The Elusive Purple Gang

Detroit's Kosher Nostra

By: Gregory A. Fournier

Narrated by: Rich Miller

The Elusive Purple Gang: Detroit's Kosher Nostra is a concise history of one of America's most notorious Prohibition gangs. The Burnstein brothers and their associates were the only Jewish gang in the United States to dominate the rackets of a major American city. From their meteoric rise to the top of Detroit's underworld to their ultimate demise, this is an episodic account of the Purple Gang's corrosive pursuit of power and wealth and their inevitable plunge toward self-destruction.

About the author:

Literary Classics gold medal award-winning author Gregory A. Fournier received his bachelor and master's degrees in language arts from Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. A writer of creative nonfiction, The Elusive Purple Gang is Fournier's latest book. His other titles are Zug Island, Terror In Ypsilanti, and The Richard Streicher Jr. Murder.

Fournier writes short history posts for his blog, and he has appeared on the Investigation Discovery Channel as a guest expert on John Norman Collins for the series A Crime to Remember in an episode entitled "A New Kind of Monster".

©2019 Gregory A. Fournier (P)2020 Gregory A. Fournier

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it was good thanks bring back what happen bearing my grandfather time were I was born at

Pretty Good, GREAT if you’re a Detroiter

Story a bit too shallow for my liking (but so were the Purples). Great stories, with more of a history than I’ve been able to find elsewhere. Decent, fluid narration. Even pronounced some of the odder names correctly. I wished for more meat, more depth, about the Gang. I’ll just have to look further.

Who knew?

Who knew that there was such an active bootlegging and crime organization in Detroit at this time. Have studies a lot of history Read a great deal but had never heard of the Purple Gang. Interesting story.

Excellent Presentation!

Very well written and researched! As one who is interested in Detroit's history and after reading Are there great books by this author, I would highly recommend this book

No new details

Filled with stories such as the Collingwood massacre that we already know about. Would have been better if they dug more into the background of the Bernstein family.