Resumen
Resumen de Banda Secreta de Hermanos
Go deeper: the whole of Banda Secreta de Hermanos
About 5 h 40 min to read.Para quién es
Readers who enjoy true-crime tales, secret societies, frontier river life and nineteenth century reform crusades, and anyone curious about how gambling and lotteries worked in early America.
De qué trata este libro
Imagine spending twelve years as a professional gambler, then standing up in public to tell the trade's secrets. J. H. Green does exactly that. He quits cards in August 1842 and begins lecturing against gambling in 1843. In Secret Band of Brothers he describes what he says is a hidden order of respectable men and common thieves, bound by oath and code. Green includes letters supporting his claims, and historians have found no sign of such a nationwide brotherhood. What you get is a vivid record of how one crusader saw crime and hypocrisy in his day.
En este resumen
- 1A Reformed Gambler Breaks His SilenceFree
- 2Two Brothers Plot to Blame an Innocent Man
- 3The Colonel Fakes Illness in Hospital
- 4A Stolen Package of Secret Letters
- 5Bribes, Disguises and a Warning to Flee
- 6The Colonel's Confession and Death
- 7Grand Masters and a Mysterious Box
- 8The Order's Constitution, Codes and Crimes
- 9Criminal Encounters and Lottery Fraud
Idea clave 1 de 9
A Reformed Gambler Breaks His Silence
Green warns that he will describe deeds so dark they may strain belief. He says a band of cunning men has lived for years in a civilized and Christian land.
In August 1842 he gave up a trade that had cost him twelve years. He swore to quit, destroyed his card plates and returned financial obligations that could have made him rich. His old companions laughed at him.
In 1843 he began to lecture. Ministers blessed his work, yet gamblers and the ignorant attacked him. He claims to hold letters from respected men in his home county, and that secret is where the book begins.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
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Go deeper: the whole of Banda Secreta de Hermanos
About 5 h 40 min to read.Questions about Banda Secreta de Hermanos
What is Secret Band of Brothers about?
It is J. H. Green's account of a hidden criminal order he says ran counterfeiting, horse theft and murder across America. It also includes his prison visits, a Philadelphia debate with a gambler, anti-gambling laws and a study of lottery fraud.
Is the Secret Band of Brothers a real organization?
Green presents it as real, with a constitution, codes and letters. Historians have found no outside evidence for such a nationwide order, so it is best read as Green's claim and his view of crime in his day.
Who was Colonel Brown in the book?
He is a counterfeiter held in New Orleans around 1832 and said to be a Grand Master. He fakes illness with drugs, tells Green about the order, and is the man whose lost papers drive much of the plot.
What is the debate between Green and Freeman?
In May 1847 at Philadelphia's Chinese Museum, Green debates a professional gambler named J. G. Freeman over three evenings. Freeman attacks gambling laws as unjust, and Green answers with stories and card tricks. Newspaper reports of all three nights are printed in the book.
Why does the book include lottery tables and math?
Green wants readers to check for themselves how lotteries cheat. He compares a printed prize list with a dealer's scheme book, shows how few combinations exist among 76076 possible, and explains the odds against buyers.
Cite this edition
Green, J. H. Secret Band of Brothers. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/secret-band-of-brothers.
Green, J. H. (2026). Secret band of brothers. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/secret-band-of-brothers (Original work published 1848)
Green, J. H. Secret Band of Brothers. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/secret-band-of-brothers.
@book{green2026secret,
author = {Green, J. H.},
title = {Secret Band of Brothers},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/secret-band-of-brothers},
note = {First published 1848}
}
