Rocco Perri
Rocco Perri

Author: Antonio Nicaso

Publisher: Mississauga, Ont. : J. Wiley & Sons Canada

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13:

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Rocco Perri came to Canada almost a century ago from Calabria, Italy. Even today his name is well known to historians, police and organized crime—and especially to the people of the city he called home—Hamilton, Ontario. A poor immigrant, Perri along with his common-law wife, Bessie Starkman, built an unequalled crime empire for the time. During the Prohibition years, Perri provided alcohol to a thirsty clientele in Canada and the United States—a business that was very illegal and highly lucrative. Al Capone and Joseph Kennedy were among Perri’s customers. The Perris also ran gambling, loan-sharking, extortion and prostitution rackets. ROCCO PERRI: King of the Bootleggers is more than the biography of a man and his empire; it is a riveting portrait of a time when corruption was rampant, murder a business necessity, and discrimination against newcomers forced many to turn to crime as a means of survival. This book also solves a half-century-long mystery about the fate of Rocco Perri.

The Whisky King
The Whisky King

Author: Trevor Cole

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2017-04-11

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1443442259

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“True-crime writing at its finest.” —Dean Jobb, author of Empire of Deception A rich and fascinating history of Canada’s first celebrity mobster, Rocco Perri—King of the Bootleggers—and the man who pursued him, Canada’s first undercover Mountie, for readers of Erik Larson, Dean Jobb and Charlotte Gray At the dawn of the 20th century, two Italian men arrived in Canada amid waves of immigration. One, Rocco Perri, from southern Italy, rose from the life of a petty criminal on the streets of Toronto to running the most prominent bootlegging operation of the Prohibition era, taking over Hamilton and leading one of the country’s most influential crime syndicates. Perri was feared by his enemies and loved by the press, who featured him regularly in splashy front-page headlines. So great was his celebrity that, following the murder of his wife and business partner, Bessie Starkman, a crowd of 30,000 thronged the streets of Hamilton for her funeral. Perri’s businesses—which included alcohol, drugs, gambling and prostitution—kept him under constant police surveillance. He caught the interest of one man in particular, the other arrival from Italy, Frank Zaneth. Zaneth, originally from the Italian north, joined the RCMP and became its first undercover investigator—Operative No. 1. Zaneth’s work took him across the country, but he was dogged in his pursuit of Rocco Perri and worked for his arrest until the day Perri was last seen, in 1944, when he disappeared without a trace. With original research and masterful storytelling, Cole details the fascinating rise to power of a notorious Prohibition-era Canadian crime figure twinned with the life of the man who pursued him.

The Hamiltonians
The Hamiltonians

Author: Margaret Houghton

Publisher: James Lorimer & Company

Published: 2003-10-22

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 9781550288049

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The Hamiltonians is a collection of stories about the most interesting and influential people who made Hamilton their home. These tales are told by some of the city's most expert writers.

Iced
Iced

Author: Stephen Schneider

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2009-12-09

Total Pages: 657

ISBN-13: 0470835001

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"You're lucky he didn't have an ice pick in his hands. I know how this guy performs." -Mobster Paul Volpe speaking about a Buffalo-mafia enforcer named "Cicci" Canada is lauded the world over as a law abiding, peaceful country - a shining example to all nations. Such a view, also shared by most Canadians, is typically naïve and misinformed. Throughout its history, to present day and beyond, Canada has been and will continue to be home to criminals and crime organizations that are brilliant at finding ways to make money - a lot of money - illegally. Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada is a remarkable parallel history to the one generally accepted and taught in our schools. Organized crime has had a significant impact on the shaping of this country and the lives of its people. The most violent and thuggish - outlaw motorcycle gangs like Hells Angels - have been raised to mythic proportions. The families who owned distilleries during Prohibition, such as the Bronfmans, built vast fortunes that today are vested in corporate holdings. The mafia in Montreal created and controlled the largest heroin and cocaine smuggling empire in the world, feeding the insatiable appetite of our American neighbours. Today, gangs are laying waste the streets of Vancouver, and "BC bud" flows into the U.S. as the marijuana of choice. Organized crime is as old as this nation's founding, with pirates ravaging the east coast, even as hired guns by colonial governments. Since our nation's earliest times, government and crime groups have found that collusion can have its mutual benefits. Comprehensive, informative and entertaining - as you will discover in the remarkable period pieces devised by the author and the illustrations commissioned specially for this book - Iced is a romp across the nation and across the centuries. In these pages you will meet crime groups that are at once sordid and inept, yet resourceful entrepreneurs and self-proclaimed champions of the underdog, who operate in full sight of their communities and the law. This is the definitive book on organized crime in Canada, and a unique contribution to our understanding of Canadian history.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia
The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia

Author: Jerry Capeci

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2005-01-04

Total Pages: 468

ISBN-13: 9781592573059

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Offers a comprehensive overview of the world's most notorious criminal organization, tracing the history of the Mafia, changes in the ranks and power following the conviction of key members, and their diverse roles in cities across the United States.

Hamilton: A People's History
Hamilton: A People's History

Author: Bill Freeman

Publisher: James Lorimer & Company

Published: 2006-10-14

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 9781550289367

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Pioneers, soldiers, merchants, murderers, workers and bosses--all contributed to the colourful history of the tough, attractive city of Hamilton. Popular historian Bill Freeman tells the story of the city from the time of its earliest habitation through the War of 1812, on to its heyday as a major manufacturing centre. The key roles that the railway and Hamilton's spectacular geography played in the city's development are fully described, and the many forceful personalities who shaped Hamilton's history are brought to life. Bill Freeman's lively account superbly balances social, political, and labour themes to give the reader a deep understanding of the city's past. The product of extensive research, illustrated with over 200 contemporary and archival images, Hamilton: A People's History offers a vivid portrait of one of Ontario's most prosperous and appealing cities.

Hamilton Street Names
Hamilton Street Names

Author: Margaret Houghton

Publisher: James Lorimer & Company

Published: 2002-10-22

Total Pages: 140

ISBN-13: 9781550287738

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Beach Boulevard, Mud Street, Sulphur Springs Road, Paradise Road, the Jolley Cut -- street names are a vivid and living embodiment of a city's history, of the dreams, passions and workaday concerns of its citizens. Love, murder, betrayal, political intrigue -- all are present in this engaging new book about Hamilton's past. Most Hamiltonians know that MacNab Street was named after Allan Napier MacNab, a famous native son, but who were the people who gave their names to James, King or Barton streets, Fennell Avenue, or Kitty Murray Lane? Street names offer a unique, meandering path through Hamilton's fascinating past, full of curious biographical culs-de-sac and occasional sweeping historical vistas. Hamilton Street Names includes more than 120 routes in the new city. Each alphabetically organized entry offers fascinating insights into the city's social, political, cultural or military history. Richly illustrated with archival photographs, this book offers fascinating views into the past of the new Hamilton.

Whisky and Ice
Whisky and Ice

Author: C.W. Hunt

Publisher: Dundurn

Published: 1996-07-26

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 1554883776

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During the Roaring Twenties, Ben Kerr was known as the "King of the Rumrunners." The U.S. Coast Guard put him at the top of the most-wanted list and offered a reward of $5,000. But ending up in Club Fed was not Kerr’s only worry - he had to contend with Hamilton crime lords Rocco and Bessie Perri. Whisky and Ice takes the reader back to the Prohibition era, when Canada and the United States were obsessed with "demon liquor" (not to mention the endless posturing by politicians). As Hunt aptly writes, the U.S. during Porhibition "was about as dry as the mud flats of the Mississippi at high tide."

Enemies Within
Enemies Within

Author: Franca Iacovetta

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2000-01-01

Total Pages: 444

ISBN-13: 9780802082350

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Enemies Within is the first study of its kind to examine not only the formulation and uneven implementation of internment policy, but the social and gender history of internment. It brings together national and international perspectives.