Michael Benson (2) (1956–)

This is a nice idea, but there just weren't enough gangsters vs. Nazis to go around, so rather than have a 150-page book, Benson pads out every story with a lot of background, sometimes going pretty far afield. It is never uninteresting, but it is written in such an emphatic style, trying to make the most of a rather thin story, that it becomes almost pathetic after a while. Yes, there were lots of Jews who stood up against Nazis in the United States, but every fight scene in the book reads pretty much the same. And despite their heroic actions, those in the highest echelons of the US Government, such as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, did next to nothing to help the Jews. (But none of that figure into this book. It is supposed to be a feel-good story!)… (mehr)

The Mob vs The Bund
Review of the Citadel Press Kindle ebook (April 26, 2022) released simultaneously with the Citadel Press hardcover edition

This read pretty much as an extended version of Greg Donahue's The Minuteman: The Forgotten Legacy of Nat Arno and the Fight Against Newark's Nazis (2020) which I listened to via an Audible Original a few years ago. I also now realize that the Goodreads NABers (Not A Bookers) have deleted my Minuteman review from 2020, but I'll reinstate it with my backup copy from LibraryThing.com

The basic plot is the American Nazis in the 1930s organized various rallies and the Jewish mobsters would organize their various tough guys (often boxers such as Nat Arno) to go and break up the rally and beat up the Nazi followers. Each chapter here basically repeats that scenario only with changes in cities, organizers and mobsters. It just gets a bit tiresome after several chapters. The writing is sensationalized with imagined 'conversations' between the mobsters, so it edges on fiction writing. Some of it sounds anachronistic as well, e.g. I don't think they used terms like "whacked" back in the 1930's.

The biggest revelation here was the story of Jacob Leon "Sparky" Rubenstein, who was one of the Chicago Jewish Mafia who participated in the 1930's Nazi beatings. His name goes by earlier in the book in a blur with the other mobster names. It is only towards the end of the book in the 'where are they now/what happened to' section that it is revealed that "Sparky" Rubenstein later changed his name to Jack Ruby, moved to Dallas, Texas to continue his crime career and then went on to publicly assassinate Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of President Kennedy, shortly after the latter was arrested in 1963.… (mehr)

Wen startin' out on me journey ter become a Prince I knew I would need ter read the 'andbook. Thankfully it were available at me local library. 'avin' now done so, right, I am not prepared ter conquer a neighborin' land. This 'andbooks gives great tips and tricks wiv examples ter back it up, do wot Guvnor! I'm bloody well right pleased wiv the research that 'as gone into it. Cor blimey guv, would I lie to you. A logical and founded read. I recommend it ter anyone who aspires ter be a successful Prince, much like myself.… (mehr)