Herbert Asbury, author of The Gangs of New York and The Gangs of Chicago, turns his attention to chronicle the seedy underworld of San Francisco, from its gold-rush glories to its subterranean opium dens. Houses of ill-repute play host to shanghaied sailors, and the Chinese tong wars rage around the city. San Francisco`s historic past is here brought to life in all its scintillating and infamous glory.