Fourth Estate Hell’s Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club

The microcosm birth of the Hell's Angels motorcycle club evolved in the Fontana/ San Bernardino, California area on April 1957. Ralph Robert Barger,(Sonny) who was only 19 years old, was the founder and leader of the Hell's Angels San Bernardino motorcycle club.Sonny Barger's book, "Hell's Angel" is the only authorized, genuine story about the, sometimes, but not always, controversial motorcycle club founded by the author himself.In reading, "Hell's Angel," the reader might disagree, agree and perhaps even sympathize with the story and history of the Hell's Angels' motorcycle club. More often than not different law enforcement agencies classified the Hell's Angels as a `criminal organization' for usurping the American legal system.It is up to the reader to make his or her own assessment whether those law enforcement agencies were correct in their judgment of the Hell's Angels; or if they were prejudiced in their appraisal of the motorcycle club (MC).Many believe the original Angels were members of the U.S. Army's 11th Airborne Division; an elite group of paratroopers trained to rain death on the enemy from above, drifting in behind the lines of battle."They called themselves the Hells Angels because they flew on silk wings into hell itself, bringing a brutal hope for peace with 20 pounds of TNT strapped to each leg. The nickname was a badge of honor, a mark of invincibility, a wartime emblem pointing out the toughest of the tough. It was a totem to ward off the worst.""A handful of those original Hells Angels, and many other returning soldiers who had awakened to the nightmare of war, found it difficult to settle into the half-sleep of the American Dream. After living on the edge so long, they found only a depressing fatalism and monotony in jobs, family, mortgages, and college, suburbia and cookie-cutter houses with white-picket fences." And so they joined the MC.According to Sonny Barger, "The Hell's Angels is an organization; a group of people, who get together to ride motorcycles and have fun, and go to parties." "... Just because certain people in the Hell's Angels have committed crimes in the past does not make the organization a criminal organization."Under Barger's guidance, the Hells Angels chapters came together, hammering out bylaws, codes of conduct, outlawing the practice of using drugs, choosing patches, colors, tattoos and clubhouses. The Hell's Angel's made sure that no one used their "Patch" who had not been accepted in the MC, or who were not worthy of their motorcycle club. The MC is a close-knit motorcycle club who not only fights to preserve the dignity of their "Patch," but take care, protect, and stand by one another to the fullest.There were other motorcycle clubs, throughout the United States, who not only rivaled the Hell's Angels but tried to outdo them as well. However, law enforcement organizations did not excoriated those motorcycle clubs as they hammered the anvil of law enforcement against the Hell's Angels.The Hell's Angel reputation crashed into the public consciousness in 1954 when Marlon Brando starred in "The Wild One," a Hollywood sensation inspired by the rumble at Hollister.All the while, the Hell's Angels boldness more than irritated all types of law enforcement. And in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the government tried to pin an official organized crime label on the group, trying to prosecute the Hells Angels under laws originally designed to combat the Mafia. The alleged violations of racketeering, influence and corrupt organization (RICO) laws, however, were never proved, with two hung juries that were unable to decide on 38 of 44 separate charges.There were many high-profile accusations, arrests and acquittals - suggesting either the Angels are slippery or that police like to arrest them despite flimsy evidence. Many believe the truth lies between both theories.George Christie, longtime president of the Ventura, Calif., chapter, who is considered Barger's second-in-command and likely successor; admits the Hell's Angels are "not monks." Nevertheless, he insists that if they were as bad as police allege, they would've been jailed and disbanded years ago." George Christi adds, "...cops chase Angels because Angels are easy to chase. Finding real criminals is much tougher, and would require investigative initiative beyond pulling over every biker wearing the infamous winged death's-head."For their part, the Angels continue to deny all criminal charges, and in 1998 happily celebrated their 50th anniversary.The Angels have grown, in the past 50 years, to include many chapters in the United States, a presence in many countries and a worldwide membership estimated in the thousands.I recommend, to the interested reader, Sonny Barger's book, "Hell's Angel" before reading any other books, or magazine articles on the subject of the famous motorcycle club; The Hell's Angels.

Interesting look into the halls angels

Si on met la morale de côté et qu'on est épris de liberté c'est le bouquin à lire...Plutôt bien écrit avec quelques grands moments truculents, on se rend compte très rapidement que le bonhomme n'est vraiment pas la brute sans cervelle que certains aimeraient voir en lui. Pas vraiment non plus le saint patron de la mafia sur deux roues, enfait il est entre les deux, très gris comme personnage; Barger est un cas à part, un homme avec une vision, un souffle et des idéaux qu'il aura su faire respecter jusqu'au bout et même si les conséquences de certains des actes commis et expliqués sont impardonnables, ils ne sont pas toujours dû à ceux que l'on croit. A mon humble avis là aussi la vérité se trouve dans la zone grise, Barger étant loin du chevalier blanc...Le bonheur c'est que c'est bien écrit, intéressant et surtout très instructif sur une période, une mentalité, une manière de vivre...Et on sent que le bonhomme essaie d'être le plus honnête possible sans trop masquer les faits (même si il faut parfois savoir lire entre les lignes).Si vous cherchez l'histoire de la création et du souffle qui a permis aux Hell's Angels d'être ce qu'ils sont aujourd'hui c'est ici que ça se passe, même s'il passe peut-être un peu trop rapidement sur la partie internationale du mouvement... Si vous vous intéressez à l'homme c'est aussi le bouquin à lire absolument.Peut-être aussi un bon point de départ pour un débat constructif sur la morale et la subversion, il serait tentant de dire qu'on devrait critiquer se livre dans les écoles, il est si peu consensuel qu'il offre à son lecteur un aperçu de la véritable liberté...Je recommande vivement.Born to be wild!

Very informative. Interesting look into something that scares the "hell" outta people. Sorry folks, they put their pants on the same way we do. So they ride Harley Davidson motorcycles. My son rides & he ain't no "Angel".

Un gran bel libro, interessante, anche se ovviamente tante cose non sono proprio condivisibili...Uno spaccato reale sulle origini e sulle motivazioni, nonché sugli eventi occorsi dalle origini, di uno dei MC piu famosi al mondo.Ho acquistato anche la "controparte" di Sonny, Wethern, cosi da poter comparare le due versioni :-)Consigliato per chi vuole farsi una infarinatura motociclistica