Mob activity was a daily part of Kansas City life for decades.

books:


	• The Mafia and the Machine: The Story of the Kansas City Mob Frank R. Hayde Barricade Books, 2008 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Insightful and enjoyable to read.

I enjoy reading about the history of Kansas City and I found this book very informational and entertaining. I've read accounts of Pendergast's Machine as well as the early Irish mob and the author does a great job of recounting their historical influence as well.

Mob activity was a daily part of Kansas City life for decades.

Law enforcement officer Frank R. Hayde presents The Mafia and the Machine: The Story of the Kansas City Mob, the mesmerizing true story of the Mafia's influence in Kansas City politics during the course of the twentieth century. Mob infiltration in the police department, the Democratic Party, the Teamsters Union, and more manifested as terror spread on election days, "licensed" and "protected" criminal rackets, and eruptions of violence. Mob activity was a daily part of Kansas City life for decades. Efficiently researched and told with a sense of excitement sure to intrigue readers of all backgrounds, The Mafia and the Machine is a highly recommended contribution to American history and criminal history shelves.

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A one of a kind book

This book is truly like no other book. It tells a story you will see only in pieces in other books. The story is a very dynamic, exciting and deadly story of life in Kansas City. This story also has had a huge impact on the country as a whole. The author, Frank R Hayde says things that I don't think have ever been put in print before. They had been rumored around town but not printed.

Also, any Kansas City resident will love the book. It tells a story of the town that no one else has mentioned. The book shows the growth of the mob over the past 100 years or so. The author shows how the mob was very tied to Kansas City Democratic Politics. He proves that Tom Pendergast and the Mob were interlinked almost like a hand and a glove. The growth in one allowed the growth in the other. The Pendergast machine allowed the mob to run wild to the point where the city government looked just like the mob. The author goes on to show how that force continued long after Tom left the scene. The KC Mob had a role in the National Mob fight in the 50s. He reviews the River Quay battles in the 70s in very clear wording that rivals the KC Star in the days of the war. If you loved the movie "Casino" you will love his chapter on the role of the KC mob and Vegas. It was pretty much running the show for the whole nation's mob for a long time. The KC mob was the crew that put the muscle on the teamsters which bankrolled the mob expansion in Vegas. That is a fact the movie points out. In a way their Vegas efforts had a very large national impact.

The book also has several interesting allegations that any KC resident will love. He talks about allegations that the loved Len Dawson was involved in a point shaving scheme. He talks about links to politics up to this day. It is interesting to read about how this event or that event occurred here or there. In a strange way certain parts of the city's character back then has an impact on that section of the city today.

Overall everyone will love this tale of the mob.

Tom

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Under The Radar

The headlines in the 20th century were mostly of the New York and Chicago mobs. Frank Hayde's book details just how much power and influence the Kansas City mob demonstrated with relative obscurity. Not until the Tropicana skimming scheme broke, Kansas City mob bosses controlled and influenced not only local mob operations, but national union corruption. This book chronicles in detail the origins of both the Kansas City political machine and the Mafia. I highly recommend this book to all interested in mob lore and history.

Finally!

This is a story that has long been left untold. I am a "gangster geek" from Kansas City and I have been waiting for a book like this for a long time. With the exception of the Kansas City Massacre very little is known about the Irish and Italian stronghold that controlled the state of Missouri by way of Kansas City. I hope this book leads the way in putting Kansas City where it belongs in gangster history. Great job Mr. Hayde!

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reviews: page 1, 2

The story of the American Mafia is not complete without a chapter on Kansas City. The City of Fountains has appeared in The Godfather, Casino, and The Sopranos, but many Midwesterners are not aware that Kansas City has affected the fortunes of the entire underworld. In The Mafia and the Machine, author Frank Hayde ties in every major name in organized crime-Luciano, Bugsy, Lansky-as well as the city's corrupt police force.

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