Herbert Asbury

Born in 1891 and dying in 1963, Herbert Asbury was an American journalist and writer remembered for colorful nonfiction about crime in the United States. He is most closely associated with The Gangs of New York, along with books such as The Barbary Coast, Gem of the Prairie, and Sucker's Progress.

Asbury’s writing focused on the rougher side of American urban history, especially the 19th and early 20th centuries. Rather than writing dry academic history, he told these stories with energy and atmosphere, drawing on old newspapers, reports, and other period sources to recreate the worlds of gangs, gambling houses, waterfronts, and political corruption.

His work has remained influential well beyond his lifetime, especially because The Gangs of New York introduced generations of readers to a dramatic, often mythic version of New York’s past. Some historians have treated his books with caution as popular history, but they are still widely read for their storytelling power and their lasting impact on the true-crime and urban-history genres.