Book Reviewed: The Black Hand: The Epic War between a Brilliant Detective and the Deadliest Secret Society in American History by Stephan Talty

Detective Petrosino’s fight against criminal enterprise in New York at the turn of 20th century

At the beginning of the 20th century, Italian immigrants were arriving in large numbers to New York City dreaming big in the new world, but faced hostility from other citizens like German and Irish immigrants. They were also terrorized, extorted, and murdered by a criminal organization known as the “Black Hand”, which was eventually traced to mafia gang operating from Sicily. Their main target were the Italian community in NY that later spread to other major cities. Joseph Petrosino was one of the very few law enforcement officials who possessed the courage to confront this criminal enterprise. This is the true story of one man's determination against all odds in a city that treated Italian immigrants as second class citizens, and the crime perpetrated on them were ignored by the law-enforcement.

This book chronicles in detail of Petrosino’s crime fighting methods and his work with President Teddy Roosevelt. In fact Roosevelt first hired him in 1897 as the first Italian detective sergeant in New York. Roosevelt at that time was the head of the New York Board of Police Commissioners, and he was deeply saddened by the level poverty south of the 14th street where most immigrants were living. The elites of New York never stepped below 14th Street, and Roosevelt after reading in newspapers about the crime made major changes in the operation of NYPD. The department was suffering from serious corruption and attended to the interests of the wealthy residents. But the Sicilian Mafia using the name Black Hand was organizing and operating faster than NYPD. Killings, abductions, and violence left the entire Italian population in New York under constant fear. But Petrosino was a strong willed and hard-nosed detective who collided with gangsters head-on. Years later President Roosevelt said of Petrosino that “He didn’t know the name of fear.” Petrosino was killed by the gang members in 1908 during his visit to Sicily, but he certainly left a lasting impression and he changed the way Italians were seen in America.

The story is currently owned by the Paramount Studios to film the life and work of Joseph Petrosino with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the American history, the raise of mafia in New York and Italian American history.