James Morton

Shotgun and Standover

Submitted by Karen on

Category: 
True Crime
Author's Home Country: 
Australia
Sub Genre: 
Historical

Few names in Australian criminal history are as redolent as the Painters and Dockers. They were a union gone to the bad. From their outset in the early years of the 20th Century, they attracted more than their fair share of shady waterfront characters, and by the 1960s, '70s and '80s they had become a fully fledged criminal fraternity of some of the most violent and dangerous men in Australia.

ISBN: 
9781405039864
Location: 
Melbourne
Publisher: 
Pan MacMillan Australia
Year of Publication: 
2010

GANGLAND AUSTRALIA - James Morton and Susanna Lobez

Submitted by Karen on

Author's Home Country: 
Australia
Category: 
True Crime

"Gangland Australia" is a book about organized crime and the professional criminals who have recklessly cut a swathe through Australia over the last 200 years. It is a book with accounts of murder, robbery, standover, prostitution, drugs, great escapes, revenge, betrayal, corruption, police, lawyers, doctors and politicians.This is a forensic investigation of criminal gangs in Australia, from convicts and bushrangers right up to the recent gangland slayings in Melbourne.It is written in a very accessible style, with a narrative flow which reads as part history, part-thriller.

ISBN: 
9780522852738
Publisher: 
Melbourne University Press
Year of Publication: 
2007

SHOTGUN AND STANDOVER - James Morton & Russell Robinson

Author Information
Book Title: 
Shotgun and Standover
Author Name: 
James Morton
Russell Robinson
Author's Home Country: 
Australia
ISBN: 
9781405039864
Categorisation
Category: 
True Crime
Publisher: 
Pan MacMillan Australia
Year of Publication: 
2010

Few names in Australian criminal history are as redolent as the Painters and Dockers. They were a union gone to the bad. From their outset in the early years of the 20th Century, they attracted more than their fair share of shady waterfront characters, and by the 1960s, '70s and '80s they had become a fully fledged criminal fraternity of some of the most violent and dangerous men in Australia.

Book Review: 

Subtitled "The Story of the Painters and Dockers" I think this probably would have been better if it had said "The Story of Members of the Painters and Dockers".

Told in typical James Morton style, this is a book of anecdotes and stories of various members of the painters and dockers from its inception to its folding.  One of the most notorious unions in Australian History, the book doesn't really give you much insight into the workings of the Painters and Dockers themselves, rather it provides a long and involved tale of all of the various goings on of the various notorious individual members of the union, with brief snippets on how / where they fitted into the union infrastructure.

As much as I found the tales of the various players interesting and frequently a little disturbing, I came away from the book with a distinct feeling of let-down.  There's not a lot of analysis or indepth discussion about the union itself in this book - but if you're looking for some anecdotes about the various members - then there is something here for you.

Currently Reading - Shotgun and Standover, James Morton & Russell Robinson

Submitted by Karen on

Book Title: 
Shotgun and Standover
Author Name: 
James Morton
Russell Robinson

The only good thing about a dose of the lurgy is a spot of reading catching up, although this spot wasn't nearly as productive as I would normally like (okay so the lurgy was a bit more dramatic than I'd normally like as well)... but this is one of the books that I picked up at the recent Crime & Justice Festival, so I took the opportunity to finish it off.

From the Blurb:

GANGLAND AUSTRALIA - James Morton and Susanna Lobez

Author Information
Book Title: 
Gangland Australia
Author Name: 
James Morton
Susanna Lobez
Author's Home Country: 
Australia
ISBN: 
9780522852738
Categorisation
Category: 
True Crime
Publisher: 
Melbourne University Press
Year of Publication: 
2007

"Gangland Australia" is a book about organized crime and the professional criminals who have recklessly cut a swathe through Australia over the last 200 years. It is a book with accounts of murder, robbery, standover, prostitution, drugs, great escapes, revenge, betrayal, corruption, police, lawyers, doctors and politicians.This is a forensic investigation of criminal gangs in Australia, from convicts and bushrangers right up to the recent gangland slayings in Melbourne.It is written in a very accessible style, with a narrative flow which reads as part history, part-thriller.

Book Review: 

I bought this book at last years Crime & Justice festival, and at the time Susanna Lobez was kind enough to sign it with me including the inscription "Stay curious!".

And that is the best way I can recommend this book - staying curious, reading this sort of historical true crime fiction, reminds you that nothing is ever really new.  And nothing is ever "the worst it has ever been" or "never before in the history...." or whatever else the media feeds you (obviously I'm thinking of the "Underbelly Wars" here).

Commencing at the beginning of the arrival of the British in Australia, this book takes you right through to the 1990's, outlining the various criminal gangs, crimelords and warlords, as well as their lesser and greater known exploits.  So much is touched on - the drug dealing, prostitution, stand-over merchants, infights, murders, and bashings. 

And it ranges over a range of different cities, nationalities, groupings, allegiances, loyalties and disloyalties.

This is a great book to read through, or to dip in and out of.  And it is a tremendous book to remind you that there's very little new under the sun.

Currently Reading - Gangland Australia, James Morton and Susanna Lobez

Submitted by Karen on

Book Title: 
Gangland Australia
Author Name: 
James Morton
Susanna Lobez

I picked this book up at last year's Crime & Justice Festival and it's been a perfect book to dip into a read a little bit now and then.  Makes you realise that everything old is new again - the Gangland Wars of Melbourne are definitely not the first and couldn't possibly be the last.

From the Blurb:

GANGLAND AUSTRALIA details the exploits of an unforgettable cast of villains, crooks and mobsters who have made up the criminal and gangland scene in Australia.

Subscribe to RSS - James Morton