This book aims to highlight the causes why the Prohibition Era led to an evolution of the New York mob from a rural, ethnic and small-scale to an urban, American and wide-scale crime. The temperance project, advocated by the WASP elite since the early nineteenth century, turned into prohibition only after the end of WWI with the enactment of the Eighteenth Amendment. By considering the success that war prohibition made to the soldiers' psychophysical condition, Congress aimed to shift this political move even to civil society. So it was that the Italian, Irish and Jewish mobs took the chance to spread their bribe system to local politics due to the lucrative alcohol bootlegging. New York became the core of the national anti-prohibition, where the smuggling from Canada and Europe merged into the legendary Manhattan nightclubs and speakeasies. With the coming of the Great Depression, the Republican Party was aware about the failure of this political measure, leading to the making of a new corporate underworld. The book is addressed to historians of New York, historians of crime and historians of modern America as well as to an audience of readers interested in the history of the Prohibition Era.

Francesco Landolfi, University of Milan

Stefano Morello, City University of New York

The discussion focuses on the intricate history of organized crime in New York City during the Prohibition era of the 1920s, particularly emphasizing the emergence of the American Mafia. The speaker elucidates the evolution of organized crime, dividing the decade into three distinct phases: the initial opposition to Prohibition, the consolidation of Italian-American mafia power, and the subsequent turmoil leading into the Great Depression. The speaker elaborates on the socio-political environment that fostered the rise of various criminal enterprises, highlighting the interplay between ethnic gangs—Irish, Italian, and Jewish—that capitalized on the lucrative illicit alcohol trade. The narrative further underscores how these groups navigated the complex landscape of law enforcement, corruption, and community dynamics, ultimately shaping the trajectory of organized crime in New York City and beyond.