by Gus Russo
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Product Description
The widely praised and meticulously researched book that reveals the story of how, for fifty years, superlawyer Sidney Korshak and the nefarious Chicago Outfit pulled the strings of American business, politics, and society.
Investigative reporter Gus Russo returns with his most explosive book yet, the remarkable story of the “Supermob”—a cadre of men who, over the course of decades, secretly influenced nearly every aspect of American society. Presenting startling, never-before-seen revelations about such famous members as Jules Stein, Joe Glaser, Ronald Reagan, Lew Wasserman, and John Jacob Factor—as well as infamous, low-profile members—Russo pulls the lid off of a half-century of criminal infiltration into American business, politics, and society. At the heart of it all is Sidney “The Fixer” Korshak, who from the 1940s until his death in the 1990s was not only the most powerful lawyer in the world, according to the FBI, but the enigmatic player behind countless twentieth century power mergers, political deals, and organized crime chicaneries.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Some interesting information but take with a grain of salt, 2008-11-24
I have little to add to existing Amazon reviews except to say that I found some information that I had not seen elsewhere. However, there are glaring inaccuracies that even a casual student of the general topic of organized crime in America can spot -- one off the top of my head is the mention Ben Siegel being engaged in activities in 1948, certainly precluded by his death the previous year.
The bottom line is, since those engaged in crime tend naturally to be tight-lipped about it and, on the other hand, authors want to sell books, there is a tremendous amount of misinformation present in books about the mafia, etc.
Whether Russo's effort is a particularly egregious example, I am not qualified to say. For entertainment value, the book is worth looking at although it is certainly mean-spirited in parts.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 Supermob: How Sidney Korshak and His Criminal Associates Became America's Hidden Power Brokers , 2008-11-23
Intensively researched, poignantly written, a compelling read...it makes a can't-put-down book. Russo makes history read like a mystery novel cum film noir. Who would have thought non-fiction could be so hypnotic? Bravo! Now, collaborate with Martin Scorsese on the film script. Or an HBO series, perhaps?
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
The Myth, 2008-10-28
In Bob Evans iconic Hollywood autobiography "The Kid Stays In The Picture", frequent mention was made of his mentor, who he would refer to as simply "The Myth".
The Myth bailed him out of situations in his life caused by his own self-destructive behavior, and also "fixed" situations for him by getting him certain actors to star in his Paramount movie vehicles.
It turned out this mythic fixer cut his teeth with Al Capone, and became a central figure in the emergence of the Mob. Sidney Korshak became the conduit between the Jewish cerebral approach to organized crime, and the Italian approach, which was more muscular.
Theodore Roosevelt was often quoted as saying "Walk softly, and carry a big stick."
This was an accurate description of Sidney Korshak. Almost anonomous outside of his massive sphere of influence, Korshak bridged the power of the unions, knew and influenced Presidents Truman, Nixon and Reagan, and insured vast sums of wealth for many of the biggest underworld figures of the 20th century.
Along the way, Korshak earned millions and invested huge sums of money in real estate ventures in Las Vegas, and around the World. Born a first generation American in a Jewish section of Chicago, Korshak radiated a quiet toughness that served him through the upper strata of business and down through the lower tiers of gangsters.
This a fascinating look at a complex character whose reach gravitated into the farthest reach of our society, as bad money became legitimate, and amoral gangsters assimilated into the mainstream business fabric of our society.
Russo comprehends this transformation and grasps Korshaks character.
This is highly recommended reading for anyone trying to get an understanding of the 20th century mob.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Missing the Key Chapter, 2008-10-15
This book tells a story that should have been explained long ago. Now it's a bit late. Considering it's a story about control of the media it's more than late. It shows what a sham the whole media is. We were told the media was free and tried to be fair but it was rigged all along. Even now the most important part is missing. Where is the chapter on the Kennedy assassination. The author wrote a whole book about that and likely this lead him to Korshak. So how come he skipped over it? Korshak was obviously at the center of any conspiracy to assassinate the president. Most of the best evidence points to the Chicago mob. Korshak's virtual control over mainstream media, particularly television, prevented his own involvement in this coup from even being discussed. It explains so much of the last 40 years. It's so obvious many people certainly in the media, not to mention the Kennedy family, knew that Korshak was behind it. Their own agendas would have been threatened to try to fight directly. If the Kennedys pursued this line they would be called anti-Semites and all sorts of nasty articles about Joe Kennedy would be published all accross America. So now we're basically a puppet of Isreal. Our financial system has been bleed dry. The rest of the world has contempt for us. Has this happened before? Seems like it's a bit of a familiar story.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
A Peek Under the Covers, 2007-11-13
America loves mob melodramas, guys getting whacked because they crossed somebody or other. No one much cares whether the culprits get caught since it's all part of the underworld game. No one in authority much cares either, that is, until some hoodlum tries to beat his income tax after the gov't has demanded its cut. Then the bloodhounds of the IRS come calling and the careless capo gets a federal number.
Economists call the early stages of capital accumulation "primitive accumulation". Few academics may call 20's style bootlegging primitive accumulation, but illegal whiskey sure raised a lot of money for the Capone-led Chicago gang. And like most rising business ventures, much of that money was used by astute managers such as Murray "The Camel" Humphreys to buy influence into the over-world of politics and law. What does it matter if the money's dirty, since it's still money, as any number of corrupted Illinois officials shows.
But what happens when even a big city like Chicago becomes too small for the sums flowing into gangster coffers. Well. if you're a wizard like Humphreys, you start looking for new opportunities, especially where there is little or no competition. You also look for somebody who can pass for respectable, since you're past the primitive stage and now have the money to go legit. Enter attorney Sidney Korshak, discreet, smooth, and, above all, a protege of Jake Arvey, Chicago's master ward healer and political go-between. As Russo's lengthy account shows, the mob could not have made a better choice.
Horace Greeley's famous directive was to, "Go West, young man," and that's just where Korshak took the mob money and contacts, helping to turn dusty Las Vegas into the underworld's Glitter Gulch, and Los Angeles real estate into a permanent citadel of mob influence. Along the way, he picked up such powers in their own right as MCA's talent impresario Lew Wasserman and Democratic party power-broker Paul Ziffren, along with numerous union bigshots. Together, theirs was an underworld shadow cast across two big states with a network of contacts reaching all the way to the nation's capital.
But muscling in at the top means knowing how to cut deals with others at the top. Here Korshak proves to be the guy to go to whether the public knows his name or not. Want top talent for your TV show, see Sid; want no union trouble at the studios, see Sid; want a good deal on a tax scam, see Sid; want a big donation for a charity fund-raiser, yeah, see Sid. And all the time, there's the whispering in the background about the guy's connections with other guys, guys with guns. But then, isn't Sinatra's Rat Pack a really cool bunch of Hollywood swingers. Yeah, just ask the public or even President Kennedy.
To me, it's not a pretty picture, all the way from the yawning silence of the LA Times to the hobnobbing with Pat Brown and Ronald Reagan, plus a Hollywood establishment that could apparently care less. Scattered investigations go nowhere, while whistle-blowers like Steve Allen get black-balled for their civic duty. But then, maybe this is just another success story of primitive accumulation working its way to the top and learning to get along, even as the top learns to get along with them. I believe it was Victor Hugo who said that behind every great fortune lies a great crime. Maybe then, the Chicago mob was just more obvious than those others like old Joe Kennedy, an Irish bootlegger reborn into the white-collar world despite the sinister origins. Disturbing or not, the book is well worth the read.
As a general reader, I'm in no position to gainsay any of Russo"s facts, so I try to keep an open mind toward detractors. It's vital, however, that critics not simply denounce the work in unsubstantiated fashion. Chapter and verse should be cited in order to gain credibility. Of course, the text casts aspersions onto a number of prominent and reputable people, which places a heavy load on both the book and its detractors. Nonetheless, if Russo has to follow the rules, so should the critics.
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