TBR articles Archives - Barnes Review

Kosher Criminals: A Short History of the Jewish Mafia

Posted on September 17, 2016 by Help

By Ronald L. Ray. We all “know” about the mafia. We “know” it is primarily Sicilian. We “know” it has lost a lot of its influence on the world around us. We may even “know” that there are “Russian” or “Chechen” or “Asian” or “Colombian” organized crime syndicates. But is what we “know” really true?…

What Really Caused the Chicago Fire?

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Help

By Marc Roland. When I was a boy in the 1950s, my great-grandmother told me how she survived American history’s epic conflagration: the Great Chicago Fire. Despite Frances’s 90-plus years, she was still physically and mentally vigorous, with a photographic memory going back to her Civil War-era upbringing. The old lady lucidly recalled that fateful…