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Al Capone : his life, legacy, and legend / Deirdre Bair.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, [2016]Edition: First editionDescription: x, 395 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780385537155
  • 0385537158
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
Introduction -- The early years -- Mae -- The need to make a living -- Al comes to Chicago -- The other Capones -- The road to power -- The fortunes of war -- In hiding -- The glory years -- Inventing Al Capone -- Legal woes -- Atlantic City and after -- In prison -- "The elusive 'Scarface' Al" -- A new day for Chicago -- On the road to jail -- Law enforcement by stigma -- Jail is a bad place under any circumstances -- "Who wouldn't be worried?" -- "I guess it's all over" -- "I'm in jail; aren't they satisfied?" -- The most intriguing of all criminals -- The endgame -- The end -- The legacy -- The legend.
Summary: "From his heyday to the present moment, Al Capone's life has gripped the public imagination, and his gangster persona has been immortalized in the countless movies and books inspired by his exploits. But who was the man behind the legend? Capone loved to tell tall tales that perpetuated his mystique; newspapers loved him and frequently embellished or fabricated stories about him to sell copies. While some remember him as fundamentally kind and good, others speak of how frightening he was, a vicious, cold-blooded killer...Writing with exclusive access to Capone's descendants, Deirdre Bair finally gets at the truth behind this eternally fascinating man, who was equal parts charismatic mobster, doting father, and calculating monster."-- Provided by publisher.
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Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library Biography Capone, A. B163 Available 33111008485969
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

From a National Book Award-winning biographer, the first complete life of legendary gangster Al Capone to be produced with the cooperation of his family, who provided the author with exclusive access to personal testimony and archival documents.

From his heyday to the present moment, Al Capone--Public Enemy Number One--has gripped popular imagination. Rising from humble Brooklyn roots, Capone went on to become the most infamous gangster in American history. At the height of Prohibition, his multimillion-dollar Chicago bootlegging, prostitution, and gambling operation dominated the organized-crime scene. His competition with rival gangs was brutally violent, a long-running war that crested with the shocking St. Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929. Law enforcement and the media elite seemed powerless to stop the growth of his empire. And then the fall: a legal noose tightened by the FBI, a conviction on tax evasion, Alcatraz. After his release he returned to his family in Miami a much diminished man, living quietly until the ravages of his neurosyphilis took their final toll. But the slick mobster persona endures, immortalized in countless novels and movies.
The true flesh-and-blood man behind the legend has long remained a mystery. Unscrupulous newspaper accounts and Capone's own tall tales perpetuated his mystique, but through dogged research Deirdre Bair debunks the most outrageous of these myths. With the help of Capone's descendants, she discovers his essential humanity, uncovering a complex character that was flawed and sometimes cruel but also capable of nobility. And while revealing the private Al Capone, a genuine family man as remembered by those who knew him best, Bair relates how his descendants have borne his weighty legacy.
Rigorous and intimate, Al Capone provides new answers to the enduring questions about this fascinating figure, who was equal parts charismatic gangster, devoted patriarch, and calculating monster.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 337-372) and index.

Introduction -- The early years -- Mae -- The need to make a living -- Al comes to Chicago -- The other Capones -- The road to power -- The fortunes of war -- In hiding -- The glory years -- Inventing Al Capone -- Legal woes -- Atlantic City and after -- In prison -- "The elusive 'Scarface' Al" -- A new day for Chicago -- On the road to jail -- Law enforcement by stigma -- Jail is a bad place under any circumstances -- "Who wouldn't be worried?" -- "I guess it's all over" -- "I'm in jail; aren't they satisfied?" -- The most intriguing of all criminals -- The endgame -- The end -- The legacy -- The legend.

"From his heyday to the present moment, Al Capone's life has gripped the public imagination, and his gangster persona has been immortalized in the countless movies and books inspired by his exploits. But who was the man behind the legend? Capone loved to tell tall tales that perpetuated his mystique; newspapers loved him and frequently embellished or fabricated stories about him to sell copies. While some remember him as fundamentally kind and good, others speak of how frightening he was, a vicious, cold-blooded killer...Writing with exclusive access to Capone's descendants, Deirdre Bair finally gets at the truth behind this eternally fascinating man, who was equal parts charismatic mobster, doting father, and calculating monster."-- Provided by publisher.

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