Satan's Circus

Murder, Vice, Police Corruption, and New York's Trial of the Century

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, 20th Century, Social & Cultural Studies, True Crime, Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book Satan's Circus by Mike Dash, Crown/Archetype
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Mike Dash ISBN: 9780307395221
Publisher: Crown/Archetype Publication: June 12, 2007
Imprint: Crown Language: English
Author: Mike Dash
ISBN: 9780307395221
Publisher: Crown/Archetype
Publication: June 12, 2007
Imprint: Crown
Language: English

They called it Satan’s Circus—a square mile of Midtown Manhattan where vice ruled, sin flourished, and depravity danced in every doorway. At the turn of the twentieth century, it was a place where everyone from the chorus girls to the beat cops was on the take and where bad boys became wicked men; a place where an upstanding young policeman such as Charley Becker could become the crookedest cop who ever stood behind a shield.

Murder was so common in the vice district that few people were surprised when the loudmouthed owner of a shabby casino was gunned down on the steps of its best hotel. But when, two weeks later, an ambitious district attorney charged Becker with ordering the murder, even the denizens of Satan’s Circus were surprised. The handsome lieutenant was a decorated hero, the renowned leader of New York’s vice-busting Special Squad. Was he a bad cop leading a double life, or a pawn felled by the sinister rogues who ran Manhattan’s underworld?

With appearances by the legendary and the notorious—including Big Tim Sullivan, the election-rigging vice lord of Tammany Hall; future president Theodore Roosevelt; beloved gangster Jack Zelig; and the newly famous author Stephen Crane—Satan’s Circus brings to life an almost-forgotten Gotham. Chronicling Charley Becker’s rise and fall, the book tells of the raucous, gaudy, and utterly corrupt city that made him, and recounts not one but two sensational murder trials that landed him in the electric chair.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

They called it Satan’s Circus—a square mile of Midtown Manhattan where vice ruled, sin flourished, and depravity danced in every doorway. At the turn of the twentieth century, it was a place where everyone from the chorus girls to the beat cops was on the take and where bad boys became wicked men; a place where an upstanding young policeman such as Charley Becker could become the crookedest cop who ever stood behind a shield.

Murder was so common in the vice district that few people were surprised when the loudmouthed owner of a shabby casino was gunned down on the steps of its best hotel. But when, two weeks later, an ambitious district attorney charged Becker with ordering the murder, even the denizens of Satan’s Circus were surprised. The handsome lieutenant was a decorated hero, the renowned leader of New York’s vice-busting Special Squad. Was he a bad cop leading a double life, or a pawn felled by the sinister rogues who ran Manhattan’s underworld?

With appearances by the legendary and the notorious—including Big Tim Sullivan, the election-rigging vice lord of Tammany Hall; future president Theodore Roosevelt; beloved gangster Jack Zelig; and the newly famous author Stephen Crane—Satan’s Circus brings to life an almost-forgotten Gotham. Chronicling Charley Becker’s rise and fall, the book tells of the raucous, gaudy, and utterly corrupt city that made him, and recounts not one but two sensational murder trials that landed him in the electric chair.

More books from Biography & Memoir

Cover of the book Letters to Isabella Stewart Gardner by Mike Dash
Cover of the book Far Off Things by Mike Dash
Cover of the book Thank You Jesus! You Never Change by Mike Dash
Cover of the book 32 Miles from Fat by Mike Dash
Cover of the book I AM TINA by Mike Dash
Cover of the book South Carolina Women by Mike Dash
Cover of the book If Asylum Walls Could Speak by Mike Dash
Cover of the book His Mission … His Passion … Education by Mike Dash
Cover of the book Rani Laxmibai by Mike Dash
Cover of the book Sister Moon of the Philippines by Mike Dash
Cover of the book A Countess in Limbo by Mike Dash
Cover of the book Life with a View by Mike Dash
Cover of the book Prepare for the Flood by Mike Dash
Cover of the book Marguerite d'Angoulême, Soeur de François Ier by Mike Dash
Cover of the book La petite patrie by Mike Dash
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy