{"title":"Books by T J English","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780553819564","title":"The Westies","description":"Even among the Mob, the Westies were feared. Out of a partnership between two sadistic thugs - James Coonan and Mickey Featherstone - the gang dominated the decaying slice of New York City's West Side known as Hell's Kitchen in the 1970s and '80s. Excelling in extortion, numbers running, loansharking and drug-peddling, they became the most notorious gang in the history of organized crime. The then prosecutor Rudolf Giuliani called them 'the most savage organisation in the long history of New York street gangs'. Upping the ante on brutality and depravity, their speciality when it came to punishment and killings was dismemberment. Their reign lasted almost twenty - their end would come as their own violent natures got the best of them and precipitated a downfall as infamous as their rise. This revised and updated edition, brings the story of the Westies up to date with 'where are they now' snapshots of the men - and women - of the Westies.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56291449930101,"sku":"9780553819564","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780553819564_3b81bf04-332c-45d0-9c77-c6caccd6a9ed.jpg?v=1786013808"},{"product_id":"9781911274520","title":"The Corporation","description":"SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING BENICIO DEL TORO, PRODUCED BY LEONARDO DICAPRIO.   Cuba, 1961.   A failed invasion at The Bay of Pigs results in Fidel Castro tightening his hold over Cuba. José Miguel Battle Sr., a former cop and member of the counter-revolutionary group intent on overthrowing him, is captured.   Miami, 1962.   José Miguel Battle Sr. travels to the USA, chased from the island by revolution, and is renamed The Godfather. A 2,500 strong Cuban-American criminal alliance is established.   Known on both sides of the law as 'The Corporation', its powerful members were fellow outcasts and enemies of Castro. A hero to many Cuban-Americans, The Godfather created a unit of trusted men who fought alongside him to reclaim their nation from the Marxist dictator.   Gaining money, power and inluence by running gambling rackets, money- laundering, drug tra?cking and murder, The Corporation never gave up the dream of killing Castro and reclaiming their homeland. This explosive biography reveals how an entire generation of political exiles, refugees, racketeers, corrupt cops, hitmen (and their wives and girlfriends) became caught up in this violent desire, and built a criminal empire surviving over 40 years.   An epic tale of gangsters, drugs and violence, learn how The Corporation grew into one of the USA's most sordid and deadly organisations.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56308943061365,"sku":"9781911274520","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781911274520_72f08816-9f48-4c04-aa0a-bba37ce3f258.jpg?v=1786029271"},{"product_id":"9780063265547","title":"The Last Kilo","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom true-crime legend T. J. English, the epic, behind-the-scenes saga of “Los Muchachos,” one of the most successful cocaine trafficking organizations in American history—a story of glitz, glamour, and organized crime set against 1980’s Miami.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite what \u003cem\u003eScarface\u003c\/em\u003e might lead one to believe, violence was not the dominant characteristic of the cocaine business. It was corruption: the dirty cops, agents, lawyers, judges, and politicians who made the drug world go round. And no one managed that carousel of dangerous players better than Willy Falcon.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA Cuban exile whose family escaped Fidel Castro’s Cuba when he was eleven years old, Falcon, as a teenager, became active in the anti-Castro movement. He began smuggling cocaine into the U.S. as a way to raise money to buy arms for the Contras in Central America. This counter-revolutionary activity led directly to Willy’s genesis as a narco. He and his partners built an extraordinary international organization from the ground up. Los Muchachos, the syndicate founded by Falcon, thrived as a major cocaine distribution network in the U.S. from the late 1970’s into the early 1990’s. At their height, Los Muchachos made more than a hundred million dollars a year. At the same time, Willy, his brother Tavy Falcon, and partner Sal Magluta became famous as championship powerboat racers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCocaine, used by everyone from A-list celebrities to lawyers and people in law enforcement, came to define an era, and for a time, Willy Falcon and those like him—major suppliers, of whom there were only a few—became stars in their own right. They were the deliverers of good times, at least until the downside of persistent cocaine use became apparent: delusions of grandeur, psychological addiction, financial ruin. Thus, the War on Drugs was born, and federal authorities came after Falcon and his crew with a vengeance. Willy found himself on the run, his marriage and family life in shambles, the halcyon days of boat races and lavish trips to Vegas and parties at the \u003cem\u003eMutiny\u003c\/em\u003e night club seemingly a distant memory.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eT. J. English has been granted unprecedented access to the inner workings of Los Muchachos, sitting down with Willy Falcon and his associates for many lengthy interviews, and revealing never-before-understood details about drug trafficking. A classic of true-crime writing from a master of the genre, \u003cem\u003eThe Last Kilo\u003c\/em\u003e traces the rise and fall of a true cocaine empire—and the lives left in its wake.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56367750709621,"sku":"9780063265547","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780063265547_acd2bd49-2026-4d1b-9d20-876ec6538012.jpg?v=1786011184"},{"product_id":"the-corporation","title":"The Corporation","description":"SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING BENICIO DEL TORO, PRODUCED BY LEONARDO DICAPRIOCuba, 1961.   A failed invasion at The Bay of Pigs results in Fidel Castro tightening his hold over Cuba. José Miguel Battle Sr., a former cop and member of the counter-revolutionary group intent on overthrowing him, is captured.   Miami, 1962.   José Miguel Battle Sr. travels to the USA, chased from the island by revolution, and is renamed The Godfather. A 2,500 strong Cuban-American criminal alliance is established.   Known on both sides of the law as 'The Corporation', its powerful members were fellow outcasts and enemies of Castro. A hero to many Cuban-Americans, The Godfather created a unit of trusted men who fought alongside him to reclaim their nation from the Marxist dictator.   Gaining money, power and inluence by running gambling rackets, money- laundering, drug trafficking and murder, The Corporation never gave up the dream of killing Castro and reclaiming their homeland. This explosive biography reveals how an entire generation of political exiles, refugees, racketeers, corrupt cops, hitmen (and their wives and girlfriends) became caught up in this violent desire, and built a criminal empire surviving over 40 years.   An epic tale of gangsters, drugs and violence, learn how The Corporation grew into one of the USA's most sordid and deadly organisations.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57490313544053,"sku":"9781911274513","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781911274513.jpg?v=1786442200"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-t-j-english.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}