I have always had a fascination with those cool dudes in the vegas heat, wearing the suits and the shades, this book gave me a wonderful insight into the actuallity of that time and place!

Not that great a read but not because of author; he didn't have much to work with.

If you grew up knowing about this group of men and a few of the ladies involved with them, this is a great way to reconnect the who what and where connections of them all. Happy and sad and bits of discusting behaviour from most of them. Peter trapped in between two bad vices never to recover is the one I felt sorry for the most Sammy my favourite .... had so much against him back then.... black man, one eyed, Jew who marries a white woman.

This book hits the highs and lows but there are a lot more books out there on all if you are interested on all of them.

Author captures the tone of the swingin’ days of the very late ‘50s/early ‘60s when Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop ruled Las Vegas and starred in other genres of entertainment. If this were a chronological telling, it would same old and weary, but the author writes in such a manner that one thinks we all just experienced this. Seamlessly woven within the telling are bios of the five as well as others stars in their galaxy and the associated controlling mobsters of the day. A good look at this particular piece of show biz history.

An interesting, informative book chronicling the lives of not only the Rat Pack but also, the Kennedys, the Mafia and Las Vegas through the prism of the late 50s and early 60s. Not as magisterial as Nick Tosches' book on Dean Martin, but still well worth reading if you are interested in any of the principals.

An exciting read from the point of view of getting a look into the fast-paced world of these famous men. However, Frank Sinatra is painted in a bad light throughout the book and I feel this wasn't a totally balanced representation of the man. It might be worth reading this along with other books about Frank Sinatra, to build up a more complete and rounded picture of the man.

A bit of a schlep due to the type of book it is but so interesting ngl. Some of the exciting and most scandalous and yet saddest and most oppressed lives seen in America. Infamous almost and yet nobody after the millennial generation seems to remember them except for individual names (frank, dean, and- sometimes- sammy) which tbh is so fucking sad despite the fact that they are not idyllic figures and are very much all flawed in many ways. They reset an entire generation and paved the way for modern music the way we know it.

For Sinatra fans mostly, as he is the focus as the leader of the Rat Pack. In retrospect they weren't nearly as interesting as it once seemed. One nice aspect is a bit of history of the original stalwart hotel/casinos of the Strip going back to before it was called the Strip: the Frontier, Desert Inn, Sands, Riviera and others. Kennedy family fans may find a few morsels of gossip as well.

I must read more to assess the validity of Levy's thesis. But it sounds right to me. I grew up during the Rat Pack era. Both of my parents loved their music and their movies. It was a cultural cul de sac but it was marvelous while it lasted. It was aggressively male and laced with controlled substances but it was the epitome of "Cool". We have surrendered a great deal in our PC, transgendered, liberated filth of the early 21st Century.

I enjoyed this potted history of the Rat Pack. I'm sure there are much more extensive biographies of all the characters, but this pulled them all together and runs a timeline well.

Being a James Ellroy reader, I enjoyed the way that the links between Sam Giancana and JFK were teased out and explained.

There are numerous strands to the book, which is unsurprising, given the revolutionary times it spans.

Whilst it may not be definitive, it certainly whets the appetite and is told with relish and zeal.

I blame George Clooney for getting me interested in the Rat Pack. After he came out with the movie Ocean's Eleven, I decided to watch the original--the Rat Pack's first movie together.

I read this book because I was curious about Las Vegas in the 50s and 60s and the lives of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, and Peter Lawford. Sinatra was definitely the guy in charge!

I found this book to be fascinating. I kind of wish I could go back in time and watch these guys hang out together.

This book tells tells the story of the famous Rat Pack - Sinatra, Martin, Lawford, Davis Jr, Bishop and some other people. It is a great way to understand those days, those people and the ways they all lived, played and worked. Their struggle, their triumphs. So, if you need a general idea about the Rat Pack and the necessary details about their lives, it is what you need. A fascinating lecture from first to last page.