The Crescent City Lynchings: The Murder of Chief Hennessy, the New Orleans "Mafia" Trials, and the Parish Prison Mob

The Crescent City Lynchings: The Murder of Chief Hennessy, the New Orleans "Mafia" Trials, and the Parish Prison Mob by Smith, Tom. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9781592289011.

Nearly a century before The Godfather and The Sopranos became American icons, a group of Italian immigrants and Italian Americans were accused of gunning down New Orleans police chief David Hennessy. Crescent City Lynchings is a compelling look at organized crime and the notorious anti-Italian mass lynching in the aftermath of the murder in turn-of-the-century New Orleans. The author presents an in-depth and nuanced account of the episode that popularized the term Mafia in the American lexicon.