Asbury's book is highly readable, full of blood and thunder, loads of colorful characters and as many tall tales as there are pages. The book isn't so much a history as it is an impression. What Asbury captures is clearly an impression of the Five Points and its gangs in the public consciousness and folklore. This is a sort of "if it didn't happen this way, it should have" bit of storytelling. If you want actual history, look elsewhere. If you want a strong taste of American folklore, start reading. As has been noted, this isn't the story you'll find in the Scorcese film. And that's good. Reading "The Gangs of New York" actually illuminates the movie. You'll get a greater, grander sense of what Scorcese is getting at in his film. The book and the film are about American mythmaking. As Jimmy Stewart says at the end of "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," "when legend become fact, print the legend."

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