Gangsters of Miami

Now in paperback, this well researched book chronicles the rise of the gangster in Miami and the history of crime in one of America's most exciting and edgy cities. Known as the Magic City, Miami has been the home for a colorful variety of gangsters from its early days to the modern period. They include the notorious smugglers of the Prohibition era (infamous mobsters such as Al Capone and Meyer Lansky) who helped make Miami a gambling mecca, the Cuban Mafia which arrived after Cuba fell to Castro, the Colombian cartels during the cocaine explosion, the Russian Mafia after the fall of the Soviet Union, and the street gangs that plagued Miami after the advent of crack cocaine. Gangsters of Miami digs beyond the headlines and fantasy to provide a close-up look at the real role that mobsters, gamblers, hit men, con-men and other gangsters have played in developing Miami into America's most fascinating playground for international tourists. As he has done with several of his earlier works, investigative journalist Ron Chepesiuk shows that fact can be more riveting than fiction.