Elephant Boys: Tales of London and Los Angeles Underworlds

I bought this book over a year ago and only recently got around to reading it. I only wish I had read it earlier as it is a great book and gives you a good insight on how London was like to live in in the early part of the century. The story of the McDonald family is a fascinating one. This is a period of British history that has generally been forgotten about or overlooked in favour for the milked 60s stories of the Krays. Buy it!!!

Facinating story, wasted oppertunity. (0/1 people found this helpful)

I so much wanted to enjoy this book ; the premise is so facinating . London during the roaring twenties , an english Cosa Nostra ! Brian Mcdonalds family were at the centre of the events described in this book which is largly based on their oral history and the diaries of one of the main protagonists,his uncle Charles 'Wag' Mcdonald. The book therefore represents a first hand account of Londons underworld from the turn of the century to the early days of the Krays. It is the early parts of this story which are the more interesting .Charles Mcdonald was a central figure in the London underworld who also travelled to Los Angeles to become a force in the Jack Dragna Family.His diaries which are quoted at length here , show him to have been an articulate observer of America ,its people and geography. Unfortunatly 'Wag' disappears from the story early on and what follows is rather messy and confused. Characters and events come tumbling from the page so quickly it is hard to keep track. Anecdotes are packed so tightly together that it is difficlt to tell when one ends and another begins.The problem is that many of these tales are actually quite interesting,but they are lost in an ocean of others that are frankly dull.There is no time for personalities to develope before they are quickly erased from the page to be replaced by others. And the thing is , its such a shame . This is a story thats largly untold about a facinating era . The book compares rather badly to Rich Cohens 'Tough Jews -Fathers Sons and Gangster Dreams' a similar oral history of Charles Mcdonalds contemparies in the USA .Cohens book grips you with its fully rounded characters. The hoods come to life. They have voices, families, backgrounds, even hobbies. The villains in Elephant Boys are only half glimpsed , across a very crowded room , and are barely discernable from each other . To be fair the style settles down toward the end of book and the last couple of chapters regarding Jack Spot and the rise of the Richardson Family are riviting. Finally characters become more rounded , storylines are allowed to develope . Those interested in first hand accounts of the underworld will certainly find items of interest here , but on the whole Im afraid this represents an opportunity missed .

Elephant Boys: Tales of London and Los Angeles Underworlds

Brian McDonald

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Elephant Boys (0/0 people found this helpful)

Facinating story, wasted oppertunity. (0/1 people found this helpful)

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