"A fascinating look into an Irish American criminal enterprise that may not have rivaled the Mafia in sophistication, but certainly surpassed it in terror." -The Wall Street Journal
The definitive true story of Hell's Kitchen's savage Irish mob-now the subject of MGM+'s THE WESTIES. This new illustrated hardcover collector's edition features a new introduction by T. J. English.They emerged from New York City's underworld in the 1970s, when the metropolis was on the brink of collapse. The latest incarnation of the Irish Mob-and the last of a long line of gangsters from Hell's Kitchen-the Westies became notorious for murder, dismemberment, and making their victims' bodies "do the Houdini." Their unlikely alliance with Paul Castellano and the Gambino crime family brought them to the apex of power, but rivalries and betrayal would lead to their spectacular demise.
T. J. English was a young taxi driver and journalist when he began investigating the gang. Published in 1990, his first book hit like a blast of buckshot and became a true-crime classic. Mickey Featherstone and Jimmy Coonan, their wives Sissy and Edna, legendary detective "Publicity Joe" Coffey, and an unforgettable cast of killers, cops, wiseguys, and rats populate this shocking and timeless criminal saga.
Featuring a new introduction by English and illustrations by Brad Norr Design, the definitive account of the Westies returns to hardcover for the first time since its original publication.
