Monk Eastman: The Gangster Who Became a War Hero »

Neil Hanson’s other books include The Confident Hope of a Miracle and Unknown Soldiers. He lives in the Yorkshire Dales in England.

An intimate biography as well as an epic history, Monk Eastman vividly recounts the life and times of old New York’s most infamous gangster-cum-soldier as he made his way from the sooty streets and dingy saloons of the Lower East Side to the battlefields of the Western Front.

Born in 1873 to a respectable New York family, Monk was running wild in Manhattan’s rough Lower East Side by the age of eighteen. He found work as a bouncer—when the saloon owner first turned him down because he had two bouncers already, Monk beat them both up and was promptly hired in their place. He soon developed a loyal following of immigrant toughs, and by 1900, he was the most feared gang leader in lower Manhattan, protected by corrupt politicians and crooked cops, and commanding an army of two thousand pickpockets, thieves, prostitutes, and thugs.

But changing neighborhood demographics and shifting political fortunes colluded against Monk: after a pitched battle with Pinkerton detectives, he was sent to Sing Sing on a ten-year sentence, and his territory quickly slipped from his grasp. In 1917, no longer safe from the law—or from rival gangs—Monk joined the New York National Guard. As a gangster, he’d been the equivalent of a general; as an enlisted man, Monk was just another private.

After several months of combat training, Monk’s division of Brooklyn recruits was thrown headlong into the bitter trench warfare in Europe. His experience in gangland combat served him well: he was repeatedly cited by his superiors for his bravery and he received a hero’s welcome back in New York and an offical pardon from the governor. But Monk’s gangland past was not so easily erased and caught up with him in the end.

In Neil Hanson’s able hands, Monk’s unique and compelling story becomes an emblem of a time of upheaval—for New York and for the nation.

Publishers Weekly

This celebration of Monk Eastman (1875-1920), is brought to life by Hanson (Unknown Soldiers) in his biography of the gangster. The son of a respectable Manhattan paperhanger, Eastman set himself on a dark path as a thief, robber, and brawler among the decaying tenements of the Lower East Side, moving up to assemble a powerful criminal empire of protection rackets, gambling, and prostitution. Following the infamous battle of Rivington Street with a rival gang, Eastman locked horns with Pinkerton agents, landing in Sing Sing with a 10-year sentence. Released after five years, he found a changed New York, free of gangs and Tammany Hall. At age 43, Eastman joined the army. Most effective is the book's second part dealing with the battlefront in the deadly trenches of WWI as Eastman distinguishes himself in action, earning military honors and redemption upon his return. But in a final twist, readers learn that though Monk had left the gangs behind, the gangs hadn't left him. This is a first-rate work of a singular life. 8 pages of illus., 2 maps, and 2 illus. in text. (Oct.)

List Of Maps

Part I

Prologue A Lot Of Little Wars 7

1 The Hall Of Tears 13

2 Blacker Than A Wolf's Throat 26

3 As A Pool Reflects The Sky 39

4 A Modern Robin Hood 50

5 The Rogues' Gallery 61

6 The Gangland Code 71

7 The Wolf Of Wall Street 82

8 The Battle Of Rivington Street 95

9 The Tombs 109

10 A Napoleon Returned From Elba 129

Part II

11 O'ryan's Roughnecks 149

12 We Only See Old Men And Boys 164

13 This Realm Of Silence 173

14 The Niagara Of Shells 184

15 More Than Brothers 195

16 The Men Must Go Forward 206

17 A Sort Of Sacrifice 214

18 The Hindenburg Line 226

19 The Phantom Division 236

20 Always Shall We Honor Them 248

Part III

21 The Fighters That They Were 265

22 Victimless Crimes 277

23 Draped In Black Cloth 286

Epilogue The Way Things Have Changed 300

Acknowledgments 305

Glossary 309

Notes 315

Bibliography 361

Index 377