Just one more thing...

October 2023 issue contents - Columns

‘Butcher’ wasn't from the Five Points

Hollywood relocated notorious ruffian

By Thomas Hunt

Due in large part to Martin Scorsese’s popular 2002 film, Gangs of New York, many have mistaken impressions of Lower East Side gangland history. One of the movie’s (many) distortions was putting character William “Bill the Butcher” Cutting in command of a Civil War Era, Tammany­-employed, Five Points­-based gang of American­born thugs.

The Cutting character from Scorsese’s movie was based on the real “Bill the Butcher” Poole and had a number of similarities with Poole (possibly including the single disabled eye). However, Poole wasn’t around during the Civil War. And he certainly was not a Five Points underworld chief. He wasn’t from there. He wasn’t known to have spent any time there. According to some biographies, he wasn’t even originally from New York...

Book page count: twelve pages.
Magazine page count: six pages.
Source list.

Learn more about Informer's October 2023 issue.

Book news

October 2023 issue contents - Books

New/recent releases

Announcements for eight new or recently released books on crime history.

Book page count: six pages.
Magazine page count: two pages.
Images: eight.

(Note: Book news section is not included in audiobook version.)

Learn more about Informer's October 2023 issue.

2020 paperback gets new cover

"Better late than never"?

The first Informer issue released in trade paperback format (Nicola Gentile issue released in October 2020) was somewhat hastily assembled in response to printing problems (since fixed) with the print magazine format. The cover of that paperback was essentially a stretched out version of the magazine cover, and some of its spine text - black on a dark teal background - was difficult to read on a bookshelf.

It took a few years, but a new cover - simpler in design, but clear, proportional and featuring more readable spine text - has been put in place on the 2020 paperback edition (it has been added to the Kindle and EPUB ebook formats, as well), which remains available for purchase through Amazon.com. Issue content remains unchanged.