Murder, mayhem, militias, marijuana, mafia and The Mons. A criminal history of Tampa focusing on its most infamous people and events of the past century. Historians seem to love painting a picture of Tampa's past as one of immigrants happily working side-by-side to create a utopian society that became the cigar capital of the world and later a destination hailed as one of "the nation's next best cities." While this is true to some extent, Tampa also has a dark side. Tampa's history can be divided into three dark eras - the early years of danger, where the greatest fear was the nightmarish individuals who were allowed to roam the nights in a city without a proper law enforcement organization in place; the mid-1900s when one of the most power criminal syndicates in the nation made its home in Tampa and when a another nation's revolutionary war affected the city's residents; and the late 1900s to early 2000s when Tampa became a sexual playground. Each flows effortlessly into the next, one always passing the torch to the next. Some of the names associated with these eras are well known in all corners of Tampa -Santo Trafficante, Fidel Castro and Joe Redner. While others are either less known or completely unknown - Charlie Wall, Tampa's first godfather; Robert Anderson, one of the nation's first serial killers; and Bobby Rodriguez, owner of Tampa's first GoGo bar. Whether known or unknown, good or bad, each of the individuals explored in this book had an impact on Tampa's history. These are their stories.

The Dark Side of Sunshine

History

Guzzo, Paul

Americas

Aignos Publishing, Incorporated

When people speak of the immigrant groups that helped to build Tampa into the great city that it is today, they usually speak of the Italians, Cubans and Spaniards, because their contributions in the late 1800s and early 1900s laid the groundwork that turned a sleepy section of Florida, once covered with guava fields and mangroves, into a thriving metropolis. But, in the last three decades, Tampa has seen the rise of a new and vibrant immigrant community, namely the Indian American community (meaning those men and women with roots in India) that is helping lead Tampa into a better tomorrow. Yet, the majority of the Tampa Bay community still seems unaware of the significance of Indian Americans in the life of the city. The purpose of this book is to finally shed some light on Tampa's least known culture and to document the men and women who built Tampa's Indian community before they all pass on. Other immigrant cultures waited over a century to begin compiling their histories and some of them have been lost. By documenting the history while most of the first and second generation Indians are still alive and young, it has been possible to compile a firsthand look at how Tampa's Indian American culture was built, who its leaders are and from where they've come.

From Indians to Indian Americans: How Tampa Bay s Indian Community Was Built

AuthorHouse

Murder, mayhem, militias, marijuana, mafia and The Mons. A criminal history of Tampa focusing on its most infamous people and events of the past century. Historians seem to love painting a picture of Tampa's past as one of immigrants happily working side-by-side to create a utopian society that became the cigar capital of the world and later a destination hailed as one of "the nation's next best cities." While this is true to some extent, Tampa also has a dark side. Tampa's history can be divided into three dark eras - the early years of danger, where the greatest fear was the nightmarish individuals who were allowed to roam the nights in a city without a proper law enforcement organization in place; the mid-1900s when one of the most power criminal syndicates in the nation made its home in Tampa and when a another nation's revolutionary war affected the city's residents; and the late 1900s to early 2000s when Tampa became a sexual playground. Each flows effortlessly into the next, one always passing the torch to the next. Some of the names associated with these eras are well known in all corners of Tampa -Santo Trafficante, Fidel Castro and Joe Redner. While others are either less known or completely unknown - Charlie Wall, Tampa's first godfather; Robert Anderson, one of the nation's first serial killers; and Bobby Rodriguez, owner of Tampa's first GoGo bar. Whether known or unknown, good or bad, each of the individuals explored in this book had an impact on Tampa's history. These are their stories.

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Guzzo, Paul. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Guzzo, Paul

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Guzzo, Paul. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Dark Side of Sunshine

From Indians to Indian Americans: How Tampa Bay s Indian Community Was Built

The Dark Side of Sunshine