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About the Author

He is the author of the critically acclaimed TULIPOMANIA and two other books. He is the former editorial director of the Fortean Times. A Cambridge educated historian before he became a writer, his articles have been published in the Guardian and the Observer, and he appears frequently on show more television in the UK. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the name: Mike Dash

Works by Mike Dash

Associated Works

Fortean Times 100 — Contributor — 2 copies
Fortean Times 102 — Contributor — 2 copies
Fortean Times 58 — Contributor — 2 copies

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17th century (65) Australia (54) Batavia (24) biography (12) botany (14) crime (48) Dutch (23) Dutch history (25) ebook (23) economic history (13) economics (38) Europe (12) European History (23) flowers (18) gardening (21) history (458) Holland (24) horticulture (12) India (27) Kindle (14) mafia (25) maritime (20) maritime history (24) murder (19) mutiny (37) nautical (13) Netherlands (81) New York (20) non-fiction (227) organized crime (13) read (25) sea (13) shipwreck (30) shipwrecks (21) to-read (169) true crime (46) tulips (54) unread (12) USA (13) VOC (20)

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Reviews

I could not put this one down. Mike Dash does an amazing job of bringing "The Clutch Hand" back to life. While we are familiar with Lucky Luciano, Al Capone, Dutch Schultz, we know little of Ciro Terranova, Lupo the Wolf, and other heavyweights of their generation - this book shines a bright light on these largely forgotten mobsters.

The book not only sheds light on it's principal subject, Giuseppe Morello, it also gives a thorough breakdown of the foundation of the "Mafia" and how and where it spread in America, mostly New York and New Orleans. Dash paints a vivid picture of turn of the century New York.

Anyone looking for a great read on organized crime, especially a topic that has not been over-covered check out "The First Family".
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melkor1917 | 10 other reviews | Jul 10, 2023 |
Comparing books with https://www.goodreads.com/lindevdmartin I found this title on 2022 0526 th as one on the skipping list.
 
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ruit | 10 other reviews | Aug 9, 2022 |
An interesting story! I haven't read any of the other more famous books about the Batavia, so I can't compare them to this.

I liked the backstory, though I didn't really like how Dash divided the story - I would have preferred it to be more chronological to keep the names straight. I consistently had trouble with the commander, skipper, and heretic's names.

My other main complaint was how much detail Dash went into for the deaths. It seemed excessive and bloodthirsty. I wasn't as concerned with the division between known accounts and filling in the blanks as I would be with Erik Larson (always a good thing).

Other than that though, I liked all of the contextualization of the time. I liked the reminder of how dangerous heretics were, even for beliefs that would seem fairly tame to modern standards.

But holy shit it was so bloody. Horrifying.
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Tikimoof | 29 other reviews | Feb 17, 2022 |
Well-researched, history of the tulip from early beginnings.
 
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PhyllisHarrison | 19 other reviews | Jan 2, 2022 |

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Associated Authors

André Abeling Translator
Margareta Eklöf Translator
Elfriede Peschel Translator
Nuria Salinas Translator
Sebastian Vogel Translator
Tinke Davids Translator
Roberta Zuppet Translator
Daniele Didero Translator
Pon Ruiter Translator
John Lee Director
Corbis Cover photo
Daniel Rembert Cover designer

Statistics

Works
9
Also by
3
Members
2,560
Popularity
#10,034
Rating
3.9
Reviews
74
ISBNs
78
Languages
7
Favorited
2

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