In the early 1990s, Maurice "Mom" Boucher and his fellow Montreal Hells Angels, reputedly the most ruthless and vicious bikers in the world, subdued all comers except the tough-as-nails members of the Rock Machine. Founded by Salvatore Cazzetta, an ex-friend of Boucher, the Rock Machine had every intention of standing up against the Hells Angels. Seven years of bloody conflict, which left over 160 people dead and countless injured, was the result. Heavily outnumbered, the Rock Machine appealed to the worldwide Bandidos Motorcycle Club, who rivaled the Hells Angels in terms of membership and strength.
In January 2000, the Rock Machine ceased to exist and became a probationary Bandidos chapter - the first to be established on Canadian soil. Biker Edward Winterhalder was assigned by the Bandidos to coordinate the transition. Although the stage had been set for an end to the biker war and a positive outcome for all, it was anything but. Starting with the arrest and unsuccessful deportation proceedings of Winterhalder by the Canadian authorities, more intrigue, assassinations, and double-crosses, Winterhalder found himself in a situation even he found impossible to control. In The Assimilation, Winterhalder - in collaboration with author Wil De Clercq - recalls his life and times as an outlaw biker; his personal involvement in the creation of the Quebec Bandidos; his friendship with the key players who made it happen; and his eventual disillusionment with, and exit from, the Bandidos Nation.
Author Biography:
Edward Winterhalder is an American author who has written more than forty books about motorcycle clubs and outlaw biker culture published in the English, French, German and Spanish languages; a television producer who has created programs about motorcycle clubs and the outlaw biker lifestyle for networks and broadcasters worldwide; a singer, songwriter, musician and record producer; and screenwriter. He has produced episodes, pilots and documentaries for television such as "Outlaw Bikers", "One Percenters", "Gang World", "Iron Horses", "Marked", "Biker Chicz", "Living On The Edge" and "Gangland", and is the creator/executive producer of "Steel Horse Cowboys", "Real American Bikers" and "Biker Chicz". A prominent member of the Bandidos motorcycle club from 1997 to 2003 and associate from 1979 to 1996, he was instrumental is expanding the organization worldwide and assigned to coordinate the assimilation of the Rock Machine into the Bandidos during the Quebec Biker War-a conflict that cost more than one-hundred sixty people their lives. Winterhalder was associated with motorcycle clubs and outlaw bikers for almost thirty years, and has been seen on Fox News (the O'Reilly Factor with Bill O'Reilly); America's Newsroom, CNN, Bravo, Al Jazeera, BBC, ABC Nightline, MSNBC News Nation, Good Morning America, History Channel, Global, National Geographic, History Television, AB Groupe, and CBC. Wil De Clercq lives in St. Catharines, Ontario, and has worked as a freelance writer and editor, a visual artist, and in such diverse fields as demolition, the merchant marines, faux finish painting, advertising copywriting, and film and television production. He has been a dynamic force in the world of motorcycle journalism for more than thirty-five years.
