Product Description

For almost twenty years, the most intense and prolonged gang war in British history has raged on the streets of Manchester. Warring factions have left at least forty people dead, scores injured and made headlines across the world. The gangs vicious conflicts for control of drugs turf, protection rackets and door security have blighted the reputation of one of Europe's most dynamic and entrepreneurial cities and caused the coining of sinister epithets such as `Gangchester' and `Gunchester.'

Investigative author Peter Walsh reveals the inside story of the north-west crime mobs and their internecine feuding. With unprecedented access to gang members and police officers, he traces the roots of the gangs and focuses on the emergence of the city's four main gangs - the Cheetham Hillbillies, the Doddington, the Gooch and the Salford Lads and tells how the Cheetham Hill, Gooch and Doddington crews fought for control of the Moss Side drug trade and how the much feared Salford criminals fought for control of pub and club doors and brought the region's licensed trade to its' knees.

Gang War also exposes for the first time, the new breed of young gangbangers - the Young Firm from Salford, the machine gun-toting Young Longsight Soldiers and the dreaded Pit Bull Crew, led by its fearless young leader, Tommy Pitt.

Gang War reveals how a new, US-style gang culture evolved in Manchester, unlike anything seen before in the UK and as gang culture spreads to other British cities, the book is a powerful and timely account of an extraordinary crime phenomenon.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31064 in Books
• Published on: 2005-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 335 pages

MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS
`The most detailed account of Manchester's gangs ever published.'

HIP-HOP CONNECTION
'You'll struggle to put down Walsh's ever bristling evocations of real life gang war in Gunchester. Gripping stuff.'

THE WEEKLY NEWS
'The definitive account of the crime mobs' feuding.'

Customer Reviews

there r some bad lads in here
most of the other books about english gangsters centre on london in the 60s, which is good for readers of a certain age and mentality. this is about gangs and gangsters in 1 of englands major provinces in the recent past. some of the lads in here would have been a right handful for any of the older generation. they are afraid of no one or nothing. i really enjoyed reading this book. the author holds a good distance from his subject. some other books about gangsterism are too respectful of their subjects and descend to hagiography, glossing over the cruelty and wickedness of their actions, (they only ever hurt their own etc). this book is 'more real', a good read for those under 40, (especially those who enjoyed the madchester days), who are not starstruck by the celebrity gangster industry

Gunchester
'Gang War' by Peter Walsh looks back over 30 years of gang related agro in the Manchester area. It's incredibly well researched and well structured too. As a Mancunian the first thing I found unusual about reading the book was being so familiar with pretty much every place mentioned. When reading fiction, or maybe a biography, the scene is generally set 'elsewhere', so the mind can freewheel and invent. But with this book I found myself strangely transported to places I've hung out in the past, like being an invisible observer of the events retold. Secondly, having had some involvement on the fringes of the gangs/drugs/crime/clubs scene, and certainly knowing the bars and clubs of the 'Madchester' era like the back of my hand, I often found myself wondering... "Where was I when that happened?" and "How close did I come to getting caught up in X, Y or Z?"
But anyway, enough about me, what you want to know is "Should I buy this book to read during my holiday in Playa Las Americas?" The answer is a resounding 'YES', particularly if you're a thirty-something like me clinging on to dim memories of the Madchester scene - it will bring it all flooding back to you like it was yesterday!

peter walsh does it again
peter walsh does it again with his magnificent indeth writing on a subject he surely must adore