How accurate is this book? I know it obviously isn't accurate down to the dialogue, but I'm talking about story-wise. The story of Vincenzo Gibaldi, aka Machine Gun Jack McGurn is quite interesting, pretty ironic too, it all started in him taking vengeance for his father who who was accidentally killed in a hairdressers, which led to a long life of crime, eventually ending with his own death. But this doesnt seem to be that elaborated,in other sources, the story of his father's accidental murder. How reliable is this story, and the whole book overall?

I'd say the actual content of the book is accurate, it seems like they've taken alot of different sources into account before stating what happened. But I agree with you on the dialogue issue. There's long conversations in there like it's a novel. I really can't see all them parts of it being true. Most of that info will be second or third hand information. Unlike more recent Mafia books with FBI wire tap quotes. Apart from this it's a good decent accurate book I feel.

Researcher, I'm glad you asked this question because it points up the problems with trying to do serious scholarship on the Mob. These aren't the kind of guys who leave their collected papers to university libraries so that you and I can peruse them. In fact, many couldn't read or write, and if they did, they weren't about to talk for the record--or to encourage associates to do so. Biographies and histories involving the Mob rely excessively on newspaper accounts, myth and hearsay; often the same myth or mistake is repeated in book after book. And those few mobsters who published autobiographies or cooperated with biographers (i.e., Bonanno, Lansky, Luciano) had more reason than the usual autobiography subjects to sanitize the record.

I don't own a copy of the Balsamo book you referred to. Did he provide a reference, a footnote or a bibliographical index to back up the McGurn story? I checked Lawrence Bergreen's "Capone," the most recent biography of Scarface Al. Bergreen repeats the story you cited almost verbatim--and while he has a biblographic index, he provides no reference for the McGurn story. Bergreen's book was published in 1994; Balsamo's in 1991. So we might assume that Bergreen read the story in Balsamo's book and just didn't credit Balsamo. And if the story as it appeared in Balsamo's book was wrong, Bergreen perpetuated the mistake.

I've read both books mentioned by Turnbull, and if I can recall correctly the stories were slightly different, but based on the same theme.

The book by Balsimo is good for reference about the early days of the mob and their struugle with the Irishmen who controlled the docks.

It has some good Caopne/Frankie Yale stories, as well.

He tends to overdramtise his uncles involvment as the " First godfather" as i've never heard the guys name mentioned before in any other book.

Overall it is a good book, and informative on the Profaci/Gsllo conflict as well as Bonanno's war.

Thanks guys. The Balsamo book is written like a novel, and the McGurn story begins with Vincenzo Gibaldi's father being mistaken for Willie Altierri, and shot by the 'micks', in a barber's shop. Vincenzo, weeping at his father's coffin,repeats "we'll see them papa...", and then the novel explains two or three vengeance hits he makes, and how he planned them, buying an air rifle, perfecting his marksmanship skills, then trailing his father's murderers, learning their routes home. He isn't mentioned after his attempted hit on Bill Lovett till he mows down Frankie Yale in New York's first machine gun murder. Sounds quite a nice story, for a mobster.
The Balsamo book is pretty good, but most of the novelised parts are about the Black Hand, the actual MAFIA bit, five families, etc. is written historically, textbook fashion.