The Last Godfather

Reg McKay

Average Rating 8/10 (1 Review)

No-one could rule bloody Glasgow, they said. Arthur Thompson proved them all wrong. From a normal working class family, Thompson started out as a bouncer, minder and bagman. Hard, bright, he learned young. Cross him - you were scarred. Cheat him - he nailed you to the floor. The gangsters of Glasgow thought it couldn't get worse. It did. For forty years Thompson ruled Glasgow's mean streets, always devising new terror. There came a time people prayed to be crucified.

This fully revised edition of The Last Godfather visits places no law-abiding person has been. Gun-running, murders, drug dealing and torture are still there. But there's much more. How he improved on crucifixion. Created Europe's Tartan Mafia. Invented concrete boots. Then there's his impact on others such as death by sniper, kidnap from London and tortured in Glasgow - and why he decided to do nothing about the Ice Cream Wars. Thompson died of natural causes but his influence didn't stop at his grave, left unmarked for fear of gravediggers. This new edition explains and describes The Aftermath in detail for the first time. Revenge from beyond the grave - the kidnapper killed. Hexed - his enemies since murdered yet the cases remain unsolved. Twice torched - who was so desperate to get rid of his old HQ? The good daughter's curse. The runt's tale and the end of the line. There couldn't be another - Arthur Thompson was The Last Godfather.

Review by Jessica (100509) Rating (8/10)

Review by Jessica
Rating 8/10
The Last Godfather tells the tale of Arthur Thompson who had the streets of Glasgow shaking in fear. He was hard as nails and a fast learner. Anyone who got on his wrong side bitterly regretted it. He was not the man who you messed with.

Inside this fully updated version we reflect on the life Arthur led and the brutal crimes he committed. There are page after page which really do portray how vile he was and how scary Arthur became.

Arthur grew up and made a name for himself - people would later refer to him as the Godfather and he liked it that way. Slashing faces, cracking knee bones with hammers and shooting people in the foot and worse, all became familiar crimes that he would commit.

When Arthur’s son, Fatboy, grew up he would regularly encourage him to settle his own battles and show people who was the boss.

Fatboy grew aware of his dad’s status and would often ask kids at school if they understood who his father was. Most had only a vague idea.

As well as teaching Fatboy to stand up for himself Arthur took him to 'business meetings' where he was allowed to sit before the powerful hard-as-nails men who had many dealings with him. He would show his boy how it was done.

Unfortunately Fatboy took a liking to guns and would take pistols from a store and go around the house pretending to 'shoot' family members. He was practising how to be like his Dad and grew to have a fascination with guns... a thing which would have a disastrous effect in the future.

If anyone has ever followed the story of Arthur Thompson then this is certainly a book they might want to consider reading. But a good read anyway. It comes complete with photographs showing Arthur Thompson's home and even some showing Thompson himself - not a very nice man. If you like true crime books this is the one for you.
Jessica (10th May 2009)