6 h 54 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 54 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a street becomes territory, loyalty has a price, and violence becomes a trade?
In The Apaches of New York, Alfred Henry Lewis takes you into the criminal underworld of the early twentieth-century city. These sketches move through tenements, saloons and crowded blocks, among young toughs, gunmen and gang leaders. Work is scarce, hope is thin, and standing on the street can depend on a willingness to hurt others.
Lewis brings a lawyer's knowledge of police courts and a newspaper writer's eye to this world. His sketches explore the streets that breed gangs, the rules of paid violence, and the politics and police that give criminals cover. He argues that the underworld depends on the upper world, drawing attention to the quiet bargains behind the visible threats.
What you’ll discover
- Crowded streets, narrow chances Enter the tenements, saloons and crowded blocks where Lewis traces the roots of gang life.
- The gunman's trade Meet men who use violence for money, pride, or a stronger place among their peers.
- Loyalty with a price Explore gang codes and the bought loyalties that help turn a street into territory.
- Power behind the gangs Follow Lewis's account of the political and police protection that helps the underworld survive.
- A reporter's sharp eye Feel the quick, vivid manner of a writer steeped in city politics and crime.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy true crime told with a grin, New York history, gang slang, and colorful portraits of thieves, bouncers and barroom philosophers.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A quarrel about dancing starts a feud
- Love and money push Johnny Spanish into violence
- A coward with money is squeezed from both sides
- Ike the Blood consults a fortune teller
- Indian Louie builds a reputation on mystery
- Opium, jealousy and love in a dentist's rooms
- Leoni leaves a trail of love and trouble
- Chinatown's war begins with a bride in a rented room
- Silence, informers and politicians shape every story
- Lewis tells it with jokes, slang and barroom wisdom
Who’s who
- Chick TrickerA cool Park Row saloon keeper and gang aristocrat who wants to keep his honor, and who later runs the Stag.
- Eat-Em-Up Jack McManusThe sheriff of the New Brighton dance hall, a former prizefighter who keeps order with a blackjack and defends Goldie Cora's dancing.
- Johnny SpanishA small, jealous young gunman who wants money to impress Alma, and who bungles his way into disgrace.
- Ike the BloodA strong Eastman gangster who has never killed anyone and worries about a dream and a fortune teller.
- Indian LouieA mysterious man in black who builds a name on bluff and lives on the money of two women.
- Leoni the Trouble MakerA beautiful woman whose love moves from one gangster to the next and leaves a trail of feuds.
- Pretty AgnesA young woman who walks the streets for Louie and later swears to punish a snitch who endangers her friend.
- Old JimmyA former river pirate living on a pension who gives opinions on politics, love and virtue to anyone at his table.
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The Apaches of New York
by Alfred Henry Lewis · 1912
Chick Tricker dares two rivals to meet him on a snowy Third Avenue corner, and tells them to bring their guns.
Medium level5–10 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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In short
What happens when a gangster dares his rivals to bring their guns? On a snowy February night, Chick Tricker does exactly that, and the challenge opens The Apaches of New York.
The Apaches of New York at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 55 min3 h 10 min fast, 4 h 40 min slow
- Length
- 56,300 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1912by Alfred Henry Lewis
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A quarrel about dancing starts a feud
Chapter one shows how little it takes to start a gang feud. Chick Tricker, a saloon keeper from Park Row, spends a snowy evening wandering the East Side. His bar has just lost its license. He is a gang aristocrat, and every place he enters makes room for him.
In a bar on Doyers Street, he meets thieves who rob drunken sailors in plain view. Lewis explains the first lesson of Gangland, which is never to inform.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1912
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 4 h 30 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Lewis, Alfred Henry. The Apaches of New York. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-apaches-of-new-york.
Lewis, A. H. (2026). The Apaches of New York. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-apaches-of-new-york (Original work published 1912)
Lewis, Alfred Henry. The Apaches of New York. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-apaches-of-new-york.
@book{lewis2026apaches,
author = {Lewis, Alfred Henry},
title = {The Apaches of New York},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-apaches-of-new-york},
note = {First published 1912}
}
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What is The Apaches of New York about?
It is a collection of twelve sketches of gangsters, thieves and their women on the East Side and in Chinatown. Each chapter follows one figure, with dry humor, slang and plenty of detail about how the gangs lived.
Is The Apaches of New York a true story?
Lewis says these stories, gathered from police and gangsters, use true names, times and places and unfold within three years of nineteen eleven. Readers treat it as journalism with strong literary shaping and a lively storyteller's voice.
Who are Old Jimmy and the Irish Wop?
They are barroom regulars at Sirocco's, Tony's and the Chatham Club. Old Jimmy is a former river pirate living on a pension who gives opinions, and the Wop is a poolroom owner who argues politics with him.
The author
Alfred Henry Lewis
1855–1914 · American journalist and novelist
American investigative journalist, lawyer, author, and editor.
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