!
New FBI documents!
More detailed information about the alleged plot to assassinate Adolph Hitler!

While doing research for this book, Prof. Robert Rockaway interviewed old-time Jewish mobsters and their families. He never knew what his subjects would say or do, so he came prepared for any eventuality.

Customer Reviews:

Entertaining and inaccurate.......2006-05-16

A good book for casual crime readers who don't need heavy details, but amazingly inaccurate in several areas. Seems to repeat old myths told in other books rather than do research.

ie Joe the Boss's hit team did not include Anastasia, Adonis or even Siegel

or

Dutch Schultz was not shot in the bathroom or even shot by Charlie Workman. The caliber of the bullet found in Dutch matched those used by his men, not those who had shot his men down. The more accurate tale is that he was mistaken;y shot by his own men while trading fire with Lepke's boys. (The bathroom was directly behind the doorway where Workman had to be shooting from)

Will buy again........2005-09-17

Prompt delivery of my order. Would recommend this seller. Book as advertised.

great book and a fun reading.......2004-02-09

this book is a great academic book mixed with fun storytelling.

Jewish criminals objectively presented by a Jew.......2003-08-26

The book is a reasonably objective record of the fact that even though the word "mafia" is Italian, not all gangsters were (or are) Italian (and thus Catholic)... many were Jews or WASPs for that matter. US Gangsterism was (and is) a USA product, partly because of the ethnic heterogeneity produced by immigration and to a great extent by prohibition. There is of course gangsterism in other countries but backgrounds differ.
The author catalogued the major Jewish gangsters, their family history, their social setting and their "activities". Being Jewish myself I was glad to discover: a) unlike Italian gangsters the Jewish ones tended to keep their families out of their "business", and b) Jewish economic emancipation after WW II practically eliminated Jews from the "business". An enlightening read though rather dry in the first half of the book.

Big Tsuris.......2001-12-25

A seldom-covered aspect of true crime history and Jewish history, "But He was Good to His Mother" is a fine read for anyone interested in either. It delves into the histories of several gangsters, their misdeeds, relationships to the Jewish community and anecdotes that shed some light on what these crimelords were really like. Plenty of photos are included.

Rockaway does a fairly good job of striking a balance in tackling a delicate subject. He points out the occasional admirable deeds of the gangsters (protecting American Jews from anti-semites, for example) while making it quite clear that these were very bad men. He fesses up that these killers and lawbreakers were admired by some in the community, but by no means all.

Occasionally, books about influential Jews get a little hokey when they gush over how the values of the Jewish community produced so many great people. (As though, without centuries of respect for learning by the Jews, Einstein might never have come up with relativity; whatever.) As a Jew myself, I think it feels more honest and refreshing to see it acknowledged that these same values and shared history produced some no-goodniks along the way, too. And ones who broke the stereotypes about Jews at that.

If anything, I'd have liked more information, more stories about the gangsters in the book. Especially nice would have been more on their role in the general public's perception and pop culture. The book doesn't tell you that the purple gang was infamous enough to be mentioned in Elvis Presley's JailHouse Rock, no opinion on who did a better job of playing Dutch Schultz (Tim Roth in "Hoodlum" or James Remar in "The Cotton Club"?), no word on whether Mickey Cohen was really as daft as James Ellroy portrays him, no mention of "Bugsy" or "The Godfather, part 2".

Still, I liked the book. I wouldn't label it an offer you can't refuse, but it's an offer it wouldn't kill you to accept.

Book Description

Entering service in the early 1960s, the M60 tank was in production for 23 years and formed the backbone of US Army and Marine armoured units during the Cold War. Over 15,000 were built in four basic models: the M60, M60A1, M60A2, and the M60A3. Although the M60 had been phased out of US Army service by the time Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, M60s were amongst the first Allied tanks to enter Kuwait City with the US Marines. This book examines the design and deployment of the M60, a very widely used vehicle that is still in service today.

Customer Reviews:

M60 Main Battle Tank.......2007-02-21

This is an excellent reference manual which was very helpful to our museum concerning our Tank on display. We are abel to answer many questions posed by visitors by refering to this book.

Scanty information about combat performance.......2004-12-01

The M60 tank is one of the most important tanks in the U.S. arsenal, having served from 1960 to 1991 in the U.S. Army and Marines. It was used extensively by Israel in the Arab-Israeli War of 1973 and Lebanon invasions; it was used by the U.S. Marines in Gulf War 1991, where it battled T72s of the Republican Guard. I wanted to know more about the combat performance of the M60; the armor penetration of the 105 mm (esp. the new sabot APFSDS round), and the adjustments to the chin armor protection as a result of combat losses suffered in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The authors (R. Lathrop and J McDonald) supplied none of this information which I wanted to read about. They went overboard on the development of the M60 and the Reforger exercises. They also had several pages devoted to "Life with the M60." Who cares? Please supply more information that all of us armor enthusiasts desire, the actual combat performance of the M60 and how it fared against Soviet tanks such as the T54/55, T62, and T72. All the pages that were devoted to "Life with the M60" could have dealt with how the Israeli Army upgraded and uparmored the M60 to make it a viable fighting machine for the 21st century. The only redeeming part of this book were the nice colored plates and illustrations done by Jim Laurier. Otherwise, this book is sorely lacking.

Should Be Called "Anecdotes Of An M60 Tank Crewman"..........2004-02-03

Reading through this sometimes enlightening book, I get the feeling what this book needs most (besides fixing the shortcomings the other reviewer mentions) is a good editor. Paragraphs tend to start with a topic sentence, then wander off on tangents and unnecessary, non-supporting details. Sometimes I appreciated the insight offered by the experiences of an actual M60 tank crewman, but other anecdotes such as problems with the crew heater, procedures for "unwrapping" tanks stored in POMCUS sites, repairing tracks, fogged up vision devices, hanging muddy rubber boots on the infantry rail, ad infinitum do not really describe the tank itself.

One gem I gleaned from this book was that the first M60 tanks deployed to Germany did not have sufficient M85 anti-aircraft machineguns, so they jury rigged a standard M2HB .50cal on an external post (which was used almost as a matter of course in Vietnam by M48A3 crews) until the supply of machineguns caught up. Another factoid I did not know: many M60s used steel wheels like M48 Pattons, with smooth rims instead of the ribbed aluminum rims I've always seen. Plenty of photographic evidence supports the widespread use of these steel wheels, and I had to look back at other sources to confirm, and voila, steel wheels! I never noticed them before, this book shed light on that.

Insufficient data is provided on the upgrading of the M60A1 tank during the 1970s; a paragraph describes the add-on stabilization system for the main gun, but incorrectly states that M48 series tanks were also fitted with this stabilizer (foreign customers may have done so, but not American tanks). Precious little is mentioned of the RISE upgrade, but on page 13 it is stated that the engine fitted to the M60A1 had "an additional horsepower rating of 750 hp"...I was under the impression that the original AVDS-1790-2 engine in the earlier M60 also made 750 hp, but I could be wrong. So short shrift is given to fielding details of the M60A1(AOS), M60A1(RISE), the M60A1(RISE/PASSIVE), the M60A3, and the M60A3(TTS). The Squadron/Signal book M60 Patton In Action had more details on these models, but this book goes into more detail on the actual components themselves.

As the other reviewer bemoaned, hard data on armor and ammunition is sorely lacking. I would have liked some mention of the various 105mm rounds and their penetration stats, effective range, etc. as one will find in Steven Zaloga's books.

The lack of profile color plates of M60A1s or M60A3s is noted. The excellent Laurier cutaway "centerfold" is appealing, but I note that in the entire book, there is not one photograph or drawing of the original large Xenon searchlight! However, the anecdote regarding the use of said searchlight to "microwave" soldiers' canned rations on the gun barrel was...fun.

Towards the end of the book, a mention is made of GPS receivers and how Army crews had them in the 1980s. Strange, I was under the impression these things were somewhat rare even in the Gulf War of 1991, and many crews used alternate navigation means like Loran (perhaps that was non-tank units?). Also, saying that the M60A3 was the first tank into Kuwait City "with the US Marines" is misleading; I believe Egyptians used M60A3s, and perhaps the Marines were supported by them, but Marine Corps M60s were still the M60A1(RISE/PASSIVE) with reactive armor tiles attached.

Being written in 2002, this book also covers some recent topics like the robotic mine-clearing vehicle Panther and the GDLS private venture 120S upgrade which was not purchased by Turkey.

Somehow I got the feeling after reading this book that the style and lack of significant supporting data sounded familiar, and sure enough, right at the top of the "Further Reading" list on page 44 was Tom Clancy's Armored Cav. Granted the list was in alphabetical order by author's last name, but this one reference was telling. Now don't get me wrong, I have that book too, and it is another good source of anecdotes that shed light on the life of soldiers. But a Jane's they are not...and this Big Mac and fries of a book may disappoint those expecting a porterhouse.

A Waste of Time and Money.......2003-10-06

The M-60 was one of the most important American tanks during the Cold War; it was the U.S. Army's primary Main Battle Tank for about 20 years, the longest-serving American primary Main Battle Tank during the Cold War (since many tanks spent long years with the Army Reserve and National Guard, TOTAL length of service may be longer for other tanks). The M-60 deserves more attention than it generally gets, but R. Lathrop & J. McDonald don't provide it. While the M-60 didn't see a lot of action, it was used by Israel during the 1973 war, served throughout various Israeli invasions into Lebanon, and, of course, was used by the U.S. Marines during the 1991 conflict in Iraq. While the first and third of these are mentioned in the book, they are never discussed, much less analyzed. Considering that analysis of the 1973 war led to the development of the M-1, it would've been nice if this area had been analyzed, and not glossed over. The armor of the M-60 is never discussed; its strengths and weaknesses ignored. How the armor of an Armored Fighting Vehicle can be ignored is a mystery; it seems impossible that all of the aspects of the armor (thicknesses, angles, hardnesses, layouts) can still be classified. For the modelers, it ought to be mentioned that the "needle-nose" variants of the M-60 (the M-60A1 and M-60A3), while being the most numerous versions of the M-60, by a large margin, are not even shown in profile in the color plates. All in all, the book was extremely disappointing, and provided no significant information, just minor details. Again: the M-60 deserves better.

Book Description

Latinos are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States and will comprise a quarter of the country's population by mid-century. The process of Latinization, the result of globalization and the biggest migration flow in the history of the Americas, is indeed reshaping the character of the U.S. This landmark book brings together some of the leading scholars now studying the social, cultural, racial, economic, and political changes wrought by the experiences, travails, and fortunes of the Latino population. It is the most definitive and comprehensive snapshot available of Latinos in the United States today.
How are Latinos and Latinas changing the face of the Americas? What is new and different about this current wave of migration? In this pathbreaking book social scientists, humanities scholars, and policy experts examine what every citizen and every student needs to know about Latinos in the U.S., covering issues from historical continuities and changes to immigration, race, labor, health, language, education, and politics. Recognizing the diversity and challenges facing Latinos in the U.S., this book addresses what it means to define the community as such and how to move forward on a variety of political and cultural fronts. All of the contributions to Latinos are original pieces written especially for this volume.

Customer Reviews:

a much-needed book on Latinos in America.......2007-08-01

*Latinos: Remaking America* is heady stuff that is the perfect textbook for a Sociology class with an emphasis on Latinos. It's perfect because there are so many issues that this book addresses that readers can relate or connect to today's current events on Latinos. Such issues are education, language, religion, health, women, employment and many more. This book should serve as the bible of Latinos in America.

The reason I said it was heady stuff because there are a lot of statistics in the book. While I believe that statistics are important, I do have to say that some of the graphs are not "friendly".

However, I did wish that there were essays or articles by grassroot Latinos to give readers a "breather" from heavy reading. I took me over a month to read this detailed book. With Latinos constantly growing in America, I will not be surprised if this book has to be revised in the near future.

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Feminism, Nation And Myth: La Malinche

Manufacturer: Arte Publico Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Mexico | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1558854401

Book Description

Feminism, Nation and Myth explores the scholarship of La Malinche, the indigenous woman who is said to have led Cortés and his troops to the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán. The figure of La Malinche has generated intense debate among literature and cultural studies scholars. Drawing from the humanities and the social sciences, feminist studies, queer studies, Chicana/o studies, and Latina/o studies, critics and theorists in this volume analyze the interaction and interdependence of race, class, and gender. Studies of La Malinche demand that scholars disassemble and reconstruct concepts of nation, community, agency, subjectivity, and social activism. This volume originated in the 1999 "U.S. Latina/Latino Perspectives on la Malinche" conference that brought together scholars from across the nation. Filmmaker Dan Banda interviewed many of the presenters for his documentary, Indigenous Always: The Legend of La Malinche and the Conquest of Mexico.

Book Description

The essays in this book critically examine how Latinos(as) engage in defining their identity, which in turn affects how their religious beliefs and expressions are created and constructed. In addition to the co-editors, contributors include: Edwin David Aponte, Jorge A. Aquino, Michelle A. Gonzalez, Luis D. Leon, Lara Medina, Manuel Mejido Costoya, Laura E. Perez, and Manuel A. Vasquez.

The Color of Theater: Race, Culture, and Contemporary Performancee

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The Color of Theater: Race, Culture, and Contemporary Performancee

Manufacturer: Continuum International Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Chicana Creativity and Criticism: New Frontiers in American Literature

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Chicana Creativity and Criticism: New Frontiers in American Literature

Manufacturer: University of New Mexico Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

ASIN: 082631712X

Book Description

This provocative combination of original poetry, prose, criticism, and visual art documents the continuing growth of literature by and about Chicanas. Through innovative use of language and images, the artists represented here explore female sexuality, economic and social injustice, gender roles, and the contributions of critical theory.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent!.......2001-04-07

Divided into four sections (the 19th century, the 20th century, biography and literature, and bibliographies), this book covers a wide array of topics concerning the lives of Mexican Americans throughout the history of Texas. This book is a compilation of papers that were originally presented at the 1991 "Mexican Americans in Texas History". As such, I have a few favourites that I found particularly well-written and interesting. One of which is "Agents of Americanization: Rusk Settlement and the Houston Mexican Community, 1907-1950" by Maria Cristina Garcia, which traces the history of settlement houses in Houston. Not only does this piece present how Mexican Americans were victims of racism in Houston society, but it also demonstrates how they resisted and negotiated such views. This article also indicates how settlement workers, arguably possessing good intentions, were attempting to 'americanize' early immigrants. Another excellent piece is entitled "Mexicanos in Texas During the Civil War" by Miguel Gonzalez Quiroga. This article not only discusses the role northeastern Mexico played during the Civil War (the provision of goods to the South), but also why individual Mexicans joined the war. In the third section (Biography and Literature), there are three biographies. Yolanda Romero writes of Trini Gaamez, a community activist from Hereford; Felix Almaraz writes of Carlos E. Castaneda, the first Mexican American to achieve success as a professor in Texas; and, Ramon Saldivar analyzes the work of Americo Paredes and his early novel "George Washington Gomez".

This book will be of immense benefit to anyone interested in the roles Mexican Americans played throughout the history of Texas.

Queer Migrations: Sexuality, U.S. Citizenship, and Border Crossings

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Queer Migrations: Sexuality, U.S. Citizenship, and Border Crossings

Manufacturer: Univ Of Minnesota Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Nonfiction | Gay & Lesbian | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Gay & Lesbian | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0816644667

Book Description

Emmigration from Latin America and Asia has influenced every aspect of social, political, economic, and cultural life in the United States over the last quarter century. Within the vast scholarship on this wave of immigration, however, little attention has been paid to queer immigrants of color. Focusing particularly on migration from Mexico, Cuba, El Salvador, and the Philippines, Queer Migrations brings together scholars of immigration, citizenship, sexuality, race, and ethnicity to provide analyses of the norms, institutions, and discourses that affect queer immigrants of color, also providing ethnographic studies of how these newcomers have transformed established immigrant communities in Miami, San Francisco, and New York.

Chicana Voices: Intersections of Class, Race, and Gender (National Association for Chicano Studies)

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Chicana Voices: Intersections of Class, Race, and Gender (National Association for Chicano Studies)

Manufacturer: University of New Mexico Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Anthologies | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 082631404X

Book Description

This landmark collection of essays from the 1984 National Association for Chicana Studies conference entitled Â“Voces de la MujerÂ” offers a cross-section of the interdisciplinary scholarship on Chicanas in U.S. society. ChicanasÂ' roles in politics, history, bilingualism, the work force, literature, and higher education are examined in depth in the twenty essays.

Introducing the third printing of this influential book in a new foreword by Teresa CÃ³rdova, which updates readers on the gains and struggles of Chicanas in the association since these essays were originally published. CÃ³rdova puts the conference that gave root to these essays in historical perspective as an important turning point for Chicana academics on the road to establishing their rightful place on university campuses.

Emerging from Chicana Voices is a multifaceted picture of ChicanasÂ—the impact they have had on U.S. history, culture, higher education, and their own communities.

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Critical Latin American and Latino Studies (Cultural Studies of the Americas, V. 12)

Manufacturer: University of Minnesota Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Central America | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
General | South America | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
Social History | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books
Cultural | Anthropology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Demography | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Ethnic Studies | Special Groups | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Idea of Latin America (Blackwell Manifestos)

The Latino Studies Reader: Culture, Politics and Society

The Latin American Cultural Studies Reader (Latin America Otherwise)

Chicana Feminisms: A Critical Reader (Post-Contemporary Interventions)

The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader

ASIN: 0816640793

Book Description

This book brings together some of the most prominent scholars working across the spectrum of Latin American and Latino studies to explore their changing intellectual undertaking in relation to global processes of change. Critical Latin American and Latino Studies identifies the challenges and possibilities of more politically engaged and theoretically critical modes of scholarly practice.

One objective is to provide a brief critical history of the study of various Latin American cultures-Latino, Chicano, Puerto Rican, among others. But these essays also serve to assess the roles of ethnic and area studies in light of changing scholarly trends, from emphases on gender and sexuality to a focus on postcoloniality and globalization. The result is an important contribution to current debates on the conditions of contemporary knowledge production. Contributors: Tomás Almaguer, San Francisco State U; Frances R. Aparicio, U of Illinois, Chicago; John Beverley, U of Pittsburgh; Angie Chabram-Dernersesian, U of California, Davis; Román de la Campa, SUNY, Stony Brook; Juan Flores, Hunter College and CUNY; Walter D. Mignolo, Duke U; Giorgio Perissinotto, U of California, Santa Barbara; Kirsten Silva Gruesz, U of California, Santa Cruz; Stefano Varese, U of California, Davis; George Yúdice, NYU; Juan Zevallos Aguilar, Villanova U.

Juan Poblete is assistant professor of Latin American literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

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Adventures in Conservation With Franklin D. Roosevelt
Irving Brant
Manufacturer: Northland Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
General | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0873584740

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Adventures in Conservation with Franklin D. Roosevelt.
IRVING BRANT
Manufacturer: See notes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RQSFLS

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