Detroit's Infamous Purple Gang (Images of America)
Title: Detroit bound: Literate gifts with a local beartingAuthor: Michael JackmanPublisher: Detroit Metro TimesDate: 12/01/2008This year, we've seen a profusion of books that relate to our region, rolling off the presses everywhere from national trade publishers to university presses to even local individuals. So whatever the bookworms in your life are interested in, there's a volume related to Detroit, the state or the region that'll fill their stockings.If you're shopping for a fan of Detroit history who's less interested in text than in photography, this year saw a new slew of Arcadia Press' appealing historical photographic paperbacks (all costing about $20). This year, Arcadia's Detroit titles include books about crime (Detroit's Infamous Purple Gang), local sports (Metro Detroit's High School Football Rivalries), music (Motor City Rock and Roll: The 1960s and 1970s), public service (The Detroit Police Department) and shopping (20th-Century Retailing in Downtown Detroit). Fans of Detroit's many bars and saloons will enjoy Detroit's Historic Drinking Establishments, with its unprecedented collection of photographs documenting such watering holes as Russell House, the Gayety, Chin Tiki, the Flame Show Bar, Lindell A.C. and Cliff Bell's, with a special eye to taverns' roles as civic meeting places, and a doff of the cap to Detroit's Prohibition-era speakeasies and historic cigar and brewing businesses.