The Gangs of New York

The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld

LC Class

HV6439 .U7

The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld is an American non-fiction book by Herbert Asbury, first published in 1928 by Alfred A. Knopf. It was the basis for Martin Scorsese's 2002 film Gangs of New York.

Asbury published an article, "The Old-Time Gangs of New York", in The American Mercury in 1927, which was incorporated into the book published the following year.^[1][2]

Description

The book details the rise and fall of 19th century

, murderers, and thieves.

The book contains detailed accounts of the New York City draft riots in 1863. It also elaborates on numerous other criminal influences of the time, including river pirates and the corrupt political establishment such as Tammany Hall.

Adaptation

The book was loosely adapted into the epic historical drama film Gangs of New York (2002) by director Martin Scorsese. A television adaptation is in the works with Scorsese set to return as executive producer and director of the first two episodes. Brett C. Leonard is writing the series, which will be a new take with characters not included in the film.^[3]

See also

• Books about New York City
• History of New York City
• List of non-fiction works made into feature films

References

External links

• Full text of The Gangs of New York at HathiTrust Digital Library
• The Gangs of New York in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Comparison of the book and movie at herbertasbury.com