Original gangster (Ebury Publishing)

Criminals are not born in a vacuum, and Frank Lucas is no exception. At the age of six he watched his cousin die in a lynching and in that moment of Southern brutality, Frank Lucas, notorious gangster, billion-dollar-heroin importer and true-life inspiration for the film "American Gangster" was born.

"Original Gangster" is the story of the most notorious black gangster to ever rule the streets of New York. He went from running numbers in the 50s, to importing millions of dollars of heroin in the 70s, before losing it all at the hands of a snitch.

This is the ultimate tale of ambition, hubris and downfall. The original O.G., Lucas has gone down in history for his infamous business measure of cutting out middlemen in the drug trade, buying heroin directly from its source in Southeast Asia, and then smuggling it back in the coffins of dead US servicemen.

Seven years of Lucas' life were dramatised for the Hollywood blockbuster "American Gangster", but this is the first time that the mythical figure tells the story himself. The book delves even further into his extraordinary story, showing just what a folk hero Lucas is to contemporary urban audiences.It's a brutally honest account of a gangster and his times.